Where would I go: Can I choose more than one?

 Aakash Vasireddy | Blog Post #4 | Non-Fiction Writing | October 11th, 2021

If I had to go anywhere, where would I go? A quite difficult question to ask someone who has not only felt trapped in their own home, fantasizing of the amazing places around the world to visit while the world quarantined, but has also been surrounded by cornfields for almost all of their life. There are so many fabulous places around the world worthy of a visit. Within the United States alone, from the bustling streets of downtown Manhattan and the Empire State Building of New York City to the towering mountains and intricate landscapes of Yellowstone National Park, countless places have piqued my interest, and so many more have yet to catch my attention.

However, if I had to choose one place to travel to in the world, I would choose Tokyo, Japan. If given the option to travel anywhere, visiting somewhere nationally seems like a bit of a wasted opportunity. I don’t think this is a “unique” answer by any means. Whenever I ask this question or see others being asked this question, Tokyo, unsurprisingly, comes up more than a few times.

The most explicit reason for traveling to Tokyo would be the change from the scenery I am surrounded by now. Chicago has most likely been the busiest “metropolis” that I have ever been to, but in comparison to places like New York City, Chicago is definitely not considered the busiest. Tokyo, as the Capital of Japan, has everything within its city. I love seeing pictures of the immense skyscrapers towering over the streets and the colorful lights shining brightly in the nighttime environment. Even within a photograph of a single street, there seems to be so much happening - so much to digest, process, and examine. Here in Champaign, there isn’t much variety nor vibrancy in my experiences within the city, especially because I am not truly immersed everyday with the city as I would be in Tokyo.

In addition to what I mentioned about admiring the photos of Tokyo’s cityscape, I must also note the opportunity that being inside such a lively atmosphere would provide towards my growing photography interests and ambitions. With my trip to Chicago, even without my Sony camera I now use quite often, I found myself constantly taking photos at whatever monument, building, architectural design, and point of interest I could find. I remember walking slightly behind my friends to get a picture of them walking along Lake Michigan’s waterside and putting my phone as close to the ground as possible to get a shot of the bike signs on the sidewalk. Exploring Tokyo would provide opportunities at every stoplight, corner, and crosswalk to snap a memory of my experience there and engage in my newfound interest.

I also want to explore the culture there. Of course, being halfway across the globe means being thrown outside the boundaries that I am accustomed to, but the environment in Tokyo seems interesting and full of life. Being in Japan, I would have to learn and adapt to the cultural norms present in the city. These cultural norms could be positive things or negative things from what I researched online. Apparently expressing overt forms of emotion is not common in Japan, and pointing at anything is considered rude or a bad mannerism. Nonetheless, getting exposure to this new culture would be extremely eye-opening, especially with the differences between the way of life I am accustomed to here in the US and the way of life in Japan.

Finally, the activities there seem to be endless. Even with a few days in Tokyo, I feel I would not even scratch the surface of the amazing and fantastical aspects woven into the labyrinth of the city. I could turn down any of the hundreds of streets in Tokyo and find myself in a new experience that would differ from anything I have experienced before. The prospect of having that overwhelming sensation of being a small dot within a giant city fascinates me.

Those are some of the reasons I would visit Tokyo. Whenever COVID ends, I hope that opportunity comes sooner rather than later.