We landed around 4PM local time and my excitement finally set in, after weeks of being focused on work! We found the airport to be relatively calm and made our way to take the train in Tokyo via the Narita Express. Trying to stay awake, I ordered some green tea on the train, saying, “Kore kudasai,” for the first of many times. Soon enough we arrived to Shinjuku Station, the busiest train station in the world, where over 3.5 million travelers pass through it each day.

We began the trek to the hotel with our luggage, walking through the streets of Shinjuku and its bright lights and swarms of people. The walk is normally quite short (in fact, we later learned a there was another station right outside our hotel) but it being our first time it took us a little while to find our way, using Trevor’s phone as navigation to the Keio Plaza Hotel.

After an easy check-in with our English-speaking hotel staff, we dropped off our luggage and plunged outside. We didn’t need to walk far, the neon lights, restaurants and stores were right outside our doorstep and we wandered around the area, exploring. At some point we found a video game store that had over a dozen toy vending machines, and hoping to win the head of a brown bear doll I saw inside, I put in some coins and ended up with two very cute plush chick dolls.

It was getting late and it became tough deciding what to eat, but given that I was feeling famished and wasn’t ready to order completely in Japanese, I noticed a sushi restaurant with a conveyor belt and walked straight in. “Konbonwa. Sanin des,” I said, hoping she understood I needed seats for three people. She gestured to the bar and we all sat down. Success.

We sat there at the sushi restaurant then picking up small color-coded plates, just like you would at home, trying the different kinds of nigiri, many of which included shrimp. My favorite was a pink fish had a particularly glossy look to it, that melted in your mouth, and having never had it before I still have no idea what it was. We made our own green tea using the powder at our table, nibbling away until full, discussing, “So do we pay there at the cashier or request the check?” (We soon learned it’s always the former.) We paid and plopped back outside into the busy streets of Shinjuku, having had our first meal.

We continued to walk outside until the lack of sleep began to hit us. So did my stomach, as it said, “Hey I actually want to eat more! Five small plates of sushi were actually not enough!” and following the advice of friends before we left, we went to a 7-11. Despite their testimony and my doubt, I do concede that it is good. Ryan picked up some water and I found myself buying a tofu bowl with rice, not expecting much. After having it warmed, we sat on some poles in the eating area and I ate while Ryan and Trevor indulged my impulse. It was delicious. The steamed rice was perfectly cooked and it came with savory sauce with ground pork and hot oil that complimented the silky pieces of tofu. This was convenience store food? I ate every bite, sharing a little with Ryan, and we made our way back to the hotel where Trevor met up with a friend and Ryan and I went upstairs to crash after a long day of travel.

• Provided training 24 girls in financial literacy so she can support herself and her family.
• Purchased 3 weeks of meals for a student at the Daraja Academy in Kenya.
• Purchased bicycle repair kits for 8 girls in Cambodia so they can ride to school.
• Provided education for 75 girls in reproductive health.
• Enrolled 90 girls in school in the Jalore district in Rajasthan, India.

Thank you so much for your support! To learn more about The Girl Effect, please watch this 3 minute cartoon:

Happy Martin Luther King Day Jr., all.

The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. … Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction. So when Jesus says “Love your enemies,” he is setting forth a profound and ultimately inescapable admonition. … The chain reaction of evil — hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars — must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation

January

Started work at Forum One Communications in Alexandria, VA

February

West Seattle smooches

March

My brother’s band Lions Ambition performing at Neumos

April

Ryan holding Ezra up during the Easter egg hunt at my parents’ house

May

Taking the ferry with my visiting cousins to go to our Lola’s 90th birthday party

June

Sailing in San Francisco, CA with my colleague Kate during a team event

July

Stunning 4th of July weekend in Kauai, HI

August

Hanging out poolside at my cousin’s house in Las Vegas, NV

September

My father-in-law’s retirement party at Minneapolis, MN

October

Visiting a pumpkin patch with the E. family

November

Night out with friends at the Ballroom after 20something in Fremont Studio

December

Prayer before meal at my family’s annual Christmas party – Ryan’s first!

WINTER
January 25-28 Alexandria, VA
February 4-6 San Francisco, CA
February 10-12 Washington DC
February 13-19 Alexandria, VA
March 10-16 Austin, TX
March 22-25 Alexandria, VA

SPRING
March 31 – April 4 Rome, Italy
April 5-8 Florence, Italy
April 7 Cinque Terre, Italy
April 9-10 Amsterdam, Netherlands
April 18-22 Alexandria, VA
April 27- May 1 Las Vegas, NV

SUMMER
May 26-30 Lahaina, HI
June 20-21 Queenstown, MD
June 22-24 Alexandria, VA
July 22-25 Eden Prairie, MN
July 30-August 10 Eden Prairie, MN

FALL
September 6-10 Alexandria, VA
September 22-26 Eden Prairie, MN
September 27 – October 4 Paris, France
November 1-4 Alexandria, VA
November 23-26 Eden Prairie, MN
December 29-30 Grand Canyon National Park
December 28 – January 1 Las Vegas, NV

Travel stats recap:

• Spent 106 days away. Flew nearly 2x as much as last year, including two trips to Europe.
• Visited 16 cities and fulfilled my new year’s resolution in 2011 to visit 3 new countries!
•  Was most often found working in the DC area and spending time with family in Minnesota.
• Did more personal travel this year with 58% for leisure, 42% for business (based on days).
• My Dopplr Travel Profile with Flickr Photos

2012 Resolution - Visit 3 new international cities!

Arc de Triomphe, Paris, France. Photo by Ryan Prins.

Over the last 5 years, I’ve been on 117 trips. Feeling tremendously blessed to have had travel be a regular part of my life and for the people I’ve gotten to know better because of it!

 “To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.”

– Bill Bryson

Past Travel Cities Posts: 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007