13 Oct 2026
The call with Bao
On the weeks I cannot take the ferry, this is the call. Bao stays with the people I left him with on Kusu. He is not quick, and the call is not quick either.
Josh
About me
Opening the notebook
I'm Josh. I have spent the years on the road building three SaaS platforms and the teams that keep them running after I leave. This journal is the animals that came with that work.
Home is the Philippines. Miso, a yellow Labrador, and Sora, a Shiba Inu, live in the house with me. They are the dogs I did not leave with anyone else. Japan is the country I have gone back to for many years, which is why so many of the animals are there. The Philosopher's Path is one of those trips. On one of them I took Miso and Sora along the canal. Miso stopped at his usual bend. Sora did not. Then we came home.
Dogs and tortoises are the ones I buy. When a team stays in a country, I leave the animal with a person or a family there, someone tied to the work, and I do not bring them home to the Philippines. Charlie is with the Petter family in the UK. Romeo is with his grandmother. Bao, the tortoises in Tuscany, and the dogs in Ōdate and Grindelwald are kept by people who remained when I flew on. I visit when I can. Between visits I would rather be on a video call with the animal than talk about the business without them. Cats and fish are different. I did not buy them. I go to the island, the ruins, and the river because I like being near animals while I travel.
The United States and Canada are not on this map. I am not sure I will get to the US, and I want to. When that work starts, I will keep animals there and in Canada the same way: a dog or a tortoise with a person who will still answer when I call. That is the near future.
Where I've been
- Home
Philippines
Where I live, with Miso and Sora. Japan is not this house. It is the country I have gone back to for many years, which is why so many of the animals are there.
- Kyoto
Kyoto, Japan
A trip I have made for many years. The Philosopher's Path runs under the cherry trees between Ginkaku-ji and Nanzen-ji. I come back. I do not live here.
- Tashirojima
Miyagi, Japan
Cat Island. The Ajishima Line ferry from Ishinomaki takes about forty minutes to Nitoda. I did not buy these cats. Dogs stay behind. The cats have the paths, the port, and the shrine above the houses.
- Nishikigoi no Sato
Ojiya, Niigata, Japan
The koi hall in Ojiya sits by the Shinano River, in the town where nishikigoi were bred from black carp. Clear tanks keep them visible all year.
- Kusu Island
Singapore
Kusu means tortoise. A ferry from Marina South Pier crosses to the island. Bao is mine. People there keep him, and I sit with him on a video call when I cannot make the boat.
- Ōdate
Akita, Japan
Hachiko's birthplace, under Mount Kurakake. Yuki and Kuma are my Akitas. A keeper in Ōdate has them, because this is their country. I do not take them to the Philippines.
- Shirahige
Lake Biwa, Shiga, Japan
The lake torii at Shirahige Shrine stands in the water on the western shore. Gengoro-buna live in the lake, and ayu run the rivers that feed it.
- Torre Argentina
Rome, Italy
The cat sanctuary sits in the sunken republican temples of Largo di Torre Argentina. The cats live among the ruins. They are not mine. I look down from the street.
- Grindelwald
Bernese Oberland, Switzerland
A valley under the Eiger. Bruno and Alma are my Bernese. I left them with people in the village when the team stayed. The walks start there and climb toward the rock face.
- Massa Marittima
Tuscany, Italy
A hill town in the Colline Metallifere. Olive and Terra are my Hermann's tortoises. Someone who lives on these slopes keeps them. I sit with them when I am in Tuscany, and I call when I am not.
- Petter house
United Kingdom
Charlie's house. I bought him when the UK work stayed, and the Petter family cares for him. Everyone there loves him. I come two or three times a year, and we use a video call in between.
- Grandma's house
Where Romeo waits
I left Romeo with his grandmother. She goes to the farm often. He stays home, and the house is quiet until she is back. Most of our time together is a video call.
- The farm
Watermelon fields
Where his grandmother goes when she leaves him. The rows run out under the trees. Romeo stays at the house, and I see him on the call.
Animals so far
Left with someone
- Charlie · French Bulldog · Petter house
- Romeo · Goldendoodle · Grandma's house
- Bao · Tortoise · Kusu Island
- Yuki · Akita · Ōdate
- Bruno · Bernese Mountain Dog · Grindelwald
- Kuma · Akita · Ōdate
- Alma · Bernese Mountain Dog · Grindelwald
- Olive · Hermann's tortoise · Massa Marittima
- Terra · Hermann's tortoise · Massa Marittima
Ones I visit, and do not keep
- Shima · Domestic cat · Tashirojima
- Kohaku · Nishikigoi · Nishikigoi no Sato
- Nami · Biwa carp · Shirahige
- Livia · Domestic cat · Torre Argentina
- Sumi · Domestic cat · Tashirojima
- Hana · Domestic cat · Tashirojima
- Taisho · Nishikigoi · Nishikigoi no Sato
- Showa · Nishikigoi · Nishikigoi no Sato
- Asagi · Nishikigoi · Nishikigoi no Sato
- Sasa · Ayu · Shirahige
- Nero · Domestic cat · Torre Argentina
- Pia · Domestic cat · Torre Argentina
Stories
12 Oct 2026
Where she goes
Romeo's grandmother goes out to the farm often. The watermelon rows run toward the trees. He does not go with her. He stays in the house.
11 Oct 2026
The track home
The light goes down on the track, and the farm is about to be left for another day. Romeo is still at the house, waiting.
10 Oct 2026
Everyone in the Petter house
Charlie is my dog. I bought him when the UK work stayed, and the Petter family is who he lives with. Everyone in that house loves him. I come back two or three times a year. The months between, he is on the video call.
9 Oct 2026
Already in someone's arms
This is the house I come back to. He is usually already being held before I have my coat off.
8 Oct 2026
Home alone
Most days it is just Romeo. I left him with his grandmother, and she is at the farm, so the house stays quiet until she comes back. On her birthday I celebrated with him the only way I could, online, through the webcam. That call is how I keep him.
7 Oct 2026
When he was small
An early picture of Romeo. He was small, and someone had tied a ribbon on him. The house was not empty then.
6 Oct 2026
Still on the vine
One melon in the row, still attached. This is the work she leaves him for.
5 Oct 2026
Bao in the grass
Bao is mine. I left him with people on Kusu, and this is him in the grass, working at the stems among the small white flowers. He is not quick. On the weeks I cannot take the ferry, this is what the video call looks like.
4 Oct 2026
Greens on the stone
They gather on the stone when the greens are put out. Bao is the one from the grass. The water dish sits below them, and the leaves go first.
3 Oct 2026
Sunset over the hill town
Massa Marittima goes gold in the late light. Olive and Terra are mine, kept by someone on the slope below the walls. Hermann's tortoises belong to country like this, dry grass and stone and a long view. When I am not in Tuscany, I still call.
2 Sep 2026
Another year on the path
Kyoto is a trip, not the house. I have been coming back for years. On this one I brought Miso and Sora to the Philosopher's Path while the city was still quiet. The canal was the whole morning. Miso stopped at his usual bend. Sora did not. Then we went home to the Philippines.
21 Aug 2026
The north beach, then the sanctuary
The ferry from Marina South Pier lands you on a small beach. Kusu means tortoise. Bao stays with the people I left him with. I walked up and sat with him until the return boat.
4 Jul 2026
Cats in the republican ruins
Largo di Torre Argentina is a crossroads with a sanctuary in the middle. Livia, Nero, and Pia live down among the temples. I looked from the railing and did not try to call them up.
9 Jun 2026
The Shinano beside the koi hall
Nishikigoi were bred in this country from black carp at the start of the nineteenth century. The river was high. Inside the hall, Kohaku, Taisho, Showa, and Asagi were easy to see.
16 May 2026
The torii in the lake
Shirahige's gate stands in the water. I came for Nami, the gengoro-buna, and for Sasa's season. Ayu do not wait. The lake does.
18 Apr 2026
Forty minutes to Cat Island
The Ajishima Line leaves Ishinomaki and takes about forty minutes. I got off at Nitoda. Shima was on the path, Sumi near the port, Hana farther up toward the shrine. Miso and Sora stayed home in the Philippines. Dogs are not part of this island.
20 Feb 2026
Under the Eiger
Bruno and Alma are mine. I left them with people in the village when the team stayed. The rock face was in cloud until noon, then cleared. A Bernese does not seem to notice either way.
11 Jan 2026
Hachiko's mountain
Hachiko was born in Ōshinai, Ōdate, in November 1923, and sent to Tokyo the next January. Yuki and Kuma are my Akitas, kept by someone in that town. Mount Kurakake was white at the edges. I spent the day with them, then went home to Miso in the Philippines.