We usually decide on our mode of transportation depending on traveling time and money when we want to travel from one point to another, usually using the shortest possible route when we go on travel tours or business trips. However, in the case of TRLab, we travel in groups and try all we can do in order to encounter new sceneries, people and discoveries, and share our new findings while traveling together. Because of this, the “space in which we travel in” becomes an important element and as a result we have mainly traveled by a mini van.
(I’m not sure whether there are actually people who travel like this…) The advantages of a mini van are the property of “space” that allow members to freely talk and work while we travel together, and also the fact that it is a mode of transportation with great “mobility” and “spontaneity”. The space inside the van is transformed into a laboratory and it was great for us to do recordings and exchange ideas about editing while we traveled in it. On the other hand, it would have been very difficult for us to get off at just any station when we find something interesting or go to that spot from the station or spontaneously change our route if we traveled by public transportation like the shinkansen (bullet trains) or trains. It is not very suitable for the members to make something together, or listen to any sounds or music together, or talk casually together. The way of traveling at the Traveling Research Lab is rather special, and we are also fully aware of the fact that there could be new encounters and discoveries by using public transportation. On top of that, it is great when the members get along well because we cannot escape from each other if we continuously ride on the same car, but at the same time if the casting is not right, the enclosed space might become hell if the members don’t get along with each other…
By the way, when I go on research trips or go shooting by myself, I often rent a motorcycle when I get there. This is because I can go to places that are further away, but it is also easier to just stop the bike and talk to people or shoot a photograph compared to if I was driving a car. On top of that, there is an extra advantage that people are usually less cautious towards a motorcycle than a car.
During the trip to Ogasawara Islands in 2016, we also rented motorcycles on the small islands after getting off the ferry to carry out our research on the island. Since we traveled separately, mamoru, who always woke up earlier than everyone else, had the pleasure to drive his motorcycle around in the morning to go to see the beautiful sunrise, and he also brought back edible fruits from a tree that he found, and brought new personal discoveries back to the team.
