Learn Hardcore Japanese: eki de suutukeesu wo motte iru hito wo mite, kaigairyokou ni ikitaku narimasita. - Seeing someone with a suitcase at the station made me want to go on an overseas trip.

Inside the relative clause:
- (誰かが) スーツケースを持っている
- “(someone) is holding a suitcase”
  The subject (like 誰かが / その人が) is simply omitted.
Outside the relative clause:
- 人を見て = “seeing the person”

So:

Inner clause: スーツケースを持っている → modifies 人
Main verb: 人を見て → 人 is the direct object of 見る

That’s why you get:

スーツケースを (object of 持つ)
人を (object of 見る)

Multiple を particles are fine as long as they belong to different verbs.

There are two を in the sentence (スーツケースを and 人を). Is it really okay to have two を?

Yes, it is completely fine because each を belongs to a different verb:

スーツケースを持っている人を見て…
- スーツケースを持っている → 持つ takes スーツケースを
- 人を見て → 見る takes 人を

In Japanese, you can have multiple を in one long sentence when:

Each を is attached to its own verb, and
Those verbs are in separate clauses (like a relative clause + main clause).

What you cannot do is have one verb taking two different を for the same action, but that’s not happening here.

What nuance does 持っている have here? Is it “is holding” (progressive) or “has a suitcase”?

Here, 持っている describes a current state: someone currently has / is carrying a suitcase.

Verb in ている can mean either:

Ongoing action:
- 今、晩ご飯を食べている = “I am eating dinner (right now).”
Resulting state / possession / habitual action:
- 車を持っている = “(I) have a car.”

In スーツケースを持っている人, it’s closer to:

“a person who has / is carrying a suitcase”

Not the moment of picking it up, but the state of having it with them.

Why is it 駅で and not 駅に?

で marks the place where an action happens:

駅で見て = “saw (them) at the station”

Basic contrast:

で
- Place where an action occurs
- 駅で待つ = wait at the station
- 公園で遊ぶ = play in the park
に
- Destination / point in time / existence location
- 駅に行く = go to the station (destination)
- 駅にいる = be at the station (existence)
- ３時に会う = meet at 3 o’clock (time)

Here, 見る is an action that happened at the station → 駅で is correct.

What exactly is the role of 見て here? Why is it in the て-form?

The て-form 見て connects this action to what follows and gives a “when / after / on doing X, Y happened” feeling.

人を見て、海外旅行に行きたくなりました。
≈ “When I saw the person (with a suitcase), I felt like going on an overseas trip.”

The て-form can:

Simply list actions:
- 朝ごはんを食べて、学校に行きます。
Indicate cause / trigger / background:
- ニュースを見て、びっくりしました。
  “I was surprised when I saw the news.”

In this sentence, it’s the second use: seeing that person is what triggered the feeling (行きたくなりました).

How does 行きたくなりました work grammatically?

It’s:

行く (to go)
→ 行きたい (want to go)
→ turn -たい into the -たく form to combine with なる
- 行きたくなる = come to want to go / start to feel like going
Past polite: 行きたくなりました

So:

行きたい = (I) want to go (state of desire)
行きたくなる = (I) come to want to go / end up wanting to go (change of state)
行きたくなりました = that change happened (in the past).

Nuance in English is like:

“I felt like going on an overseas trip.”
Literally: “It became that I want to go.”

Why is it 海外旅行に行きたくなりました and not something like 海外旅行を行きたくなりました?

With 行く, the target (place or event) is usually marked by に:

東京に行く = go to Tokyo
旅行に行く = go on a trip
海外旅行に行く = go on an overseas trip

So the pattern is:

[destination / event] に行く

Here, 海外旅行 is treated like the “trip” you go on”, so it takes に:

海外旅行に行きたくなりました
= “I felt like going on an overseas trip.”

Using を with 行く (海外旅行を行く) is ungrammatical.

Could I say 海外に旅行したくなりました instead? How is that different from 海外旅行に行きたくなりました?

You can say 海外に旅行したくなりました, and it is understandable, but the nuance and naturalness differ.

海外旅行に行きたくなりました
- Very natural, common expression
- Emphasizes “go on an overseas trip” as a typical unit/event
海外に旅行したくなりました
- Grammatically okay
- 海外に = “to overseas / abroad” (destination)
- 旅行する = to travel
- Feels slightly more like “I felt like traveling to a foreign country.”

In most everyday contexts, 海外旅行に行きたくなりました sounds more idiomatic and set-phrase-like.

Why is there no subject like 私は in the sentence?

Japanese often omits subjects when they’re clear from context.

English needs an explicit I:
- “I saw a person with a suitcase at the station and I felt like going on an overseas trip.”
Japanese can drop it completely if obvious:
- （私は）駅でスーツケースを持っている人を見て、（私は）海外旅行に行きたくなりました。

Both 私は are understood from context, so the natural sentence just leaves them out. This is very typical Japanese style.

Why is it 行きたくなりました (past) and not 行きたくなります?

なりました puts the change of feeling in the past.

行きたくなりました
= “I (then) came to want to go / I felt like going (at that moment).”

If you used 行きたくなります, it would sound like:

A general pattern: “Whenever I see that, I (tend to) feel like going.”
Or a future/predictive statement: “I will (probably) feel like going.”

In this specific one-time event (I saw a person with a suitcase, and then I felt like going), past tense なりました is the natural choice.

Why not use 見たら or 見てから instead of 見て? Do they change the nuance?

All three can work, but the nuance shifts slightly:

見て、海外旅行に行きたくなりました。
- Neutral, smooth connector
- “When I saw them, I felt like going.”
- Focus on “that was the trigger,” but not very explicit about sequence.
見たら、海外旅行に行きたくなりました。
- たら = “when/if (I) saw (them)”
- Stronger feeling of “at the moment I saw them, this happened”, often with a bit of surprise or discovery.
見てから、海外旅行に行きたくなりました。
- てから emphasizes “after doing X, then Y”
- Stronger sense of temporal order (first see, then later come to want to go).
- Slightly more like “After seeing them, I (then) started wanting to go.”

The original 見て is simple and natural here: it presents the seeing as the background/trigger for the feeling.

Could I say スーツケースを持つ人 instead of スーツケースを持っている人?

You could say スーツケースを持つ人, but the nuance changes and it sounds less natural in this context.

持っている人
- Describes a current state: “a person who is carrying / has a suitcase (right now).”
- Perfect for describing someone you saw in that moment.
持つ人
- Sounds more generic / habitual: “a person who (tends to) have / owns / carries a suitcase.”
- More like a type or category of person than “that person I saw.”

Since you are describing a specific person you saw at the station, スーツケースを持っている人 is the natural choice.