More About Derek Freal & The HoliDaze

Welcome to The HoliDaze, I’m Derek Freal and I’ll be your host. Unfortunately, I am also “that guy” so for all of you out there who are reading this and wondering “hey, is he that guy who….” well yes, that was me. Please direct all criticism and congratulations in the form of a tweet to @the_HoliDaze (preferably ≤140) for an appropriate apology or thank you. Whichever the situation dictates. Tweet Me Follow @the_HoliDaze

Derek Freal on New Famili 100 — Derek Freal on the set of New Famili 100 in Jakarta, Indonesia

15 years of traveling in 3 sentences:

After moving to Tokyo in 2008 I quit my job at the start of 2009 and have been wandering the globe ever since. I have also been blogging since ‘day one’ back in mid-2008, when the world’s economy was crumbling and my dumb-ass had just gotten an apartment in the most expensive city on earth and taken a leave of absence from work. As my travel style evolved over the last decade, from luxury traveler to party animal to backpacker to adrenaline junkie to cultural enthusiast, so too has my my writing style.

Since 2015 I have been producing videos for clients in the travel/tourism industry, primarily excursion companies, tourism boards, hotels. That is why I have complete freedom to be blatantly honest here.

Unlike other travel bloggers who only write about the positives because they are on sponsored trips and thus are obligated, since I make a living off my videos, I can be as honest and/or critical as necessary here. This makes The HoliDaze so much more enjoyable for the reader because every place is not “perfect” and a “must-visit” just to keep advertisers happy. The HoliDaze is honest. And sure, sometimes this raw honesty creates a bit of controversy (or a lot, as you’ll notice from the articles below) in the end the reader always wins….so enjoy it! Especially my infamous Rants & Rambles 😉

My life would make one helluva television show. Been saying that since I was 16.
Guess I’ll have to settle for a blog. For now.

Why would my life make a great television show? Consider me the human version of Curious George, which gets extra interesting in when you factor in that I simultaneously have the best and the worst luck in the world. I’ve been getting myself into (and out of) awkward situations since I was a teenager.

Sometimes in life shit hits the fan at full speed and before you know it shit starts flying everywhere, left and right, up and down, blinding you, stinging, sticking in every crevice and getting flung on nearby friends, but always relentlessly flying… and just when it looks like everything is at its worst, well that’s when the ‘Luck of the Derek’ arrives to wipe away all that shit and provide a fresh polish. One day this luck will run out. But until then it’s going to be an epic ride!

This is a story about a boy named Derek

He had a fancy corporate career but overworked himself and suffered a midlife crisis at 24.

Fuck this shit, I'm out on holidaze -- permanently

So Derek quit his job to travel the world!

After 3 years of traveling nonstop money was getting low, so Derek converted his original blog Shibuya Daze (about life in Tokyo) into a more professional global travel blog and re-branded it as The HoliDaze.