At frequent intervals since ‘Er Indoors and Hughesy “became an item” late in 2000, various friends and acquaintances have asked when “the big overseas trip” was going to happen.
More specifically, when was Hughesy going to Japan?
Madam had been back home a number of times, but, for a variety of reasons, I’d declined to join her until April 2008.
On most of her earlier visits there were more important issues on the agenda than guiding a large hairy foreigner through the Land of the Rising Sun, but when she returned from a short sojourn in October 2007 with the news that there was this little bar that she knew I would love it was time to bite the bullet and venture off on my first trip overseas.
For most of the twenty-something years between the time I arrived in Bowen and the completion of the Little House of Concrete, overseas travel was not a viable prospect, partly for financial reasons and partly because travel associated with cricket teams didn’t leave a whole lot of free time in vacation periods (assuming that I had the money, which I mostly didn’t).
And, once the Little House of Concrete was completed, there was the small matter of paying off the mortgage and completing the landscaping, both of which needed to be done before I could retire.
Apart from any other consideration, there were two other major factors in my reluctance to travel overseas in general, and to Japan in particular.
First up, I was seriously concerned that, despite the assurances of everyone who told me “You’ll absolutely love it” there was the very real prospect that I wouldn’t. Maybe it’s just the contrarian in me, but if everyone tells me something is wonderful I find myself looking for reasons not to like it. More importantly, I tend to shy right away from crowds, and, according to everything I’d heard, Japan was a VERY crowded place.
Equally importantly, I know myself. If I start to get interested in something, I have difficulty drawing a line and saying “That’s enough.” And if the travel bug were to hit, it could be an exceedingly expensive exercise.
But, finally, I’ve gone. And I loved it.
And, unsurprisingly, I’d started thinking about “next time” before we’d even left the country.
This content could, of course, have fitted under “Further Afield” but I thought a whole new “overseas” section was a better idea. Enjoy!
Japan 2008
The Travelogues
The Photos
And, if there are any broken links or other issues I haven’t noticed in the rush to get this saga out into cyberspace, please let me know.