To busy the lede, my son and I are on schedule to depart as planned in about 90 minutes time, subject to the minor vagaries of air travel. I’ll pull back the curtain for a moment to indicate why it is slightly more involved than I suggest with that benign sentence. Monday morning I got an email from Air Canada, which took the initiative to be proactive enough to intercede before anything happened to let me sully their reputation with rants galore. They invited me to rebook my departure, free of charge, to get out ahead of a major snow event forecast to hit Calgary this morning. After a bit of pondering and a few reviews of the forecast, I indulged in the caution to fly out a day early rather than subject myself to the stress of sprinting to the airport in the snow this morning and risk sitting in the departure lounge as flight after flight was surrendered to the elements.
The getaway succeeded and we were on our way. In Vancouver, however, passengers were asked to volunteer to surrender their seats for alternate arrangements. Once I could confirm the alternative of taking the flight I was scheduled to take and arrive on time instead of a day early, I agreed to sit back for a day. Air Canada’s compensation made the rearrangement quite appealing.
It is tempting to ponder the synchronicity of it and I may look back on this in the future as an opportunity seized but for now, it is worth acknowledging it as a chance to take a breather and reset myself for the trip. As the dates on my posts to this blog might suggest, it has been a while — not just to post here, which I haven’t done since August 2011, but to travel this ambitiously as well. There have been trips over the years, but it has been dominated by resorts, all-inclusives and essentially destinations that smooth down the probabilities of travel to the less imposing concerns. A windier day. A dearth of my favorite nibbles poolside; that kind of thing. Not quite as much to write about as has been the case in the past on this blog.
For the last few weeks I’ve been asked if I’m excited, and my response has been muted. I haven’t exactly been jumping out of my skin to the thrill of visiting old haunts that made my neighbourhood and routine when I lived in Japan and reconnected me to the place on so many levels when I last visited in 2010. If anything, I’ve been a bit apprehensive. Part of it is a matter of ensuring that my son and I manage to stay joined at the hip, especially when we are in Tokyo, where he facility for distraction may leave him in the dust somewhere in Shinjuku or in Tokyo Station while I’m more fixed on the path ahead.
Going over this time, I also conscious of my friends’ indications that things have changed since I last lived there and that the tourist trails, especially on the eve of hanami, cherry blossom season will be drastically more crowded when I was last in Japan and took advantage of my local smarts to steer away from the hordes, who will be armed for selfies this time around.
Over the last week or so prior to the trip, however, I was not quite myself and I may have even been dreading aspects of the trip more than looking forward to them. Is my Japanese still up to snuff? Am I going to navigate Tokyo easily enough? Am I, after going as long as I have without a trip of this ambition, capable of enjoying myself. Apart from the pedestrian nature of recent travels, they have been briefer as well and not quite indulgent as 12 days in Japan (or anywhere for that matter.). There was definitely a stronger sense of dread 36-48 hours ago. Perhaps I’ve been shaped more by an anticipation of the emotional reaction I’ll have to revisiting places and friends that have left such a lasting impact on my personally, aesthetically and intellectually in ways that remain indelibly evident more than 20 years after I returned to Canada. Still, at the same time, it has left me wondering if my own predispositions or the habits that have formed as a means to get through the last four (pandemic and post-pandemic) years have left a chronic mark on me that needs to be dealt with quite intensively if I don’t “snap out of it” on this trip.
This afternoon, however, after an overnight in Vancouver and a better night’s sleep, I am in a better frame of mind and though there is no empirical measure to tick to a red line and allow the declaration, “Yip, he’s excited now,” I’m more inclined to coach myself to enjoy this and make the most of this opportunity rather than navigate it clear of the chaos that might unfold if my son and I get separated or the crowds diminish that sense of familiar haunts and locations being mine in the way they were when I could visit them at dawn, jog through them without the harassment of tourists, cabbies and rickshaw drivers who will impede my movement during the midday. I even found myself adopting a more open, talkative and grateful mindset during the 24 hours here. I’m coming around.
Walking Vancouver yesterday afternoon and this morning, my son and I fell into conversations about our surroundings and observations in ways that I anticipate we will when we touch down in Tokyo and then follow the trail to Kyoto and Hiroshima. There was a sense of the rhythm and dialogue that we could fall into when we are on the road. We have figured a good contingency in the event we get separated and we have our first day in Tokyo planned for a gradually return to life with a few key spots to hit as we start to structure the Friday ahead with my first reunion and dinner plans for an item that my son has not had yet.
Time to board and settle in for as much sleep as possible.
