Well I've been living on the correct coast of the US to have relatively more direct access to Japan for nearly 8 years now- and the time has finally come for me to go.
Follow along as I cross-post updates from my simple Google doc onto the website I haven't touched for probably 15 years (WOW)
Trip Prep (or lack thereof)
This is maybe the least pre-trip prep and research I've ever done- likely due in part to only having bought tickets 4 weeks ago (hey, the price was right and I had PTO to burn). All I have planned so far is where Im staying (The Millennials hostel in Tokyo, and Inakatei Ryokan in Kyoto) and a Shinkansen rail ticket to get to and from Kyoto for the final few days of the trip. I did buy a few books, which I've peeked at a little bit but honestly on the plane is when I'm going to spend by far the most time reading through for ideas. And that's ok! From what I've heard, Tokyo is unimaginably huge and there's really no point in planning yourself to death. Wandering is a joyous thing, especially given the weather looks quite nice (low/mid 60s in the day, and dry) and I really look forward to it. Hopefully some opportunities to bike arise, but the idea of putting some major mileage on my shoes to finish out what's already been a hell of a year for bike things is quite appealing.
I feel like I packed fairly minimally- as usual, just my trusty and now 10 year old Patagonia MLC, aka “Max Legal Carry-on”- though it's technically quite a bit larger than the limit these days. Fortunately it's softsided and will squeeze into all but the tiniest overheads. The bag always looks fairly “full” unless it's totally empty. The weight is quite manageable, and I made sure to bring a couple portable backpack options for day-to-day pack: an 18L Cotopaxi, and a tiny ultralight Sea To Summit (purely as emergency supplemental space to tote things). Also brought a super light packable duffel- in case retail therapy gets a bit out of hand.
My flight, direct (!) via Hawaiian, is about 10 hours (*edit: make that 11.5 including 90 minutes in a queue of about 25 other planes taxiing for takeoff)- departing at noon Seattle time and arriving at 4pm at Tokyo Narita on Tuesday. I feel like the move is to NOT sleep, so I'm tired for Japan evening “on time”. Should be easy to get lost in some reading, journaling, and maybe in flight movie or two. I can't recall what the longest flight I've taken previously is, but I'm almost certain this takes the crown for now.
The Flight
As you can see in the photo above, it was an incredibly misty, foggy morning in Seattle. Not sure whether that contributed to the backup of probably 25 planes waiting to take off, but surely it didn't help. After grabbing a Qdoba breakfast burrito (at $10, inarguably the best combo of reasonably priced, tasty, healthy-ish, and filling food at Sea-Tac) and some Vietnamese coffee from a random new spot in terminal D (but tucked off to the side and with zero line), I made my way to N gates just in time for boarding.
To my surprise, I was seated quite close to the front of the plane- only about 5 rows behind business class. And to my delight, there was an empty seat next to me! And upon initial scan, no children of “screaming age”.
Unfortunately, no proper AC plugs- only very weak USB-A charging ports that stopped working altogether after a few hours (thank you, power bank). I spent the 90 minutes waiting for takeoff perusing some Reddit posts and blogs, adding more and more pins to my Google Maps list- so it was time well spent.
After enjoying a tasty lunch of cheese and tomato tortellini, a salad, and a caramel tart (and a Jack and Coke because YOLO), I learned that the flight had wifi (which is the reason these posts already exist) which was another pleasant surprise. This delayed my planned guidebook-reading, instead opting to catch up on a couple podcast episodes (Arseblog Arsecast and Flightless Bird). After this, I turned to the monitor next to me (mine had stopped working) and checked 10 Things I Hate About You off my movie bucket list. Quite good, and funnier than expected!
This was followed by figuring out how to “do a blog” of some sort- initially attempting Google Sites (not mobile friendly for editing in the slightest) before realizing now is a great opportunity to use Squarespace site I’ve had since… 2010? It’s okay- money well spent keeping all those other Taylor Carmineses out there from stealing my domain… at least that’s what I tell myself.
Tune in over the next 10 days or so to see probably much more interesting entries!