お帰り
Coming home from a wonderful vacation is rarely enjoyable. An uncertain future makes it harder not to spend all my time wishing things were different.
Which they could be, but it's going to take time and work. As Snoopy used to say, Bleah.
TA
my samsonite
I am 68 years old, and I’ve never owned a suitcase in my life. What little air travel I’ve done has been with either a duffel bag or backpack; yea, I’m one classy world traveler. But this is about to…
pto
Paid time-off is critical to affording a 16-day vacation. Rather than lose over half my pay for the month, I’m losing about one-third over a two-week period. I can afford that.
luggage
My first suitcase, and I cannot believe how these have changed. My folks had Samsonite luggage when I was a kid, and that stuff weighed a ton. These new things not only are lighter, they look better and make a great downhill ride.
cash
Anyone who has researched a trip to Japan has probably read countless articles stating that “Japan is a cash country”. You will need cash in Japan, more than in most of the US, especially in more rural areas. But there…
fare shock
I knew airline prices were rising, but I'm not a frequent flyer – to put it mildly – so I hadn't paid attention. And it's not just the cost of a ticket; it's the charges for baggage, of course. As an infrequent flyer, seeing actual costs is quite the shock.
Osaka Expo
I had no plan to visit Osaka, one of the places usually overrun by tourists. But I couldn't resist attending the Expo, kind of a bookend for my life as a world traveler. (For now; I hope I'm not done traveling.)
Zipair, with too much detail
The Zipair website is pretty decent, better than most Japanese travel sites catering to Westerners. Japan Airlines runs Zipair, and they have standards.
To my mind, the critical thing with this is to accept a long, boring flight – the seats are comfortable – and save money for Japan. My only “extra” was to help avoid issues at check-in. We’ll see how that goes.
finally!
Zipair releases fares on a rolling quarterly basis. They also release different airports at different times. Finding out when for a particular airport isn’t the easiest things; you just have to keep checking.
The photo was taken 2024-5-29; it's one of my last views of Japan, flying home on Zipair