By Claytonian
Lots of people like to travel with maps, itineraries, and guides, especially when they live in or travel to Japan as foreigners. Naturally, this is a great way to get around, but I like to advocate a different way of traveling to the adventurous people among us: getting lost!
I suppose I've been in the practice of getting lost since I was a kid. I lived in a rural area, and used to go to hiking around looking for Bigfoot in the mountains, or visit a local abandoned hotel (of course, it was haunted to me and my friends). Even before those peccadilloes, I remember getting bored during a family trip to Italy --honestly, how long did my family expect me to keep interest in naked statues?-- and wandering off on my own. Luckily, though I was only five, I only got lost for about an hour. This taught me an important lesson: you can always backtrack if you get lost, which is what saved my young self that day.
So how does one get properly lost in Japan? It's pretty simple: pick a direction and just go. I usually head in the direction of the mountains while on my bike, but in cities foot power works quite well too. However, I did do a week in Tokyo by foot once and came to regret it once my puppies started barking. Still, I discovered a lot of cool things that way. When I stayed in Kyoto, I enjoyed the luxury of a rental bike.
Discovery is what getting lost is all about. For instance, I went out today, and discovered the following: a water park, an oddly isolated sushi shop, a pond, a strip mall in the middle of nowhere, a tiny shrine, a temple with a baby theme, Japan's smallest yakitori place, another temple (horse-themed this time), and an udon chain with a frowny mascot. I probably covered about 30 kilometers, and am feeling pretty good about all I saw and the exercise I got in. It would be nice if I had a real bike instead of a standard mama-chari though.
So why are you still here reading this? Get lost already!
Lots of people like to travel with maps, itineraries, and guides, especially when they live in or travel to Japan as foreigners. Naturally, this is a great way to get around, but I like to advocate a different way of traveling to the adventurous people among us: getting lost!
I suppose I've been in the practice of getting lost since I was a kid. I lived in a rural area, and used to go to hiking around looking for Bigfoot in the mountains, or visit a local abandoned hotel (of course, it was haunted to me and my friends). Even before those peccadilloes, I remember getting bored during a family trip to Italy --honestly, how long did my family expect me to keep interest in naked statues?-- and wandering off on my own. Luckily, though I was only five, I only got lost for about an hour. This taught me an important lesson: you can always backtrack if you get lost, which is what saved my young self that day.
So how does one get properly lost in Japan? It's pretty simple: pick a direction and just go. I usually head in the direction of the mountains while on my bike, but in cities foot power works quite well too. However, I did do a week in Tokyo by foot once and came to regret it once my puppies started barking. Still, I discovered a lot of cool things that way. When I stayed in Kyoto, I enjoyed the luxury of a rental bike.
Discovery is what getting lost is all about. For instance, I went out today, and discovered the following: a water park, an oddly isolated sushi shop, a pond, a strip mall in the middle of nowhere, a tiny shrine, a temple with a baby theme, Japan's smallest yakitori place, another temple (horse-themed this time), and an udon chain with a frowny mascot. I probably covered about 30 kilometers, and am feeling pretty good about all I saw and the exercise I got in. It would be nice if I had a real bike instead of a standard mama-chari though.
So why are you still here reading this? Get lost already!
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