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Tokyo Go-Kart

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Now on BBC News - The Travel Show.

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Coming up on this week 's Travel

Show. I dress up and hit the road

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here in Japan. We are going through

the most fashionable part of Tokyo

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and I am dressed as a Thomas. --

plumber. Lucy gets the lowdown on

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travelling without too much plastic.

And we meet a woman who was all

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alone in America's smallest town.

Everybody else has either passed

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away all moved away and this is

where I chose to stay. -- or.

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We are starting this week in Japan,

the home of video gaming. It is hard

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to believe that it's a full 40 years

since the space invaders game was

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invented here and recently, Tokyo's

sobriquet that anniversary of a

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special exhibition and giant video

wall, where today's generation of

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gamers can test their retro skills.

But space invaders isn't the only

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iconic and to have been created here

in Japan. -- videogame. Tucked away

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in the backstreets of sugar year,

just five minutes from the famous

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crossing, I have come to find a

guided tour with a different. --

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difference. I guess the best way to

describe what I am about to

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experience is a self drive videogame

simulation with some sightseeing

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thrown in.

Welcome to Mario Kart,

nice to meet you!

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This brings back memories from my

childhood. Yoshi, Luigi and Mario.

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It has got to be Mario. How do I

look? I feel like Michelle and

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Mario. -- Michelin.

We have the key

that starts the engine.

These

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go-kart tours have been run, taking

in the many tourist attractions for

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several years now and to take part

you firstly to show your ID and

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drivers licence from your home

country. Then there is a compulsory

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safety briefing.

When driving,

always one straight line OK? If the

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tour guide does one, it means it you

just stop in one straight line. OK?

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If the tour guide does two. Recently

come up behind, same lane, always

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the same lane, side by side. See the

two go-karts behind me there are?

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They are side-by-side and nice and

close, that is the stopping

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formation we want to see when the

tour guide does two.

Two, four, six.

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Is it possible to stall it?

It is

impossible. It is automatic. At the

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beginning the engine can be a bit

cold so before we depart it might

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cut out, you just start it began.

--

began. There is lots to think about,

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like how to drive the car for a

start and I feel exposed being so

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alone -- lo, then I have to think

about formations? Oh my gosh. I am

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not the best driver, you know, right

now this costume is the least of my

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worries. I have got my foot on the

brake. Where is the key? John, where

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is the key? LAUGHTER

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brake. Where is the key? John, where

is the key? LAUGHTER. This is

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ridiculous! Oh my god. Even though

it is a Sunday morning and the

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traffic is light, it takes a while

to get used to driving a vehicle

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that feels so low and exposed.

Slightly vulnerable, but I think I

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am getting the hang of driving this

car now. Oh my god. Do you see how

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close I came to a taxi? We are going

through the most fashionable part of

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Tokyo and I am dressed as a fact,

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through the most fashionable part of

Tokyo and I am dressed as a fact,.

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-- fact Thomas. Little chance of

anybody wanting to copy my outfit

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but Nintendo are reportedly unhappy

with their trademarks being used by

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the twos. There has been talk of

legal action but the subtle name

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change from Mar Sue Maricar and the

inclusion of other characters seems

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to be keeping the lawyers at bay. We

are coming up to the crossing. Oh my

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goodness. Oh my gosh, I can't

believe we are going through the

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crossing! Although some of Tokyo's

taxidrivers say that they can be

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disruptive and dangerous. Johnny

tells me that he has supervised over

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2002 is without any serious

accidents. But several cab drivers

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we met still had concerns.

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Last year, a record number of almost

29 million people came to Japan and

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as Tokyo gears up to host the

would-be games in two years time,

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the authorities are keen to see the

Maricar tours continue, but they are

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looking into how safe they are.

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New regulations now mean that

modifications will have to be made

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to the go-kart and it is hoped that

repositioning taillights and better

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back and head protection and

mudguards will provide safety for

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other road users and pedestrians.

Tokyo is such a hotbed of trends and

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innovation and as the birthplace of

idiot games, it would be ashamed to

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see an end to these tours are. Hope

the new safety regulations will help

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keep them on the road here. That was

so much fun! I really had a good

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time. Once I started to relax and

got used to driving this car it was

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crazy, I can't believe they let you

drive this on the streets of Tokyo.

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I really felt like I was in a video

game that most of the time. It was

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crazy and I was so close to cars, so

low down. That it was really fun and

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I felt like a celebrity, everyone

was waiting at you, it was a great

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way to see the city. -- waving.

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And if you're thinking of heading to

Tokyo any time soon. Here is the

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travel show guide and other things

you can see or do. Public transport

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here in Tokyo is clean, efficient

and easy to use, with signs in

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Japanese and English on all trains,

stations and us as. But if you find

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a language barrier and issue, there

are now plenty of reliable

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translation at speed can download to

your smartphone. If you are flying

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to all from Narita, one tip worth

remembering is not to take a cab

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because the cost can be I watering,

so jump on board one of the regular

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trains that run between the airport

and the city centre in stead. The

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end of March and the start of April

at peak times for travel in Japan as

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locals and terrorist two flock to

see the start of spring and the

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burst of colour brought in by the

annual cherry blossom season. --

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tourists. In Tokyo, one of the best

places to take it in is a national

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garden which is a short walk away

from Shinjuku Station. One piece of

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good news for travellers is that

nobody here in Japan expects you to

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leave a tip, providing good service

in Japan is all part of the code of

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hospitality. So there is no need to

give your waiter, taxi driver or

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porter anything other than what it

says on the bill. If you do there is

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every chance they might run after

you to return the tip. And if you

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are looking for something a little

different when it comes to taking

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travel pics, once you have visited

all the usual tourist sites in

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Tokyo, why not head to nearby

Yokohama or Kawaski, could jump upon

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a night cruise. Picking atmospheric

photos of plants, which translates

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to factory passion, is growing study

join in and you'll go home some

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striking pictures that are a world

away from the usual cherry blossom

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and kimonos that. -- snaps.

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Stay tuned to the travel show

because coming up after the break:

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Lucy is here with some tips on how

to travel the planet without using

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too much plastic. And we met the

woman in America who has a town all

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to herself.

I am the May at and I am

the town board basically, but then I

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do worry about elections because

there is not much competition.

So

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they go away. -- don't go away.

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We have been hearing a lot in the

news lately about sustainability and

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coffee cup recycling schemes, but

being green when you travel can be

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tricky. Disposable water bottles

like this are easy to feel at home

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without a second thought, but what

if you are in a new and unfamiliar

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city? Weed you go to get clean and

free water? Some places around the

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world I try to tackle the issue by

providing more drinking water with

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the hope of cutting down on single

use bottles thrown away. Travelling

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internationally it is worth firing

up the Wetap app. I really like the

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fact that it is community-based, so

if you stubble across a drinking

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fountain that isn't identified, you

simply tap this button here and add

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it to the platform. In London, a

network of tricking points is being

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rolled out in summer. Here in

Borough Market, new fountains are

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already up and running and rather

than a civil use disposable bottle,

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I have got this to try out the. This

what bottle connects to a app on

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your phone via Bluetooth. Once you

are connected, a sensor is able to

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detect how much water you are

drinking. You can set daily goals

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based on information and it will

glow to give you a gentle reminder

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when it is time to hydrate. However,

in order for it to keep tabs on how

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much you are drinking it needs to be

placed on a flat surface every time

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you take a swig. Great if you are at

their desk, not so much if you are

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at the gym or on the move. I like

that you can tell it where you are

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in the world, if you are in a hot

country it will increase in our

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times he tells you to ring. It is

not just cutting down on plastic

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bottles that will reduce your carbon

footprint. I popped in to see Andrew

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to talk about some friendly apps for

my next trip.

One I would recommend

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is going on Green Globe, it has

results, and attractions that are

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eco- friendly. Is a pretty extensive

list, P on Jamaica. To be in Jamaica

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right now! You can see there is a

list of all of the different ones

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here. Quite a lot of resorts.

Different resorts, you tap on the

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ones you are interested in and you

tap on it and also what it does to

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help the environment. The next one

is Olio.

I have heard a lot.

It is

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supercool, it is great if you are

travelling or not. It is all about

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reducing food waste. And so it means

that you can give away through that

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you don't need, but also get through

that people are giving away. If you

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are planning a trip and you look in

your fridge and you are like a have

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got a carton of milk and a fruit

role of fruit and it will go to

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waste. Put it on the app and

somebody will let it. The other way

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round is that if you are in a city

and you don't really want to pay for

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a meal or whatever, you look under

the act and see who is giving away

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food. The last one I would recommend

is Spinlister, think of it as a B&B

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but for bikes in your local area

that you can hire. I have searched

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Los Angeles and you search your

local area and find what is

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available and so there are road

bikes, mountain bikes, they do surf

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gear, ski gear, all sorts of stuff.

It usually works out less than

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around $20 a day and it is much

cheaper than getting taxis

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everywhere and you are eco- friendly

because you are riding a bike.

And

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finally, if you can't start the day

without a caffeine fix even away on

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holiday, then the pakito cup could

help. Reusable copycats are nothing

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new and some offer a discount if you

bring your own. That it can be

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annoying carrying those around. What

is great about the pakito is it

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swishes down and extends to three

different sizes. It is a little

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fiddly to pull out, but once fully

extended about a full-sized cup.

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Regular Americano, please.

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To finish this week, we're off to

the vast and rolling prairies of

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midwest to meet a woman in Nebraska

who pays taxes to herself, runs the

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only business in town and wins every

local election for mayor hands down

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because she is the only person still

living there. That has made her

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something of a tourist attraction in

her own right. I live here in Monowi

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Nebraska.

Everyone else has either

moved away or passed away. This is

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where I chose to stay. My parents

moved to a farm about a quarter of a

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mile out of town he when I was just

over a-year-old. For 14 years now I

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have been here by myself. We get to

this corner and an over that way...

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It looks like a rusty building

sitting in those trees. That was the

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town jail at one time. These were

just family pictures we had taken.

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My array of them here at is

immediate family. As a wedding

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picture. This is my German

grandparents. And then this was a

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family picture we had. That is me.

Basically all of us lived here in

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Monowi at one time. I have a

daughter and a son. They have both

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lived away ever since they got out

of school. People ask if they worry

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about me and I say they do but they

also respect the fact that this is

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what I want to do. The Post Office

and the little grocery store closed

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at about the same time we bought

this in 71. So that put us into the

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business. I open the Bharat Nayan.

Trucks come and salesmen come and

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customers come and some people come

to visit and have a cup of coffee.

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They leave messages for one another.

Their call to see if someone is

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here. It is a harbour and I think

everyone feels welcome to come.

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Everyone needs a place like that, I

guess, including myself. I needed

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this type of vehicle to haul things

for work and what have you. I am the

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only one who lives in town I thought

it would be great to show it off, I

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guess. Monowi. I don't go anywhere

where people don't recognise me,

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that's for certain. It was an active

church until the middle of the

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1960s. I used to go to church on

Sunday school there. My father 's

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funeral was the last funeral there

in March of 1960. This was broad

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Street. In front of my bar. It was

laid out, there were houses all

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around here. This is a new flag. It

has not been up for that long. It is

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beautiful. Being as I am the only

one here in town there are other

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responsibilities besides the bar. I

am the mayor. I am the town board,

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basically. But I don't worry about

elections because there is not a lot

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of competition. I kid about it but

if you're not within the city limits

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you cannot vote. And here is the

library. He had accumulated looks.

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He got put in here. He couldn't do

that they were put in for him. A

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wall over their is a clerk that his

son made. I think it is a great

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memorial to him because he was such

a book person. He would be so proud

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of anybody who comes to borrow some.

The town of Monowi and I, to a

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certain extent, we have become a

household word. I think people find

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it interesting or fascinating or

something. I have people who have

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been here from 47 of the states and

I have had from 41 or two foreign

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countries. When you get to be 84

years old there is a comfort in

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knowing everybody and around here

somebody is always checking on me

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and looking after me. You know,

doing things for me. So I am kind of

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spoiled because they keep track of

me and look after me. I don't have

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any desire to live anywhere else. I

am perfectly happy right where I am

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at right now.

That is it for the

travel show this week. Coming up

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next week... We look back at our

travels so far this year including

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the time Henry headed to Australia.

And when Mike got this gentle

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introduction to life.

There

gunshots, there are sirens. There

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are people crawling on the ground. I

don't know what is going on.

I hope

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you can join us for that. Don't

forget, if you want your followers

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on the road in real time you can to

on social media. Until next time,

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from all of us here in Tokyo, it is

goodbye.

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