This is a journey I feel is one to be shared with you. A journey we take together and discover the beautiful faces of people around the world and their unique culture. Let’s begin by taking a peek at our itinerary and let the journey begin!

I would like to take you with me … sort of as a virtual tour guide and I would love to hear your advice and suggestions to make the trip better and more rewarding.

I am enclosing the brand new revision of my book “Becoming the Perfect Networker … Succeeding One Connection at a Time” as a thank you. If you have not already done so, I would greatly appreciate you posting a testimonial on Amazon.com letting people know what you think.

Over 400 improvements were made to this revision so I am hoping you will give it a look if you have already read the 1st edition on paperback. My hope is to print this (with your suggestions and feedback included) later this year. I have an appointment in Mumbia, India during my trip to meet a printing company recommended by a very good friend here in Maryland.

Last night was the launch of what I would call a shell of what you will see soon on KenRochon.com. I am very pleased to be working with Agnes Kivuvani and Scott Pitts, my website developer, on this new endeavor to help people organize their marketing efforts through branding. The company ‘PerfectBrandSolutions.com’ will be developed and hopefully helpful in improving your impact offline and online.

Everything is small

Everything is clean

People are very kind

Travel book suggests that Taxi drivers can speak English – None of the ones we spoke with knew what we were talking about. So we were typically wasting lots of time looking for help…

Tokyo is an extremely clean city, everyone dresses up. All men are in suits, all women in dresses for the most part. LEss than 1% of the population shows in diversity. 99% of the population is Japanese and speaks only Japanese.

Almost 20% of the population wears masks to protect themselves from airborne germs. You can purchase yours in a 7-11.

Japanese are all thin. A fair amount smoke. There are smoking sections in each restaurant.

Taxis are very expensive, and from the airport to the hotel you can pay as much as $225 per person.

When we arrived at the airport trying to get a taxi 15 blocks from our hotel was almost a laughable situation. We talked to about 10 taxi drivers who did not know where our hotel was even though we chose one in a “Top 10 Tokyo” book. They had GPS, and they hovered over the book looking at address info, phone number, but no one could break the code.

When we arrived to our hotel, I had a suite… well a room… well a closet, but it was very clean and comfortable.

More later.

I look back to a decision I made when I was 18 years old. It was 1982 and I had just moved to Maryland from a small town in Illinois where my typical day was either attending school and running (cross country or track) or if it were the summer, I was working in farm fields detasseling corn or deweeding beans. Like most budding entrepreneurs, I had a paper route, mowed lawns or shoveled snow during the school year.
My decision to move to Maryland was that fork in the road we use to describe a major life decision. When I moved to Maryland, I was overwhelmed with the amount of opportunity I could see around me. Within six months of arriving I had opened up a design and printing company with a partner and later that year a disc jockey service to help pay for my addiction of music I collected.

The printing business fascinated me. I knew if I could take my designs for logos to be a full service business card and branding service (to include shirts and other apparel) that I could use that income to pay for my college education.

I worked a lot of odd jobs (fast food, gas stations, hotels, etc.) to locate money to invest in deejay equipment and I used the design and printing company to help fund these expenses. Everyone needed printing, and as my customers got to know me better, they would learn of my true passion – music and my desire to have the best disc jockey service in Baltimore – Washington D.C. area. I would offer to print shirts at cost if I could put the logo of my disc jockey service on the sleeve, and the response from small businesses was well received. I believe I had about 400 shirts in the Maryland area with my logo of my disc jockey service.

As my printing company grew and I was making connections, I learned of a company named BCT (Business Cards Tomorrow) that had an opening as a ‘card cutter’ and delivery person. The opportunity to work in a big printing company and learn the business more appealed to me, so I applied and started work. Here is where I met John Paul Berry, Jr. my supervisor.

Although we didn’t talk much during my employment there, I continued my relationship with BCT after departing to start a more serious printing brokerage company and take my disc jockey business into a office environment. I looked to John Paul to help me with designs and getting the right look for both companies. His gift in design and branding was obvious and I would turn to him for critiquing my work. I shared all my design and printing projects with him and learned a lot about how to quickly see what worked and didn’t work.

After my disc jockey business really took off, I was not able to afford to spend time in the design and printing world as I believed it would take my focus off making AbsoluteEntertainment.com the best company it could be. Well, almost 20 years passed and John Paul had decided to look for other opportunities and something different in his life. I invited him to take the entertainment company for a ride while I took a break to study languages and soon after take care of my Mom who had just been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

John Paul upon accepting the job offer shared his love of travel and said that he was accustomed to going on cruises. I decided that if John Paul could grow AE (AbsoluteEntertainment.com) and make it more profitable, that he could have a vacation per quarter. Little did I know that would not only be a possible for him, but it would be for me as well.

Anyone that knew me prior to John Paul joining AE would describe me as an aggressive, assertive, perfectionist, workaholic and some would even be happy to be less diplomatic. J I worked twelve hour days, six days a week and then worked at least eight hours on Sunday … sometimes more if I had an event which was about half the time. Back in da day, I would perform as many as 140 events a year which did not include networking events!!

I shared a dream of going to France and studying French in Chambery near the French Alps. John Paul encouraged me to go for it and I can honestly say that had I not been encouraged or had the faith that he would make it work while I was gone, I would not be a ship starting a trip for 70 days half way around the world some eight years later. This is an example of how the Power of One can have such an influence in the world.

John Paul was the ultimate cruiser, I believe if he could be on a ship non-stop around the world, he would be completely at home and at peace. He invited me to go on a cruise to Italy that he wanted to experience. His family members typically took turns going on cruises with him, one with his Mom, one with his Dad, one with his son and even one with his ex-wife.
Since I did not come from a family of cruisers and I had never been on a cruise, this really did not make sense to me. My family for the most part did not think I would like it, and when I asked them if they had been on a cruise, they simply said “No”. I figured there was really only one way to know if I would enjoy the cruising experience and that was to take a chance.

John Paul was actually the only person I knew that went on cruises and when he suggested a cruise to Italy that would also stop in Dubrovnik, Croatia; Nice, France; Rome, Italy; Barcelona, Spain; and the Vatican City I bought my very first digital camera, a Canon power shot with a movable back screen to take photos at an angle. Well I was SOLD!!! John Paul become not only a great friend, and a great VP of my entertainment company, but he was an excellent travel companion. He studied the history, the travel guides for advice and basically made it very interesting and safe to travel. I learned later that his family did not share his excitement in the adventure of some of the parts of the world he wanted to explore. I found out that when a location was either out of the way or considered a bit too adventurous, I was the go to guy for that trip. Ironically, John Paul and I did not socialize when we were back in the Washington D.C. area, nor did we even communicate that often. So when we would take a cruise once a year, it was a time to discuss the business, new strategies for growing the business, and of course a time to celebrate the friendship.

So that is how I arrived at this place and time seeing Japan, my 46th country. By the end of this cruise which I will be taking for the most part solo as John Paul is only starting this cruise with me and will be heading back when we arrive in Shanghai. He graciously decided go deal with the economic impact we would not have anticipated would be affect us so some two years before when we booked this cruise. That is friendship and that is partnership.
My good friend John Paul and I have been discussing how we can help others’ take the time to travel as solo travelers or as a family. The experience is beyond words and even ones’ imagination. I used to believe I would travel when I could afford it, and I realized that day might never come, as I would always find another use for the ‘limited’ amount of money I had. The secret is to change your thinking of what travel is. It is not an expense; it is an opportunity on so many levels. To grow personally, create peace and harmony with yourself, to read and learn and to meet extraordinary people you can only meet when you travel. I have some lifelong friendships that are only the result of travel. When you connect with someone on a trip, you have the time to get to know who he or she is, and a friendship is almost inevitable.

Osaka was the capital of Japan in the 7th century. There are 8.8 million people living in Osaka.

I took an excursion today to see the best of Nara and Kyoto. We started our day visiting Nara Park which has over 1000 tamed deer roaming freely around the park’s various temples and shrines including the Todai-ji Temple site of the 53 foot high bronze Daibutsu or Great Buddha. The deer are regarded by the Japanese as divine messengers, and therefore sacred inhabitants of Nara.
We then proceeded to Kyoto, the spiritual heart of Japan. It was the imperial capital of Japan until 1867. We visited the Golden Pavilion and the Heian Shrine.

A major port since early times, Hiroshima served as Japan’s castle town during the Edo period and was a major military base during World War I and II and the target of the world’s first atomic bomb. Its code name may have been “Little Boy”, but its devastation was massive. At 8:15 am on August 6th, 1945, the first nuclear weapon used on man left 200,000 dead and half of Hiroshima destroyed.

Today the city stands as a powerful symbol of war’s destruction, as wel as a human spirit’s ability to overcome such tragedy. The half-demolished Atomic Bomb Dome and the overwhelming Peace Park somberly sit within this modern urban center. One such reminder, the Peace Flame, will not be extinguished until all atomic weapons around the world are eliminated.

Nearby, lies Miyajima, a small island considered on of the top three attractions of Japan. It was breath taking even though the city received it’s first snow fall of the year the day we were there. A visit to this sacred place reminds one of the life here that is eternal.

Hakata is a ward of Fukuoka City located on its eastern edge. Hakata has been burnt down by many wars and Mongol invasions. Hakata was the traditional center for the manufacture of Hakata Ningyo, which are traditional Japanese dolls that are famous throughout Japan

The Great Buddha, Daibutsu (Vairocana) Bronze, National Treasure

The name Vairocana in Sanskrit means ‘Universal Light’, signifying that the infinite mercy of the Buddha is extended equally to all beings without discrimination. The position of the left hand expresses Vairocana’s desire to put an end to all suffering. The right hand extends his welcome to those in the world who suffer. The Great Buddha extends 16 meters tall, and its pedastal were cast in the Nara Period (8th Century), but they have been repaired many times over the ages. Very little remains of the original work. The hands, for example, were made int eh 16th century, and the head and the wooden screen behind it are from the 17th century.

When I read Siberia was part of this trip, I was wondering if that was punishment or not. It certainly is not much of a tourist attraction, but from a photography standpoint, it is quite beautiful.

The few tourists I saw that day were from the ship, and it appeared many either stayed on the ship or poked their heads out for a quick hour walk and went back to the warmth of the ship.

Vladivostok is a vital naval base for Russian during the Russo-Japanese War, it is today the main base of the Pacific Fleet of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Vladivostok is perhaps best known as the Pacific end of the 5,778 mile long Trans-Siberian Railway, affectionately know in Russia as the “Great Siberian”. Built between 1880 and 1900, the longest continuous railway track in the world was, in its early years, a vital link for many Western travelers, especially diplomats, who used it to reach the capitals of China and Japan.

This city was closed to the outside world during most of the Soviet period, and was once again opened to tourists in July, 1992.

Although the city is very cold, dirty and a bit dark, it is a city with character… a little like Pittsburgh and my beloved Baltimore. Of course the people in Baltimore and Pittsburgh smile more.