Viva la Vida Travel with Carmen Schaffer

There are moments when we are traveling that take our breath away in the very instance  we are experiencing them and then there are moments that start us thinking and reflecting AFTER we've returned home from our travels. Often times, it's these moments that have the most impact. On my most recent bullet -train- fast -trip to Japan, there were moments that beckoned my attention but in the hustle of the travel, were lost in the speed of it all. It's as though a dangling carrot of curiosity hung before me and before I could feed the curiosity, it was pulled away and another carrot dangled before me. Travel does that. It tickles your sense of curiosity and wonder and makes you think, sometimes not always offering you time to process the experience fully in the moment, but it works it's way into your soul and reveals that same momentary sense of curiosity in times you least expect. While I was in Japan, the hustle of traveling on trains, buses, subways, boats

My Top 10 Experiences in Japan: 1. Buddhism.  The simple yet complex philosophies make sense to me and the practices from long ago can still be seen and felt in daily Japanese life. 2. Transportation I traveled by bullet train, public train, subway, busses, boats, gondolas, and cable car and so did everyone else in Japan. Every experience was peaceful and quiet as it is expected that people do not create noise while in transport. No chatter. No loud cell phone conversations. Just moving from one place to another in peace.  3. Bicycles with Baskets Bicycles were everywhere. Bicycles with baskets were everywhere. Not only are they extremely accommodating for zig zagging between the crowds of people on city streets, they are an inexpensive and useful form of transportation of self and goods throughout Japan. Young and old alike rode bikes through city and countryside streets. When was the  last time you saw an 80 year old lady riding a bike on a cobblestone trail? T