We’re going to Japan!

Well we’ve done it. We’ve finally set a date for our trip to Japan. We’ve been dreaming about this trip for several years and were hoping this would be our year. We found a great deal on airfare and Karl was able to get his extended PTO approved so I am super excited to say we will be spending 3 weeks in Japan in August. This trip will be a lot of first for us, it will also be my first time traveling internationally. #excited

Why Japan?

Curious parties keep asking us ‘Why Japan?’. Karl and I have both been interested in Japanese culture and art for a little over 15 years. Because Japan was closed off from the rest of the world for so long they have a very unique culture with a lot of qualities and art forms we both admire. Samuri, Shinto & Buddist shrines, luxurious gardens, architecture — both traditional and modern, traditional and modern arts forms such as tea ceremonies, geisha, ink and brush work, anime, manga, sushi, other unique foods we’ve not yet heard of, and a ton of quirky things that we have heard of are all things that interest us. We hope to start a family of our own after this trip and this was the trip we wanted to take before really settling down. It’s a trip we wouldn’t be able to easily take later on. I would also say that I wanted to do this trip because I wanted to have the biggest culture shock experience possible but feel fairly safe and Japan is known as one of the safest places to visit. Culture shock aka sudden broadening of the mind to new possibilities and ways of doing things is something I greatly desire. Travel broadens the mind and I figure traveling to Japan versus traveling to Europe would broaden my mind the most. Happy? ;p