Japan

[chezmax]

Oh dear. I leave for Japan a week from today.

I'm totally not ready.

Well, I have a plane ticket, and a rail ticket, and I know where my passport is.

Things I need to remember to do:
Call Visa/My Bank. Tell them I'll be in a different country, and not to disable my card when charges start showing up from really weird place. Done
Pack.
Make a list of people who want postcards (inform me if you want a postcard: my first name which is at alleged networks... even if you think I have your address, send me an email so it'll be on the list)
Check my power adapters to see if they're 100V compatible.
Look for my travel insurance information and any cards I may need to carry.

Erm... I'm sure I'm forgetting important things.... Any ideas?

Comments

[nobodyhere.livejournal.com]

If you have your passport, your ticket, any required medications, and your wallet, anything else can likely be bought. (I know it's preferable to bring more than that, but that's my anxiety-reducing list.)

Have a great time!

[chezmax]

No medications, thankfully. :)

I hope I remember to take.. clothes... or something.

Although, the idea of travelling *really* light does have it's appeals. :)

[hedgegoth.livejournal.com]

Don't eat yellow snow

[cjtremlett.livejournal.com]

Where in Japan are you going and for how long?

I'd say get the Lonely Planet guide. I've had great luck with them in a wide range of places!

[chezmax]

Osaka, and anywhere reachable by train from there... for two weeks. I'm staying with a friend from college there :)

[lonita.livejournal.com]

Don't overpack.

A couple of pairs of jeans, one decent pair of pants, many t-shirts, a pair of shoes other than the ones you'll be wearing on the plane, a light rain-proof jacket, the usual unmentionables.

Don't waste suitcase space on items that you can purchase and dispose of over there.

Make sure you have enough memory cards/batteries for your camera.

Postcards are excellent for keeping a travel journal; less bulky than a notebook.

Don't eat fugu unless you're feeling exceptionally brave that day.

Don't forget travellers' medical insurance.

Easily roll-uppable/collapsable backpack of some kind, that can be stuffed into a pocket when not in use.

Japan is an expensive place.

[quatch.livejournal.com]

start building mental resistance to buying cool gadgets with an interface you can't read :) ... the temptation will be strong.

[quatch.livejournal.com]

may be worth to haul along the standard set of medicines. If you need them, you won't want to find/deal with a convience store.

that, and McTeriyaki might not agree with you :)

[chezmax]

nihongo was hanishimasu?

[lonita.livejournal.com]

That's going to be very hard for him. We should send no-buy vibes.

[quatch.livejournal.com]

bring something to keep a journal in. Make sure your cellphone will work, or find out about buying a disposable one. Look up japansese-english translators.

Make a quick kanji cheat sheet with the words for bathroom, man/woman, N/S/E/W, the community name you'll be in and such. All the train stuff is/was in kanji.

Look up where the neat historical stuff is near where you're staying.

Try to make a trip up into the mountains, it is so very different than the plains.

kyoto is worth seeing.

Ride a bullet train :)

Bring back some change, their change is pretty awesome.

[cjtremlett.livejournal.com]

Awesome!

Pretty much everywhere in Japan is reachable from everywhere else by train. Or by train and ferry. It's just a question of how long it takes!

[chezmax]

I don't have any. Literally the only medication I've taken in the last year is prescription antihistamines, and three antacid tablets one night :P

[quatch.livejournal.com]

advil/immodium/gravol. the addage about drinking the local water is not unfounded.

[chezmax]

It's likely to be problematic to take many non-prescription drugs across borders. :/

We'll see how it goes :)

[da-lj.livejournal.com]

'cept he's gonna bring back one incomprehensible gadget for me. :)

[fallyn-angel.livejournal.com]

HAVE FUN! (Don't forget that one)

Don't pack stupid stuff in your carry-on that will get you interrogated for hours and strip searched. Unless you feel like that might be fun...

[dwaxman.livejournal.com]

I do not request a post card; as they cost money. What I do request is that you take pictures of the following for me:
Engrish (Horridly translated things into poor English)
American / North American chains in Japan

Sometimes nothing is more funny than something like Old Navy in Japan etc etc

[taldragon.livejournal.com]

i'd like a postcard please.

so very jealous :(

[cgulutz.livejournal.com]

That is so awesome, share tons of pics when you return!

[chezmax]

I don't think I'll be seeing much snow.

[chezmax]

I've got a 7 day rail pass. :)

[chezmax]

My sister wants me to bring back Sailor Moon.

[chezmax]

Japan doesn't have GSM networks, but I've borrowed a different kind of blackberry from work that's supposed to work there. *crosses fingers*.

Assuming it actually does work, I should still have limited internet access (and lots of time on trains to read it :P)

The Kanji cheat sheet might be useful, but I don't even know where to start. I had wanted to pull out my Japan 101 books and start going over some introductory nihongo again, but I never quite got that far.

The train is supposedly bilingual. Station names are also in Romaji for convenience of people like me.

I'll be in Osaka, which is a stones throw to Kyoto. Lots of history there.

I'm not sure how much country side I'll be able to see, other then what's out the train windows.

Will see Kyoto.

Will be taking the Shinkansen to Tokyo, and maybe Hiroshima, and some other places, likely. Not going to let the rail pass go to waste!

[chezmax]

My carry on will probably be an Mp3 player, a cell phone, a game boy, identification.

And I will have fun. This is the farthest I've ever been from home (both by distance, and by culture), and I've been getting excited about it for weeks!