Today I’m adding two new categories to the blog, bringing the total count up to 34. At this point in time, it has become obvious to me that tags would probably be a better system but we’re working with what we got. The two categories are “Travel” and “Japan 2011” the latter being a child to the former. I’ll explain their purposes briefly:
Well… I would hope this one is fairly self explanatory: Anything involving traveling & trips. For instance I’ve previously talked about my amusements during flight. When I was young I traveled a lot (thanks to my parents), though since about college I’ve not had nearly the same amount of time nor money to do so. Now that looks to be turning around so, yay! I like to travel. Just one clarification, when I say “travel” I mean on a trip that is more than 300 miles away from home or is somehow vacation related. I regularly drive to and from Tahoe (200 miles) and I have no intention of boring you with that mundane information. For that you can check twitter.
Since this category is a child of travel, it should also be fairly simple to guess. But for those of you who are stupid, dense, or EXTREMELY obtuse: I’m going to Japan next year. This is what falls under the subject head of a “big deal” for me. I’ve been a Japanophile (yes, there really is a Wikipedia article on that) for at least 15 years. I’m also most definitely an otaku. Regardless, it has been my dream to go to Japan for a very long time, and it is finally happening.
I intend on covering this trip, everything leading up to it, as well as the trip itself, very extensively. I’m doing so for a few reasons. First, I’ve never planned a big trip like this before. Sure, I’ve booked flights and planned vacations before, but never to a foreign country. While I’ve traveled internationally many times, the last time I did so was in high school, and I was under my parents’ control (Editor’s Note: for certain definitions of “control”). Second, I find the lack of recent information on other people’s travels to Japan annoying. For example, I found a great article about taking an iPhone to Japan, and WiFi accessibility but it is 3 years out of date (4 years, by the time I travel there). Third, I’m doing a lot of research, combing through and condensing a lot of information, and I think that should be shared with everyone.
PS. I’m really excited about this trip, and it isn’t until April of 2011. Expect a lot of posts in the near future on it in regards to the early planning. As the trip gets closer, there won’t be much to report since all the prep will be “done”. Once I get on the trip, the blog posts may or may not be showing up immediately — depends on how accessible the internet is/if I have time. By the time it is over though, there will be a LOT of material to post.