The Wife and I recently went on a brief three-day tour of Scotland and, as part of that little excursion, we went for a cruise of Loch Ness. Oddly (or perhaps not), apart from the guy talking about the monster beneath the surface, and the guy steering the boat, the other fifty people on board were Japanese.
I've never felt as far from home as I did right then, and listening to one of the Japanese guys translate the thick Scottish accent of our tour guide is certainly up there with the most surreal experiences of my life.
And all this just outside my back door.
I have been to the Arabian Desert, the bustle of Paris, the noise of New York, the tourist-friendly trap of Orlando, stood in a cell on Alcatraz, and been to the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge; and they're always there right next to me. Of course, I saw a few wandering the streets of Tokyo as well, but that's just silly.
I reckon, when someone finally gets a rocket to the surface of Mars we may just find the Japanese tourists have already been there. Camera in hand. Smiles.
And maybe a McDonald's or two.
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