Off the Beaten Path Japan – Healing Ride to a Volcano & Tide-Only Hot Spring After Trading Losses

Off the Beaten Path Japan – Healing Ride to a Volcano & Tide-Only Hot Spring After Trading Losses

“Some mornings… it feels like the world is collapsing.” “Loss after loss. One more red line.” “You tell yourself it’s fine.
It’s just money.” “But something inside… is breaking.” “Still, the light returns. Slowly.” “Not everything is gone. Not yet.” “Staying inside isn’t an option anymore.” (The engine tries to start…) (But nothing happens.) The engine doesn’t work. Back to zero. And just like that…
I’m back where I started. Again. I sat there… doing nothing. 30 minutes later… Thanks to JAF,
I could start the ride. Yeah! Let’s go. I’m finally ready. “I lost again. Another red line, another piece of me gone. Even trying to escape, the engine wouldn’t start. My life… it’s full of traps. But I’m moving. Maybe—just maybe—
this road remembers who I used to be.” It’s my first time on a toll-free highway. “At first, I just wanted to run away. The charts, the losses, the noise… everything.” “But the road doesn’t ask questions.
It doesn’t care how much you lost. It just takes you forward.” “I kept replaying the losses in my head… Like scars I couldn’t stop touching.” Whoa! There are so many cows! Wow! I hate heights! And it’s windy. I’m scared to ride across this bridge! Come on! Wow, the mountain is beautiful! Wow, it’s such a long tunnel! “Sometimes I wonder which hurt more—
the money I lost or the person I became.” “They say ‘cut your losses.’ Easy to say.
But no one tells you how to cut the pain.” “The wind doesn’t judge. The trees don’t care.
I like that. Out here, I’m not the guy who lost everything.” Good! This is the entrance
—oops, I meant the exit. Wow, the scenery is beautiful! I need to stop at a gas station. I’m worried about running out of gas. Full tank, regular gas, please. Okay! The tank’s full. Nice! Amazing! “I once read: ‘Falling is part of flying.’
Sounds like a fortune cookie. But maybe it’s true. Maybe you have to fall hard to fly again.” “I thought money would give me freedom.
But I forgot—freedom can’t be charted.” I really like this bridge. Wow, the ocean is beautiful! Wow, it smells like the ocean! Can you see that mountain? That’s Mount Esan. The beach is beautiful—and so is Mount Esan. Wow, the ocean is so beautiful! “The road doesn’t lead anywhere in particular.
But riding… riding makes it feel like it might.” “I’ve been angry. At the market. At myself.　But this wind…
it’s harder to stay angry when it’s blowing past you.” Is this really Japan? That’s Mount Esan. Esan Tsutsuji Park… to the left—wait,
I mean to the right. Am I really in Japan? “This isn’t a restart. It’s not a comeback.
It’s just… movement. And that’s enough for now.” This is Mount Esan. “Maybe I won’t find anything today.
But I’ll at least see something real.” “They say ‘rest is part of the strategy.’
Maybe that’s what this is.
My pause.
My breath.” Alright!
Time to climb this mountain. Let’s go! Wow, that’s amazing! Observatory this way… summit that way. I’m going to the summit. Okay, it’s to the right. Can you believe this is Japan? Wow! Wow, look at this scenery! Wow, unbelievable! Let’s go! What kind of rock is this? You can see a bit of the ocean from here. Alright, the summit’s to the right. Let’s go! “I left the engine behind. The numbers.
The noise. All of it.” “Every step feels strange. Like I’m learning how to walk again.” I made it here, but I’m not sure how long it’ll take to the summit. “No screens. No charts. No one to impress.
Just… breath. Stone. Sky.” Wow, it smells like sulfur—this mountain’s an active volcano. Look at this! Wow! “This slope doesn’t care if you lost millions.
It just asks one thing: keep going.” “Even the mountain throws obstacles.
But it doesn’t mean ‘stop’—just ‘notice.’ ” Wow… how do I get through this?
This way or that way? Yeah, this way! Okay… I think it’s right. “Maybe peace isn’t something you find.
Maybe it’s what’s left when the noise stops.” “I used to watch candles burn on charts.
Now I just watch the sky. And I don’t feel behind.” It’s smoking—and it really smells like sulfur here! I’m really tired already. Where’s the summit…? I thought 1000m meant height…
so I figured it was 100m left.
It was distance. And yes, I keep getting this wrong. Let’s go! That’s the summit of Mount Esan. What? It’s dangerous over there? It’s smoking—and the wind’s blowing this way! Look at this! Wow! Can you see this? The ground’s turning yellow from the sulfur over there. “Some people climb to win. Others climb to forget.
I think I climb to remember.” Not there yet. Only 73 meters left to reach the summit! “I was never really chasing profit. I was chasing relief.
And it cost more than I knew.” 48 meters—yeah! Water never tasted so good! I don’t need this jacket anymore. “Up here, with the wind and stone, I don’t feel rich.
But I don’t feel poor either.” As I get closer to the summit, there are more and more plants. Only 23 meters left! Even after walking ninety miles of a hundred, it’s only halfway. I can see the summit over there! I’m almost there! This is the summit of Mount Esan! Wow! Look at this view! Incredible! There’s a shrine over there. Is that… a warehouse? You can see Mount Hakodate over there! I’m going down slowly. “Coming down is quieter. No urgency. No goal.
Just gravity—and me, letting go.” “The higher I went, the less I understood.
But now, step by step, things feel… simpler.” “There’s nothing profound waiting down there.
But maybe, just maybe… I’ll be a little lighter.” “You don’t always need answers.
Sometimes, you just need to keep walking.” “The world didn’t change while I was up there.
But maybe—just maybe—I did.” “Not everything has to be a comeback story.
Some journeys are just… releases.” “I heard there’s a hidden hot spring by the sea.
Where the tide decides when you can enter. It’s not fancy. No walls. No ceiling. Just earth.
And the sound of waves instead of alarms.” “I’m not going there to forget everything.
Just… to warm up a part of me I’ve been freezing for too long.” “Sometimes all we need…
is a place where the water’s warmer than the world.” This is actually a hot spring! Whoa, there are two hot springs! This view is amazing! This is a hot spring. Let’s get in the hot spring! It’s really slippery here. So relaxing… Feels good! So relaxing… My battery’s at 1%! Oh my god! Thank you for watching! If you liked it, don’t forget to like, subscribe, and leave a comment. Thanks again! “The world is still noisy. Still uncertain.
But right now… it’s quiet enough to breathe.” The narration in this video is fictional.
While the journey and locations are real,
the story is not autobiographical.

This is an off the beaten path ride in Japan—a solo journey through quiet roads, an active volcano, and a natural hot spring that appears only at low tide.

What happens when trading losses pile up—not just in your account, but in your mind?

This video isn’t about financial advice. It’s about finding space to breathe again.

Starting near the coast of southern Hokkaido, I ride to Mt. Esan—a rarely visited volcano where the wind never stops. From there, I continue to Mizunashi Kaihin Onsen, a tide-only hot spring hidden beneath the sea.

It’s not a reset. It’s not a comeback.
It’s just movement. And sometimes, that’s all we need.

Mt. Esan is an active, sulfur-scented volcano with wide ocean views and silent trails.

Mizunashi Kaihin Onsen is an open-air coastal hot spring that appears only when the tide is low—no walls, no roof, just the sea and sky.

If you’ve ever felt broken—by trading, by pressure, by failure—I hope this quiet ride offers something your balance sheet can’t: peace.

Subtitles available in multiple languages.

Note:
The narration in this video is fictional and was written to reflect the emotional struggles many traders and investors face after major financial losses.
While the locations, journey, and visuals are all real and personally experienced, the storyline and spoken reflections are not based on my own life.
This video aims to offer comfort, perspective, and healing through a fictional lens inspired by real emotions.

#offthebeatenpathjapan
#TradingStruggles
#onsen

00:00 – Disappointment After Trading Losses
01:04 – Beginning the Solo Motorcycle Ride
01:25 – First Time on the Hakodate-Esashi Expressway by Motorcycle
01:55 – Riding Past Cattle Near Kikōnai Livestock Farm
03:02 – Exiting the Expressway
03:48 – Riding Beside Wind Turbines
03:58 – Passing the Old Toi Line Shiokubi Bridge Ruins by Motorcycle
05:30 – Riding Past Esan Tsutsuji Park
05:58 – Arriving at the Crater Base Parking Lot
06:21 – Starting the Hike up Mt. Esan
12:55 – Reaching the Summit of Mt. Esan
14:26 – Starting the Descent from Mt. Esan
16:02 – Riding Toward Mizunashi Kaihin Onsen
17:11 – Arriving at Mizunashi Kaihin Onsen
17:38 – Soaking in Mizunashi Kaihin Onsen