Japan Trip 2011 Update!...Sorta!

Planning a three week trip overseas is harder than it looks.

We are about 8 months away from our second honeymoon people. 8 months seems pretty far away but not when you have to save up insane amounts of money and deal with getting hotels overseas and the such. So while my mother thinks me planning and thinking about Japan will set myself up for disappointment I think it is necessary.

Also it is fun XD

So yeah the lack of animes shows has left me feeling antsy with nothing to do but catch up on Project Runway (Gretchen HATER) and I thought HEY let’s blog about my Japan Trip. Because I think the people I know in real life are tired about hearing about a trip that is forever away so why not bother people on the internet with my happiness?


In regards to saving money things have gone X_X. I have been asked to be in two weddings next year, in July and September. I also promised a friend I would go to Otakon 2011 since we were unable to go in 2010. Plane tickets are EXPENSIVE yo. Not to mention that taking the time off to do all these things means I won’t be here making money. Oh and I have a husband who needs a plane ticket too. And I need to buy dresses. X_X And book hotels. Mog people.

However…Japan trip is in May. The most expensive event is first. That is either a good thing or a bad thing. Probably a good thing for me and a bad thing in a long run. XD But since that is the most important event to me and I have been waiting for it the longest I deserve to have the best trip EVER! That and after my Japan trip I can devote all the money (in my budget) I was saving for that trip into buying a million plane tickets.

But another however is I have lost 1k I was planning on having. My father said in lieu of buying any gifts for me and my husband this year he would give us 1k towards the trip. I was never counting on this money 100 percent as my father likes to punish his adult kids in immature ways but yeah I thought maybe that could be used as extra spending money. Well HAHAHA my father has decided that his family no longer matters and is currently making everyone’s lives miserable. So I think it is safe to say that 1k is not going to make it to my hands. Which is fine, this way I won’t be owing him. I will just have to buckle down and not buy any (…or as much) splurgey items. Really take into consideration where my money is going. And instead of buying a Sonic Blast for 4 dollars and it lasts for one day buy a carton of ice cream for 3 dollars and it lasts a week.

See people, I will cut back but I will not do without. Ice cream is a MUST I don’t care how many events I am going to next year.

In terms of buying the plane tickets, traveling around in Japan, staying in a hotel, and having 3 basic meals a day I have all that money saved up. So whatever I make from now until May to earn money for actually doing things in Japan, like tickets for events. Also souvenirs people. Souvenirs are very important to greedy people who are going to the land of Hello Kitty and nendoroids. And unforeseen events. You can never have enough money when you are in a foreign place when you don’t know the everyday expenses of being in that country.

In terms of actually planning what we are going to do while in Japan that is a bit cemented in some ways and in others it is up in the air. My husband was like we need to start narrowing down what we are going to do in Japan and I was like OKAY. So I wrote down what I wanted to do and he was like oh I will pick when it gets closer to the trip. Because I am married to a crazy person. So part of the trip has been planned out. But mostly the typical things that one would do in Japan. Harajuku on Sunday as well as Akihabara. Disney Tokyo on our actual Anniversary date as we spent our honeymoon at Disney World. It is looking like we might spend the first week (my husband’s nondecision week) in Kyoto getting some culture and history before we go right for the here and now and popular. Also that might make our money last longer if I am separated from the plushie overload for a week.

So we still have a lot of planning to do. We need to get our schedule more down pat so we can start researching hotels and nearby restaurants. And once we get our schedule more fleshed out I can get a better grip on how much money I need to save.

Since the last post we have been to two panels on Planning a Trip to Japan. And we are still very conflicted on if we should get a JR pass or not. I guess that is really dependent on if we go to Kyoto or not. But still the passes would cost us 600 dollars each for three weeks. I know the trains can get expensive over long distances but I can’t see us spending over 600 dollars on train passes. Even if we arrive in Tokyo and travel to Kyoto for a week and back to Tokyo for the rest of the time a round trip might cost 300 dollars. Would we really spend over 300 dollars traveling around Tokyo for two weeks? I really hope the answer is no or I have no idea how people function in Japan.

Other than that we have been doing the basics, knowing the local customs, trying to see what is really worth seeing, and deciding that no, we don’t care about a mountain so we ain’t going to go see it. Also we have both reached the realization that there will be a lot of walking in Japan and maybe we should get in shape….like now. And that I might want to try to expand my palette as I was told going to McDonald’s in Japan would be a bad idea.

So not much of an update. We are still a good while away until things NEED to get planned. Right now the major focus is earning the mesos and hoping that the dollar doesn’t fall anymore. Oh and maybe getting passports. X_X Yeah I am totally on the ball with this one folks.

How many suitcases full of TREASURES do you think I will come back with from Japan?