What’s a country that’s at the top of your bucket list?
If you asked me which country sits at the top of my bucket list, I’d have to say Japan.
And no, darling, it isn’t just because I’ve seen photographs of cherry blossoms and decided I must immediately acquire a pink kimono. Although I reserve the right to reconsider that decision when I get there.
It’s the contrasts that fascinate me.
One moment, you could be standing in the middle of Tokyo, surrounded by neon lights, bustling streets, and enough people to make the Saturday market look positively deserted.
The next, you could find yourself in a quiet garden, listening to water trickle over stones, with the city seemingly a million miles away.
I rather like that idea: a place where the world can be wonderfully loud and wonderfully quiet, sometimes within the same afternoon.
I’d want to visit the old temples, naturally. Wander through traditional streets. Watch the early morning routines of a city waking up. And spend far too long in little shops selling things I hadn’t known existed five minutes earlier.
I’d also want to eat my way around the country.
Proper ramen. Fresh sushi. Street food from a stall where I couldn’t pronounce half the menu and would have to rely on a combination of pointing, smiling, and hoping for the best.
An excellent way to travel, if you ask me.
But here’s what I’d really want.
I’d want to meet people.
Not simply take photographs of their country and return home with a camera full of evidence that I’d been there. I’d want to understand a little of how people live, what they value, what makes them laugh, and what an ordinary Tuesday looks like when you’re growing up on the other side of the world.
Because that’s the thing about travelling, darling.
You can read books, watch documentaries, and scroll through a thousand photographs. But there’s something different about sitting at a table in a place you’ve never been before, sharing a meal with somebody whose life looks nothing like yours.
You discover that some things are wonderfully different.
And others are remarkably familiar.
People still worry about their families, laugh with their friends, fall in love, have dreadful days, and look forward to a good meal at the end of them.
The scenery changes. The language changes. The customs change.
But people are still people.
And I’d like to come home knowing a little more about both the country and myself.
So yes, Japan is at the top of my list.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, darling, I need to find my passport, practise a few useful phrases, and investigate whether I can fit an unreasonable quantity of souvenirs into a carry-on suitcase.
I’ve travelled enough to know that the suitcase always looks bigger before you start packing.
Stay Fabulous,
Luce 💋
Lämna ett svar