With my adopted family; Brenton, Will and Chris.
One of my fondest travel memories is of the impulsive road trip that we took to Kusatsu (草津）, an onsen town, in June 2009. Brenton, Chris, Will and I rented a car, got the car-hire guy to program the GPS, and drove. It was so liberating to say, ok we need to get out of the city, and then just do it.
We saw some incredible sights; a soaring three-pylon bridge half-built, flooded rice paddies, the night sky from the comfort of an outdoor hot spring bath.
Exploring Kusatsu onsen park
We got lost; instead of seeing ancient Jomon period ruins, we found a lonely mountain path with views of a damn under construction.
Roadside stop with Ariel Sharon (our car), Haruki Murakami and some confused Japanese carpenters.
We had so much fun; water balloons, Haruki Murakami’s Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World, a collection of flowers, a road that sung, Ariel Sharon and an Italian place with the worst wine known to mankind. And we became family.
Amandine is talking about getting her driver’s license and us hiring a car to drive from Lyon to Geneva to visit the UN in December. I can’t wait!
