My ongoing list of things to photograph whilst in Japan:

fish, lanterns, scenery, fabrics, food, children, spices, architecture, restaurants I eat at, meals I eat/make, ryokan/guesthouses I stay at, trinkets, markets, chopsticks, color!, trains, Susan, pics of myself taken by my self, animals/birds, bamboo, Autumn leaf change, water of all kinds, …

When I was a kid I’d always say, “Not the day after tomorrow but the day after the day after tomorrow.”  I guess the only thing that’s changed is the block of time because I’m still saying it.  Three weeks from today I will be in Tokyo with Susan.  If all goes as planned we will be heading to Nikko for the day on the bullet train in search of some hot, hot springs.  Having not seen each other for one full year (we met exactly one year ago within 30 minutes of stepping foot on our ship, the Sergey Vavilov, for our voyage to the Falkland Islands, South Georgia Island, and Antarctica), I’m all jumpy and excited to see her!  She’s a lot of fun, super smart, engaging, and curious.  And she’s talkative and boisterous so combined with those traits in me we’re sure to have a blast and meet a lot of people to boot.  Part of the fun of a trip is the planning and anticipation in advance so I’m already immersing myself in the attitude of this holiday!  It’s already started as far as I’m concerned!  There’s an excitement of the unknown.