Little Lessons Learned From Travel

I have always been the travel planner in my family. Every vacation we go on, whether it’s just me and my hubby, or includes our kids, is planned by me. I research each location we decide upon, finding all the fun, and usually more affordable, activities and not-to-be-missed experiences offered in each place. And let me tell you, it can be exhausting and stressful.

Then comes the packing, the transportation, and planning for contingencies. If you’re like me, then you know it can be a lot! I can’t tell you how many times we’ve sprinted through the airport because our flight changed gates at the last minute or because we boarded, then because of a mechanical issue we were rebooked on another flight. Or how about tight connections, flight delays or cancellations? All super stressful!

We’ve traveled around much of the United States, visiting National Parks, amusement parks like Disneyland and Disney World and Dollywood, mountains, deserts, oceans, lakes and large cities. We’ve gone to Mexico, Canada, Jamaica, the Virgin Islands and England. It makes sense then, that we discuss travel quite often at home.

My husband has had a long-time wish to travel to Japan, to revisit some of the places he became familiar with when he lived there years ago but ticket prices have always been too high. Until last winter. I saw a few fares pop up in a travel email that were reasonable, and I told him if he was serious about going, we should hop right on the good deals. We took a look at the calendar, chose September 2025, and purchased tickets.

Here’s where the narrative shifted. Since Hubby had lived in Japan before and I knew nothing about traveling there, I told him he was doing the planning this time around. Was I worried about handing over the reins? You bet! Oftentimes, as the date inched closer, I had to remind him that we couldn’t go without some idea of what we were going to do there. So, with input from me about things I’d like to do (like visit the sacred deer in Nara and take a Kintsugi class), an itinerary was made. And let me tell you, being the one along for the ride and letting Hubby handle the schedule, transportation, etc. turned out to be a dream come true. Maybe that’s why I enjoyed Japan so much?!

Or maybe it was the smiling, helpful people. The beautiful countryside (think Mt. Fuji and waterfalls). The delicious food, like katsu curry, ramen, and okonomiyaki. The temples and shrines that are literally everywhere. The markets and shopping. The opportunity to stay in a ryokan for a couple of days experiencing tatami mat floors and futons for sleeping. I really could go on and on.

I guess what I learned from this experience was that it’s okay to branch out and try something new. I ended up loving Japan much more than I thought I would. I learned it’s okay to just go along for the ride. Lucky for us, we only had one short flight delay, and only got on the wrong train three times, which was easily corrected. But what a fascinating country I’d happily visit again! So, when the opportunity arises, make those travel plans. And as for planning, maybe do it together to lighten everyone’s load!