Welcome sign after immigration to Japan inside Haneda airport
I just returned from a solo trip to Japan last week. It was by no means my first time. I've gone maybe five other times previously, making this my sixth trip. Originally, it was not my intention to go alone. I was looking at flights and prices to get both myself and my husband Josh to Japan together for the Tokyo Game Show. However, Josh was not so certain he could make it work together juggling getting time off work. For a little while I figured that was just the end of it and we'd save it for some other later date, but that was when Josh said to me, "You know, you always talk about how you've taken all these trips with other groups of people who've never been before which means you never get to do what you want to do. Why don't you take this trip for yourself and finally take control over your own trip and do what makes you happy?"
And he was right. There has only been one other time I ever got to go to Japan basically alone, and that was 16 years ago when I was in school taking Japanese language classes. And does that really count as much of a trip, when there were high expectations placed on me to stay inside, be in school all day, keep to my dormitory and do nothing but study, with the dorm having a curfew and locking me out if I didn't get back home in time? I didn't exactly have time to do anything I wanted at that time, either. So, with Josh kindly having suggested that I do something for myself for once, I took the opportunity to make a few basic barebones plans for myself, and I was off.
