Lee spent much of the evening pulling together the design for the blog he plans to keep while traveling through Japan with grandson Sean and son-in-law Ted beginning within the week.
Quite some time was spent attempting to locate images illustrating similar trips involving Alissa, Evan and Jonathan in times past.
Appropriate ones were finally found for Jon and Evan, but Alissa's still remains only in slide format and will have to be scanned tomorrow before a collage of the three members of the preceding generation taking similar tours can be incorporated.
Looking back on those earlier experiences has made Lee very aware of myriad changes in the world of travel taking place over the nearly thirty years since he first escorted a child to the Land of the Rising Sun. For one thing, everything about this trip was planned using Internet resources: buying air tickets; keeping in touch about emerging travel plans; reserving hotel rooms; arranging for Japan Rail Passes, rental cellphones and MiFi transmitters; reviewing event schedules for March and early April; even checking out possible train departure / arrival times and subway routes in Tokyo.
Also, for the first time, Lee won't be carrying travelers' checks with him, instead relying on an ATM card to supply him with needed cash (knowing that 7-11 convenience stores throughout Japan now offer twenty-four hour ATM access to bank accounts, even those located outside the Empire). And he's planning to make use of iTouch access for hints on restaurants and transportation details.
As always, then, this trip promises to be the usual combination of "old" and "new" experiences, inevitably the best way to assure that such visits never become repetitive or boring excursions devoid of the unexpected, the unplanned for or the delightfully mystifying turn of events.
Quite some time was spent attempting to locate images illustrating similar trips involving Alissa, Evan and Jonathan in times past.
Appropriate ones were finally found for Jon and Evan, but Alissa's still remains only in slide format and will have to be scanned tomorrow before a collage of the three members of the preceding generation taking similar tours can be incorporated.
Looking back on those earlier experiences has made Lee very aware of myriad changes in the world of travel taking place over the nearly thirty years since he first escorted a child to the Land of the Rising Sun. For one thing, everything about this trip was planned using Internet resources: buying air tickets; keeping in touch about emerging travel plans; reserving hotel rooms; arranging for Japan Rail Passes, rental cellphones and MiFi transmitters; reviewing event schedules for March and early April; even checking out possible train departure / arrival times and subway routes in Tokyo.
Also, for the first time, Lee won't be carrying travelers' checks with him, instead relying on an ATM card to supply him with needed cash (knowing that 7-11 convenience stores throughout Japan now offer twenty-four hour ATM access to bank accounts, even those located outside the Empire). And he's planning to make use of iTouch access for hints on restaurants and transportation details.
As always, then, this trip promises to be the usual combination of "old" and "new" experiences, inevitably the best way to assure that such visits never become repetitive or boring excursions devoid of the unexpected, the unplanned for or the delightfully mystifying turn of events.
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