2 years have passed since I left home to travel.
I'm now 23 years old, and I've traveled to many different places and met new people, some that were nice and some that were... questionable to say the least. I wasn't robbed, but a few times circumstances would lead to somebody being thrown into the ground by me.
Aside from stopping petty criminals, I was introduced to various cultures and lifestyles.
I tried new things, Learned some new hobbies and food recipes.
With all the money I had, I stayed in high-end hotels. Ate food fit for kings. I even bought a suit and went to some classy parties because why not. However, the suit didn't last very long as I kept stuffing it into my bag and then would iron it profusely if the occasion called for a suit.
While on my own journey, I've continuously grasped more knowledge than what I knew before I'm essentially a walking encyclopedia now. I could've just researched the majority of what I learned online but experiencing it all in person was a lot more enlightening.
It was a good thing I decided to learn 2 different languages before I started traveling. Since I chose Japan to be my first destination, I learned it first and then Chinese, since it was one of the most spoken languages in the world. However, the language barrier would appear as I traveled to other countries, some basic words and sayings were things I needed to know to get by until I could eventually find someone whom I can converse with in a language that I do know.
Since then, I began to speak more and more languages. Although I have yet to learn all of them, I could still converse with the majority about normal daily things.
Along with information gathering, I made stops at some famous landmarks to see what people find amazing, including Mt. Fuji in Japan, the Eiffel tower in Paris, The Great Wall of China in Beijing, The pyramids of Giza in Egypt. the Christ statue in Rio De Janeiro, I even went to see what was so interesting about the Stone Henges in England. Although, I didn't see the hype.
I didn't just visit the famous well-known 'easy to get to' landmarks though; I also dove into what mother nature had to offer on these different continents. I climbed some of the highest mountains, descended into dark underground caves, hiked through jungles, and explored places in various cold and hot climates.
While I gained little knowledge from these experiences, The sights were something that not even I could easily forget. I even have some pictures I took to send back home.
One of the experiences that strangely clung to me was the salt flats in Bolivia, South America. There was something about the clear, empty sight of the clouds and the blue-sky mirroring off the flat ground. A view that seemed to stretch for miles that I couldn't forget.
Whatever, you get the picture I blew away my money going to all these places to experience them for myself, moving on.
...
I've traveled through every continent. visited every country that was worth visiting, all in the span of 2 years...
But I still...
Feel nothing and think the same way.
I experienced it all and have memories that I'll take to my grave.
But I suppose it wasn't enough to fill the void in my chest and fix my soul...
...
After accepting my defeat, I was back in America. I landed in California and was going to just go back home, but I remembered I would just be back where I was empty, to begin with.
I didn't want to be there, but I was sick of flying.
"What a pain."
I reluctantly accepted this situation I was in and decided to just make my way home. However, my destination would soon change just as fast.
As I walked through the airport, I glanced over and noticed an advertisement.
Kinda weird to see a vacation ad about a cruise in an airport, but I don't care enough to say what should be done and how.
"A cruise huh? and it'll end in Tokyo at that. That's a far journey for a boat." I continued reading.
"These cabin prices don't seem very high for me, and it departs in a month."
A QR code was posted on the corner of the advertisement, so you can scan it and visit the cruise liner website on your phone.
I pondered for a bit then opened my phone to see how much money I had left, I calculated how much I would have if I bought the ticket, and how long the rest of it will last until the ship departs. Turns out I had enough to last a month even if I purchased a ticket for a cabin suite.
"How even more convenient."
I proceeded to scan the code and book a ticket.
...
1 month later, now boarding the ship.
"This ship is like a 5-star hotel on water."
It had fancy restaurants, a cinema, small little stores if you want your own groceries, a large pool, and other amenities.
I walked through the ship making my way toward my cabin.
...
"This room... is the size of a house."
A flat-screen tv, a couch, a kitchen with snacks and drinks in the fridge, a bathroom that's about half the size of the kitchen, and a large window to view the ocean. This is only the main living quarters.
I continue exploring my cabin. I walk down the hallway, in the middle across from each other are 2 normal size bedrooms. And further down...
"The master bedroom..."
A room big enough for a family to fit in.
"This is as big as the living room."
This master bedroom was like a whole cabin in itself. I continued looking around.
"What... this bathroom is twice the size of the other bathroom." And that's not the end of it.
"This bed...."
"It's bigger than a king size."
I flopped over onto the bed and made myself comfortable, and I proceeded to nap for half an hour.
...
Upon waking up, I sat at the edge of the bed. Alone in this room that's fit for a king.
"It's a change of pace, but maybe perhaps I shouldn't have bought such an expensive ticket. Someone else could've enjoyed all this."
"And I'm going to be stuck with this room for 20 days... Oh well."
...
I lived on the ship like it was any other day in the week, went to the cinema multiple times out of boredom, and cooked for myself most days since the restaurants were expensive, they had good food, but I only ate from the restaurants 3 times, and I exercised in the work-out facility they had. If I wasn't doing any of those things or simply walking around the ship, I was relaxing in my room.
Until 20 days finally passed.
...
I gathered my stuff, cleaned my cabin as much as I could, and headed out to the front of the ship to watch as we neared the dock.
"Although I'm arriving differently, this is still the same Tokyo where I first started."
After getting off the ship, I walked for a while looking for a suitable hotel and booked a room for a few days.
"Oh, what to do now?"
Now lying on the bed of my hotel room. Back to feeling disappointed about my fruitless journey.
For the first time, I felt something different, I just wish it was something other than disappointment though.
"... Well... I set sail on that fancy cruise just so I wouldn't have to go home... Now here I am."
I let out a deep breath and sat up straight. and just sat there in silence for a solid minute.
I looked over at my jacket and bag that managed to survive up till now.
"Oh well, should I go again?"
A pointless question.
"Pfft, as if. I'm not going to waste 2 years rerunning everything back. Besides, I don't even have enough money to afford another plane ticket."
Because of my decision to take a cruise, I am now in another country with only 300 dollars to my name.
"Well, aren't I just a genius." I say sarcastically.
I say that when in reality I didn't mind.
I grab my phone from my pocket and begin typing a message to my mother that I need money for one last plane ticket. After I finished typing, my finger paused and hovered above the send button.
"Even if I go back, what am I supposed to do now?"
I contemplated it for a while. In the end, I just erased the message, tossed my phone onto the bed, and rested my head in my palm.
"I'm tired of traveling anyways, I'll rest here for a month or so."
I laid back down and stared at the ceiling until I fell asleep.
...
The day after, I left the hotel for a while to go for a walk and get some air, I walked around Tokyo for around 6 hours and started making my way back to the hotel.
Still feeling defeated, but not a shred of emotion on my face saying so.
To others, I probably look like I'm just off to run some boring errands.
Nearing the hotel, I glanced across the street. Some teenagers were exiting a cafe happily talking about some new video game that just came out or something of the sort, I didn't really care.
I look back to the cafe and stared at the 'help wanted' sign hanging on the window.
"It might be a good change of pace. Let's see if they'll hire me."
I cross the street and walk into the small cafe. I was then hired without any issues.
For the next month, after going years without a real job, I would live a somewhat quiet life working a normal job in Tokyo.