After tasting the intricately interconnected history of empires in the Middle East, visiting South Korea and Japan this year was a treat. Much like the the nations around the Mediterranean, many of the North East Asian countries such as China, Korea and Japan also a shared history. Whether this was their festivals or religious observations – there were many similarities. Especially when it came to engagement with the Western world when European powers came knocking during the Age of Discovery.

While I would still like to do a six week trip to the United Kingdom sometime in the near future, travelling to six different cities over the course of three weeks with my dear friend, bleachpanda, was still an experience in and of itself.

Most of the time I’ve ventured overseas, it’s been with family. In fact, there have only been two instances when it hasn’t been with one family member or another. The first was in 2013 when I accompanied a friend and her brother to the United Kingdom (but stayed primarily in and around London before heading to Czechia and Austria for a week). The second was my solo travel around the United States and Canada back in 2016 after being made redundant when I was selling books.

So, this third trip without family was still very special to me.

And while from date of ticket purchase to actual visit took nigh on six months, the decision to go to Japan in late February to early March was, at least in my eyes, a rather impulsive decision.

In fact, it came about when bleachpanda was browsing the internet and stumbled upon cheap ANA deals, messaging me, and then me readily agreeing to go before I plotted out our route through the cities while noting down the major sights we could see. True, there were places we didn’t quite get to see – like Onomichi or heading to Kawaguchiko and Arakurayama Sengen Park to see a splendid view of Mount Fuji – but overall, I still think our trip to South Korea and Japan will remain a particular highlight for the two of us.

Perhaps because we were not tethered to family or expectations and could explore South Korea and Japan unfettered. And as the two of us had some similar hobbies, it didn’t seem all too terrible to wander through a Mugiwara store or three, even as I dragged bleachpanda to the umpteenth Disney store in the city. Yes, I did get a little cranky when we stopped every fifteen minutes to spend another five to ten minutes at an accessory store in South Korea but it could have been worse.

And bleachpanda was very accommodating when it came to all the tourist sights I had us visiting, despite the occasional tiresome travel day we may have had. Or the fact I had her climbing up Namsan towards N Seoul Tower. Something she likes to remind me of every time I sing the Don Quijote song.

Would I go travelling again with a friend? Yes! Would I travel again with bleachpanda? Probably yes. She’s not the worst travel companion I’ve had and was pretty flexible about places to see and visit.

Travelling with friends can be a delicate balancing act but if you manage to communicate well, it can become much more fun.

Of course, keeping numbers low is still probably more beneficial than being in a large group. Unless, of course, your interests all align. Elsewise, being able to split away and do your own thing once in a while would probably be best.

In any case, visiting Japan has always been a treat. After growing up on a healthy dose of anime and manga, along with video games made by Japanese developers, there’s something fascinating about visiting Japan and soaking in the culture whilst physically there. It also helped that many of their aesthetics for plushies were right in my ballpark. Beyond the major cities, though, there’s also something magical about the smaller towns and the countryside. Less frenetic, they give people an opportunity to breathe.

South Korea, too, was a country of contrasts with one foot in its long storied history with the Joseon dynasty and the other in a ultramodern city setting. This was particularly prevalent in Seoul where people would hawk the latest Samsung TV or phone, which stood in stark contrast to the palaces of old.

While I know many a person who has come to fall in love with South Korea through their music, television shows and skincare products, I was still quite new to the whole experience. After all, the only Korean production I’ve watched is Squid Game and it doesn’t distill much except that capitalism is bad and people will oft times do anything to lift themselves out of poverty. Of course, the game is rigged up for the wealthy to enjoy the novelty of watching people scrambling to survive.

But while in South Korea, I managed to see beyond the image presented by the media it produced. Instead, I came to understand a little of what drove the people and their wishes for the future.

And that is something you can’t always get from a tawdry drama or two.

As someone who loves to read and play video games, exploring and seeing things for myself adds to my understanding of someone’s lived experience. It brings into stark reality the horrors people have endured that seeing it through a screen simply cannot capture. Reading personal stories about those in wars, listening to their testimonies, and seeing the repercussions puts these things into perspective and helps place these events firmly in reality.

We live so much of our lives online these days, it’s often hard to differentiate what is real and what isn’t. Heck, some people even question now if the Holocaust is real.

Like…why? How?

This is why it’s important to conserve our history.

Nations rise and fall but in many places, history has been preserved. And this was abundantly clear while I was in South Korea and Japan. While the actions of nations from aeons ago can be forgiven, they should never be forgotten lest human tribalism repeat the mistakes of old.

With that said, I do hope to revisit Japan again in the future, and perhaps a few more places in South Korea. But for now, I have my heart set on a few other countries I want to tick off. Namely Europe and the United Kingdom before I turn my attention to South-East Asia.

So many places to go, so many things to do…and yet so little time to experience this great wide world we call home.