So being an anime fan since college, I've always wanted to go to Japan. Many of my college buddies and I talked about it and we all wanted to, but, of course, during college we were all broke. Well, not much changed after college. Some of my friends got married, some had kids, some never made enough money, and some of us just spent money on other things. But we always talked about it. After 10 years of talking about it, only the Rossman and I had the financial means, but both of us were tired of waiting. It was going to be expensive (the exchange rate back in college was 120Y/$, at the time of the trip it was 75Y/$) and it was going to take a lot of time, but it was also going to be epic.

So near the beginning of 2011 we started looking into the logistics of this trip, and figuring out how long we'd want to go, and where, etc. We had pretty much narrowed it down to either late spring or fall of 2011. Then about the same time we decided we were definitely going; well that's when the Great East Japan Earthquake hit (11 March 2011). So Mother Nature decided for us.

So we kept a close eye on the situation in Japan, and when it started looking like things were getting back to normal, we went ahead and started booking flights and tours and hotels. So the plan was set, the wheels were in motion, and October 12th would be the start of the longest, most anticipated and amazing trip I've taken so far...

(A lot of my friends know that I don't like to travel to places I've been before. It's not a matter of not liking places I've been, but a case of how many places I still want to go. But Japan is still pretty high up on my list, and if someone offered me the means, I'd go again in a heartbeat.)