Would you rather go to the seaside or climb up a mountain?

I guess if I had to say I would choose climbing up a mountain. When I was a child my family would sometimes go to the beach and that was a lot of fun. I I remember that I enjoyed building sandcastles and then watching them be eroded away as the tide came in. I think all kids like doing this. However, as I got older I’ve pretty much lost interest in beaches in general. For example, some years back I took a trip to Hawaii and was very excited about the idea of lying down on the beach and doing nothing. Unfortunately, I absolutely hate doing nothing and anyway it was too hot so I gave up after about half an hour. In fact I was a little miserable.

on the other hand, if we are talking about climbing up mountains, that also is something I have some reservations about. One of the first is that it is actually quite hard work and the risk of getting injured at my age is probably fairly high. Also, I don’t like heights at all so I certainly wouldn’t want to go up to a very high place. Some nice gentle hillwalking would probably be ideal for me. We also have to consider the unique geography of Japan. Japan is the only country in the world unlucky enough to be situated on the point where four tectonic plates meet. Indeed, pretty much all of the famous mountains for walking in Japan are potentially explosive volcanoes. And indeed, over the last few years there have been some tragedies as ‘mountains’ have erupted and hikers killed.

All in all, the nicest place to spend time in my book, is in my garden with my wife. As is often the case in life, a third option is usually the best.