Mother Nature is really amazing at times in that she wills us to find some way of turning anything that would appear to be a disadvantage into something that is to be enjoyed for so many reasons. I mean thinking about a country such as Japan which is basically a volcanic island, one would think that if one really had a choice they might want to live in a “safer” place.
What it also means to live on a volcanic island though, even one as big as Japan is, is that there are some natural features which can’t really be found anywhere else, two of which are the onsen (hot spring bath facilities) and the natural beauty which often surrounds the spring bath facilities, in the form of the flora which thrives due to the fertile volcanic soil.
I had the pleasure of experiencing an onsen on what was meant to be just one occasion to see how it is, but I ended up spending almost all my time out in Japan relaxing and enjoying the onsen experience. I enjoyed it so much and experienced for myself just why they love their hot spring baths over there, so I decided as soon as I get back home that I should try and recreate those facilities so that I can enjoy the experience on tap.
Well, moving to a volcanic region was definitely out of the question if not completely unavailable as an option at all, so the next best thing was to get a hot tub. All you need to do would be to maybe search for ‘Hot Tubs Near Me‘ and order it off online! If you can’t find any on the internet, you can always fall back on your local stores to get you one!
While on the search to recreate this stunningly perfect experience, I did try out some of the options on offer in the UK. I had some great times and explored many beautiful options. While in America on the other hand, I visited the Bend Oregon infra red sauna showroom. The USA offers better alternatives (I believe) to the UK, as most of the hot tubs are designed to run on lower ampage which is better suited to the voltage/amp requirements in the UK. In the end, I settled on importing a hot tub from Oregon for that reason alone (saving money is always a priority!).
I was desperate to recreate the experience as I knew it in Japan, so it would have definitely had to be an outdoor hot tub so that I could even plant some beautiful flowers and other little plants to recreate the beautiful natural surroundings often synonymous with those onsens that are located outdoors. Unfortunately, I don’t have an outdoor garden space to speak of, but what I do have is a Moroccan style courtyard which worked out much better than anything I could have done with the garden I don’t have in any case.
It’s an open air courtyard which meant that installing a hot tub would make it an open air hot tub, with all that was left to do being the planting of some of those plants which closest resemble those growing in Japan. It’s not so much a matter of matching each plant species for species, but rather just going for those little plants which tend to thrive and bloom with colourful flowers during the warmer months of the year, while they retain a nice and green colour during the colder months.
The hot tub spa itself had to be a big one – in fact I went as big as I could get, which means I can share and enjoy the experience with guests that come over. Surprisingly the heating bill doesn’t go all the way through the roof since the rather big body of water tends to retain heat much better and stays hotter for longer.
