Alone on the Road?
Looks like we’re not going to Japan together. But I could go on my own. The question is: do I want to?
The answer is (perhaps surprisingly) no.
As is the case with every conference and convention that I’ve attended so far, Nippon 2007 will be held in some convention centre surrounded by posh hotels miles away from the city centre. If I stay in my chosen budget accommodation, getting to the centre will involve at least two train rides and I have to play the party-pooper in order to catch the last train home.
That’s off-putting. I know what I’m talking about, because it was like that in Glasgow (there, as in Yokohama, public transport was so involved that I ended up trekking to the convention centre in my dress shoes—my feet still ache at the memory).
But that’s not all.
If you want to experience more on your travels than the average tour-party member, loneliness comes with the territory. But that doesn’t mean that it can’t turn on you and bite you on the arse. This is why I now shy away from prolonged solo trips.
However, there are different flavours of loneliness. There is that quality feeling you get if you’re riding on the roof of a train with your rucksack as your pillow and the stars overhead, or when you exchange some sweets and a smile because you would really like to talk to each other but neither of you knows the words. And then there is the kind of loneliness that you get in a big city, when you can overhear everybody’s conversations but nobody wants to talk to you. Or—multiply that by ten—everybody else is having a great time and just assumes that you do, too. “See ya!” they say with a wave and turn around to talk to their mates. That the kind of loneliness you get when you attend a festival or a convention on your own.
No thanks, I can be lonely at home, free of charge. And in the meantime I can get on with some work.
Being home alone isn’t a bad thing.
P.S. Bollocks to that! I’ve just booked myself into the Hotel Senai opposite the youth hostel and within walking distance from the con. My hubby said that if he isn’t coming, I don’t need to rough it and I should stay somewhere nice.
I’m still in two minds about travelling anywhere else in Japan afterwards. I may not bother. But going to Worldcon is important to me, I want the first draft of ‘The Centuries Summer’ finished by then and seriously shop around for an agent or publisher. I’m attending this con as a writer—that is why I have to go.
Tags: Japan without a Clue, NIPPON2007, Travel, Worldcon, Tag Index
Denni