Net Worth of Memories

This Japan trip has been in the works since 2023. Originally, our group was a bit bigger, specifically 3 additional travelers planned on joining us. However, plans changed and they had to drop out. The most disappointing drop was our friend AJ who unfortunately had family obligations. He did request us to photoshop him in these pictures so perhaps I will honor his request at some point. I contemplated writing only one blog post but a three week trip such as this might need a few posts to cover completely. Either way, I thought I would start this series out with some valuable lessons learned.

The Importance of Rest Days

Japan has one of the best public transit systems in the world which also means there would be many miles of walking. Unfortunately, we did not take this into account as much as we should have. For a good majority of the trip, we ended up taking advantage of the time zone working in our favor. This meant waking up at 5-6am in the morning to get the day started and it also meant getting 5-6 hours of sleep a night. On average, we walked around 8-10 miles a day which is a great workout, but it is also something that requires much more rest than what we got. Members of our party experienced blisters rather quickly and there were some instances of bruised or swollen ankles. I had the pleasure of getting plantar fasciitis for the first time in my life. It was not a fun experience. It also didn’t help that throughout the 3 weeks, we changed lodging a total of 5 times. Walking was tiring enough, but doing it while dragging our luggage? Next time for any international trip, I’ll keep in mind to have a center base with less travel between lodging. Additionally, more rest time or even a full rest day might be necessary.

Enjoying the Moment

Admittedly, we had a huge list of sites we wanted to see. As with all trips, sacrifices in scheduling do have to be made, but that shouldn’t attribute to enjoying a trip any less. It is easy to experience frustration when you realize time is limited and moves too quickly. Plans become limited, but you still enjoy what you can get to. I found myself rushing to get from destination to destination at times, but realized it detracted from the trip in many ways. Slowing down and enjoying the sites you are at in the moment goes a long way in making a trip better not just for yourself, but for everyone.

Memories

During a time of unemployment, I faced many uncertainties. When will I find a job? How will this affect my resume? Will my finances be good in the long run? All the while, I had a rather expensive trip to Japan in the works. I contemplated how my money would be spent but in the end, I found that worrying too much about this would have ended up ruining a great trip. My parents encourage me to travel especially when I am young because the opportunity to do so may not always be there. In the present, I had the chance to share a wonderful 3 weeks with friends. Those memories are priceless. The money spent will be recuperated but a chance like this isn’t always there. I may feel momentary regret looking at my credit card bill, but that will fade in time. These memories of the trip will not fade and will always be there.