A trip can end when you're satisfied.

This solo trip to Yamagata.
Since I stayed overnight, I had a little extra time on the second day...
Actually, I had planned to do a bit more sightseeing.

I had already visited the Yamagata Castle ruins,
I had stopped by the art museum,
and the local history museum was within walking distance, too.

I did have the time.

But, by the time I finished walking through the Bunshokan,
I suddenly thought,
“I’ve had enough fun.”
So, I decided to change my return Shinkansen ticket to an earlier one.

“Since I’ve come all this way...”

If I thought that way, I could have packed in more plans, but I felt like, “I think I’m good.”

The reason I go on trips where I stay overnight
is often to enjoy the local food and sake.

But I’ve recently realized that isn't the only real purpose.

The reason I want to go on a trip.

It is...

Time where I don't have to worry about anyone.

No making lunch for my family in the morning.
No worrying about breakfast time.
No feeling like I have to finish laundry or cleaning first.

Of course, no one is forcing me to do these things.

In fact, my husband is the type who says,
“You don't have to make lunch when you're tired.”

Even so, I still end up worrying about it somehow.

Instead,
I take a long, relaxing bath at the hotel,
and lie on the bed watching TV.
It’s something I almost never do at home,
but for some reason, I can do it at a hotel.
(Though it might be because of the layout with the bed in front of the TV)

That
“time where I don't have to worry about anyone” is,
for me,a perfectly valid purpose for a trip.

This time, too, I ate almost everything I wanted to eat.
I enjoyed the local sake I wanted to drink.
I bought the souvenirs I wanted to buy.

On the way back, I had planned to have lunch before getting on the Shinkansen,
so for my final meal in Yamagata,
I thought, “Maybe I’ll have a beer at the end.”

But strangely, I wasn't in the mood for that.
It might be because I wasn't that hungry,
but more than that,
I was already satisfied.
That’s how it felt.

When it comes to travel,
I think people tend to think, “Since I’ve come all this way...”
I was like that too when I first started traveling alone.

But recently,

if I can think, “I’ve had enough fun,”



I’ve started to think that’s also one way to end a trip.

You don't have to see everything.

You don't have to eat everything.

You don't have to go everywhere.

If you were satisfied, that’s enough.

So for this Yamagata trip,
I changed my reserved seat
and came home on an earlier Shinkansen than planned.

But strangely enough,

I don't have the feeling of “I wish I could have stayed longer.”

Rather,
it was a trip that made me think,
“I’ll come back again.”

Come to think of it,it was the same in Niigata.
Because I encountered a "small piece of fabric"I didn't go to the shopping street I had planned to visit.
I didn't go to the sake brewery either.
But,

strangely enough, I have no regrets.That day, I was already fully satisfied by the encounter with that one small piece of fabric.

I’ve been thinking lately.
A good tripisn't a “trip where you went everywhere,” but
a trip where you could think, “That’s enough.”Maybe that’s what it is.

When I'm making plans, I list many potential stops, thinking,

"That place looks nice too,"

"and this place looks good as well."

That time is also one of the joys of traveling.

That time is also one of the joys of traveling.

But you don't really need to go to all of them.

I have summarized what I value when thinking about travel routes in this article.
▶︎How to create a solo travel route | Ideas and tips for planning a trip that's hard to fail

If I want to come back, I can just come back.
Recently, I've been able to think that way.

That's why I

"That's enough."

I think I might like to end my trip at the point where I feel that way.