I’ve been in Japan for the past eight days and it’s been a tiring and yet great time. I’m writing this blog in a few spare minutes between meetings while sitting at a table in the ICANN registration area. Please excuse me if there are any typos or grammatical errors.

I was in Tokyo for the first four days of my journey to the land of the rising sun. I’ve visited Tokyo many times and find it’s one of the most vibrant cities in the world…..besides that, it’s just a lot of fun! After a lot of great meetings, I had a chance to get out and explore the city with a few other friends that happened to be in Tokyo at the time.

There’s nothing quite like trying to work out how to buy a ticket on a Shinkansen (bullet train) to sort you out….so our first stop was Shinjuku train station. Shinjuku is a MAJOR station where trying to find out how to get out of it is an amazing feat of intellectual prowess, let alone get some bullet train tickets. Think of it as a massive escape room where the signs are designed to confuse the heck out of you.

As is my custom, I’m writing to you from the Melbourne Qantas Club as I wait for my flight to Tokyo, Japan. Yes….you would also be right in saying, “Weren’t you just in New Zealand?”

Sounds like a bit of jetsetting but it’s actually more of a tyranny of timing. Last week I was hiking through the pristine wilderness of the New Zealand south island. I must admit, that the experience has really changed me and caused me to fall in love with tramping around trails while looking at spectacular scenery.

I’m now headed to one of the biggest cities in the world…..so I wouldn’t be surprised if I go through a little culture shock. Not from the amazing Japanese people but being surrounded by buildings and concrete. In New Zealand I could gaze 20 plus kilometres into the distance while in Tokyo it’s going to be to the next office building.

So what draws me to Japan? I could say the food…..and the culture…..and the many things Japanese and they would all be correct. In reality I’m headed to ICANN.

If you’re attending ICANN in Kobe then please reach out to me. I’d love to catchup…..but right now I’ve got to go as my flight just got called!

ICANN finished a few days ago and I've finally got the energy to write a few thoughts down about it. I must admit that it does help that I'm now on vacation in Provence, France....

In terms of business, ICANN was gruelling. After stepping off the plane on the Saturday I literally had back-to-back meetings from early in the morning until late at night. For me, each day at ICANN is becoming much more like NamesCon with a continuous stream of excellent meetings followed by a quick sleep.

Of course, it’s always good to catch-up with friends. Many of the relationships go back more than a decade and it’s a privilege to know people of the calibre of many of them. I remarked that one of the great things about the domain industry is that not matter which city in the world I happen to be in there is always a person I can have dinner with.

One of the strange things about ICANN is that it’s almost completely unaware of the domain investment community or at the best views it with a bit of distain. What all of the registrars and registries need to understand is that domain investors underspin the entire eco-system…..that’s the drum that I beat over and over again anyway.

I’m leaving in a few hours to head to the ICANN conference in Barcelona. I must admit that I’m not looking forward to sitting in a tin can at 30,000 feet for 24 hours….which causes me to reflect on the lessons I’ve learned from traveling the many miles to different events around the world.

For a start, I don’t let anyone plan my trips…..I’ve tried different travel agents and they always get it wrong. I’ve found the more time and care you take before you leave the ground the easier the trip becomes.

Anything and I mean anything that you can do to speed yourself through security and check-on is a MUST. I have an APEC card that allows me to go into the diplomatic/crew lines through most customs and being a member of the Qantas club reduces your time checking in considerably.

I should also mention that when traveling for business I only take carry-on luggage. That fourth pair of shoes you are packing just in case the laces break on the previous three aren’t necessary. If you’re traveling for five days, then why take changes of clothes for ten? Let's face it.....the worse case scenario is that you use your Visa to buy that thing you need.

I have my favourite jeans and t-shirt for being on the plane and one of the first things I normally do when I arrive at my destination is get them washed for the return journey. It really doesn’t cost that much compared to the amount of time you have to wait for the carousel at the airport to popup your bag….assuming that it does actually arrive.

This trip I will be checking on my bag…..because Roselyn is traveling with me and we plan on having a couple of weeks’ vacation after the conference. I must admit that I am checking bags on under sufferance......gggrrrrrrr! I guess it's one of the problems with traveling with someone else....

I’m jumping on a plane again on Thursday morning to start the journey to the ICANN GDD conference in Vancouver. I attended the Madrid GDD event last year and this year is looking to be even better.

In the past ICANN has helpfully published the list of attendees to help registered participants arrange meetings etc. For some reason, they’ve elected not to do this for the Vancouver event…..which is a bit frustrating.

I’ve now posted the event here in the “Domainers Network” so if you’re planning on attending GDD then you can see who else is attending. Hopefully we will get a reasonable list of people that are willing and wanting to connect.

Here is the link for the event.