On why we travel

Initially, to lose ourselves, then, to find ourselves. Today's story is to explore one of the world's most revered travel writers Pico Iyer and his 32 years life in Japan- a country he calls "home".

 "Japan is, therefore, an ideal place because I never will be a genuine citizen here, and will always be an outsider, however long I live here and however well I speak the language.  And the society around me is as comfortable with that as I am not rooted in a place, I think, so much as in absolute values and affiliations and friendships that I carry everywhere I go; my home is both invisible and portable. But I would gladly stay in this physical location for the rest of my life, and there is nothing in life that I want that it doesn't have."

On getting lost in Tokyo

Tokyo, one of the busiest capitals in the world, offers unlimited modernity and distractions. The Japanese have a saying, "dumplings are better than flowers" - no matter how much nature is admired, food comes first. If it is your first time to arrive in Tokyo, Iyer recommends the first place you see is the Tsukiji fish market and try the freshest sushi in the world. From then, he suggests heading to Ueno, a home built around a park that still has a faintly rural feel. After that, wander through the Tokyo National Museum, exploring the best collection of classical Japanese art in the world. At dusk, streets become busy, all the neon lights and billboard advertisements on buildings lighting up. The views and chaos of noise seem to last forever and never stop.

"The power of Japan, for me, lies in everything you find here that you couldn't imagine seeing in another country, even – sometimes especially – when what you think you're enjoying is something foreign, deliciously lost in translation."

On falling in love in Kyoto

Pico Iyer wrote about the atmosphere temples, sublime gardens, tradition teahouses and home of geisha in his second book, The Lady and the Monk: Four Seasons in Kyoto. It tells a romantic story about a tireless traveller falling in love with a Japanese lady. She leads him away from the solitary path and takes him into interesting emotional territory. This is a true story about Iyer and his wife. 

Kyoto lies in Western Honshu, is one of the main islands and the most beautiful cities of Japan. Wander Kyoto at night, and you will walk in and out of arcades crammed with yellow-haired girls in micro-skirts and boys in hip-hop clothing. You will feel the lights are smaller, dimmer and alluring, but more enticing. You will hear the prayers of women of the night in the shrine, through the large orange tori gates of Yasaka Jinja. 

"Falling in love is easy, but staying in love is often the real-world challenge many of us face – and brings its enduring beauties."

"And if travel is like love, it is, in the end, mostly because it's a heightened state of awareness, in which we are mindful, receptive, in dimmed by familiarity and ready to be transformed. That is why the best trips, like the best love affairs, never really end."

 On home

"In an age of acceleration, nothing can be more exhilarating than going slow. And in an age of distraction, nothing is so luxurious as paying attention. And in an age of constant movement, nothing is so urgent as sitting still."

That is how transformative travel can be.

"For more and more of us, the home has less to do with a piece of soil, than you could say, with a piece of soul."

(All quotes from Pico Iyer)