…to hear whilst waiting for an international flight. Ugh. And looking around at all the passengers at this gate, it looks to be true. It’s exhilarating already to be amongst Chinese- and Japanese-speaking people! Now if I can get over this headache and get some sleep…

Today, on the morn of my departure, I am still packing.  Or, more accurately, still removing items from my backpack.  I like my things.  And I don’t want to live without them.  But truly, the space is mostly taken up with cosmetics/toiletries, electronics and that damned Lonely Planet Japan guide that weighs roughly the same as a gold bar.

This morning is full of lasts: last time in my bed for 9 days, last time to make a strong pot of coffee in the morning, last time to shower in my shower, eating that last caramel apple, last time using this computer…  But those ‘lasts’ mean that I’m about to experience a lot of firsts and beginnings!

Getting on a plane to a new destination (when it’s for pleasure) is always thrilling!  I love the unknown, the feeling of beginning a trip.  I like having all of my belongings with me, in one bag (or so).  I like sharpening my brain to prepare for the unknown: a new currency, a new way of transportation, a city with which I’m not familiar, the anticipation of who I am going to meet, and in this case, the anticipation and excitement of seeing my friend Susan Atherton!  <my stomach jumps when I think of it!>

Most of my work is complete so I’m ready to depart with a lighter mind and soul.  My cameras are charged and waiting with empty disks, my iPad and phone are charged, and I’m ready to go!

…The plane is already late, according to the iPad/iPhone app, Trip Case.  But that’s okay because now I have more time to remove stuff from this pack…

If it’s 3:00 p.m. in Minnesota, it’s 6:00 a.m. in Japan.  Japan is 15 hours ahead of Minnesota (CST).

Tomorrow is my last full day to prepare for this trip.   The rest of the week is jam-packed with work from Sunday through Friday.  I have yet to attain my goal of beginning a vacation at least semi-relaxed.  This trip is no different.   My week is a chaotic mess.   Saturday is the time to get down to business and fill that backpack with just enough but not too much.  The measurement of success is how little I can take with me.  Look for photos in another entry of what I end up taking…

…I will be in Tokyo.  Or, most probably sipping coffee/tea whilst watching the scenery whir by from the bullet train as we contemplate our day trip to Nikko.

But before that there are things to do!  Get appropriate camera bags, figure out proper clothing for the weather, then whittle it down to just a few pieces, cram it all in to my 70 L backpack that I can’t stop talking about, and finish some work projects.  Meantime, every day is jam-packed from now until then, including some weekend work engagements, so time is precious…

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.

Packing for a 9-day trip in one backpack is no easy task.  At least not for me.  I’ve upsized to a 70 liter bag from my original 65 liter (and paid an extra $100 for this additional space) and still I’m overloaded.  I keep taking things out and taking things out and yet still, I have quite a load.  Last night I lugged the thing around on my back for an hour or so and it was actually not uncomfortable in the least.  But the pack is jammed.  To. The. Brim.  I will be deciding on 3 outfits that can be worn every third day and am limiting myself to two pair of shoes and flip flops.  That’s it.  I refuse to take a wheeled suitcase through the streets of Japan.  Absolutely R-E-F-U-S-E.  Stay tuned.

maiko-henshin = geisha transformation

Susan and I will be transformed into geisha – – or actually into maiko, apprentice geisha.  Sounds fun!  We may even be able to take a stroll in our garb through Gion, the geisha district.  But for those of you who know both Susan and me, can you imagine us doing this in a reverent fashion!?  I think not, but we are sure to have fun!  I apologize in advance, maiko-henshin people.

Here’s someone else’s experience w maiko-henshin.

Susan and I will be taking a cooking class whilst in Kyoto.  We will be cooking autumn foods: grilled fish, spinach, rice, squash and some kind of a sweet to end the meal.  Here’s a YouTube video someone else took of the experience.

One month from today I will be in Tokyo, most likely heading to Nikko via bullet train to enjoy the serenity and beauty of the natural hot springs there.  Even though I’m super excited to see Japan, to see Susan (!), and to experience the whole journey, the pre-trip time is priceless and can be as exciting as the actual trip!  The unknown and the anticipation of visiting another land is thrilling for me.  It’s a rush and is my addiction.  I love the organizing part, the planning, the reading-up on the place, the flying, all of it.  But with that being said I am not thrilled about this crazy hair-brained idea I have of packing in a backpack.  After the third unsuccessful dry run I wonder why I am insisting with myself to back in a small bag that I carry on my back!?  What’s my point?  I’m going to keep trying but each time I try I need to remove about 50% of the stuff I want to take.  We’ll see what happens on this…

One thing I learned on the cruise to Antarctica (November 2009: seejanesblog.wordpress.com) is that photographers plan their shots ahead of time.  That idea never occurred to me before.  But now I’m writing my own list of shots to shoot whilst in Japan.  Here are some of them I hope to capture: the illusive Mt. Fuji, the illusive geisha, food!, lanterns, tea, awkwardly written signs and misspellings, anything that symbolizes or captures serenity, color!, fabric, nature, the bullet train hopefully depicting speed, people!  …  The list will continue…

Gion is the geisha district in Kyoto.  It’s the setting for ‘Memoirs of a Geisha,’ one of my favorite books.  I’m rather obsessed with geisha and trace that obsession back to the geisha doll my uncle James sent back to the States for my parents when he was there in the navy.  Her kimono a brilliant red and her face white, her hair shiny black with miniature adornments with her legs fashioned from Japanese-printed newspaper under her kimono: I repeatedly asked to take her to school for show and tell.  Which is why she sort of bent in half after a while – – and now I don’t know where she is.  That doll not only piqued my interest in geisha, I think it ignited my desire to travel.  I obsessed about faraway lands at that early age.

I have watched this video over and over.  Hopefully I will be able to post my own images when I visit.

Argh.  I have such angst every time I take one of these trips.  Heck, I have angst every time I pack to go on a regular business trip in my own sales territory (which is why I just pack in a large suitcase, tossing everything I might possibly need, and leave it packed week in and week out, pulling from it when I need clothes whilst at home)!

I always have a goal: to be a minimalist this time.  Alas, it never happens.  Until this trip to Japan! I know because I have purchased a 65L backpack….  But I’m keeping the tags on it until I decide for sure just what I can fit in this thing.  65 liters is not large – – yet it’s large enough to NOT fit in the overhead bin or under the seat in front of me.  So Jane Logic tells me that if I have to check a bag then for gods sake, check a bag and bring one with more heft!  But I have this backpack sitting here stuffed to the brim on my third dry run.  So back and forth I go.  And what about all of my electronics and computer-ware!?  Argh.  I have such angst every time I take one of these trips…

Already I’ve had some funny experiences with the English language and its context and translation from Japanese – – and I haven’t even left the States.  The websites for lodging are often just a little off.  One of the selling points in one of the ryokan (a Japanese guesthouse) I will be staying in is a “trouser presser in each and every room”.  Also, the tatami (a Japanese bed that is rolled out and made each night; a futon on the ground) is the best kind of bed, according to one website.  “You don’t have to ever worry about falling out of bed!”  I’m sold!  I will be on the lookout for these kinds of translation or context blips; it’s one of the best parts about traveling to any country where English is not the primary language.