Howdy from 日本！！

My hubby and I have been in Japan for about 5 days now, and I’m not ready for this trip to be over 😭 Japan has always been the top country I’ve wanted to see, and it certainly did not disappoint! I could spend multiple blog posts talking about our time here (and I certainly plan on it), but I thought it would be best to start at the beginning!

Our trek to Japan began on April 5. My husband, Nick, went to Japan four years ago on a mission trip, and miraculously avoided jet lag (a real accomplishment considering Japan is 14 hours ahead of Texas). I had been so excited to follow his fool proof plan to skip jet lag: staying awake the night before to get on “Japan time” and then sleeping on the plane when it’s nighttime in Japan. It worked so well for him in 2019, what could go wrong, right?

Apparently, lots can go wrong. On our first flight to Los Angeles (~3 hours) I learned the hard way that I cannot physically fall asleep on a plane, despite the fact that I had not slept in 24 hours. When we boarded the second flight to Tokyo (~12 hours), I knew I was in trouble. Sure enough, I didn’t sleep a single hour in those twelve hours, and welcomed only sore legs. On the bright side, the movie selection for my sleepless flight was excellent.

By the time we landed and saw the beautiful “Welcome to Japan” sign, I had not slept in 36 hours. As a sleep lover, this fact was absolutely absurd to me. Even in college, the latest I stayed up would not surpass midnight. The adrenaline of being in Japan, and God’s grace was enough to keep me from collapsing in the long, non-air conditioned customs line. Nick was the real MVP and carried EVERY bag and suitcase we brought with us (my hero 🥲).

When I say Nick is the real MVP, I am not exaggerating. As a newcomer to Japan, I was immediately overwhelmed by the elaborate, orderly train system. With Tokyo being the largest city in the world (don’t fact check that), one can imagine all million and one ways to get to surrounding wards from the airport. Without hesitating, Nick knew exactly where to go and which lines to take.

The honorable mention goes to Keith Green for being the train jams to keep my mind on Jesus through the chaos of travel ✌🏼

Picture this: it’s 7 p.m, I haven’t slept in almost 2 full days. What better way to settle in than to… eat a huge bowl of CURRY 🤤 My first taste of Japanese cuisine was so marvelous, it had my head spinning (or was it the lack of sleep?). After the crazy travel day(s), curry was exactly what Nick and I needed to take on the rest of our trip!

I’m so excited to share more photos from this trip… as well as a whole post dedicated to the FOOD we’ve had. Come and stay a while!