Latvian musician Alise Joste cycles 2,600 kilometres across Japan alone

Latvian musician Alise Joste recently cycled 2,600 kilometres across Japan on her own. She shared her experience with the Latvian news portal Delfi. The musician says she has found it hard to live a so-called normal life, so she chooses adventures that let her get to know both the world and herself. The trip reaffirmed for her that she is free to choose her own path in life.

Japan as a "angular" country

Alise describes Japan as very angular. People seemed that way to her because rules are strict and are followed. The landscape was angular too, when no winding temples or mountains were in sight, and so were the written characters. Overall, though, she finds Japan very similar to Latvia: outside the cities the green scenery looks familiar, and nothing seemed extremely unusual.

Unlike a tourist who spends a few weeks visiting temples, attending a tea ceremony and eating a bowl of ramen, she also experienced everyday boredom and monotony. The experience helped her appreciate Latvia: when you travel to the other side of the world, you see that everything there is just as ordinary.

Pace and challenges of the trip

Alise spent almost two months in Japan. The cycling itself, not counting days off, took 37 days, and the rest was a bit of "leisure". She does not single out any one thing as especially difficult: planning, getting there and pedalling each have their own challenges. Every day requires making a plan, pedalling, eating and resting.

The hardest part was not losing sight of why she was doing it. For Alise, the most important thing is to enjoy the adventure. At times her inner "top student" appears, wanting to do everything better and faster, and when her inner bar is not reached, it feels like failure.