I was an exchange student in rural Japan in the early 2000’s and I think that was the final moment you could see the world like this. There were no smartphones yet or ubiquitous internet. I had some guide books but they were very general.

My host family didn’t speak English at all. Every day was like a puzzle: what does this building do? What are these tickets people have? What is this strange food, is it even food? How does this toilet even work? My only contact with home was an email I sent every month, because I had to go to a special place a different city that had internet. There were so many snacks, books, products, clothes, TV shows that no one at home had ever heard of.

I went back in the 2010’s and everything had changed. The security of your phone makes the feeling of isolation, risk, and adventure disappear. You can look everything up, it’s been documented, you’ve heard of it already. You’re still texting and talking to your normal friends on social. Everything is everywhere, you don’t really detach from home.

It really was a special window of time.