Tourist Envy: Getting up and Going

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Was it scary to leave a career in San Francisco to travel?
You bet. I had a very good job and I really felt like I was moving up in my career. I sold my truck and my furniture and threw away just about everything else.

Some people applauded my great sense of adventure. Others were quick to remind me of what I was throwing away. There was always a sense of doubt in the back of my mind that what I was doing was a great mistake, that I would never be able to return and get back into a worthwhile career.

How did you choose to go to Taiwan and Japan?
Making a decision to go to Asia was easy. The difficult part was deciding where to go first. I had narrowed it down to several choices until I met a friend for dinner. He told me if I went to Taiwan his cousin could pick me up at the airport. Well, all I need for a trip to begin is a ride. Over the after-dinner coffee I decided my journey would start in Taiwan.

Japan was a different story. After Taiwan I traveled to many different Asian countries. I was curious if another country would entice me to stay. But I think I always knew I would end up in Japan. I'm often asked why I came to Japan and I haven't yet come up with an answer that I'm satisfied with. It could be Japan's unique ability to intertwine modern society with ancient culture. It could be the arts or the sake. It could be one of my favorite childhood books - "Momotaro", "The Peach Boy." I'll let you know if I ever figure it out.

How was it when you first showed up?
The Taipei sky is a lovely walnut color that coats your tongue with a bitter aluminum taste. My discount hotel was a hovel squeezed between two towering office buildings. It was difficult to sleep because the evening was so hot.

On the first morning I examined the holes rats had nibbled in my pack and resigned myself to the fact that the day was hotter than the night. I was certain my stay in Taiwan would be short lived. I couldn't have been more mistaken.

What are you doing right now?
Sitting in my living room looking out over the silver tiled roofs of Kyoto homes. I'm teaching English as a source of income. What I'm doing in Japan however could take days to answer.

My most important endeavor is studying Japanese. This is very important to me because so much of a culture is communicated by language. So much is lost on the outsider when they can't even communicate on the same level as a 5 year-old child.

What has traveling brought you?
I always considered myself to be quite savvy in regards to the international world. How wrong I was.

Living abroad has shown me how much I don't know about other cultures. This is not a terrible thing. It's refreshing to look at the world from a different perspective from what I considered normal. And I have discovered so many foods and places and people and things that I never could have imagined without putting myself there.

Any plans to try something else soon?
My big push at this moment is to become fluent in Japanese. So I seem to be fairly rooted here in Kyoto. Recently I took a diving trip to Ishigaki Island. I made some really good friends and we drank Awamori, Ishigaki rice liquor, hunted for octopus and swam with giant manta rays. It reminded me how much pleasure I get out of exploring new places and meeting new people. I don't know where I'm going next, but you can be sure I'm going somewhere.

What place did you like the most?
That's a tough one. The most beautiful moments were a combination of place and timing and people.

I spent weeks in a bamboo hut on the island of Koh Chang in Thailand. I came to know the people that lived there and we spent hours together swimming in the sea, eating drinking and just playing around.

The view from the 80th floor of the Hilton in Shanghai, sharing a martini and cigar with my father and brother. But for sheer unspoiled beauty, one of my favorite countries is Laos. Unlike any most other places in Asia that have been scarred and altered by war, Laos remains beautiful. There never were roads to destroy or buildings to decay. Just huts of wood in the shade of the jungle.

Eating a salty grilled banana in a small village, you may never want to leave.

Is there anything you don't like?
I miss being able to pop over to my parents' house for dinner. I had never realized how connected we were with each others lives.

Now I return for two weeks in Christmas and every now and then a family member comes over to see me. I suppose I miss something I don't have any more.

On the other hand I've realized how important the lives of my family are to me and I'm grateful for that.

What advice would you give someone who wants to go abroad?
The reward of travel only happens once you're on the road. Pick the name of an airport in a country you want to go to. Pick a day and buy your ticket.

After you've bought your ticket you can start to research why you’re going and what you'll do there. Don't let planning delay the fun.

Would you like to add anything?
The world wide slump in the economy and the threat of terrorism, both real and political hype, have created an unhealthy distrust of everyone different. It will take people who are courageous enough to embrace different cultures and opinions to reverse this trend.

There is no better time to hit the road than now.

Helene Goupil is the editor of InsideOut Travel. Check out Greg Greunke's Web site at www.geocities.com/soulsoilus

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