Beautiful piece, reminds me of how I felt when I came back to SF after spending three months in South East Asia. I couldn't help but feel that I had to pack that "traveler" version of me with my suitcase in the storage because it wasn't welcome in the city.
reading your piece made me reflect on my own trip so far (i’m finally entering my solo leg) and just how many lives we may get to know if we remain open to the possibility and don’t shy away for fear of saying the wrong thing or making a faux pas.
i just got to the berlin airport, but I’m sure i’d still be wandering around the station, wondering which train to take, if i didn’t ask someone for directions - which i was then gladly able to return the favor forward by lending a couple my hotspot and chatting about our lives the entire ride to the airport! i’m kind of bummed i couldn’t catch their numbers since they had to hurry on their flight, but I’ll always have that beautiful memory of a german neuroscientist and an american teacher making a LDR work and gallivanting off to italy to catch the waves.
i hope those feelings you experienced in tokyo stick with you for a long, long time :)
“I have returned to exactly where I was, but I am different, or want to be, clinging with balled fists and taut arms to who I could be, who I was in my travels — a softer self, molded by being elsewhere.” agree. there’s always a struggle between my ideal self and my baseline self whenever i come back from holiday. and also i sense my worldview slightly shifted, expanded on the train/car ride back from the airport to back home.
alsooo i always make a point to check out the jazz bars whenever i go to japan and the one you went to sounds amazing 🤩 may i know which one it is? planning to save it for future reference :P
Delightful piece, Nikhil. I'd say that the biggest reason you felt different on this trip or 'changed' by any means is because you experience a slice of the 'normal, local, everyday' in Japan. The tender moments you had in that bar and on the train are proof that you weren't a black sheep in a white herd, but rather one with the people, at least in energy and commitment.
I also heavily relate to the language barrier becoming more of a flexible fence by the end of the trip, using bits of their foreign language to ask for a fork or say thank you - that's culture-osmosis I enjoy the most. Thank you for detailing this journey and your emotions throughout :)
Beautiful piece, reminds me of how I felt when I came back to SF after spending three months in South East Asia. I couldn't help but feel that I had to pack that "traveler" version of me with my suitcase in the storage because it wasn't welcome in the city.
i don't know how to put this lightly... this piece touched my heart.
reading your piece made me reflect on my own trip so far (i’m finally entering my solo leg) and just how many lives we may get to know if we remain open to the possibility and don’t shy away for fear of saying the wrong thing or making a faux pas.
i just got to the berlin airport, but I’m sure i’d still be wandering around the station, wondering which train to take, if i didn’t ask someone for directions - which i was then gladly able to return the favor forward by lending a couple my hotspot and chatting about our lives the entire ride to the airport! i’m kind of bummed i couldn’t catch their numbers since they had to hurry on their flight, but I’ll always have that beautiful memory of a german neuroscientist and an american teacher making a LDR work and gallivanting off to italy to catch the waves.
i hope those feelings you experienced in tokyo stick with you for a long, long time :)
thanks for reading + commenting — hope the feelings you find in your travels stick with you as well!!
stumbled upon this and love it!
“I have returned to exactly where I was, but I am different, or want to be, clinging with balled fists and taut arms to who I could be, who I was in my travels — a softer self, molded by being elsewhere.” agree. there’s always a struggle between my ideal self and my baseline self whenever i come back from holiday. and also i sense my worldview slightly shifted, expanded on the train/car ride back from the airport to back home.
alsooo i always make a point to check out the jazz bars whenever i go to japan and the one you went to sounds amazing 🤩 may i know which one it is? planning to save it for future reference :P
glad you enjoyed! it was jazz bar kohaku in shibuya!
Delightful piece, Nikhil. I'd say that the biggest reason you felt different on this trip or 'changed' by any means is because you experience a slice of the 'normal, local, everyday' in Japan. The tender moments you had in that bar and on the train are proof that you weren't a black sheep in a white herd, but rather one with the people, at least in energy and commitment.
I also heavily relate to the language barrier becoming more of a flexible fence by the end of the trip, using bits of their foreign language to ask for a fork or say thank you - that's culture-osmosis I enjoy the most. Thank you for detailing this journey and your emotions throughout :)
maybe so! thanks for reading and commenting — glad you could relate!