Traveling

I used to be puzzled at why people travel. After meeting several very interesting people who also love traveling, I started to explore this question.

Now that I have been to a number of places around the world, I wouldn't say that I have an innate desire to travel, but almost every trip has been rewarding. Rather than relaxing vacations, travelings are more like adventures to me.

I have been mostly traveling alone. It is a lot of work to make travel plans and book things. To save money, I stay in hostels with 4 ~ 20 roommates, and usually need to catch very early flight. Each time when I wake up 3 am in the morning for the flight, I ask myself, why am I doing this, instead of just having a good sleep? But the moment the flight takes off and seeing the landscapes from above the air, I'm already excited.

I think seeing how different parts of the world could be functioning in very different ways makes me a bit more open-minded. I read a lot during my trips, or sometimes I will do travel sketches.

Paris » A captial of arts. I'm very grateful that I did not have a chance to visit Paris when I was young. Otherwise I might have chosen to do arts and long starved to death by now.

Prague » The City of a Hundred Spires. I came for Alfonso Mucha and discovered an entirely different side of him.

Florence » Cradle of the Renaissance. Check out the Florence Cathedral!

Rome » A city of great ancient ruins. I was extorted €20 by the street. ^_^bb

Cologne » Cologne Cathedral looks magnificent and I like its pixel-art stained-glass window.

Marseille » Love the fjords, the morning fish market, and the Château d'If prison from Count of Monte Cristo.

Lyon » Giant Murals bring the imagination to the reality.

London » A city with free museums.

Washington D.C. » Another city with free museums. Have you wondered, after seeing so many bronze casts of it, where is the original statuette of this Degas' masterpiece? (Photo from NGA)

Stavanger » Preikestolen is a steep cliff rising 604 metres above the Lysefjorden.

Bergen » The Sognefjord is the largest and deepest fjord in Norway. You will also see the Flåm Railway, one of the most beautiful train journeys in the world.

Madrid » Joaquín Sorolla! Titian! Diego Velázquez!

Barcelona » the city of Gaudi. Sagrada Familia is like a fantasy.

Edinburgh » Where the Garden meets the Castle.

Copenhagen » Colorful.

Amsterdam » One of the most liberal city in the world. 100 km of canals, 90 islands and 1,500 bridges. And 2 hours lining up for the Van Gogh Museum :)

Berlin » Liked the Berliner Weisse.

Frankfurt » Museumsuferfest is a good time to visit.

Singapore » Food is really good.

Chicago » Bold architectures.

Oregon » There is no sales tax.

Najing (南京) » Capital of six dynasties.

Suzhou (苏州) » The wonderland of classical Chinese garden.

Tokyo » The most populous metropolitan area in the world.

Kyoto » The formal imperial capital of Japan. Quiet temples, colorful shrines, beautiful gardens, and busy shōtengai (商店街). The Fushimi Inari Taisha (伏見稲荷大社) with the Senbon torii (千本鳥居) — ~10,000 torii gates along the mountain trail, is one of my favorite places to linger around.

Kumamoto (熊本) » Mount Aso (阿蘇山) is the largest active volcano in Japan, and among the largest in the world.

Itsukushima (厳島), Hiroshima (広島) » Itsukushima, a.k.a. Miyajima is famous for the giant torii over the sea. Be vigilant when taking group photos, ferry-ticket-eating deers might raid your luggage and trap you on the island.

Izumo (出雲) » The Izumo Ōyashiro (出雲大社) is one of the most ancient and important Shinto shrines in Japan. The 10th month in lunar calendar is called Kannazuki (神無月), meaning the month when there are no gods, because all the eight million gods of Japan left their shrines and congregated annually at Izumo Ōyashiro. Therefore, the month is called Kamiarizuki (神在月), meaning the month when the gods are present at Izumo.

Hokuei (北栄町), Tottori (鳥取県) » A quite small town where Gosho Aoyama, the author of the famous manga Case Closed (名探偵コナン), was born. Scenes and characters from the manga can be found all over the town as statues, posters, decorations, road plats, and everything.

Biei (美瑛) » Fields of sunflowers and lavender render the landscape into bands of vibrant colors.

Otaru (小樽) » Into the world of glass crafts.

Tanegashima (種子島) » An island where the JAXA's main Space Center is located. Tanegashima also means matchlock gun in Japanese because it was initially introduced to Japan through that island where a Chinese sailing ship with Portuguese adventurers on board was driven to anchor by a storm in 1543.

Yakushima (屋久島) » The Shiratani Unsuikyo Ravine (白谷雲水峡) is the inspiration for Mononoke Hime.

Lake Toya (洞爺湖) » Which one is the Lake Toya? Blue or green?

Hakodate (函館) » Beautiful night scene from Mount Hakodate.