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jamesqI went to Japan this year. It was a trip a long time coming.
Originally, me and three friends were going to go in May of 2020. Well, you can guess how that went. It then got put on the back burner. Time passed, I lost my job, and decided to roll that into retirement. But I still had the money set aside. What was stopping me was not wanting to go by myself. So I bided my time, waiting for at least some of these friends to decide to go again. I tried not to push it myself, because when I do that, everyone clams up. Better to just wait.
Finally, one friend got invited to go to the annual Star Wars expo (which moves around, and was in Tokyo this year). A few months before, they pulled the trigger on going, and I bought my own tickets.
We ended up setting up a group chat and a google doc for things to do and helpful hints when travelling. It came in handy.
Myself? I let my anxiety get on top of me and didn't book my hotels or train tickets until about two weeks prior to our flight. But I did do it.
Sadly, the downside was that someone I didn't know (who shared that common friend with me) was doing all the planning. And they had very different priorities from me. The biggest is that they really wanted to spend a relaxing time in the countryside, and I'm a city boy at heart, who was really looking forward to exploring some of the great cities.
Remember I said I didn't want to go by myself? Of the two weeks I was in Japan, six-ish days were spent with my friends, and three of those days were travel days. While it wasn't ideal, I can say that being alone in Japan no longer fills me with panic-inducing anxiety. Now it's just the normal amount of anxiety if I ever go again. I'd like to go again.
Anyway, this is going to be the first of my Tokyo travelogue posts. I've finally gotten around to organizing my photos, and bullet points of what I did. Now to turn it into a narrative. I hope you enjoy it.
Originally, me and three friends were going to go in May of 2020. Well, you can guess how that went. It then got put on the back burner. Time passed, I lost my job, and decided to roll that into retirement. But I still had the money set aside. What was stopping me was not wanting to go by myself. So I bided my time, waiting for at least some of these friends to decide to go again. I tried not to push it myself, because when I do that, everyone clams up. Better to just wait.
Finally, one friend got invited to go to the annual Star Wars expo (which moves around, and was in Tokyo this year). A few months before, they pulled the trigger on going, and I bought my own tickets.
We ended up setting up a group chat and a google doc for things to do and helpful hints when travelling. It came in handy.
Myself? I let my anxiety get on top of me and didn't book my hotels or train tickets until about two weeks prior to our flight. But I did do it.
Sadly, the downside was that someone I didn't know (who shared that common friend with me) was doing all the planning. And they had very different priorities from me. The biggest is that they really wanted to spend a relaxing time in the countryside, and I'm a city boy at heart, who was really looking forward to exploring some of the great cities.
Remember I said I didn't want to go by myself? Of the two weeks I was in Japan, six-ish days were spent with my friends, and three of those days were travel days. While it wasn't ideal, I can say that being alone in Japan no longer fills me with panic-inducing anxiety. Now it's just the normal amount of anxiety if I ever go again. I'd like to go again.
Anyway, this is going to be the first of my Tokyo travelogue posts. I've finally gotten around to organizing my photos, and bullet points of what I did. Now to turn it into a narrative. I hope you enjoy it.
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Date: 2025-09-02 04:41 am (UTC)I went to Japan this year as well. My friends and I did the same thing where we had a google doc to list out plans. I'm a city person as well so I was definitely making sure we got some time in the city. I still need to find and organize my photos, I'm just lazy lol!
My friends and I had an airbnb in the city, but one of the days we traveled by bullet train to Mount Fuji. It was absolutely amazing!
I hope you had a good time in Japan!!