This post contains affiliate links. They say that getting there is half the fun, but that definitely wasn’t the case for our trip to Japan. Our day of travel reminded me just how far away Japan is and how long it takes to get there.
Traveling to Japan
Leg One: New York to Michigan
Our trip started on Friday. We drove seven hours from New York to Michigan. We had a day to relax, unwind, and make final preparations for the trip before we started our big journey.
Leg Two: Michigan to Minneapolis
On Sunday, we woke up at 3:30 a.m. to leave the house at 4 a.m. to drive one hour to the Grand Rapids airport. We had a smooth, uneventful flight at 7 a.m. from Grand Rapids to Minneapolis.
Leg Three: Minneapolis to Tokyo
But then the roadblocks began. Our flight from Minneapolis to Tokyo was supposed to leave at 11:10 a.m., but it was delayed and left at 3 p.m.
Luckily, we had researched this particular flight and knew that it runs late two or three times a week. While a seven-hour layover was boring, we had expected it, so we weren’t upset. But wow, is airport food expensive!
When we finally boarded, we were pleasantly surprised that the flight was half empty. Even better for me, since I tend to be a nervous flyer, the flight was relatively smooth with little turbulence. Still, you can only do so much on a 12.5-hour flight before you get unbelievably bored. I read a little, watched one of my favorite movies, Muriel’s Wedding, and listened to some podcasts.
Leg Four: Tokyo to Our Vacation Rental
Before we left Minneapolis, the staff there told us we would have to register online for customs and a disembarkation form in Japan. They told us we should do it on our cell phones before we boarded and lost Internet. We spent about 45 minutes figuring this out and getting our QR code.
However, we had trouble pulling up the QR codes when we landed because we couldn’t connect to the Internet. After 20 to 30 minutes, we finally pulled it up only to find we had done one part wrong and needed to fill out a paper form anyway. The immigration official looked a bit exasperated with us.
We took a one-hour train ride to the part of Tokyo where our hotel was. By now, we had been awake 24 hours, except for the brief cat naps we got on the plan. My husband navigated the 15-minute walk to the vacation rental, but then the trouble began. We didn’t have Internet access to log in to the vacation rental. Instead, we had to walk back to 7-11 to use their internet. We also had to scan our passports and pictures of us standing by the VRBO. We sat in the dark on the street, our bags all around us, waiting for my husband to figure out how to get us into the VRBO. Tokyo was hot and unbelievably humid, so we all turned red-faced and had sweat rivulets running down our backs.
My husband’s nephew, who lives in Tokyo, met us at the VRBO when we finally got in. After unloading and washing our faces, we headed out for a delicious dinner.
Finally, 30 hours after we leaving Michigan, we dropped into bed and slept.
Oh my gosh! That would have stressed me out. We haven’t flown out of GR yet. Just Detroit.
Do you think all the hassle to get into the vrbo is due to issues the owner has had in the past? The one time we used vrbo, last year, we were able to walk right in.
If that was your dinner, it looks delicious!
I don’t know why they had the rules for the VRBO. However, for both locations that we stayed at we, we had to scan our passports. It all would have been easier if we’d had internet on our phones. When we go again, we’ll buy internet so we’ll have it while traveling.