Photo by: Odegaard

The final countdown has begun. We leave this Friday for Japan, the land of the rising sun. We’ve talked of nothing else over the past few weeks. While seasoned at traveling, John and I are at a loss when it comes to making any decisions about Japan. We planned an itinerary and it has changed at least a dozen times since then. There is just too much to see and do and we don’t have nearly enough time to do it. Money is also an issue. Japan is one of the most expensive country to travel through these days. We’re trying to make the most of our trip on a strict budget and it’s probably going to be blown out of the water!

This trip is special for us for several reasons.

We’re going to be celebrating our three year anniversary while we are in Japan. It’s hard to believe we met over three years ago in China and how far our journeys have taken us since then. We hope there are many more journeys in store for us.

We will be seeing our first glimpse of Japan through the eyes of one of my dearest and oldest friends. Beka and her fiance, Christian, moved to Tokyo last year. I haven’t seen her in several years. I first met Beka in Ottawa, Canada. We corresponded regularly with each other while she was living and working in Bali and Australia. Her journey finally led her home and then it was my turn to move abroad. Beka has been a constant source of encouragement for as long as I can remember. I’m very excited to see her and spend some time getting to know her fiance, Christian.

This is also the first journey we’re making on our saved airline reward miles. Yep. That’s right. We finally cashed in on all those flight miles we’ve been accumulating over the years and it feels great. I don’t recall ever meeting anyone who has taken advantage of their reward miles. It’s a sweet, sweet deal and we still have loads left over for another trip later this year.

Our journey will begin in Tokyo this weekend with Beka and Christian. We’re letting them do all the guiding, although we’ve mentioned a few special places we’d like to visit.

John suggested renting a car for ten days and I’m all for it. I really like the thought of traveling at our own pace through Japan. There’s so much to see. We both feel we can make the most of our time and get a better feel for the land by making our own way. We traveled through Thailand and Indonesia on our own and it’s a wonderful way to see the world. There’s nothing like a good, old-fashioned road trip.

Once we decided on the car, we had a heck of a time figuring out where to go. We finally resorted to playing paper, scissors, stone to agree on our final destinations. We’ve decided to drive to Mt. Fuiji and spend the night in the area. Then we’re going to drive to Kyoto and spend a few days there. If time permits, we’d like to spend an evening in the Shirakawa-go region. From there, we’re driving to Nagano, site of the 1998 Olympic Winter Games and then back to Tokyo for our flight home to Taiwan.

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Tags: Japan, travel, Asia