71 days to go before leaving to Japan. A lot of planning is already done and we have discussed a lot of the days and what we want to do and see. Since some bat-stew destroyed my plans in 2020 it is time to do what I planned 6 years ago.     

I paired up with a friend from the Netherlands, who had the same problem in 2020. And it is definetly cheaper to share some of the costs (like room). Unless you decide, that an 14+ hour flight is not survivable in Economy class seating.

Since I come from the middle of Norway flights are booked seperately. When we found the dates, we booked. Premium Economy (no chance to use the kind of money that Business would cost… about 3500 Euros… nope). That means more legroom, better food, better seats and more luggage (especially on the way back).

Not, that I save money on Premium Economy. with my transfer to Oslo on Norwegian and the night at the Radisson Blu hotel at Gardermoen, pluss the flight – 1700 Euros. That is still acceptable when you look at flight prices in general.

And of course we are deep in the prosess of planning everything. Some sessions on Discord and we have all hotels at the different destinations – not for our last night/nights in Tokyo. We have also booked or plan to book different activities which include:

• Sumo show
• Japanes tea ceremnoy
• Cooking class
• Wagyo tasting
• Sake brewery and tasting

We looked at routes, daytrips, hiking, attractions, points of interes etc. A lot is on the list. Trying to sattisfy both our wishes. I think we should make it through this alive. And I have a shopping list, thanks to the help oc Claude and Gemini finding out what to get where, with additional internet research. Especially: What knife to buy. 😀 I had to turn down foks – I cannot buy stuff for everybody in Japan. I need the space in my luggage and my a legal maximum of import value for myself.

I will try to hold the blog updated while traveling. Starting the 26.9.2026. Looking very much forward to it.