Shimanami Kaido

Shimanami Kaido is a personal travel film about one of the most life-changing experiences I have had: cycling over 100km across one of Japan's most scenic coastal routes with six close friends.

The film was built around the feeling of movement, friendship, exhaustion, and pure freedom. More than just a cycling recap, it captures the emotional intensity of travelling through a place with people you care about, moving as a group through ocean roads, bridges, small islands, seaside towns, forests, and snow.

The route took us across the strait between Honshu and Shikoku, through quiet coastal towns and open stretches of ocean. I filmed heavily with the drone, capturing the untouched scale of the islands and bridges from above. The wind was strong enough to nearly knock me off my feet, but the drone held steady, allowing me to capture the calm, cinematic beauty of the landscape.

Alongside the aerials, I used POV cycling shots to bring the viewer into the experience: the pace of the road, the feeling of riding in a group, and the adrenaline of trying to keep up. We accidentally took the wrong route and ended up cycling around one island twice, adding around 30km to the day, but that mistake became part of what made the experience unforgettable.

The film also includes moments from other parts of Japan, including cycling through forests and snow, giving the piece a wider emotional texture. Paired with "Back to Friends" by Sombr, the edit leans into nostalgia, youth, friendship, and the feeling of chasing a moment while you are still inside it.

The film reached 503K views and 61K likes on Instagram, becoming one of my strongest personal travel pieces.

The response showed how deeply people connect with experiences that feel both aspirational and real. The film did not just show a beautiful cycling route. It captured the feeling of wanting to be there, surrounded by friends, moving through a place that feels larger than ordinary life. It became a reminder that travel content is most powerful when it makes people feel the emotion of the experience, not just the location.