I cannot believe that in exactly two weeks we will be standing on Japanese soil. I can’t even visualize that in my head. I can’t even visualize sitting on an airplane with my husband and our almost 2 1/2 year old daughter. My brain just can’t seem to grasp around that idea, probably because it is the first time ever that I will be boarding a plane with a toddler – our toddler.

We have the big logistics all squared away, the plane tickets, the hotel reservations, the transportation to and from our hotels, even the cell phones that we’ll be using while in Japan in case we get separated or want to use the web to figure out where we are at and where we are going.

In my mind I have visions of getting all our items packed by this weekend so that next week/weekend I am not stressing about that. The problem is what I create in my mind and what actually happens. I am a huge procrastinator, the kind of person that is usually packing at 9pm the night before we are supposed to go camping or on a weekend trip. I do not want to be doing that on Sunday 3/23/14. It’s too much pressure and stress. This is my motivator to not procrastinate. So that is the plan.

I’ve gotten some really helpful information on places to visit, restaurants to eat at, and they have all been SO helpful. If anyone has any helpful tips on traveling with a toddler I openly welcome them. My attitude so far on this though is (very much my husband’s attitude too) is that we just need to be flexible and realize that things will come up and we just need to be able to flow with them. This is going to be an adventure, an interesting adventure and a treat that we have long been waiting for.

All in all I am more excited that nervous – and really in a bit of disbelief that we will actually be in Japan in a matter of two weeks. I remember when I was 18 years old I couldn’t even imagine someday visiting New York, that to me seemed like the other side of the world, especially being a first generation Mexican American. And now decades later I have had the blessing of visiting New York not once but twice, napping on a cobblestone street in Paris (I was 8 weeks pregnant and needed a nap while gazing below at the river) or going to the top of the Arc De Triomphe, looking up in awe at the grandeur of the Pyramids of Giza, eating Gelato in Rome, taking a gondola ride in Venice, admiring the statue of David in Florence, feeling the sense of sadness and disbelief while standing in a concentration camp in Munich, and so many more travels that I don’t have time to write about now (my daughter is slowly trying to push me off the chair).

And here I am now, excited about our next adventure and immensely thankful to God for the opportunity and blessings he is giving us.