How Are Halloween and Travel Similar?

One of the aspects of travel I love most is that you get to be somebody else if only for a day or even just an hour; the more eccentric and foreign to you the better.  I think this is why everyone loves Halloween, because it’s a vacation from ourselves.  Well, unless you’re 12 and under, then it’s all about the candy.

Traveling around the world, I have had the amazing opportunity to literally walk in other peoples shoes.  This is one of my favorites…

I am in a photo studio in Kyoto, Japan where they do a complete Geisha makeover on you.  The white make-up covers the face, neck and even chest.  From behind you’ll see where the white make-up forms a W shape which is to give a peak at bare skin and be a little erotic.

One thing’s for sure, I didn’t feel sexy.  It’s a beautiful costume but the weight of the Kimono combined with the elaborately and tightly tied obi at the waist made it difficult to balance and breathe.  My neck buckled under the weight of the wig and this was all before I strapped on a pair of high-heeled clogs called geta that Geisha traditionally wear.  I felt about as graceful as a giraffe wearing roller-skates.  But then we headed outside and it wasn’t long before people started surrounding me visibly thrilled to see what they thought was a real Geisha.  And they were Japanese!  I felt like a queen in that costume. I was both mysterious and alluring.  Two words no one would ever use to describe me and I loved feeling that way, if only for an hour.

Needless to say, this is much better than the sexy French maid.

What character are you disappearing into this Halloween?