On Traveling

I think I’ve became accustomed to Japan and thus I was tired of traveling. These past few days I’ve been traveling more intensively. Only staying in a city for a day or two. I think this change of pace has alleviated my boredom. Sometimes, slow travel should be mixed with fast travel for a better experience.

I shouldn’t complain about traveling. Really, I shouldn’t. Traveling is the thing I wanted to do the most in my life. And now I’m finally doing it. I need to live in the moment and enjoy each day since I’ll probably will not be in the same place for a second time. Everyday is a gift and a blessing. Traveling is what makes me happy.

What would I rather do if I wasn’t traveling? Well, I know one thing for sure. I would hate to work in an office (at least not in this moment). Despite the fact that I don’t have a travel partner to share my journey, I still think I made the best decision to travel solo. This experience will teach me how to live with myself and makes me look inside and see what’s really important for my life. Traveling gives me ideas and thoughts that I normally would not manifest if I was at home. I need to be comfortable traveling by myself for the long term.

Traveling is also the ultimate test in minimalism. I only carry a 22 liter backpack, more of a school bag than a travel backpack. In it, I have everything I need, and maybe a little more. My current life relies on the things in that one backpack and it makes me so happy to know everything I care about materialistically fits in one bag. There’s something Zen about minimalistic traveling. I feel like I was born to live like this. Maybe I should just be a traveling monk.

I also want to write more and take more photographs. I’m not sure what will come out of any of these activities. I’m just doing them because I want to. I’m doing them because they give me joy. And I think that’s all it matters in the end. Traveling, writing, photography. Why would I want to do anything else?