What we haven’t mentioned, be prepared to walk, and for bad weather

The amount of walking I’ve done reached as high as 14 miles in one day.  The average has been 8.7 miles a day, since I’ve landed. I had been wondering, because my feet were tight. I have not been able to weigh myself anywhere, but I did bring a measuring tape and into the third week have lost 3.5” around my waist.  In my 21 days there, I walked over 182 miles.  People asked me how I prepared for it, I didn't, it was just sheer will.  Oh yes and 2/3 of this was with a backpack with four days worth of clothing, a laptop, power pack and toiletries.

I had brought two pair of comfortable shoes. One pair that were in the closet marinating because they were a little big, so with thick socks they were perfect. 

Cole Hahn - my granny shoes

The other were an old pair of Ecco sneakers. 

Also for the first time ever, I wore Sockwell compression socks on the flight.  I picked minimum compression and that seemed to work for me.

I had planned to wear a lightweight down sweater I purchased for the trip but it  was just a little too cool for heavy winds, and the rain.

 I had to purchase a raincoat/winter coat. Regrettably, it was not rainproof, even though I asked for a raincoat. Even worse, the coat did not breath, so it was like wearing Saran Wrap. It’s a miracle I didn’t get sick. Uniqlo, do better. I may take it apart when I get home and see if I can add some panels to rescue it.

I bought a lot of t shirts, mostly because they’re so much cheaper here than at home and my current t shirt wardrobe needs updating. Clothes are complicated because for a size 14 top that’s a 3XL in Japanese Equivalent sizing.  And this is why I sew, right, who wants to see that 3XL label staring at them in the closet, I believe in vanity sizing.:)  Uniqlo has western sizing but I didn’t find anything there. Shoes are also a challenge as I wear a 9, so would have to buy men’s shoes, but my feet are not that wide. I bought two pair of socks and the salesgirl looked at my shoes and said, did you verify sizing? We had to go back to exchange them, at least they had my size. We think I'm a size 25. 

Just call me bigfoot.

The pair on the left are wool, on the right cotton.  I purchased them in Nara, which is known for their socks and produce 80% of the socks in Japan.  What I like about them, is that they aren't tight around the tops.  I should have purchased more.

And head hanging down, I don't know how this happened, but I had to purchase a suitcase to bring back souvenirs. In reality, I went a little cookie crazy, and they all came in hard boxes, in addition to two pans, which took up a lot of space.  

After looking at Muji and Loft, or Hands, they were very attractive but I could not justify the cost.

$127.43

$135

 I purchased the suitcase at Ginza Karen, first checking at the Ginza location, then finally finding the right size at the Nihombashi location.  I needed a 24" case, and this one fit the bill, I think it was $45.  I was a little concerned it wouldn't survive the rigors of airport handling but it did, even with the expanding zipper exposed.  So this is my endorsement of the Ginza Karen bags. I had a number of fragile items in it and they all survived.

$45.00

I covered 1,800 kilometers or 1,118 miles by train, ferry, bus.

How would I improve the itinerary....

Airlines have differing seat densities

Don't ever take American Airlines out of DFW, it was not a good experience.  I used points to pay for the ticket and while I booked with JAL, who is supposed to have an exceptional economy seat, the actual ticket was an American Airlines code share route.  If you look up seat density online, American would put you in the overhead bins if they could get away with it. There was little space between your knee and the seat in front of you, and if you dropped anything there would be no way to reach it until you deplaned.

Break up the flight

If I were to go again, I would definitely stop somewhere en route.  We don't have direct flights from where I am, so some of the airports that served as the first leg were, Dallas Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Dulles, Atlanta, Newark, Portland, New York City and Toronto.  So an overnight somewhere along the way if economy is the way I'm going.  For the trip out, I had to wake up at 4:00am, to make it to the airport for 6:00am, and arrived at the hotel in Tokyo at Midnight, so you are awake for 30 hours.  I was awake for 30 hours on the return as well.

Group days according to climate

I would be careful to group the locations better.  One of the first stops went from 70 degree weather to 40 degree weather, which meant the backpack had to have what you need for two different climates.  If I were going across these extremes in temperature I would plan them all either at the end or beginning of the trip, and not one day in cold and one in warm.

Every ounce matters when you have a backpack

Buy the lighter power bank.  I had some old tech, a power bank which was large and heavy, but I was stubborn, and traveled with it.  It came in handy but was awkward, and heavy, although I was able to charge 3 times before having to charge the bank again.   Even with the power bank my phone was left without charge on a few occasions. Since it was being used for photos, video taking and directions.  I found myself needing to charge the phone three times a day. Yikes.

Take clothing that dries quickly

I should have looked at travel clothes before I left, I took jeans, which were comfortable but took a long time to dry.  Even though there are washer/dryer combos at some of the hotels, the clothes would sometimes be a little damp, so you had to plan on doing laundry as early as possible, so you could hang the clothes in the room and hope they dried out there.

What was done right

Flying into Haneda Airport

 I flew into Haneda, and that was convenient, there's a monorail that you can walk to when you get off the flight, and one train to get into Tokyo, and back out when I returned, it was about 1/2 hour, about $6.00.  The only caution is, don't do this during rush hour.

Using the luggage forwarding service

It was a long line at the airport to use the service but it was very convenient to have my suitcase waiting for me at the hotel.  They have a cut off time at the airport for same day delivery, but I had them ship to the location I would arrive in 4 days time.  They didn't charge anymore to store the suitcase, but i do believe they won't hold onto it for more than a week.  The many reasons for using it was avoiding having to take a suitcase on crowded trains, hoisting it up and down stairs, as well as having space in your room.  The rooms are small.

Hard Currency & Suica card

Before I left, I had hard currency which you can order from your bank.  I opted to purchase a Suica card, and you can purchase one with a credit card, but it will only issue the card with 200 yen, which is about $1.27.  That won't get you far, and you'll need to charge it with hard currency at the machine. The other option is to get an electronic Suica card, and you can manage your transactions on your phone.  I wasn't sure I wanted to pull out my phone at every turnstile, I could see myself dropping the phone, and that would have been a disaster, so I bought the card.

The Suica card can be used for most but not all local trains and buses, not for the bullet trains.  It is also accepted at some 7.11's and other convenience stores, and some tourist spots.

There are places to exchange dollars for yen at the airport, but I had heard the exchange rate is not favorable. (It's better at 7-11, but you have to get there first)

Download apps

Google Maps

Google Maps was essential for planning the trip.  I started by plotting on the map, the locations I wanted to see, and in the end dropped those places that were outside of groupings.  It was used for figuring out train routes (and times) and was invaluable.  It was also very useful when buying Shinkansen tickets, where I could show the train station ticket officer where I wanted to go.

Ubagi Virtual Sim card

Ubagi was my virtual Sim for data, it was excellent.  There was a bit of a panic when I arrived at the airport and I couldn't activate the sim, so I went back to the original email and activated it through the link there. The only worry I had is that it doesn't give you phone service, unless it was through WhatsApp, so I'm not sure if I could receive calls on my phone through my regular carrier.

GO app for taxi's

The GO is equivalent to the Uber App, and there are some cities that have Uber, some that just have regular taxi stands and there are other cities that have no taxies. It is expensive but sometimes it's worth it, especially if you are bone tired, it starts to rain, or you just need to be there on time.  However, public transport is very efficient, so I didn't use it except for emergencies.

Google translate for translations

For some reason, I thought English would be spoken more in Japan, but that is not the case.  I now know that if someone were to challenge me in charades, I have a chance of winning.  I knew only "good evening"  "Thank you" and "delicious", and that was well received.  Google translate was helpful in stores to read labels, the train, to "speak" to attendants, and in restaurants to read menus.  It's not perfect but still helpful.

Google translate also "listens" to people speaking and translates. This was part of a conversation I was having with a salesperson, when I told him I had to check my suitcase to see if I could fit the box in.  He understood what I was saying and suggested I take it out of the box, and apparently give him the box instead.  Cheeky boy.

Booking.com

I didn't download the app, but used it for all of my reservations, so all of the reservation confirmations were in one place.

Conclusion

I'm glad I had the opportunity to go, and the stamina to see it through.  You might be thinking, this was a long trip, and yes it was.  It has been 19 years since I've taken a proper vacation and this was me vacationing with a vengeance.  I wanted to see everything.  I watched youtube videos to plan the itinerary, and there were some locations I would have liked to explore more.  I should start planning my next trip in another 19 years, lol.  Now it's back to my life, and the changes that need to be made.  There's a backlog of projects that need to be tackled.

Thank you for reading, it was a blast!

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