Japanese Blues

Friday 3 July 2009

"Do you really want to travel?  Think twice.  More interesting things lie inside your mind.  What will you see?  It won't be as good as it looks in guidebooks.  Your main emotion is likely to be one of dissapointment.  It is difficult, hot, wet, dirty, and more expensive than you think.  If you want to see cities, travel is ok.  Cities are the only places you can easily get to.  If you want to get off the beaten track, stay in places where you can drive (i.e. your own country).  Since arriving in Japan I've wanted to go home.  Not homesickness, but a sense my time and money could be better spent.  All the sights I've seen so far are mediocre.  Nothing has been mind-expanding or inspiring.  Except maybe Nagasaki harbor.  I am very much looking forward to going home again.  How do people travel for months on end?  Years?  I don't know where I'm going now -- probably back toward Tokyo."

Hmm, I was clearly not having the greatest time on my second trip to Japan.  But looking back, I have many fond memories of that trip.  It was expensive, and I did cover a lot of the same ground I saw in 2005 in my previous trip.  Planning.  My planning was poor.  It was raining season, I was traveling alone, and I got a sour milk drink with my chocolate pastry.  I expected delicious fresh whole milk.