Exploring the World on only one pair of shoes

Article 4 - Exploring the World on only one pair of shoes As anyone who has been to a foreign country before can tell you, exploring beyond one’s familiar area takes guts. I have always admired people who seemed to know a little bit about many different places. For example an acquaintance of mine, when asked the question, “Can you suggest a nice place to go for a few days?” will always answer with “Pick a state.” I tried my best to take this attitude as I spent my year overseas in Japan. Of course, there is always some obligation waiting around the corner to ground you to the town you live in. Homework, social gatherings, lectures and events are just a few. Despite this, somehow I managed to visit a number of places in a number of Prefectures. However, the most memorable of them was my trip to Shirahama in the Wakayama Prefecture. Not only did this trip change the way that I thought about traveling, but it was also the first time that I had travelled somewhere more than 2 hours away from my living quarters by myself. The strange thing about travelling around alone in Japan is the treatment that you get from most people. In Japan, a large noisy group of friends travelling about is a good way to keep people from approaching and talking to you. However, as a single traveler you are presented with a perfect opportunity to socialize and win the hearts of many people. Families, other single travelers, and restaurant staff all open up a little when you tell them that you’re travelling alone and want to hear their opinion on something. After doing this for a day and seeing the sights, I managed to bump into three people who were also travelling around Japan; there were two girls from Italy, and one guy from Romania. We joined up for the evening, and jumped from restaurant to restaurant. Finally, at the end, we sat down at a public foot bath. Shirahama is famous for them. While sitting, chatting, and soaking our feet in what appeared to be a pool of hot water with a sculpture of a shell in the middle, a strange thing happened. A bar owner and his companion wandered up to us and started proclaiming his Karaoke bar to be the best in the whole city. Naturally, we had to see for ourselves. This sort of advertising happens, and often times the only way to find an event or famous place is just to be in the right spot at the right time. This trip taught me that travelling by oneself can present a huge number of opportunities that can easily be missed if you always travel in a group. For most of us, time in a foreign country is short and goes by faster than we’d like. All we can do is try to make the best of our time. Plus, you never know what worldly friends you might meet while plodding around, taking pictures and notes of a few beautiful places you might want to show somebody, someday. Here’s a shot of one of the famous sights in Shirahama – Senjyoujiki.