Learning How To Travel
Pictured above is a boat dock in Otsu
The first time abroad in Spain, I was a buzzkill. I had expected something to happen. Something magical? I dunno.
But it didn’t. Instead, I felt like I was missing out on something while in classic cities in a wonderful country with my beautiful wife.
I just assumed travel wasn’t for me.
Then a friend and I booked a last-minute trip to Japan. I had thought long and hard about Spain. Read many books, articles, and blog posts about travel, walking, and expectations. I vowed to do it differently, to enter Japan with a different mindset.
It worked.
I packed light. Brought the hiking shoes. Embraced the jet lag, lack of sleep, and awful airports. No expectations. Open to everything and nothing.
It was fantastic. Gained an appreciation for Japan’s clear rules, easy train system, and oh so walkable cities. We talked to a bartender about Fleetwood Mac, taught a little boy to skip rocks on Uni’s river, and hiked.
But it was the walking that really did it for me. Cathartic for a mind like mine. Even went to a museum and found a glimmer of why people go to see beautiful paintings. Only took 28 years and a design education to break into that.
Turns out my kind of trip is one filled with lots of walking and good food. Who would've thought?