#travel
my absolute favorite genre of tourist is British People who underestimate how stupid big the US is
It’s like ALL Europeans! People show up to my job at like 11AM saying “I need to get to the city for my flight by 3, what can I see between now and then?” and I get to tell them “Well if you leave RIGHT NOW you MIGHT be able to make your flight at 3″ and watch them flap around like a dying fish.
I had a dude say he was hoping to take a day trip to Mt Rushmore after doing the main famous thing at my park, and he got PISSED when I told him that it was a 17 hour round trip. “That’s unacceptable!” he said, like we had just moved it further a week earlier.
A family once stopped in and said they were trying to get to a random small town in Missouri and were flabbergasted when I said that I had never heard of it, and that I had no way of looking up where it was, and basically just giving them directions to get to the city due east of where we were so they could go to the library and print out directions (they also never like that we don’t have wide ranging cell service. We got working internet last summer. This isn’t news.)
Size culture shock is such a huge thing. I’m from Northern Ireland so for the longest time the relatively small distance I could travel felt like “the most” (even now a trip to Bangor or Derry feels massive even though it’s like, and hour/hour thirty tops).
Even when I did go somewhere else as a kid, since the structure of a trip would be dictated by my parents or like, teachers n stuff, nothing really felt “big”.
But for uni I lived in England (I know) and even that felt so much more massive than anything I was used to. I was in a shopping center that I feel could comfortably house most of Belfast city centre.
So I can’t even beging to imagine how overwhelmed I’ll be if I ever go to like, mainland Europe again, or the states
I’m from Phoenix, AZ. When I was a kid we used to drive to Los Angeles to see my grandparents 1-2 times each year, so in my brain LA is fairly close. Unbearably dull drive on account of the scenery, but close. It’s about 6 hours.
A few years ago I did a little road trip around Norway and averaged about 2-3 hours of driving most days. When I would mention this to Norwegians, multiple times they looked completely aghast and asked me if I was okay. Wasn’t I tired, how can I stand that much car time?
I didn’t know how to explain to them that I would travel 3 hours just for food I’m craving.
Ah, memories of driving a 4hr round trip every weekend to see my now-wife. It was a mountain pass, too, so I’d have to check the weather constantly during the winter to make sure it wasn’t closed because of avalanche or blizzard conditions. And I’d make sure I had music, podcasts, and maps preloaded and saved to my phone because cell service was spotty for a good portion of the drive.
Sometimes during our visit we’d want to visit the nearby city, which was a 2hr round trip (or more) through a winding canyon road with no exits in between.
brit friend: i don’t see my family often because they’re so far away
me: oh no! that’s awful, where do they live?
brit friend: 2 hours by car
me: … i used to drive 6 hours roundtrip for daytrips to go to the closest mall
I grew up 45 minutes from the near edge of the city, so to me a commute is about 45 minutes. I start to consider it a “trip” over about 2 hours, and “travel” at 4 or so. My grandparents had a cabin 7 hours away that we visited several times a year, so that is about when I start to wear thin and need a longer break. Not that I haven’t done 12+ hour days on longer journeys, of course. One time, when I was a kid, we even drove straight through from Michigan to Florida in about 22 hours.
Spring in Gent, Belgium.
May 2019
Cascais - Lisbon
Estufa Fria - Lisbon, Portugal
Dublin, October 2018
up in the clouds
Nazaré - Portugal
Genius idea for road-trips!
By Oliver KMIA
Seki is a historic town in southern Gifu Prefecture that is famous around the world for its production of high-quality knives and blades. The small town in the middle of Japan was a center of sword making during the Muromachi era (1338-1573), with over 300 swordsmiths working in Seki, producing legendary swords, and earning the town the cool nickname, “The City of Blades.”
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Photo Credit: Me
Seki, Gifu Prefecture
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#seki #gifu #japan #japantravel #travel #japantrip #日本 #ig_japan #igersjp #instagramjapan #visitjapanjp #wanderlust #myjapan #explorejapan #discoverjapan #photooftheday #offthebeatenpath #hiddengem #unknownjapan #tokyocameraclub #gifuphoto (at Seki, Gifu)
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Remembering the March 11, 2011, Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami today. I had the chance in the summer of 2017 to visit one of the towns that was almost completely wiped out by the disaster. I enjoyed speaking to the locals and seeing firsthand the recovery process. The small fishing town of Onagawa in Miyagi Prefecture is a shining light of the strong will and never give up attitude of the Japanese people.
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Photo Credit: Me
Onagawa Miyagi Prefecture
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#onagawa #miyagi #tohoku #japan #japantravel #travel #japantrip #日本 #ig_japan #igersjp #instagramjapan #visitjapanjp #wanderlust #myjapan #explorejapan #discoverjapan #photooftheday #offthebeatenpath #hiddengem #unknownjapan #tokyocameraclub
(at 女川町)
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Vending machines in the snow ❄️ Shot early last year in Aizuwakamatsu.
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Photo Credit: Me
Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima Prefecture
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#aizu #aizuwakamatsu #japan #japantravel #travel #japantrip #日本 #ig_japan #igersjp #instagramjapan #visitjapanjp #wanderlust #myjapan #explorejapan #discoverjapan #photooftheday #offthebeatenpath #hiddengem #unknownjapan #tokyocameraclub (at Aizuwakamatsu-shi, Fukushima, Japan)
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March 3 is Hina Matsuri in Japan. This traditional Japanese event is also known as the Doll’s Festival or Girl’s Day and is celebrated across the country. Beautiful “hina” dolls are displayed on red carpet platforms in homes of families with daughters to pray for their health, future, growth, and prosperity. Here is an interesting set I found recently in Gujo Hachiman.
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Photo Credit: Me
Gujo Hachiman, Gifu Prefecture
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#hinamatsuri #gujo #gujohachiman #gifu #japan #japantravel #travel #japantrip #日本 #ig_japan #igersjp #instagramjapan #visitjapanjp #wanderlust #myjapan #explorejapan #discoverjapan #photooftheday #offthebeatenpath #hiddengem #unknownjapan #tokyocameraclub (at Gujo Hachiman, Gifu, Japan)
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Gave the new Sakura Milk Latte from Starbucks Japan a try yesterday
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Photo Credit: Me
Seki, Gifu Prefecture
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#starbucks #sakura #sakuralatte #japan #japantravel #travel #japantrip #日本 #ig_japan #igersjp #instagramjapan #visitjapanjp #wanderlust #myjapan #explorejapan #discoverjapan #photooftheday
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