Most people see traveling abroad as an adventure. And some people take that notion to the next level. Shona Takagi is a second year medical student from Sapporo, Japan. And as Ethan Huang reports, he’s on a journey across the states. This story was also reported on by Daphne Yaman.
Today, if you saw a man on campus wearing a green camping backpack with an attached foam mat and a whiteboard that reads: “Traveling Across the U.S.,” there’s a good chance you caught Shona Takagi. He’s a traveler from overseas.
Shona Takagi: “My travel is 50 days and this is day 28. I came to JFK Airport and started my travel and went to a lot of cities: New York, Boston, Niagara Falls, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Chicago.”
And now he’s here in Southern California on our campus. Inspired by a YouTuber, he’s making his way coast-to-coast all for fun.
Some may expect a big budget for a trip of this scale, but Takagi found a wise way around the cost of travel by hitchhiking, riding trains, and other unconventional means.
Shona Takagi: ”I usually sleep in train in midnight or use Couchsurfing. Couchsurfing is an application and travelers can find their hosts… and so travelers can stay in their home for free.”
One memorable experience from his travels is actually one of his earliest during his time in New York.
Shona Takagi: “In Buffalo, I learned to cycle and yeah, a car stopped in front of me and he said, “Please show your sign” and he read my sign and he gave me 50 dollars.”
From the Grand Canyon to Las Vegas, Takagi has been all across the nation. So how and why did we catch him at USC?
Shona Takagi: “Yesterday, I stayed at a host house and he said to me that USC is a very, very smart university and beautiful campus.”
There’s still 22 days to go in his adventure, and he’s looking forward to visiting San Diego, San Francisco and the Silicon Valley in the coming weeks. You can support his journey by following his Instagram at Shona underscore Japan and donating to his Paypal.
For Annenberg Media, I’m Ethan Huang.