Prepping for Japan…

So in just a few short days, this little hobbit will be making his first visit to the amaze-balls Japan.

Tokyo, to be precise.

I’ve wanted to visit since I was about ten years old, so the opportunity to get over there this year couldn’t be ignored. When we bought an apartment earlier this year, a trip to Asia wasn’t part of the plan!

But several hundred thousand air miles and some nifty planning on the part of @FrankDJS later, we’re booked on a quite luxurious first class BA flight to Tokyo.

It’s been so long in the making, I can’t quite believe it’s next week.

With just a week in the city, it’s hard to short-list all the things we want to see and do. A trip to an Onsen is somewhere near the top of the list, as is a stroll around Akihabara to marvel at cosplay and gadgets. We’ll also take a day to experience Mount Fuji. Via bullet train, obviously.

Sprinkle liberally with a mix of great food, shrines, fighting robots, maid cafes, karaoke and more bullet trains and I’m grinning like an idiot.

In turns of prep, it’s been a case of mapping out all the places we’d like to visit, absorbing as many recommendations as possible and throwing a smattering of Japanese language into the mix.

The itinerary has been reviewed and now sits as quite a detailed mini-wiki in Evernote for offline browsing. Maps and public transport guides have been installed onto iPads and iPhones.

This is me we’re talking about, right?

(And back-ups of each will be available in my Filofax, just in case! I’ve read that Tokyo doesn’t exactly overflow with free wifi, so I’m relying on my paper-based planner to get us from A to B without resorting to £1,000 per megabyte international roaming charges from Vodafone. )

But most importantly, my “sense of adventure” switch has been flicked to “max”. I’m keen to enjoy somewhere that is so different to home that every experience will be something new and interesting.

Blogging from there may be infrequent, but I’m determined to share as much as possible – possibly via Instagram or my Tumblr.

See you on the other side!