This is going to sound obvious, but having and remembering to take photos with my mirrorless camera has already made a huge difference to my blog. If you take a look at the photos in the Nihonkoku and Takadate posts, and compare that with the updated Kumanonagamine and Shogadake posts, the difference is stark. I wish I had considered how much better it would have been had I used my Sony much sooner.

While out on the mountains I like to focus more on the experience rather than the photography, but having that balance shift towards the latter really does make a huge difference when it comes to putting an article or video together.

It reminds me of when I was studying for the N1, the highest level on the Japanese language proficiency test. At the time, I remember thinking to learn vocabulary once, and learn it right, so that if I were to fail, at least I wouldn’t have to relearn things.

This is exactly why skimming or cramming is really bad. Learning things to a superficial level only really helps you at one particular point in time, rather than providing an ongoing source of knowledge or resources.

It turns out I didn’t need to bother with having to relearn anything, I passed the first time, but it is a philosophy I try to incorporate in other parts of my life. This mountains project is one area in which that is definitely worthwhile doing.

Nailing these mountains first time every time would save me a whole lot of hassle in the long run. I’m already considering some areas that I need to brush up on, which would literally require climbing a mountain to do.