May 2010 marked a first on two counts: it would be my first time travelling alone, and my first visit to Japan. For accommodation, I had settled on a small hostel in Ueno. Then, shortly before leaving, an email arrived from a friend of a friend—an experienced Japan traveller I had only recently been introduced to—who was in Tokyo at the time.

“Cancel your reservation,” he said. “There’s a spare room where I am. Stay here—you won’t regret it.” Following his advice, I switched my booking and departed the following day. Location sits high among the determinants of experience, and altering where I stayed changed not only the course of that trip but, eventually, the course of my life.