Japan...What we MISS

I've been asked quite often what I miss or liked most about Japan. It was a huge hunk of time, especially for our first international trip together, and even more so when we were camping the entire way. Alright, I wouldn't really consider it camping since we had nice restrooms (which also acted as laundry and shower), fresh water (drink-able too, which was great for cooking and refilling our water bottles), plus we were up off the ground. Even now I would probably state I'm not a huge camping fan, but when it comes to travel I love urban camping and the price tag of 0.00 USD. Ok, back to what I miss, since I have my hammock hanging up as a bed, I can't really say I miss it. 

I miss the people and culture. Everyone was very polite, carrying, hospitable, and willing to go out of their way to help. It was a huge shock coming back to the states...I bowed whenever I said thank you for the first little while. Even now (a whole year later) I sometimes start to bow when I really want to say "thank you". In a way I feel (at least in my mind) just words don't carry the same weight anymore. Action, and bowing, which takes your whole body to do, shows how much you appreciate it - ie the deeper the bow, the more appreciative you are. Well that was an interesting side note....

FRESH fruit!!!

Yes these fruit prices range from 18 USD to 98 USD, generally they were cheaper, but these are for presents/gifts, not for general consumption....they just looked SO pretty.

We miss fresh fruit. Yes, you can walk into any grocery store in America and get "fresh" fruit, but do they look like this? And, I swear that the carrots, cabbage, pretty much every fruit and vegetable we ate there tasted a WHOLE lot better than what we get here in the States. 

I would also say I miss 7-Eleven. I've even gone to their Japanese site to day dream again about the amazing food they always had at the ready. The caramel macchiato ice cream cones, the pasta and rice curry they would microwave for me and the sticky buns filled with delicious meat and vegetables. And to know that they had all been fresh delivered to the store that morning or afternoon and not sat there for a week or more. Man I miss the fresh, convenience store food. We had heard tales about street food, especially in some of the less developed countries, but I had serious withdrawals from 7-Eleven, Lawson's, Cirlce-K, and Family Mart food. Sometimes, just to switch it up we would stop at an actual Grocery Store to raid their fresh, ready to eat food. Ahh, the dreams about handing over yen and saying "yes" to having the store attendant microwave my food, to then walk to a nearby park that would be our home for the night to eat dinner. Yes, I've actually dreamed in Japanese about the food and having them microwave it for me, sad? maybe, funny? heck yes!

Val (left) and I (Ash on the right) in front of the first Onsen we visited. This one is located in Beppu, which is known for its many many Onsen. The person that was kind enough to take the photo for us is a native Japanese girl (mid 20's) that we met in the bath and started chatting with us. 

While we did utilize many public bathrooms to wash, freshen up, brush teeth, deodorize, ect. we enjoyed the opportunities to enjoy traditional Japanese bathing. Onsens and how the Japanese regularly bathe by having a little shower that you sit in front of to scrub and rinse and then a large tub to soak in afterwards, makes so much sense. I've found myself countless time wishing for one of those little seats in front of a shower faucet, trying to balance in a shower as the curtain starts to engulf you isn't much fun. I think they have the right idea. We weren't able to take photos inside any of the public baths due to wanted privacy (I would be a little wary if they were willing to allow photographs when you're walking around nude), but I did find some photos on the internet.

Demonstrates the little stool in front of the spigot to scrub and wash
Plus the large bath to soak.  

Onsen that has an outdoor section. 

Gear: Nube & Hammock Set-Up

This site is no longer going to be updated. I have upgraded my site and the new location is:

http://worldgallivant.com/2016/03/25/best-hammock-set-up/

We found that the Nubé and Hambunk set-up created and sold by Sierra Madre Search was the system that was easiest to manage with the most protection wrapped into a nice well thought out package.   Here are some of the things we did to make it even easier.

•  A: Hang both the Nubé tie and the hammock's e-z Slings from the same point, as high up the tree as you can reach
• This way there is enough room to hang both hammocks and the bottom luggage compartment, if you don't hang them both at the highest point, the luggage will be to low to the ground to use or the Pares sleeper will be sitting on top of the luggage...neither of those options is convenient 
• Sometimes this is not possible due to smaller trees or too many limbs and then we worked around the luggage being stored below by clipping the backpack onto the carabiner  at the foot end and then tightened the waist and chest straps tightly on the hammock and all was dry.

• B: Nubé Ridge-line Adjustment:
• The main line that we used to attach the Nubé to the tree was Zing-It Line
• To attach to the tree, the end of the Zing-it Line had a Titanium Dutch hook so that it could easily be hooked back to it's self after being wrapped around the tree. The other end had a dutch fly to allow for tightening easily... then the Nubé was adjusted to center with the Prusik Knots.
• Val made a couple loops that contained Prusik Knots (see link for Animated Knots illustration of how to tie these knots) using more of the Zing-it line. The Prusik knot was made around the long length of line that we used to attach the Nubé to the trees.  The loop of the remaining knot was then attached to the Nubé.
• If you look at the photos of it hanging you will see that we started with this continuous line from tree to tree.. but soon found that loosening one end to move the Nubé to the other could be totally avoided by cutting it in the center.

• C: Nubé guyline adjustment:
• The main guy-line rope was Zing-It line that is very durable and offered in a bright yellow that makes it easy to see at night, decreasing your chances of tripping over it.
• Once again we used the very nice Prusik Knot to allow adjustments of how tight the guy lines were. These adjustments allowed for quick changes in how much ventilation, possible protection we would need during a rain storm, and how low the Nubé was going to sit. Zing-It line is light weight, doesn't absorb water or dirt, doesn't stretch and super strong.
• Initially we attached tubing to the guy-line that would allow for the line to stretch and contract due to humidity and rain, but due to extensive use of the Nubé the tubing began to wear out (we are unsure of how much they helped as we have used them throughout our trip). Moving forward we would probably remove the tubing and create a system similar to the Nubé ridgeline where the extra line would be-able to be stored under the Velcro-tabs. Could reverse the cording so the extra cording could store in the Velcro, and one could adjust the tension from under the Nubé no need to go out in the rain to tighten things down.

• D: Hammock attachment hints (How to sleep in ham-bunks comfortably):
• To hang the hammocks just-so took some trial and error on our parts, but as we had 40+ days to figure it out and we were properly incentivized with quality of sleep hanging in the balance we found the perfect set-up for us (mind you, this hang was perfect for US, it may not be the perfect hang for you).
• Once you have each hung an e-z sling, take one for the  Xplor carabiners and attach it to a loop that appears to be a high enough point that you can then hang the hammock level with the other e-z sling point.
• Now, this is the toughest part (especially when you are exhausted, it may take two of you and in many cases it did for us) STRETCH the Xplor as tight as you can possible get is so that when it hangs it is perfectly flat. HINT: Have a couple extra loops of rope that can act as adjusters to create more options for hanging distances; our loops of Amsteel Blue 7/64 were about 6" in diameter when flattened and can be folded in half to allow for more versatility. Or if you're willing you could put more knots in the easy sling for a tight hang. 

• How to make more room in the Xplor:
• I (Ash) was the one that slept in the Xplor, my backpack was the REI Lookout 40L, which I would place up in my hammock. Once in my hammock and inside my sleeping bag I would place the backpack under my knees, this way my knees were bent up (more comfortable for me) and the Xplor was widened out so that I would have more adjustment room.
• Since coming back, both Val and I have exchanged our normal beds for hammocks, I have placed two pillows and a queen-sized down blanket in exchange for the REI backpack to facilitate the same effect.  I found without this the hammock tends to squeeze the shoulders.
• Another tip would be to sleep opposite of each other so that the Xplor sleeper's head will be at the toes of the Pares sleeper and vice-versa. This helps when handing items back and forth and when the Pares sleeper starts packing things up... she only knocks about my legs and such while stuffing her sleeping bag into a stuff sack. And is very helpful when zipping up the netting for a bug free sleep!

Examples of the adjustments we made and what it actually looks like:

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