Since the final destination was the United States, my sense of Japan and the United States is mixed, and I feel almost no difference even in Japan.
I removed the Moomin tag from my bag and finished packing.
Here are some impressions from my trip around the world.
■ I felt hope for the world.
There are surprisingly few bad people, and 98% of people are good.
The world is a wonderful place.
I felt hope for the world.
Although there are various pessimistic news reports, the world is wonderful and not something to be discarded.
■ The world is getting better.
In the past, slavery was commonplace in South America and other parts of the world. For example, in Potosi, Bolivia, 8 million slaves were used and discarded to mine silver. Now, slavery has disappeared, and although there are economic difficulties, things are much better than they were a few decades ago.
■ The world could have become even worse. The current world is not that bad.
There was a possibility of the Auschwitz massacre and the destruction of entire continents by nuclear bombs, but now that crisis has receded. The world could have become much worse, and compared to that, the current world is much better, especially compared to just 100 years ago.
The current world is not as bad as it is said to be. There is no need to be pessimistic, and the world is full of hope.
■ Countries and places that were good.
Culturally, Israel is number one. The Old City of Jerusalem was very attractive.
In terms of nature, South America. The nature of Patagonia was also good, but overall, Bolivia was my favorite in South America.
If I were to live somewhere, it would be the United States. I think I could live there without any sense of discomfort.
■ Thoughts on the economy.
There are many things I think about, but first, I realized that Japan has very cheap prices.
You can eat at a restaurant for just 1,000 yen. It feels like half the price of Europe, or about 1.3 times the price of South America. It's too cheap. Shopping is also cheap.
I realized that the value of the Japanese yen has become too low, and the value of the yen overseas has been continuously declining. Compared to my old blog posts, it's common for prices to be 1.5 times higher, and sometimes even 2 or 3 times higher. South America used to be very cheap, but now it costs a considerable amount of money.
It seems that a trip around the world could have been done for about 1 million to 10 million yen in a year if you cut corners, but that is impossible now.
The prices in Japan have not changed in 10 years, or have even decreased, but the prices in the world have increased by 2 to 4 times in the last 10 years. On the other hand, the exchange rate has not changed much, so even if you have the same amount of Japanese yen, you can buy less. I feel that the value of the Japanese yen has decreased by 1/2 to 1/4 compared to 10 years ago. If you imagine that a person who earned 4 million yen in Japan 10 years ago now earns 1 million yen, you might feel a sense of incongruity, but that's not the case. It's that the prices in the world have increased. The value of the Japanese yen when taken overseas is constantly decreasing. While the value of the Japanese yen has fallen by about 1/2 in developed countries, the price increases in developing countries are tremendous, and the value of the Japanese yen has fallen to 1/4. Although the amount of Japanese yen is the same, the Japanese people are carefree, but from the perspective of the world, the Japanese people are becoming increasingly poor.
It's fortunate that I was able to spend money at this critical time when Japan is becoming increasingly impoverished. If the value of the yen continues to decline, the cost of a round-the-world trip might double.
■From now on
I am very satisfied with my life because I have completed a round-the-world trip.
Therefore, I do have a desire to work, but if I didn't have that desire, I might be so satisfied that I wouldn't regret dying right now. I have things I want to do now, so I will do them, but I am very satisfied with my personal life.
Even though I call it a round-the-world trip, it wasn't to many countries, and I didn't go to Africa, but I was satisfied because I was able to visit the countries I was interested in.
I was also able to do an overseas motorcycle tour, which I had wanted to do for a long time.
Satisfied. Satisfied. That's all that matters.
The world is a wonderful place. It is full of hope.