The Fool's Paradise
"Traveling is a fool's paradise... I pack my trunk, embrace my friends, embark on the sea and at last wake up in Naples, and there besides me is the stern fact, the sad self, unrelenting, identical, that I fled from." --Mr. Emerson

I actually share a b-day with this man. But he has a more depressing view of traveling than I do. Kind of reminds me of my father in that way--even the things he loves, he will criticize and evaluate until they don't sound worth doing--everything except turning lights off. I think If my father were to have his own personal heaven, It'd be a long hallway with lots of lights on, and he could go running down it, turning lights off as fast as he can. "I'm saving so much energy! The electricity bill will be a fraction of what it was..."

So I went traveling. I'm in Japan, and I don't know when I'll be back here, so I figure it's worth seeing a temple or two before I get deported for acting too American.

There's a lot of people who came to Japan with me mainly because they like traveling. I'm sure most sane people enjoy traveling to some extent, but I'm a bit skeptical of people who list it as a hobby or they're favorite thing. I mean, if you're really interested in history and read about certain places as much as my father, or if you like nature a lot and you want to hike or ski, I can understand that. I'm not necessarily talking about checklist tourists, but I think some people travel because they honestly can't think of anything to do when they don't have work. There's people here that fly all over eastern Asia just to go bar hopping and sit on beaches or get cheap massages. Okay, if you're a soulless business executive, I say, bon voyage. Otherwise, grow up.

The age of airplanes will be short, I warn thee. Commercial airlines have been affordable to the mid to upper class for some 30 years or so, right? I can’t say that people will fly around the world the way they do for more than another 40 years. Other than gasoline, even if other technology were invented, it would never be nearly as economical, and therefore commercial airlines will never be the same. It will be a passing trend in human history, unless we get a shipment of oil from Jupiter or something. Then it’ll be back to trains and ships if you want to travel, suckers, and that means you just might have to read a book, or at least consider it during the long ride.

Then there’s people here than may or may not travel frequently, but I’m wondering why the hell they came all the way over here. There’s some that actually resist learning the language, culture or history. I mean like actually try not to. Maybe it’s an undiscovered disease called George Bush syndrome: must not educate self…must remain ignorant to other points of view…must used poor grammar…

I saw Hiroshima and southern Japan; you can check it out in the pictures section.