dianaschnuth

Photos really can’t effectively capture the immensity of Mt. Fuji; she’s massive and majestic, and we were lucky to have a clear view of her today.

Much like the view we had last time, which is awesome.

The luggage and carry-ons are packed and ready to go, tomorrow’s clothes are laid out, the boarding passes and travel documents are printed, and we’re just about ready to settle down for a near-sleepless night.

Our checked luggage is still upstairs on the bed, and one inner pocket of one of our suitcases is completely full of chargers and cords for our electronics. Nikon DSLR, Minolta point-and-shoot digital, MiniDV camcorder, Nintendo DS, PSP, iPhones and iPods. (The laptop power supply stays with the laptop in the carry-on.) It’s almost ridiculous how “wired” we are for this trip.

I have to wonder whether being more connected this time around is going to change our experience. And it’s not just the fact of being able to upload photos of our trip while we’re still ON our trip; it’s being able to access our Google Map from our iPhones, instead of marking places in our Tokyo Atlas; it’s having directions via the Tokyo Metro subway at our fingertips, instead of using our 8.5 x 11″ printed map; it’s the allure of Twittering (or even all-out blogging) about our vacation at any given moment. It’s having access to the internet via the laptop in our hotel room, instead of using the free internet at the Apple Store in Ginza to find a kaiten-zushi restaurant in Asakusa.

Honestly, I think our gadgetry will only enhance our trip, instead of taking away from it. As long as we don’t let ourselves get pulled out of the awesomeness that is our vacation in order to document our awesome vacation, I think we’ll be just fine.

Our friend Kris is graciously picking us up tomorrow morning around 8:30am to drive us to the Detroit airport. Our flight starts boarding at 11:30am, and we take off at noon-thirty for Tokyo.

And the adventure begins…

After our ill-fated attempt at procreation back in ’07, Aaron and I found ourselves sitting in Red Lobster, facing a second chance at DINKness (dual income, no kids). Eventually, after some discussion, we decided to do something crazy, something we never thought we’d be able to swing: a week-long vacation to Japan.

It was the best vacation EVER.

It beat the crap out of our previous vacation to Amish Country, or the mix-n-match week of daytrips from the year before that. Despite the ass-long plane trip, our week in Tokyo was everything we’d hoped it would be. Culturally fascinating, with fantastic food and geeky shopping like you wouldn’t believe.

How to follow that up? How about the other vacation destination we never thought we’d be able to afford: Hawaii. Beautiful weather, outdoor activities like parasailing and snorkeling, bus tours, a Polynesian theme park, and Japanese food. Again, long-ass plane ride, but ultimately worth it.

So.

Now we’ve done the two trips we really, really wanted to take in our lifetimes. We have another year to take another potentially over-the-top trip… but neither of us are wowed solely by breathtaking landscapes or fantastic weather. There needs to be places to go, things to do, and preferably some sort of nearby walkable civilized / metropolitan area. Since Aaron had to put in for his vacations so early this year, we’re locked into traveling in either May or August.

Our two awesome vacations were awesome for completely different reasons. Hawaii was more of an outdoor adventure, while Tokyo was a geeky paradise for lovers of the Japanese culture. Maybe it’s just because we’re at the beginning of winter, but I’m recalling how much I really enjoyed being in the tropics. Warm breezes, perfect temps, sunshine, beaches… not that Tokyo in May was unpleasant by any means. So, while there are plenty of places I’d like to check out in Europe (especially England and Ireland), I think they’re going to be pushed to the back burner, in favor of some fun in the sun.

I think I’m just jonesing for a getaway, and that’s putting me in vacation-planning mode. I’m trying to balance price and flight length with potential vacation awesomeness, and am coming up with either the Caribbean or Mexico / Central America. I mean, Hong Kong would be great, but that’s a loooong trip for more money than it cost to go to Tokyo. Fiji might be neat, too, but is it 20 hours and $3000 worth of neat? I highly doubt it.

San Jose, Costa Rica seems kind of far from the beach, although it looks like there’s some awesome white water rafting. Belize is a possibility, as English is the official language, and there’s interesting things to do like cave tubing and snorkeling. Puerto Vallarta might be fun — whale watching, swimming with dolphins, hot air ballooning, and jungle boogie-ing. One of the islands of the Caribbean might even be do-able: Aruba, or Jamaica, or St. Lucia.

I’m not entirely opposed to doing the touristy thing; in fact, I’ve enjoyed most of the touristy things we’ve done. I just like to have the option to just walk out of my hotel and find out where the locals go, or have an adventure I hadn’t planned.

I guess I’m just feeling a little overwhelmed. We’ve done the top two trips, right out of the gate. Now the rest of the world is waiting.