Adventures in Adventuring.

A few months ago an opportunity came up for my husband to take on some extra work. We considered what do with the money rather carefully (planning, checking finances, budgeting, researching costs, using travel forums) and came to the conclusion that we could go on one of our dream vacations. When we were married we were rather short on money; our wedding ran us >$100 for the dress, food and license. Friends generously chipped in for a reception. Needless to say, we did not have a honeymoon. We've now been married a bit over 11 years and have gone on many small vacations and one large trip.

The smaller trips include visits to family and family owned properties in places such as Atlanta, Miami and the Gainesville area of Florida. We have also gone to Chicago for fun and San Francisco and Pittsburgh for school visits. I'm not even going to add the umpteen trips to Ren Faires, LARPs, magical cities that have Trader Joes, etc.

In 2009 my in-laws paid for us to go to Costa Rica for a 9 day family trip. My husband grew up there and had always wanted to show me the country. I had been obsessed with Monte Verde since reading about it in National Geographic at the age of 11. It was a wonderful experience, only hindered by the fact that we were on the in-laws schedule and had no free days. We got to do many things we wanted to do and missed many others. One particular adventure involved sneaking away to get drinks at a small cafe because we were assured eating anywhere like that would give us food poisoning. I had horchata, which was delicious and caused not a single bit of intestinal distress.

So, anyway, to make a long and ramble-y entry short, we are planning to go to Japan at the end of the year. I have studied Japanese from ninth grade until senior year of undergrad. In 2000 I spent a summer doing homestay there. I pursued and undergraduate degree in East Asian Studies, focus on Japan. My husband has also studied the language and had an obsession with the country for a long while, but he has never been. Being one of the first things we found that we had in common, being someplace that one of us had been to but the other had not, and general geeky desires made Japan an obvious choice for our grand adventure.

I have created this blog to document our planning, our list of things to do, our itinerary, famous tourist spots and, ultimately, our trip there. I will add other content as well; snippets from Costa Rica, my travel philosophy, photos and miscellaneous other bits.