Japan Countdown

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http://worldgallivant.com

There are only 6 days until we get on an airplane to head over the pacific ocean to Tokyo, Japan for our 49 day trip to all of the major islands: Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku, and Hokkaido, plus some minor ones. It feels like yesterday that I got mother to agree to travel to Japan with me, that we drove to Barnes and Noble to pick out a good travel book, and that we purchased an overall map of Japan to start learning the locations and geography. I grew up with manga and anime, like many children in the United States, but as I became older I started falling in love with their traditions, history, and contradictions.

I have compiled a lot of research on the different attractions, combining our interest in the Japanese experience and trying to cut costs. We finally came to the conclusion that we would try camping as much as possible and pay to use onsen/ofuro (indoor bath) or rotenburo (outdoor bath) whenever necessary/we really want to be clean. While in the Grand Canyon we tested out our Sierra Madre 3 person tent with 2 vestibules. The tent was fabulous, it didn't weigh too much, was easy to set up, and had plenty of room for us and our possessions. We did have to clear a path and make sure that we found semi-level location, so we opted into performing research on hammocks, but with hammocks you have to have a shelter in case it rains (we are traveling to Japan during their rainy season).

Sierra Madre Nube and Hambunks

After hours, days, and many google searches later Val found a very interesting hammock set. After watching every video and finally deciding to splurge and purchase this amazing package, we finally received the set over the weekend (5.3.14). Val finally had a chance to set it up yesterday, although rather gusty in Eastern Idaho, and came to the conclusion that after some finagling that it would be perfect for all our trips. We really liked that it had a mosquito net, two could sleep under the same shelter, you could roll everything away to cook under the shelter, you can also convert it into a small tent by using hiking poles to prop up the two points, and it all packed down really small. Val and I are extremely pleased to be taking this on the road with us and can not wait to hang it from some beautiful Japanese trees.

We have also received our:

• Japan Rail passes 
• Studio Ghibli Museum tickets
• Reservation for our first ryokan (traditional hotel)
• Printed our Welcome Cards: discount coupons for different locations that are available to foreign visitors to reduce costs
• Written some common words we will want in Kanji, English, and pronunciation
• Copies of all vital documents
• Received two months worth of medication: you can actually receive a vacation waver from your insurance that allows them to pay for more than one months worth of medication if you are going to be gone
• Medicine documentation for entry: for some medications you actually need to supply documentation to the Japanese government for approval before entering the country. We also found that in the case of bringing medications abroad it makes it easier during customs to have:
• On your doctors letterhead, type of medications, generics/other substitutes, what you are taking the medications for, how long your have been seeing the doctor, and contact information
• Duplicates of the prescription(s)