I'd scheduled blog posts to go up automatically while we were in Japan. My brother works for the police department and he says there's a high incidence of robberies in our area so I shouldn't make our trips public knowledge.
We left for Japan on April 2nd. Art was determined to have mom enjoy one last visit with her family since she is almost 90 years old and getting to be pretty frail.
People assume because we've traveled quite a bit, that I am a good, calm, experienced traveler. I may be experienced, but I'm not a good traveler. And calm? Hah!
The week before our flying out had me totally jittery. I was extra nervous and climbing the walls because we were on our own this time without a tour to take care of everything. We were also taking mom without the help of my brother, Dennis to deal with luggage or any mishaps. I finally got both mine and mom's suitcases packed. I labeled bags so mom could find items quickly.
Dennis drove us to the airport and I know he wished he could come along.
Japan Airlines was wonderful.
A friendly flight attendant made sure we found our seats and showed mom where the bathroom was.
With all my trepidation, the flight was pretty easy for mom.
She watched almost four movies dubbed in Japanese. She was enjoying the movies so much that she couldn't go to sleep even though the flight was over 8 hours long.
When we landed at Narita International Airport, it was now April 3rd.
Japan is 23 hours ahead of Hawaii which sometimes makes things a little confusing.
We had to quickly do several things after leaving the Customs/Immigration area.
I mailed all our omiyages (gifts) to our relatives using the extremely efficient takkyubin service while Art went to collect the WiFi hotspot he rented on line.
We then went to pick up our JR East rail (Shinkansen) passes so we could travel anywhere in that one region for any 5 days within 2 weeks.
After collecting our passes, we could use the Shinkansen train to our businessman's hotel. Art chose this hotel because it's right next to the train stop and would be easy for mom to handle.
The Toyoko Inn has pretty much everything you need, but is small. Mom loved that they provided pajamas for you to wear also.
We went right to sleep!
People assume because we've traveled quite a bit, that I am a good, calm, experienced traveler. I may be experienced, but I'm not a good traveler. And calm? Hah!
The week before our flying out had me totally jittery. I was extra nervous and climbing the walls because we were on our own this time without a tour to take care of everything. We were also taking mom without the help of my brother, Dennis to deal with luggage or any mishaps. I finally got both mine and mom's suitcases packed. I labeled bags so mom could find items quickly.
Japan Airlines was wonderful.
A friendly flight attendant made sure we found our seats and showed mom where the bathroom was.
With all my trepidation, the flight was pretty easy for mom.
She watched almost four movies dubbed in Japanese. She was enjoying the movies so much that she couldn't go to sleep even though the flight was over 8 hours long.
When we landed at Narita International Airport, it was now April 3rd.
Japan is 23 hours ahead of Hawaii which sometimes makes things a little confusing.
We had to quickly do several things after leaving the Customs/Immigration area.
I mailed all our omiyages (gifts) to our relatives using the extremely efficient takkyubin service while Art went to collect the WiFi hotspot he rented on line.
We then went to pick up our JR East rail (Shinkansen) passes so we could travel anywhere in that one region for any 5 days within 2 weeks.
After collecting our passes, we could use the Shinkansen train to our businessman's hotel. Art chose this hotel because it's right next to the train stop and would be easy for mom to handle.
The Toyoko Inn has pretty much everything you need, but is small. Mom loved that they provided pajamas for you to wear also.
We went right to sleep!
You do so well for Mom.
ReplyDeleteNo need to apologize for being nervous about your mom. Any of us would be the same. Just having my mom visit from 90 miles away made me nervous. I would pick her up up to bring her home with me. The very last time, 2 months before she died she was tethered to oxygen at night.
ReplyDeleteYour mom looks like a very young and happy 90!
ReplyDeleteI think Japan does a great job of taking care of people, in contrast to the US airlines. She looks wonderful! :-)
ReplyDeleteI am hiring you to help me with my next trip. I did not know you could rent wifi on travel. I will have to look into that. I never let people on FB know I am gone because of issues with break-ins although our neighborhood is pretty safe.
ReplyDeleteWell, your mom does look calm so your worrying and fretting paid off!
ReplyDeletehow fun i loved traveling back in 2003 when picking up missionary son in hiroshima-beautiful country, efficient trains and transportation...
ReplyDeleteYou take such good care of her. You have a fine family!
ReplyDeleteI think you did a wonderful job with your travel with Mom. Loved the labeled bags you did for her. She looks so happy. We don't leak our travel plans here either.
ReplyDeleteYou ware doing awfully well after that flustered start. And I did know you had goone somewhere because of your short posts. Welcome home.
ReplyDeleteYour Mom sure makes almost 90 look good. So glad she was so interested in the Japanese movies. Must have been a treat for her.
ReplyDeleteSmart of you to keep travel plans secret.
Looking forward to more!
ReplyDeleteGlad you got a good start. You know Art is a very good travel organizer, and could probably get a job as a tour agent. Nice that Mom could watch movies in Japanese. I've traveled with a daily page of what to do, or vouchers to get, for each day, so I don't have to remember so much stuff. Cheers, Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteLooking good, mom!
ReplyDelete[try moving back to Hawaii! oh wait, you DID LOL :)
Yes, you do well by your mom. This is really fun, traveling with you.
ReplyDeleteI schedule posts, as well. It's just easier and safer to keep them rolling out.
Awesome!!! So great to hear and I can not wait to hear more about this trip! So cool! Annster's Domain
ReplyDeleteMy daughter was in Japan earlier this year and said it was awesome. Enjoy your trip!
ReplyDeleteSay what you will, you really do handle a trip well.
ReplyDeleteGood to hear that everything worked out well.
ReplyDeleteI knew if you were posting about your trip that it was over and you were safely back home. While you do fret about travel, you and Art do a great job of preparation. I will be excited to hear how the trip went.
ReplyDelete