Scaredy Cat Travels

I included the Joey air quotes here because itineraries rarely end up happening as they appear on paper. This might be better titled “The Attempt”. But you have to start somewhere. This is also as far as I have gotten so you will see that some days there are no plans. That will change I hope. If not, I am prepared to wing it. 

For other scaredy cats making plans out there, I am rating my expectation of fear somewhat based on how anxious I already am about the scheduled activity. Later I will update with actual terror. 

This is the “short” version of the itinerary. Short being relative to anything I write. My plan is to provide more detail about each stop in separate posts later. But don’t hold your breath.

Fun Fact – the painting of Fuji featured here was painted by one of Ryan’s supporters and sent to him after he climbed Mount Fuji in 2019.

Day 1 – Wednesday, May 24 – Dallas to LA 

Flight: American Airlines Non-Stop to Ontario airport in Economy 

Hotel: TownPlace Suites Los Angeles LAX/Hawthorne  

Plans: Pull Rowan from his next to last day of school and fly to Los Angeles that afternoon. 

Bonus – dinner with the film crew! 

Scaredy Cat rating: Two paws.  

Day 2 – Thursday, May 25 – somewhere over the deep, dark, scary ocean 

Flight: Delta Airlines Non-Stop to Tokyo Haneda airport in Comfort Plus 

Hotel: the plane 

Plans: random panic attacks 

Scaredy Cat rating: Four (million?) paws.  

Day 3 – Friday, May 26 – Tokyo 

Transportation: Monorail (insert Simpsons song here); trains, feet 

Hotel: The Conrad in the Shiodome area 

Plans: Land in Tokyo early afternoon, transfer to hotel then TeamLabs Planet & the Odaiba area 

Scaredy Cat rating: Two paws – this may be generous. It may really be a one.  

Day 4 – Saturday, May 27 – Tokyo 

Transportation: trains, subway, feet, avoid taxis 

Hotel: The Conrad 

Plans: Shinkuku, Shibuya, Harajuku, all the jukus and the Kusama museum even though it gets bad reviews. Shibuya Sky in the evening. 

Scaredy Cat rating: Zero paws for now. 

Day 5 – Sunday, May 28 – Tokyo 

Transportation: trains, subway, feet, avoid taxis again 

Hotel: The Conrad 

Plans: The Art Aquarium, Ginza area and Tokyo Tower 

Scaredy Cat rating: Zero paws for now. 

Day 6 – Monday, May 29 – Tokyo 

Transportation: trains, subway, feet, avoid taxis ad nauseum 

Hotel: Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay Hotel ~ Standard 4-Bed Room with Balcony & Ocean View 

Plans: Transfer from The Conrad to the Sheraton whenever we feel like it; Tokyo DisneySea in the evening 

Scaredy Cat rating: One paw  

Day 7 – Tuesday, May 30 – Tokyo/Disney 

Transportation: just a shuttle bus, I think? 

Hotel: Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay 

Plans: DisneySea 

Scaredy Cat rating: Zero paws. Shockingly, I am not afraid of roller coasters. 

Day 8 – Wednesday, May 31 – Tokyo/Disney 

Transportation: The wildest ride in the wilderness 

Hotel: Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay 

Plans: Tokyo Disneyland 

Scaredy Cat rating: Zero paws  

Day 9 – Thursday, June 1 – Tokyo to Hakone 

Transportation: Oh my – train(s) from Tokyo Disney area to Shinjuku station then the Romancecar Train to the Hakone area. Once in Hakone, it’s a cornucopia of transportation methods. 

Hotel: Hakone Hotel 

Plans: Not sure of the order but…ride the Hakone Pirate Ship across Lake Ashi; ride the Hakone ropeway up to Owukudani volcanic area; ride the cable car and the switchback train 

Scaredy Cat rating: On a scale of 1-5…one million paws. Oh, how I hate a mountain road.  

Day 10 – Friday, June 2 – Hakone & Mt. Fuji/Kawaguchiko 

Transportation: Eek. Still figuring this one out. There’s the way we should go and the way I want to go and they are definitely not the same. Hakone to Fuji is not one of my finer planning moments. 

Hotel: Kawaguchiko Urban Resort Villa 

Plans: See Mount Fuji from a million different locations, take the boat across the lake while looking at Mount Fuji, take a ropeway up a nearby mountain for Mount Fuji views, hike (?!!) up to a pagoda even more views of Mount Fuji. That is if Fuji cooperates and doesn’t hide behind a mountain-shaped cloud. 

Scaredy Cat rating: So many paws.  

Day 11 – Saturday, June 3 – Fuji & Kyoto 

Transportation: more trains 

Hotel: Dhawa Yura Kyoto 

Plans: At the moment, plans are to see some of the Fuji sites we missed then head to Kyoto in the afternoon.  

Scaredy Cat rating: Depends on what we actually do but just one or two paws here. We don’t have plans in Kyoto this night so we can get there whenever. 

Day 12 – Sunday, June 4 – Kyoto 

Transportation: feet and probably some trains, maybe throw in a bus for good measure 

Hotel: Dhawa Yura Kyoto 

Plans: No itinerary for Kyoto yet but on the “to do” list are the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove, the Gion District (old Japan and Geishas), the Fushimi Inari Shrines, the monkey park, a scenic train and/or boat ride along the river, touring the pagodas and temples. There are so many things to do and see in the Kyoto area that it is overwhelming. Sometime soon (I hope), I will map out a route that makes sense. We would also like to do a side trip to Nara to see and feed the deer that roam freely in the city center. 

Scaredy Cat rating: No rating yet. There are no activities in Kyoto that seem scary unless a fear of being tired or embarrassed about being out of breath hiking up all the hilly places counts.  

Day 13 – Monday, June 5 – Kyoto 

Transportation: trains and feet, trains and feet 

Hotel: Dhawa Yura Kyoto 

Plans: At some point I should add in a plan to cry on the schedule. I know I may not seem like much of a crier and I’m not. But it is tradition for the kids to make me cry at some point on every vacation. Let’s pencil it in here. 

Scaredy Cat rating: Three paws – terrified of my own children 

Day 14 – Tuesday, June 6 – Kyoto & Fukuoka 

Transportation: Back on the bullet train 

Hotel: Hilton Fukuoka Sea Hawk 

Plans: Really just to make it to Fukuoka to queue up for plans the next day. There are some food stalls that sound good so we may venture out to try those. 

Scaredy Cat rating: Three paws – only because if I screw up getting to Fukuoka then we could miss our transportation to South Korea and that could be a) a real mess or b) super expensive or c) all of the above. 

Day 15 – Wednesday, June 7 – Fukuoka & Busan, South Korea 

Transportation: a big fast red boat 

Hotel: Well…I have two booked at the moment so either The Fairfield Busan Songdo Beach or the Park Hyatt Busan. Depending on whether or not I think Rowan really needs to go to college. 

Plans: In the very early stages of planning, I intended to skip Busan altogether even though it is the second largest city in South Korea. But fate & the big red boat intervened. It turns out there are many many things to do in Busan. On the list is a beautiful seaside temple, elevated walkways above the ocean, oceanside hikes in the mountains, an historic neighborhood filled with colorful buildings and amazing views, the café owned by the father of BTS’s Jimin and of course, a ropeway. I will stop adding ropeway to the lists. Because seemingly every place in Japan and SK we are visiting has a ropeway and we plan to do it. 

Scaredy Cat rating: Five paws. I wanted to put four but I know once we get closer, my anxiety about boats and oceans and missing our transport to Korea will overcome some of the excitement that is tempering my nerves at the moment.  

Day 16 – Thursday, June 8 – Busan 

Transportation: taxis? 

Hotel: TBD depending on which we choose 

Plans: All of the things mentioned above. 

Scaredy Cat rating: One paw. Nothing especially scary here unless you count the anxiety of wanting to test out my limited Korean and fearing the reaction of the locals. Oh, the overwhelming fear of looking stupid. 

Day 17 – Friday, June 9 – Busan & Jeju Island 

Transportation: taxis & planes & a rental car 

Hotel: Amor Day Pension or at least this is my translation of the name according to the Airbnb memo I got from the owner 

Plans: Busan stuff in the morning then fly to Jeju Island that afternoon, rent the car, find our pension which is not in the central, more touristy part of Jeju. Nope, had to be extra. 

Scaredy Cat rating: Three paws. There’s a lot for me to screw up here. 

Day 18 – Saturday, June 10 – Jeju Island 

Transportation: rental car, maybe another ferry 

Hotel: Amor Day Pension 

Plans: Like every place we’re visiting, there is so much to do on Jeju Island. First, it looks just beautiful with a dormant volcano in the center surrounded by beaches.  

On the list here are a sunrise hike to the top of Ilchulbong Peak; visit the beaches, waterfalls and tidal pools; a ferry to tiny Udo Island to eat peanut soft serve; Snoopy Gardens (yep, gardens with vignettes of Peanuts characters); a lava tube cave; art museums; quaint, k-drama-style cafes and restaurants; and eat some of the local delicacies like tangerines, abalone and black pork. Unless Rowan really irritates me, we’ll skip Loveland Park this trip. Because what teenage boy wants to tour a park about sex with his mom?  

Scaredy Cat rating: Two-three paws. Low general fear of bees, big waves, driving in a strange place, possibly taking another boat.  

Day 19 – Sunday, June 11 – Jeju Island to Seoul 

Transportation: rental car and a plane 

Hotel: Aloft Seoul Myeongdong 

Plans: It may seem backwards because Seoul could be seen as the catalyst for the trip, but I don’t have any plans in Seoul yet. We just want to be there. 

Scaredy Cat rating: Two-three paws. 

Day 20 – Monday, June 12 – Seoul 

Transportation: cabs, the subway if we can figure it out, feet 

Hotel: Aloft Seoul Myeongdong 

Plans: If we do the touristy thing, here are some possibilities…2D Café, Cat Café, Seoul Tower, noraebang (Korean karaoke), renting hanbok (traditional Korean attire) and touring the palaces, hanok village (traditional old village), touring the Demilitarized Zone, eating all of the yummy food and keeping Jackson from stalking Jungkook.

Scaredy Cat rating: One paw for us. At least 10 for Jungkook.

Day 21 – Tuesday, June 13 – Seoul 

Transportation: no idea 

Hotel: Aloft Seoul Myeongdong 

Plans: See above & trying to figure out if there will be a BTS 10th Anniversary celebration anywhere in Seoul

Scaredy Cat rating: One paw 

Day 22 – Wednesday, June 14 – Seoul 

Transportation: cabs and stuff 

Hotel: Josun Palace Gangnam 

Plans: Preparing for my birthday in true Gangnam style – stay at fancy smancy hotel, drink champagne at said hotel; visit the giant Psy hands; window shop at stores I can’t dream of shopping in; and maybe a little plastic surgery on the side. When in Rome… 

Scaredy Cat rating: Depends on the plastic surgery I decide on. 

Day 23 – Thursday, June 15 – Seoul to Dallas 

Transportation: a big ole plane back to the States 

Hotel: House of Milo 

Plans: It’s my birthday! ‘Nuff said. 

Scaredy Cat rating: Five paws – One for the big ole plane back over the ocean. Four for the moment Rowan realizes how long the trip is since I’ve been telling him it’s only two weeks. Shhhhhhh.