The hardest thing about my trip to Japan next month is that I'll be going without my family. We had originally planned to go together, but on the flight on the way back from New Zealand, the Man turned to me and said "We can't do this".
We could grit out teeth for the long flight to Japan with a toddler, but travelling from city to city, hotel to hotel with her while I'll be working much of the time, we decided was going to be too much.
I'm going to miss them terribly, am disappointed for the Man as he now loves Japan as much as I do, and am sad that I won't get a chance to introduce the little one to many of my friends over there. Hopefully next year, or at the latest, the year after they'll come with me.
But even though it's going to be the hardest thing, in some ways it will also be one of the best. As well as the shows I will see, the shopping I need to do and the friends I want to catch up with, I'm planning lots of alone time. Lots of alone time in quiet temple gardens. Lots of alone time with my camera, and most importantly, lots of alone time with my notebook and sketchbook. I do my best designing while I have time to myself and so that's what I'm planning for this trip. It's going to be a bit like my sabbatical if you will.
Isn't it funny how sometimes in life, the hardest things can also be the best?
