旅 (Tabi)

人生の毎日が旅。

Every day of life is a journey.

This is a realization I came to while exploring Alligator River Wild Life National Refuge with my dear Andrew and one of his good friends.  I stopped to take a photograph for the first time in a long time.  I saw something that caught my thoughts… Beauty.  I enjoyed the scene for several moments, lingering in it.  That’s when I thought the words “人生の毎日が旅。”

“What are you thinking?”  Andrew can see the thoughts move in my head like gears of a clock.

“Every day of life is a journey…  Journey?  Is that the right word?”

As I began to define the word tabi to him in English, we came to realize that “journey” was indeed the exact translation of the word, but it still didn’t mean the same thing.  It took a while to figure out what the difference was.

“I think it’s cultural,” I told him.  “When you say in English, let’s go on a journey, you never leave your sentence just at that.  It’s always, let’s go on a journey to such-and-such a place.  In Japanese, we can simply say, 旅しよう。(Literally, let’s do a journey) and it is understood that your are journeying to enjoy the adventure set before you.  It is not directionless.  It’s direction is to enjoy the moments and the surprise of a wonderful destination.

人生の毎日が旅。

Every day of life is a 旅。