Today, I鈥檓 looking back once again on our last short trip to the Aizu region. The seasons were just changing, and the nature around us hadn鈥檛 quite awakened from its winter slumber yet. But even so, the world around us revealed a very special, utterly charming side that quickly captivated me again.
Here in the countryside, and especially here in the mountains, we get to experience a completely different Japan than the one we see in travel brochures. Everything is simpler and older, yet somehow more genuine and heartwarming. I feel at home here, and away from the well-known tourist destinations and sights, I find plenty of things to enjoy.
It鈥檚 often the simplest things, like trains passing over a bridge in front of or behind you. I鈥檓 not quite sure what makes such sights so appealing鈥攎aybe it鈥檚 the feeling that we would love to be sitting on one of those trains yourself, watching the world go by.
In this case, it would be wanderlust while you鈥檙e already out wandering. It actually sounds pretty funny, but somehow it鈥檚 probably true. At least for me, who鈥檚 probably quite susceptible to that kind of feeling.
And even in our modern times, trains often retain a slightly romantic character, quite unlike airplanes, for example. When flying, we see far too little, and on top of that, it鈥檚 usually quite cramped and not really comfortable. Train travel, on the other hand, has a completely different character and brings us very close to the land and its people. It doesn鈥檛 matter whether we stop at huge main stations or small stations in the countryside鈥攖hough I currently prefer the smaller, dreamy stations where only a handful of people get on or off.
Well, we didn鈥檛 board this time and just carried our longings onto the trains ahead of us. A little melancholy is part of real travel, and dreaming is explicitly allowed.
That was probably why I was so excited when I saw the little trains passing over the bridges ahead of us. I鈥檒l admit, our timing wasn鈥檛 a coincidence鈥攅specially when it came to the big bridge, it was planned in advance. But out here, where trains only run every few hours, a little planning isn鈥檛 a bad idea, and it also builds the anticipation that adds just the right spice to the whole experience.
And even though the view of the larger bridge and the vast, forested river valley is a bit more impressive and majestic, I was still very happy when the little train rolled past us on the small bridge overpass. As I said, we didn鈥檛 just happen to see it by chance, even if it was ultimately a nearly spontaneous decision.
In my mind, I鈥檓 still waving my arms. And even now as I write these lines, I wish I was sitting on that very train, taking a trip through the heart of the country. With no destination and no rush, just being on the move, for the sake of traveling. The world would pass me by, and my dreams and thoughts would join me on a wonderful journey.
I could set off right now!