Hey, I’m Grant, aka OldDogZeroTricks, the guy behind this blog.
I’m 58. British expat living in Japan. English teacher. Tractor driver.
I’m not here to sell life coaching or pretend I’ve figured things out. I drifted for decades, trusting things would work out. They mostly did, just never the way I expected. Now, I’m learning to steer with a little more intention.
If you’re going through midlife transitions, questioning your path, or trying to find meaning in the daily grind, I’m right there with you.
Why I Understand Drift
I started out in Britain working night shifts with computers. After a self-help seminar convinced me anything was possible, I moved to America to chase a childhood dream: flying helicopters. I earned my commercial licences in ’98. The Airwolf theme tune still gives me chills all these years later.
But when the money ran out, I had a licence and no path forward.
I had to let go of the impressive version of my life to make room for the meaningful one.
The Unexpected Path: When Meaning Finds You
A newspaper ad, “Free Rent on Water, Assistance Required”, led me to Danny Murphy, a man in a wheelchair with a bigger spirit than anyone I’d ever met.
Caregiving wasn’t glamorous. But it was purposeful.
That role led to installing accessibility equipment, helping Danny as he pursued acting (yes, There’s Something About Mary), and realising something timeless: From the outside, it probably looked like a step down. It never felt that way to me.
Building a Life as the Outsider in Japan
While I was working with Danny, his former caregiver – a Japanese woman – came for a visit with her three-year-old daughter. After hearing my flying stories, she mentioned she hadn’t spoken to her own mother in years. I handed her my phone.
That call changed everything.
By 2004, she and her daughter moved back to Japan and invited me to come along. I arrived with a suitcase and eventually became the quiet foreigner teaching English and helping raise a child in a culture I barely understood.
Over the years, the language schools became a home away from home. Later, I added manual labour on a local vegetable farm.
From flying helicopters to driving tractors. From ambition to something steadier.
When Chapters End: Twenty Years and a Fist Bump in the Rain
Ten years in, my step-daughter left for America at 18. Her mother and I stayed together another decade.
Twenty years total.
Then in 2024, she followed her daughter to America. We said goodbye with a fist bump in the rain. A massive chapter closed after shaping half my adult life.
I’m still here in Japan – cycling to work, teaching, working the soil, and learning who I am without the role I held for so long.
Why I’m Finally Steering
At 58, time feels precious. This blog is me choosing to steer, rather than drift.
I’m combining the threads of my life – teaching, physical work, writing in the early hours of the morning – into something that feels intentional. I’m taking on responsibilities I used to float around, and building a space where we can talk honestly about aging, purpose, and the thoughts we rarely admit.
What I Write About (And Why)
I write about:
- Transitions – when life changes and you don’t know what’s next.
- Meaning – finding purpose in ordinary, everyday work.
- Balance – finding contentment instead of blind ambition.
- Aging – accepting time while still living fully.
I don’t have all the answers. Just experience in drifting, losing, choosing, trusting, and continuing.
The Open Door (Your Story Matters Too)
It’s incredibly difficult to find genuine community online these days. Between the daily spam in my inbox and the endless self-promotion out there, the internet can feel loud, transactional, and exclusive. I want this space to be the exact opposite.
I really love reading and replying to your comments on the posts here. But I want to open the door a little wider.
If you are navigating this midlife stretch – aging, evolving, and figuring things out – and you have a story, a lesson, or a realisation that might help someone else, I would love for you to write a guest post for the site. Just honest real life.
My friend Tomo recently did exactly this, sharing a beautifully real piece about her cancer journey (link to Tomo’s post here).
If you’d like to contribute, just reach out. I’m always happy to host your words and include a link back to whatever you’re working on. We are all just trying to steer through this together, and it’s much easier when we share the map.
Whether you want to write something, drop a comment, or just read quietly in the background, you are welcome here.
Grant – OldDogZeroTricks
