The story of how I ended up in Japan at 17 years old.
It was a gloomy Sunday evening, I was in my room, pretending to study for a test – and my mom knocked on my door. I didn’t think anything of it – it was probably about laundry, or some other, boring every-day related talk.
But then she went:
“I just checked flight tickets; would you like to come with me to Japan tomorrow?”
I blinked, and said: “Excuse me, what?” – I knew she was going to Japan for a work conference; I helped her plan the rest of her trip – as she was going to explore Japan a little bit afterwards.
She just repeated the question: “Do you want to come with me to Japan tomorrow? The flight tickets are relatively cheap!”
I blinked again and said: “Well, I have school tomorrow.”
Answer: “C’mon, you’ll survive not sitting there for a couple days” – You got to love when your parents are encouraging you to miss school!
But then I went: “Mom, I appreciate the idea, but I also have a job” – I was working as a babysitter to make some money, so I could by flight tickets, and spend all my income on travelling. “And besides, what am I going to say to the flight school?” – You see, I was working on my private pilot’s licence – I almost ended up being a commercial pilot. (That’s a very long story for another blog post. I however still have my licence to fly small planes) My mom goes: “Okay, look, text your headteacher, and ask her if it would be even possible for her to let you go”
“I know it is, but not with a 4-hour notice. Plus, I have to text my boss as well, if she says no, I cannot do anything with that”. (Shoutout to my ex-head teacher, she does follow my page, and she was always such an angel).
My dad dropped me off at the airport Wednesday morning. It was my first long-haul flight, with a layover, and I was beyond excited! While sorting out everything, I made sure to make a quick plan – of all the things I’ll do in Tokyo alone, while my mom sits in a conference room.
I caught the bus heading to Tokyo centre – and walked into Hilton – my first time ever being in a fancy hotel – and waited for my mom at the reception. While her corporation was paying for our stay – she had to go back to manage meetings – I showered quickly, and headed to downtown Tokyo – on zero hours of sleep, jetlagged, but utterly excited.
Everything was magical, and so incredibly different from anything I have ever seen before – I made sure to try the weirdest looking street foods, wander into unique stores, while walking so many kilometres.
When I got back, I met up with my mom’s colleagues, and we all went out together to a random tower for some awesome views of Tokyo. They were a bit flabbergasted about the situation – mainly that my mom just let me do that – moreover she encouraged it. However, it was obvious to them – I’m not intimidated by the idea to explore a bit alone. (I’m 24 now as I’m writing this, and since then I have solo backpacked through China, Kyrgyzstan, and many other unhinged places).
eedless to say, the trip was magical. We spent 12 days in total in Japan – exploring Osaka, Kyoto and Hiroshima after Tokyo. If I wouldn’t be incredibly busy travelling to other places, and organizing group trips, I would go back to Japan in a heartbeat! (And probably will).
