Wow.
After two years, 257 posts and a multitude of sleepless nights, my departure date is finally here. No longer will you, loyal blog readers, have to listen to me whine about how ready I am to go travel. Now I can finally do what I’ve been wanting to do for a very, very long time.
Tomorrow I will stumble jet lagged into the crazy and complex city of Tokyo.

I’m excited to finally visit Japan. I can tell that it’s a complex country: a mix of tradition and history with frenetic twenty-first century modernism. I already know it warrants a much longer visit than I’m allowing. Unfortunately it’s the most expensive country I’m planning to visit, so I will only be able to spend a short couple of weeks here. Hopefully that will be enough time to at least get a feel for the land of the rising sun (and to break in my rusty backpacker skills before I head to China).
These are some off the things I’m looking forward to in Japan.
- Visiting my friend Anna, who has been teaching English in Japan for over a year now. She is meeting me in Tokyo for a fun filled weekend, then I’ll be spending a few days at her home in Shizuoka near the base of Mount Fuji. I can’t wait to see my funny old friend!
- Kyoto- the imperial capital of Japan with an unfathomable number of beautiful palaces and gardens. I love old stuff and I’m sure I will want to see as much as possible!
- Giving sushi a second chance. I know I’m a freak, but to be honest, I really don’t like fish. I’ve never warmed to the idea of eating raw animals, but I’m determined to give it my best shot while here.
I have a lot of things to look forward to, in Japan, and even further down the line. For now though I’m concentrating on staying sane through a 14 hour non-stop flight over the Pacific. I’ll have my netbook and a juicy Outlander book to keep me company.
I will do my best to update within a few days of arriving.
Until then… here goes nothing…
It’s awesome that you finally started your RTW! I am so jealous. I have a lot of catching up to do of where you have travelled so far 🙂
Have an awesome time, extremely jealous! Only 40 weeks till I graduate then I’m off to Beijing so start my travels. Look forward to reading your blog!
Good luck to you as well! 40 weeks will go faster than you think.
Wee! Good luck, especially with that sushi bit! I’m with you on the not liking fish or raw animals 🙂 Soon enough I’ll be seeing you down under. Can’t wait!
yeah, I’m’ no fan of fish raw or cooked in general. Japanese sushi is definitely quite different though!