The Hopeful Journey to Japan 2022

Hello, my fellow bloggers and readers!

This week, I should have been in Japan. It’s amazing how fast things in the world can change. On this day last year, my workplace sent me home with a VOIP phone and said, “Don’t come back until it is safe.”

I worked from home for three months.

Luckily, this prompted me to NOT buy our plane tickets. I knew that our trip would be indefinitely postponed, as it should be. I take this pandemic very seriously. I want everyone to be healthy and safe and I want to do my part to ensure that. A trip can always be rescheduled.

That being said, the world is making moves. There is a vaccine out and hopefully, soon, we’ll start to see the world heal from this mess. I don’t expect it to happen overnight. It took a year to get here, it may take a year to dig out from it. That being said, I am hopeful that this time next year, we will be able to travel to Japan.

I’m excited.

I bought new luggage. I was on the fence, but my co-worker confirmed my logic. Luggage doesn’t go bad and I’m sure to take trips before Japan, so I invested in some new luggage. The plan is to use carry-on only. It’s going to be a seven-day trip, but the plan is to stay in places that have laundry facilities available so we don’t have to pack as many clothes. I’ve done a lot of blog reading and the advice is all the same. Travel light. Use packing cubes.

I also bought a new camera.

Here’s the deal. Did I NEED a new camera? No. Did I want a new camera? Yes. I do have a Canon T3i Rebel, but it’s heavy, bulky, and not very travel-friendly. Not to mention, it isn’t exactly current. Long story short, the camera on my phone has better specs. I’ve had my eye on an entry-level mirrorless, but I could never bring myself to make the purchase. It’s a large investment and I could never pull the trigger. For the most part, I wanted a mirrorless because of the smaller size, but also, the ability to vlog with it. I don’t plan on vlogging a lot, but the ability to turn a screen around into selfie mode would make the camera more useable than a DSLR. Especially in Japan, I want to be able to record myself and I can’t do that with the T3i.

Yesterday, for no particular reason, I purchased a Canon M50 and I am in love. It’s A LOT smaller than the DSLR, so it fits my hands a lot better. I still have a lot of accessories to buy. I need a camera bag, a selfie stick, and maybe another lens. The good news is, I have a lot of time to wait for sales. Here, you can see it fits in the palm of my hand and is so light. It’s almost equivalent to a point-and-shoot with the ability of the DSLR.

On the same note, my husband and I put off renewing our passports because of the pandemic. I’m happy to say that we’re both going to apply for those soon so we’ll be ready. Once they make the announcement that travel restrictions for the US are lifted, I’m buying those tickets.

The goal is to go during sakura season which is the end of March/early April. This is probably my one condition to go to Japan. I want to be there when all of the cherry blossoms are in bloom. If travel restrictions aren’t lifted by then, sadly, I’ll have to wait another year or compromise on the time of travel.

The current itinerary is to travel to arrive in Tokyo on a Sunday. Then, on Tuesday, we plan on traveling to Hakone on a shinkansen (bullet train). We’ll spend one night there and then travel on the shinkansen again to Kyoto. We’ll travel back to Tokyo on Friday, spend one more night in Tokyo, and then fly back to the States on Saturday. This will allow us to enjoy the big city, relax in a town with a view of Mount Fuji, and then revel in the old-world beauty of Kyoto.

I am super pumped and I truly hope that we’ll be able to travel to Japan in 2022! I’ll keep everyone updated!