Nikko, Japan A World Heritage Site

Why people are allowing themselves to rediscover the art of travel

A couple traveling from Nikko, just north of Tokyo, in rural Japan decide on a spur of the moment to fly to Okinawa (to check out the island’s fabled coral reefs and Ryukyu Kingdom ruins. Their options are to depart through Tokyo’s Narita Airport, which offers the cheapest fares, or take Japan’s on-time bullet train further south to Osaka to depart from Kansai International Airport.

Why spend the little bit extra in time and money to depart from Kansai? Because the couple knows that when Kansai opened in 1994 after seven years of construction, it was located atop the largest island ever built by man (until surpassed by Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok airport island in 1998).

Kansai’s terminal, a great undulating steel and glass structure that runs almost 6,000 feet from end to end.

But even more stunning is Kansai’s terminal, a great undulating steel and glass structure that runs almost 6,000 feet from end to end. Designed by the master Italian architect Renzo Piano, the terminal is considered one of the great architectural wonders of the late 20^th century.

Narita is a fine airport, but unmemorable. Most of the people who travel through it cannot tell you a year later what it looked like.

The couple decide to fly from Kansai (left), reasoning that for the small extra expenditure, they will get to experience extra time on the bullet train and see one of Japan’s most beautiful and monumental modern structures.

Their decision – to take extra time and expense – is becoming more and more common among knowledgeable travelers. There’s a host of reasons why, ranging from economics, to aesthetics to simple maturity.

For one thing, as the market relentlessly drives airfare prices down, there is less and less incentive to make travel choices solely on cost. The expenditure of even a few extra dollars can mean a great increase in pleasure.

For another, as people become more experienced travelers, they start to stray off the beaten path. They realize that getting there should be part of the fun of travel, and that if they want to take in Okinawa, why should the trip between Nikko and it be a blur capped by architectural mediocrity? Why not linger on the bullet train and take inspiration from Piano’s gorgeous terminal? Memory of previous missed opportunities will remind them to ask the wise question, “Will I ever pass this way again?”

Age plays a part in this, too. As earning power increases, so does patience and a world view that subtly shifts its focus. Where you are, not where you will be, becomes important. Unlike teenagers, who constantly cruise around looking for the elusive “where it’s at,” older people know that if you plunk yourself down at a sidewalk café or park bench, the world very soon pretty much comes to you.

As you await the world, there is no rule that says you can’t wait in comfort or that you can’t spend a little extra for it. That realization is leading to a change in travel habits and the rediscovery of travel as an art. Like art, which often takes over from the artist and goes in unexpected directions, the art of travel rewards its practitioners with the grand prizes of surprise, discovery and the ability to live happily in the moment.