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El viaje del samurai
(2021), the first novel by journalist and TVE presenter Marta Solano is an autobiographical story that tells the adventures of a mother and her son in Japan.
Its pages read like an entertaining travel diary through the land of the rising sun, with the inevitable culture shock included.
From the Geisha quarter in Kyoto to Hiroshima by bullet train and from the peace of the onsen to the madness of Tokyo.
As a inveterate traveler, how is your level of 'wanderlust'?
Do you want to travel again? I try to take it easy, because I am very, very traveler and so long without leaving Madrid can be claustrophobic.
I have learned to enjoy what is close and live more zen, with less rush, fewer dreams and distant plans.
Now I let my imagination run wild, like in
The Samurai Journey
to visit exotic places.
And it is something that my readers are grateful for, who, like me, miss catching a plane and disappearing for a few days. Have you thought about the trip you are going to take when the pandemic subsides? I have promised my son, who is more of a traveler than me, that as soon as we can we will go to
Australia or New Zealand
.
I am in a moment of my life in which I want to travel far, as much as I can.
I love Europe and, although I have visited it almost in its entirety, we have it closer, they are more comfortable trips.
Now I don't mind spending 24 hours on a plane and traveling for more than a month to the antipodes or countries of Asia, Africa or America with a couple of backpacks with just enough to move. How did you come up with preparing a surprise trip to Japan for your son? I have always been fascinated by Japanese culture.
Japan was among the countries that I did or did want to visit.
It is a safe destination to travel with an 8-year-old child, with a surprising culture, beautiful landscapes and ancient traditions.
I really admire those deep roots in societies.
And the
East is still unknown
to the West, from which we have much to learn. Is it easy to travel with a child of that age? Ivan, my little samurai, is my best travel companion.
Although I admit that I had some fear of traveling so far with him, the two of them.
He did not know if he would hold up well the beating of the trip
(to go three planes);
around the corner, two.
We went on one of the hottest summers in Japanese history and the trip, with everything we wanted to visit, was going to be demanding.
He was terrific.
I really enjoyed watching him enjoy Japan.
So far it is the trip of a lifetime, but there will be more. And for you?
What has been the trip of your life? It is difficult to choose one.
After Japan, we visit Peru and walking through Machu Picchu and Cuzco or flying over the Nazca lines is also an unforgettable experience.
Many ask me when "El viaje del Inca" is for.
I like to make albums when we come back from our travels.
From time to time I see them and I get excited seeing myself trekking through Perito Moreno (Argentina), riding a snowmobile through Lapland (Finland), seeing giant tortoises in Prison Island (Zanzibar) or riding an elephant near a Buddhist temple in Thailand
However, when I travel to Asia it is when I have the feeling of traveling more in time, of feeling in another world, like when I was on the Chinese wall or walking through Kyoto and we met a geisha.
The journalist during a trip to Japan.
"Nobody in the world behaves like the Japanese," he writes in his book.
What can we learn from them?
They are the most civic, respectful, kind and educated people I have ever seen.
It is common for neighbors to meet one Sunday a month to clean up the neighborhood.
In Japan, unlike the West, there is no individualism.
The collective prevails, empathy.
When you travel to Japan you are surprised by the silence, the patience when waiting for your turn, the extreme cleanliness in the public toilets.
Everything flows because they have been taught as children to be like that, to think about the other and move through cities like Tokyo in single file.
It seems that they are at school, even because of the clothes they wear, always discreet.
The picaresque, breaking the rules, does not enter the Japanese mentality. If you could import a Japanese invention, what would it be?
The bento or the 'millennium falcon toilets'? The toilet, no doubt (laughs).
When I was going to travel to Japan, some friends told me that I was going to 'hallucinate' with Japanese baths.
So it was.
Seeing is believing.
They are packed with buttons with functions for everything you can imagine.
You almost need an instruction sheet.
In
The Voyage of the Samurai I
recreate a real situation that happened to me with my son in one of those millennium falcon toilets (laughs).
Tell me about an experience that no one should miss in Japan: The onsen hot springs.
It is quite an experience.
When you are there you understand why Japanese people who live very stressed by work love these hot springs.
They are in the middle of nature, with very hot water.
They are separated by sex, because inside you are completely naked and there is a whole hygiene ritual before entering that I explain in detail in the book.
It's wonderful. What do you need for a perfect vacation?
Good company to share the trip, visit historical places - I am passionate about history and art - and live an adventure that allows me to get 100% into that culture that I am visiting. Tell us one thing that you cannot miss in your luggage. I travel very lightly.
Usually with hand luggage, something that speeds up transfers by plane, train, bus.
I usually wear old clothes that do not return to Spain and I return with a suitcase full of souvenirs, gifts.
But it is essential a camera, a notebook and cash (in addition to documentation in order).
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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