Day 0 Simplicity and purity

watanabe — Sun, 19 Mar 2023 09:40:20 +0000

I’m heading to Central America, specifically Guatemala and El Salvador. The weather reports suggest that it will be hot for a while.

However, coffee farms are located at high altitudes, so the nights can get cold. To accommodate this, the TYPICA team asked us to pack as lightly as possible and only bring carry-on luggage. It was my first time traveling to Central America. And it had been four years since my last trip abroad, and I used to bring a lot of useless things. I didn’t have enough experience or savvy to pack for a special occasion like this.

Since I have a good excuse, I bought a trekking backpack that I’ve wanted for a long time and a tool bag small enough to meet the carry-on-only requirement.

One thing I was excited about was buying a light gray T-shirt with Anya’s face from SPY x FAMILY as a souvenir.

However, I had to leave it behind to make room for the coffee beans I’m bringing back to their origin. Now I’m left wondering who on earth will be wearing that T-shirt.

A lot has happened in the past four years in the world and also in places where my perceptions reach.

Now even to my surprise I’m so excited with childlike simplicity and purity to visit coffee farms.

Despite the cherry blossoms starting to bloom, it’s rainy and very chilly this morning. I put on a couple of winter pants as I headed out to the station in the rain.

My Thoughts before Traveling

watanabe — Mon, 22 Aug 2022 15:00:00 +0000

08-23-2022

My Thoughts before Traveling

First and foremost, I was very surprised when I received an email nominating me for the TYPICA Lab project. That was when Japan was still reeling from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and there were tight restrictions on overseas travel. I remember feeling bright and hopeful for the future, as I penciled in this positive schedule.

TYPICA always has unexpected tricks up its sleeves. Whatever they do, I thought I wouldn’t be surprised that easily. But I was even more surprised when I heard the details during a briefing session. The idea behind this project is simple. In a nutshell, “Roasters will get together, travel to coffee origins, meet farmers and see their work firsthand.” I was also told that our trip will be documented with an intense focus as part of the project. Roasters from the past to the present have always visited coffee origins. But I think there haven’t been many instances where a filming crew travels along with a team of roasters.

So I will be traveling with members of diverse backgrounds and characters, including roasters, importers, producers and filming staff, in an environment with such unique realism. As you all know, the world you’ll see during a trip can change in different ways depending on your travel companions. I hope that there will be a lot of fun and learning to be gained from this rare opportunity. Visiting specialty coffee production and processing sites, seeing them firsthand, learning about them and tasting coffee there – I’m looking forward to these experiences and meeting new people on this trip.

Travel is a very interesting thing. Put yourself in the perspective of a traveler, then you have fresh surprises and discoveries when you see and learn things. At the same time, there is a big limitation, too.There are things only locals can know and people from the outside can’t feel. Travel leaves behind a percepcion that’s biased one way or another in the minds of the traveler. But I think getting this skewed impression is the beauty of travel. Embracing that is human life.

HONO roasteria | TYPICA Lab

Day 0 Simplicity and purity

My Thoughts before Traveling

My Thoughts before Traveling