Fulfilling a Dream Since My Teens! I Want to Publish a Book After Overcoming My Eating Disorder! Crowdfunding to Support the Publication of a Hands-On Travel Book
Thank you for visiting, whether you are new here or a familiar face. My name is Aika Ijima, and I make my living and find my purpose in life through 'travel,' creating content on YouTube and my blog.
I have decided to publish my first book.
The reason I decided to write this book at this time is that, through my experiences in various countries around the world over the past 15 years, I feel that I can now fulfill a dream I have held since I was a teenager.
That dream is...
to express my way of life through a book. I have gathered enough material from my experiences to write it, and since I am putting it into form, I want as many people as possible to read it, so I am taking on the challenge of crowdfunding for the second time in my life!
The illustration for the planned cover is finished!
Since I was a teenager, I have suffered from an eating disorder and depression, and my mental state made it difficult to live a normal life.
However, following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, I began volunteering despite my symptoms of binge eating and purging. As I continued, I discovered the joy of deciding what I truly wanted to do, taking action, and delivering it to others.
One of the activities I started was massage, hoping to help ease the physical and mental state of others, even if just a little.
As I continued, I felt a desire to 'learn properly about the body,' and on a whim, I went to Thailand to learn Thai massage. That was the start of an unexpected 10-year journey—no home, no money, no connections—a journey where I had to face everything head-on.
My eating disorder was something that created conditions and put the brakes on my life. My passion was what propelled my life forward dramatically.
They seem like an odd combination at first glance, but it was precisely because I had both that I was able to travel the world.
In this book, I will candidly share episodes of how I traveled and lived in various countries while battling an eating disorder, how I encountered things that fueled my passion through numerous experiences, and how I came to enjoy life to the fullest.
Beyond my eating disorder, there were various other conditions to my travels.
Japan is incredibly safe. It is incredibly kind. During my travels, I experienced culture shock over 100 times. Public safety, transportation, language barriers, food, weather, illness, and sometimes even being deceived... difficulty after difficulty.
Even so, I was able to keep moving forward because there were always people supporting me. Not only through the physical help of locals, but also thanks to the support of my loved ones back in Japan when I felt like giving up, I was able to keep the fire of my passion alive and continue taking on challenges.
Just as I would discard luggage I brought from Japan during long trips and procure new things locally... how did I let go of my eating disorder during my travels? I hope to bring courage and energy to many people through these episodes of pursuing what I want to do and finding a way of life in each country.
I also write about it in more detail on my blog.
https://note.com/dynamicjourney
Life itself is a journey. Challenging your own unknown territory is something anyone can do in their daily life, without having to set off with only 5,000 yen like I did, or struggle until you reach your physical and mental limits (lol).
By accumulating small challenges every day and being faithful to your heart's desires of "wanting to try something," the world around you will expand, and you will surely realize that big changes are happening before you know it!
I would like to talk a little more about the "two big things" that form the background of this project and the trigger for my journey.
Looking back now, I think the cause was probably the environment of my childhood where I had to suppress my emotions.
Simply put, an eating disorder is a negative spiral where abnormal eating habits continue, one becomes overly obsessed with weight and body shape, and then eating habits become abnormal again to resolve that distress. It involves excessive binge eating or refusal to eat. In my case, it was a cycle of eating and then vomiting. I wasn't eating because I wanted to; I didn't even understand it myself, but I kept eating as if to compensate for something.
Contents of one meal
The food costs were insane!! There was a time when I struggled in the high-paying nightlife industry to earn money for food, half-resigned to the idea that I would live forever with an eating disorder that I didn't know when it would end.
However, I pushed myself too hard and the binge eating escalated. My self-blame for not being able to focus on my work or daily life also escalated. Hospitals, family, and friends were all at their wits' end. Most of what I thought about every day was food. My eating disorder had taken over most of my brain.
I think this is something everyone has in their heart, but I am a very passionate type. It was only because I went on a journey that I realized I "had it." Passion is motivation. Challenges become easier when you have passion. We might not even feel like we are "alive" if we don't feel passion.
Before I set off on my journey, I was suffering from an eating disorder and felt it was difficult to live in my relationships, and I thought it would be fine if I died at any time.
At the time when my symptoms were prolonged, I had a partner who was my emotional support while I suffered from the eating disorder, and I was living without financial worries, so it took a lot of courage to let go of that protected life.
By deepening my journey while carrying that anxiety, and by accumulating experiences of living in countries with different cultures and continuing to take on challenges head-on regardless of success or failure, I became able to express the desires and things I wanted to do that I hadn't noticed before, as well as my emotions and sensibilities that I had hidden until then. Before I knew it, the symptoms of the eating disorder that had plagued me for 13 years had disappeared.
I had tried medication, hospitalization, and counseling,
but for me, the therapy was "placing myself in a country with a different culture and language, and being faithful to my heart, taking on challenges, and taking action."
I hope to convey the funny travel stories, happenings in various countries, troubles, and hands-on challenge stories I experienced during my journey in an entertaining way.
Overseas looks interesting! I want to go!
Let's challenge life more!
Something that makes your worries seem trivial
Something that pushes the backs of people with dreams
Also, messages to those suffering from eating disorders or other illnesses, and their families, etc...
To those who will pick up this book,
I want to create a book that can deliver laughter, courage, and energy.
Episodes of trying to pursue what I wanted, failing miserably, yet being saved by necessary developments
▷ My first homestay experience in Seattle, USA, at age 13.
During my high school years, when my binge-eating and purging disorder was at its worst, I studied abroad in Montana, USA. Immediately after returning to Japan, I moved to Tokyo and, while working in the travel industry, lived a life where I also worked in the sex industry to find a place to belong and to pay for my binge-eating habits.
▷ In 2011, I engaged in volunteer activities in Iwate following the Great East Japan Earthquake. In the process, I learned grief care (counseling for the bereaved) and massage with the goal of healing the minds and bodies of disaster victims, traveling back and forth between Tohoku and Tokyo for about two years.
After that, wanting to experience volunteer activities around the world, I attempted international aid in Uganda, but my activities were halted when I contracted malaria locally.
▷ In 2013, I shifted my focus to therapy work and learned Thai massage in Chiang Mai. From here, I began traveling the world with 'two big burdens' I hadn't expected.
Clutching my entire fortune of 5,000 yen, I flew to Australia, and my life of travel began in earnest.
Thailand → Australia → Thailand → India → Cambodia → Izu → Hokkaido → Spain → Brazil → Currently Kumamoto
I lived in each place for 6 months to 2 years, leading a mobile lifestyle.
I learned and practiced natural therapies, therapy, massage, and dance originating from each country. In Cambodia, hoping to make up for my regret in Uganda, I attempted an anti-child sex exploitation movement in Phnom Penh, but I was forced to return to Japan (again) after contracting dengue fever, which forced me to face once more what I really wanted to do.
My stay in each country helped my heart and senses grow stronger and kinder. At the same time, as I continued my travels, my eating disorder disappeared as if it had melted away in the heat of my passion.
In my view, acquired mental illnesses... like depression and eating disorders, seem to recover as you find and start walking your own 'journey'.
Because you can't move forward unless you choose everything yourself no matter what happens, it takes courage and requires action. Since there is no choice but to move forward, you cannot look backward, and you don't want to.
'For now, I have to keep moving.' The hole I had filled with food because I thought I had no value was filled by the courage that came from within me and the love of the people I met as I moved forward, guided by the reactions of my passion.
When I traveled to Brazil, where I stayed during my recent years abroad, I received 700,000 yen in support toward my travel funds through a self-run crowdfunding campaign on social media, and I challenged myself to learn authentic Latin dance, which had been a long-held dream.
⇩ Click here for the situation at that time (the video shows actual training scenes) ⇩
https://a-angelove28.hatenablog.com/entry/2019/08/29/033537?_ga=2.134260599.7882093.1633912560-538349676.1626876951
Even now, there are so many people I cannot thank enough.
My 'journey' is completely original. It is not a life lived as someone else told me to, nor is it a life spent desperately trying to meet expectations, and it is neither right nor wrong. It is a process of trial and error, but it has a solid future. There is support. I am now even grateful for the version of myself that had an eating disorder.
▷ In Kumamoto, I hold personal sessions and energy work classes so that people can realize their inherent goodness and live their own original lives. I also run a dance class based in my home salon to share the joy of dancing.
▷ As of September 2021, I am currently in the middle of a travel challenge on a 50cc scooter, carrying only one change of clothes, wanting to infuse my writing with the energy of the journey!
⇩ Click here for real-time updates on my journey ⇩
https://note.com/dynamicjourney/n/n44e01d8d2513
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
2017 Sapporo City: Held a 'Travel Talk Event'
April 2021–Present: Holding 'Know the World and Live Your Life: Travel Talk Event' in Uto City
September 2021: Guest appearance at an online travel lecture, 'People Having a Life Breakthrough'
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
Goal: 1.2 to 1.5 million yen
(Breakdown)
Manuscript editing fee: approx. 300,000 yen
Illustrator fee: approx. 300,000 yen
Publicity production costs (videos, etc.): approx. 200,000 yen
Crowdfunding commission: approx. 200,000 yen
Promotional expenses: Any remaining funds will be used for a promotional travel tour for the book.
*Even if the target amount is not reached, we will proceed with the plan and deliver the rewards.
—Benefits for all supporters—
Benefit 1
This e-book can be purchased for 99 yen during the campaign period (scheduled for approximately 3 days from release).
During the campaign period, the ranking will rise, making it easier for those who need it to find it.
Benefit 2
Invitation to the Aika Lifestyle Support Fan Club
I share travel information and activities here. Please feel free to use it to make new friends.
--------------------------------------------------
Support Rewards
--------------------------------------------------
1. Aika Activity Support Plan: 1,500 yen and up - Pure support plan
We will send you a thank-you letter.
2. Aika Activity Support Plan: 3,000 yen and up - Pure support plan
We will send you a thank-you video.
3. Book Support Plan: 5,000 yen and up
Receive bonus episodes not included in the e-book
4. Make your life freer and more fun
I'll give you my two cents on your life! Online Salon
Trial participation (1 session): 7,000 yen
5. Make your life freer and more fun
I'll give you my two cents on your life! Online Salon
Participation for 2 sessions: 14,000 yen
6. I'll show you the secret behind-the-scenes of publishing! Zoom talk event
Participation: 15,000 yen
7. Make your life freer and more fun
I'll give you my two cents on your life! Online Salon
Participation for 6 sessions over 3 months: 42,000 yen
8. For those interested in publishing!
Consultation with professional publishing consultant Kimiko Haniwa
Planning, blueprint, outline, and publishing life consultation with professional publisher Kimiko Haniwa
Usually 66,000 yen, but offered for a special price of 44,000 yen just for this time!
Details here
https://www.reservestock.jp/stores/article/38?agency_code=&article_id=36666&fbclid=IwAR2TWGbSgVQKBkBhqqfjwfdJceulov_1QYjuXFM700bYitLZjwdh2fvRVpE
9. I'll come to meet you! Plan: 100,000 yen and up
Thank-you video &
I will come to meet you in person for a talk event or lecture!
Also, please let me know if there are any other rewards you would like to see.
I would like to add new ones if I can provide them!
《《Click here for bank transfer and payment sites》》
《From Japan Post Bank》
Symbol 10470
Number 11133621
・From other financial institutions
Branch number 048
Ordinary account 1113362
Online payment
Publishing support crowdfunding
https://aikaouen.official.ec/items/29211974
《Implementation Schedule》
June 2021 - Manuscript creation starts
August - Planned cover illustration completed
October - Crowdfunding begins
Manuscript draft scheduled for completion
November - Manuscript editing, illustration creation
December - Manuscript and illustrations scheduled for completion
January 2022 - Scheduled for release on Kindle
I talk about my future activities here.
↓ From Instagram
Finally
I love traveling. It's not just fun; there are tough times too, but I love it! For those interested in travel, those who want to travel in the future, those who want to travel but can't quite take the first step, those who want to know about world cultures, and those who are searching for a way of life, I hope that through this book, my way of life will be a reference for you.
By the time you finish reading, you will surely be itching to take on a challenge. You will want to go on "your own journey." Please support the creation of this book, which will help readers set off on "their own journey"!
《In progress for publishing activities》
【Common worries about writing a book】
Interviewer: Kimiko Haniwa
Travel reflection note
https://note.com/dynamicjourney/n/n92ee3ac876a6
Publishing activities & 50cc moped bike travel challenge in progress
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BdilFa1IIU
TikTok
https://www.tiktok.com/@aikalovetravel?lang=ja-JP
Click here for the website (Healing classes/personal sessions)
https://extasis-healer-traveller-aika.jimdosite.com/menu/
If we exceed the target amount, I plan to take on a next challenge for paper book publication.
The latest information on the funding and the 50cc bike trip will be updated as needed on note and Instagram.
https://note.com/dynamicjourney
https://www.instagram.com/aika.lovelatin/?hl=ja
I hope you enjoy following my journey as well ^^
Thank you for your support.
Aika Ijima
----------------------------------
I am currently in the middle of writing the manuscript!
I am aiming for a film adaptation to share the "joy of living" with as many people's hearts as possible!
I will be applying to the 2022 Creative Awards!
I have compiled and attached my travel diary before it became a manuscript in a magazine.
You can view it here.
https://note.com/dynamicjourney/m/mbb60d1e53a05