Monthly Archives: September 2013

Hi there. Guess who’s alive and well? I know it’s been a few days, so here’s a quick introduction to what happened to us upon our arrival in Tokyo:

1. We found out our apartment was unavailable due to a burst pipe during a typhoon.
2. We got a replacement apartment about a half-hour train ride from the city, nowhere near our original location.
3. I left my iPhone on the airport bus.

You’ve never really enjoyed jetlag until you’ve done it like this.

It all started off innocently enough. We bought wi-fi on the plane, and somewhere over the Arctic Circle, we found out that the apartment we had rented was not going to be available. I guess there really are typhoons in Asia, and one hit Tokyo just before we arrived, wiping out the apartment’s plumbing. So be it. Luckily our “landlady” Elizabeth let us use her own apartment rather than us getting hosed landing in Tokyo with nowhere to go. This honestly was very nice of her.

Her assistant Josephine met us in Shibuya to take us to the new apartment, which we were told was 20 minutes away. By train. We’d just come off a 14 hour flight and a 90-minute bus ride, so lugging our 40 pound bags around a crowded major metropolitan area wasn’t something we wanted to do for long. But we did. We walked several blocks, through some crowds, up some stairs, down some stairs, barged into a few students, up an elevator – oops, wrong floor – down an elevator, through a tunnel…WAIT…where’s my iPhone? WHERE DID I PUT MY IPHONE??!!

I left my iPhone on the airport bus. Holden Caulfield left the goddamn foils on the subway. I left my goddamn iPhone on the airport bus. And I simply gave up on it. It was gone.

Josephine called the airport bus company. Closed for the night. Josephine called Elizabeth. Elizabeth would call the bus company in the morning. So we kept on our long march, got on a subway to a commuter line, and a half-hour later, arrived well into the suburbs, exhausted, in the middle of nowhere, while somewhere on the highway back to Narita Airport, my brand new iPhone sat on a very clean, well-maintained plush Japanese bus seat. I imagined it looking out the window through one of its two iSight cameras, staring at the passing neon billboards, a small electronic tear rolling down its sleek, black, crystal 4-inch retina display as “Everybody’s Talkin’ at Me” played in the background. Exhausted, dejected, frustrated, and with little else to do, Amy and I went to bed.

Early the next day, with little sleep from jetlag, we left the suburban apartment and took an hour train/subway ride to the Tsukiji fish market. It’s awesome. Every kind of seafood, guys carving up massive frozen tuna, big pots of shrimp, uni, scallops…fantastic. It’s where you famously wait in line at the local stands to have the freshest sushi you’ll ever eat – for breakfast. So we got in line and waited. And waited…

And while we waited, Amy checked her email. AND…the bus company found my phone! Only in Japan! I assure you, once we were finally seated, that sushi breakfast was the most delicious, satisfying meal I’ve had in a while. I savored every taste of uni and hamachi as visions of iMessaging and Facebook apps danced through my head.

We got the iPhone back later that day. We moved to a centrally-located tourist hotel the next day. We got over our jetlag, and we went to the sumo finals (thanks to Elizabeth). We’ve checked out great neighborhood shops and restaurants, toured temples and shrines, and met really nice people. For example:

– Elizabeth, who helped us get the phone back, and got us the Sumo tickets.
– The waitress who patiently translated an entire menu into English for us.
– The woman I spilled my beer on at Sumo, who thanked me for giving her the opportunity to practice her English (this has got to be the first time someone thanked me for spilling beer on them).
– The restaurant owner who ran out to give us postcards of his place after we’d already dined, paid, and left.
– The metro employee who calmly explained that we’d transferred to a different line, and owed more money – but just pay when you get off at the station.
– The cook who spoke no English, yet offered us options through hand gestures, and made us the greatest potato salad I’ve ever eaten.

So after a rough start, it’s all been great. We’ll get a little more in-depth in upcoming posts, but that’s a good recap of how things kicked off, and how you roll with the punches. It’s all going well. We’re fine, Mom. Actually, we’re pretty great.

Konnichiwa!  We’re here safe and sound.  Sorry for the radio silence but it’s been a busy and amazing first few days.  We’ll do a full report soon but just wanted to let everyone know we are AOK!  We went to the Grand Sumo Tournament last night and it was awesome!

Well, here we are, seated in the JAL lounge, ten minutes before boarding our flight to Japan. The old apartment is empty, our things are in storage, and we’re packed and ready. A few final thoughts:

Did we overpack? Probably. But maybe not. My pack is 40 lbs. I seem to have clothing options from trekking in the foothills of the Himalayas to dining at a Michelin starred restaurant in Tokyo. And I packed a tie. A necktie! Why did I pack a necktie?! If I really NEED a necktie, I’m sure I can buy one, and very cheaply. But I have a necktie. We’ll see how all this goes, and what gets sent home, and what seems to be missing.

Here’s another story of God laughing at me – last night, our final night before leaving for a year, we stayed at Amy’s sister’s place. I was about to brush my teeth before going to bed, and I knocked my toiletry bag (and all contents minus the toothbrush) into the toilet. Apropos of the name “toiletry bag.” That’s a few months supply of toiletries down the drain – literally. In all honesty, most of the contents dried off easily, including the bag. However, about 30 Q-tips got soaked. There were no survivors.

Lastly, I’m thrilled to say I finally severed my relationship with Time Warner Cable of NYC. Like an old girlfriend, we had some wonderful times together. Quiet nights alone, a lot of laughs. But Time Warner Cable, you were often mean to me. Unreliable. You didn’t even show up sometimes. You lied about your credentials. But I just couldn’t be without you. Not anymore. It was a rocky twenty years, Time Warner Cable of NYC, but I’m over you. Goodbye.

Alright, they just announced boarding… Next stop, Tokyo!

Hi Mom!  Have I told you lately that I love you?  Seriously, thank you SO MUCH for coming up today and helping us pack.  You are a master packer!  The apartment is a shambles, but our nerves are much calmer after making such great headway today.  Domo arigato! (Practicing my Japanese…)

Well, we’re into single digits until D-Day…we depart on Wednesday and fly direct into Tokyo (thank you Amex points!).  The last 2 weeks since our last WFM blog post have been spent getting visas, vaccinations, travel insurance, confirming the movers, last minute errands and shopping.  (I still need the perfect, wrinkle-free LBD!)  We’ve also been doing the NY Farewell Tour…we had a great get-together last week with a bunch of our pals here in the city.  It was a crappy, rainy night, yet, still, so many people came out to wish us well.  It was such a fun night.  We also went upstate and spent a lovely few days with John’s family.  We wished them all a Happy Halloween, Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Easter, Happy Mother’s Day, Happy Father’s Day, Happy Birthday, et cetera.  Got it covered for the next year!

John did a great Q&A on the last post, but we got a few more follow up questions from folks, so I thought I’d answer them now:

Do you have an exact itinerary for the year or are you flying by the seat of your pants?

Somewhere in the middle.  We know the general order of countries/continents we want to visit and generally how long we want to stay, but we want to have the flexibility to stay longer if we’re really enjoying a country (or leave sooner if not!).  We’ll end up planning our flights/hotels one or two countries in advance, if that makes sense.  We did book our first 4 flights already because of entry requirements/visa restrictions.  So we know we’ll start in Japan for 4 weeks (Tokyo, Kyoto, Hokkaido, et al), then South Korea for 2 weeks (flying into and out of Seoul).  Then it’s off to Beijing to see the Great Wall.  (I’m so excited to go back…when I was there 5 years ago it was really cloudy/foggy.  Still amazing, but I’m hoping for a sunny day for John’s first visit.)  We’re in mainland China for 5 days then fly out to Taiwan.  We arrive in Taipei on November 11th.  And that’s what we know so far.  After that, it’s Hong Kong and Southeast Asia.  I think we’ll be in Hong Kong for Thanksgiving and SE Asia for Christmas & New Year’s.  It’s gonna be awesome!

How do you pack for a year?

Well, the travel blogs say to pack for a week and do a lot of laundry.  We’re probably packing for 2 weeks.  (Well, maybe I’m packing a little bit more…)  The good news is: Whatever we don’t have, we can buy.  The hard part for me is shoes.  I know I’ll bring too many pairs.  But we can always send stuff home with the folks that visit us along the way.  And toiletries…they say don’t pack full size shampoos and stuff.  Just buy cheap stuff when you arrive in country.  Otherwise, it can throw your luggage over-weight.  We’ll definitely post pictures of our luggage on Monday night (the movers come on Tuesday).

What is Amy going to do about her gray roots?

I have gotten this question more than you would think!  I’m getting my hair done for the last time in the States tomorrow.  My colorist is going to write down the “recipe” so I can bring it to any salon around the world and they can duplicate it.  If I can’t get salon recommendations from locals, I’ll just find the nearest mall or, worst case scenario, 5 star hotel.  Hopefully, you will not see pictures of my gray roots for the next year!

Let me know if there are any other burning questions…happy to answer them!

Don’t forget to Skype me tomorrow so you can practice before we leave.  We love you!  And, we’ll be fine, Mom!

John’s gear for one year. Insanely small!

Hi Mom.

Just to let you know, all is going well. So here it is, our first blog post, and with it the answers to a lot of questions people want to know about our planned around-the-world trip:

When are you leaving?

We’re both finished with work, and will be leaving the last week of September.

Do you still have a lot to do?

A ton. We still need to pack the apartment, find a storage unit, get everything moved, get visas and vaccinations, see all our doctors before we leave, and a bunch of other little loose ends to tie-up…the list goes on.

Speaking of moving, what are you doing with all your stuff?!

We’re putting everything in storage for the year, and will move it to wherever we relocate to when we get back.

Where are you starting your trip?

We’re starting our trip with a month in Japan. Flying into Tokyo and definitely visiting Kyoto and Hokkaido, as well.

Do you know where you’re going after that?

Roughly, but we’re going to be flexible. After Japan, we’ll work our way through the rest of the Far East and SouthEast Asia in November/December/Early January (South Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore), likely spending the holidays in SouthEast Asia. Then on to Australia/New Zealand in Jan/Feb. Hoping to be in India by mid-March for the Holi festival (with stops in Nepal and Bhutan). Africa in April (hiking Kilimanjaro and visiting Ghana). South America in May/June (including Brazil for the World Cup). Then finishing up next summer/early fall in Europe. A tentative schedule, of course, but it gives you a rough idea of our journey.

Most importantly: why? What made you decide to do this?

That’s a great question. Ultimately, it was a matter of will, and timing. We’re only recently married, and we’ve been asking ourselves a lot of questions about the future – where we want to live, how we want to live, and where life would take us. And we both love to travel. We’ve been all over together, and we’ve both wanted to travel the world for an extended period. But what’s tough is actually making the leap and doing it. What we realized is that we were ready for a change, and that if we were ever going to make that big leap, now was the time to do it – the right time in our careers, the right time financially, and the right time in our marriage. We’re old enough to have the capability, and young enough to have the flexibility. So we’re re-inventing our lives, and starting by following that dream of traveling around the globe. And that’s led us here.

Are you scared or nervous about this trip, and the big change in your lives?

Change is always going to be somewhat difficult, and there will always be moments of fear and anxiety. But we’re both impassioned, excited, and ultimately thankful that we’re getting this opportunity. We’re fine, Mom.