What can I say, my preparation for this trip is pretty much nothing. I have been reading a million books on South East Asia, travel logs and historical books, but not really much research in the exact places we are staying. Mainly, we don’t know what city we will be in, or town, or country for that matter.

Plus, I was spending every moment I had packing up my house, organizing my business so a new manager could come in and run it, and locking in tenants for the next year, that I had next to no time to even think of the trip.

Everything was done in stages, first stop leaving Philly after packing was New York. I left my cat in Philadelphia with my friend Luca, at my own house. My dog BooBoo was left with my brother, because who would not want a cute Pit Bull, and finally my dog Jupiter was staying with my parents.

We left Philly late at night because the new tenants were in our rooms, and it was just awkward being in my own house which no longer felt like home. We had friends who asked us to stay the night at their houses, but really, once the van was packed, there is no turning back. Philly being Philly, last thing I wanted was all my belongings being stolen. Not a great way to start a trip. Now me being me, I forgot my two gold fish in the water garden on the deck. So I grabbed a pitcher and tried catching them in the dark. One of those little fish did not want to leave, and jumped out of my hands, bounced on the deck, and rolled under it. I just put that deck together, so this was not a great thing to happen. I caught the other fish, and told Yvonne what had happened to the fish. Something like this always happens.

Well, it was too much for me to just let him die. So I quickly got out my drill and began unscrewing deck boards. There was a short one in the area he fell under, but it was still three feet away. So using the flashes on our phone, we were able to locate the little fish. Using a metal pole, I was able to drag him under to a point where I could grab him. He was pretty beat up, and dirty, but still alive. So off to my friends Pats house, to live his life in a much bigger and more beautiful pond then mine.

So back to my main point, after a day in New York, it was a 12 hour drive to Michigan to my parents. Every step of this process gave me a feeling of my pack getting lighter, ready to fill up with my next adventure. Once at my parents house it was still a lot of business, but my parents were very helpful in getting Yvonne and I stuff we needed for out trip. And after a couple days there, we were ready to catch our plane.

My parents are completely confused by our decision to leave the country, and think we are crazy. They really just want us to have some babies, and do normal things. But just the same, they are still supportive. My dad is praying for my soul, and my mom just keeps bugging me to call everyday, even though she has not gotten her Skype going yet.

The flight to Japan was nice, we managed to score two seats to our selves, and with the movie selection, the 14 hour flight went by quickly. At one point during the night a couple started screaming at each other in Japanese. The woman’s voice was like finger nails going down the chalk board. All was in Japanese, so we had no idea what she was saying, but normally the Japanese(generalization alert) are the quietest people I met, but there was no stopping this woman. I actually went in to the bathroom, not wanting to get involved, but needing to get away. Well when I got out all was quiet, and the stewardesses were blocking my way laughing. I chatted with them, and they told me the woman laid in last row and the guy decided she did not need 5 seats to her self, so he just sat on her feet and ignored her screams of protest. Lol, how hilarious is that. So she screamed at him for like 10 minutes, no kidding, and he ignored her. The stewardesses sorted it out, but can you imagine how rude both of them were.

So that was our flight, and at the end, my best friend George was waiting for us as the Narita airport, beers in hand as he has always been for the last 3 times to Japan. Because what trip to Asia could ever be good with out stopping in Tokyo to see George.