Traveling With a Beautiful Girl - Chapter 12: View Of The Ocean From Atami

Today’s clear weather might have been the greatest stroke of luck in my life so far.

“Wow…”

Nanase found this place while surfing the internet – a hotel in the Atami area with the highest rating and a day-use hot spring.

From the open-air hot spring, we could see Sagami Bay, the cloudless blue sky, and the vast ocean. The view was so filled with blue that it was hard to find the boundary between the sky and the sea.

“Everything else seems so trivial now…”

I muttered as I soaked up to my shoulders in the hot water. It is said that when people gaze at something larger than themselves, such as the sky, sea, or mountains, they release serotonin-like substances that help calm their minds.

I had read about it in a dubious internet article full of ads, but now that I was experiencing it, I was convinced.

“My serotonin is really flowing now…”

Since it was a weekday afternoon, I was the only one in the hot spring.

So, I could talk to myself out loud without any worries.

“Ah, I feel revitalized.”

If Nanase were here, she’d probably say something like, “You sound like a worn-out old man,” but I genuinely felt that way.

Recently, I had been feeling suffocated. Surrounded by crowds, city billboards, school, smartphones, and an endless stream of information, my days had been restless.

Despite the human brain not changing much since the Jomon period, it’s no wonder it gets tired from being bombarded with so much artificial information.

“Every once in a while, we should return to nature like this…”

Closing my eyes, gentle sensations caressed my senses.

The sound of the waves, the smell of the sea, and the touch of the wind on my cheeks.

The cold, lead-like stress substances that had been clogging my brain’s blood vessels seemed to melt away slowly.

It was as if nature was reminding me that this was where humans truly belonged.

When you’re feeling troubled or down, connecting with nature might be the best solution.