09/18/2026
Mt. Fuji asked everything of us. We climbed in the rain, the trail turned to runoff, and not everyone who started that day came home. We made it down soaked and wrecked and so happy to be walking.
So the next evening we did the only sensible thing and got in a hot spring. Steam, mountain air, nowhere to be. That’s where Ramsey asked me, about twenty minutes before dinner, while we were still warm and half asleep and too sore to move.
The part that still gets me is that I almost wasn’t there. My 9-5 wouldn’t give me the time, so for months this was a father-son hiking trip and I was the one waving from the driveway. Then Los Angelena, my creative studio, took off in a way I didn’t see coming, I quit the day job, and I booked the flight 2 weeks before takeoff ✈️
What I didn’t know: he’d been planning to propose on this trip the whole time. He was genuinely gutted when I dropped out a few months ago. So while I was scrambling to get the right gear and pack, he was quietly figuring out my ring size and getting it delivered to our door before we flew. All within 2 weeks.
Ten days. One mountain. Tokyo, Kyoto, and one very good question in the steam.
Hard things, then rest. That feels about right for us.
New city, new chapter, new fiancé. San Diego, you’ve been kind to us. Stay tuned for the celebrations 💍🇯🇵
