In my conversations with others that have traveled to different places, I always seem to hear that there is one place that they visited that felt like home. It was as though they fit into the flow of things without a hitch. It just felt like they were away for a very long time and were back home again.
I have traveled to a few different places and all of them inspire very different feelings in me. For instance, Germany is beautiful, I love the scenery and the history. To me, Germany feels old (which I know it is) but the energy I feel when I am there is old. When I walk in the woods and think about the hundreds of years people have walked through those same woods, it blows my mind. It is as though you can actually breathe in the history there. It surrounds you. I also find at times the atmosphere is heavy there, not in a negative way just in a different way. It is almost as though the land itself realizes it is ancient and you can feel the build up of years of history pulsating throughout the land.
Australia was an interesting place. I spent two weeks in Sydney, so I can’t really say I have seen lots of Australia. I did make it out to the rain forest one of the days, but besides that it was spent mostly in town. Sydney was a friendly place from the first minute I arrived there. The taxi driver was great and everyone I met or came in to contact with was friendly. The landscape was breathtaking and it was so amazing to see the wildlife. But (I am sure some of you figured that was coming), I actually felt isolated while I was in Australia. Not sure why. I realize it is a huge continent but I felt isolated even within the city. Maybe it was the time in my life that I visited Sydney or maybe it was the fact that I knew I was on a big continent that was far away from everything. Not really sure what caused that feeling but I know I have no plans to go back there any time soon.
I believe out of all the places I visited which includes multiple locations in North America, Australia, Germany and Japan, I feel the most comfortable in Japan. It was one of the most amazing trips of my life. The atmosphere was different in every city I visited and each city gave me some unique memories. From going to a baseball game in Tokyo to having school children ask me to practice English with them at the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto. Then there was karaoke in Hiroshima. Plus I am grateful to my Japanese friends who I spent time with while I was there. I met my friend’s family and spent some time making tako yaki. I think what made this trip was the experiences, it was full of them. Almost everyone I met in Japan was friendly and polite. I never felt out of place at all and even though there are millions of people there, to me it didn’t feel crowded. Japan is a place where it felt like home. It felt like I was gone a really long time and had returned. Whenever I see pictures of Japan it pulls at my heartstrings and I have a desire to return.
I believe everyone has a place that they feel at home in and Japan is my place.
Adairmoon 