Showing the way! Planning, part II

For this post I'll show you approximately where I will go on my trip!

I might change the route or the dates or something else entirely, but at this exact moment: I'll take this route. It is almost 3700 km. long (2300 miles). It will probably feature everything from off road, to downtown Tokyo, up and down mountains and through valleys. And I'm sure the kilometers will go up as I get lost, but adventures, you know!

I really have tried to think how to visualize my trip in a neat way for you, but in the end I thought you might as well look at these pictures or use google map if you're really curious. I don't plant to buy any expensive GPS tracking or anything. We'll make do with what we have!

Now! Since you can see when I'll be where.. If you're in Japan and you see a chance to say hi or maybe even eat breakfast/lunch/dinner you can write to me on Facebook. As I have been writing in earlier posts, one of the things I look forward to the most is meeting up with people I know!

Also, if you have any suggestions for sightseeing or what I simply can't miss while I'm in Sapporo or any other city, please write as well!

So this link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1o0r6DcWbM4vWijLdGPnZW0DWs5FFKtNn88ynXR3EJ_A/edit?usp=sharing
will take you to a google sheet that only I can edit, and here you can see the dates, the locations, how far to each city and also the map numbers so you can follow my trip on the maps that I made below. (The reason for choosing google sheets is because I can edit the dates if something changes!)
 
Condition: If Denmark is this warm, will I survive Japan on a bike?!
Quote: "It is in the compelling zest of high adventure and of victory, and in creative action, that man finds his supreme joys." - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

It is in the compelling zest of high adventure and of victory, and in creative action, that man finds his supreme joys.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/antoinedes121187.html

It is in the compelling zest of high adventure and of victory, and in creative action, that man finds his supreme joys.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/antoinedes121187.html

It is in the compelling zest of high adventure and of victory, and in creative action, that man finds his supreme joys.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/adventure.html

It is in the compelling zest of high adventure and of victory, and in creative action, that man finds his supreme joys.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/adventure.html

Proper preparation prevents poor performance!

And so I use the exercise bike almost everyday! 

One of the things most of the travel blogs I read so far has taught me is that you need to be ready for the first days of riding. It will be difficult because of your expectations of the bike, yourself and of whatever route you have chosen beforehand.
You might not cover the distance you want, or the weather is slowing you down. Many things can prevent you from reaching your goal. 

So I decided that not being able to ride long distances shouldn't be the problem that prevented me. Most days I sit on the exercise bike, and some days I even run afterwards.
In the beginning it was 20-30 km. Then I went to 50-70 km. Today I did 90 km.
So I'm getting there. The average distance for every day I bike in Japan is 109 km, so some days will be less, some days will be more. My average speed is about 23 km/t which isn't a whole lot, but if I were to race across Japan just like that I wouldn't need 50 days, haha. 

Oh, and I get to sit for more than 3 hours a day and what whatever television show without feeling bad about. (Not that feeling bad prevents me from watching an additional 3 hours after finishing the exercise...) But it's a good way to spend time while biking. Otherwise I would be bored out of my mind!

The best part though: my legs are feeling really good. Even after biking and running it feels like I didn't do anything. If I feel like this after each day in Japan then I might do the trip faster than expected, but I won't get my high hopes. One thing I learned through all the outdoor trips is that some things can't be planned, some things can't be foreseen and sometimes you just have to make do and come up with a way to do it better next time. 

I suspect that the learning curve will be highest in the beginning of my trip and that I will find some kind of routine quickly. For now I will concentrate on reaching 110 km. After that I will adjust my route, find camping spots and contact people I know in Japan. I also need to secure a bike, gear and clothes. So much to do!  

That's it for today. I released all the other posts on the blog so people can read them now. I wrote them a while ago and they are more or less a product of the situation when I wrote them, some things might have changed! 

Quote of the day: Good Preparation is half the work
Condition: Post-series depression (look it up if you don't know what it is!)

Busy, busy, busy!

Time is flying away!

                                                                                                                          3. Maj 2016

Studying for exams projects, festivals, organizing different events, there are many things that have required my focus lately, so many things that I sometimes forget about my trip! From the 14th of June I think I will be done with most of my education and festivals, so I can focus on earning money and training towards completing the trip! 


What has happened since my last post? 
I have been in contact with one of my teachers in Japan and she has been really helpful!

Also I have been in contact with a group here in Denmark called Nihonjinkai. They're a society of Japanese people living in Denmark and they create cultural content for different festivals and work with the Japanese embassy in Denmark to promote Japanese culture.
They want me to write an article in Japanese about my travels and I will get it published in March 2017. I look forward to write it, it will by far be the biggest task when it comes to writing Japanese that I have faced so far. Along with my blog and hopefully weekly Facebook updates I will be able to document my trip really well! 

As for my girlfriend, she enjoys her time in Manila and it seems like it will not be too difficult spending time there together after my trip. She will, however, be going to Tokyo in October, same month that I finish, but I guess it's a question of timing it right.

One other thing that has been on my mind lately is what kind of sleeping bag I should drag along, I don't want it to be unnecessary big and take up a lot of space, but on the other hand I don't want to freeze too much. This all boils down to how much equipment should I be taking with me, and I'm not quite sure yet.

That's it for now, I will write again when I have something new to you guys, until then, stay safe!

Quote: Sometimes you have to go with the flow
Condition: Pleased with the weather!

One way ticket to Japan, thank you!

Time to put things into motion!

Buying the ticket was really important for me, not just because it will be impossible to start the trip without it, but more because I didn't buy this ticket for any other reason than attempting to bike Japan. 

So I'm one step closer now. I'm not sure I understand how big of a challenge this will be. It's like I'm able to feel it, but every time I do feel it I try to think of something practical regarding the trip so my mind doesn't start questioning my resolution.
The feeling is the same every time I travel somewhere, but here it will be crucial to stop that kind of thinking, I need to be 100% ready for this!
 
I remember the first time I went to Japan, (I blogged about that too btw). I couldn't really believe that I was in Japan, even when I was sitting down in the train on the way to Tokyo from Narita airport trying not to be in the way for anyone with my two suitcases! Well, maybe buying the ticket will be the push I need right now to start feeling like I'm going on an adventure.
 
Facebook - I wrote a post on Facebook 1. April stating that I bought the ticket.
The truth is, I bought it today 2. April, (sorry guys, it was 1. April to be fair!)
But almost no one thought my post was a joke. At least not in the commentary space, and to be honest I was surprised. People might think that this trip is just what I might do because why not. I have to say that I'm feeling the pressure, haha. But knowing that people kind of believe in me is nice! I will try to draw some strength from that when I'm going vertically up the mountain sides. 

Friends in Japan - Another good thing that came from the Facebook post was all my friends who will be in Japan this summer and commented on the post. I have the opportunity to see some friends from my exchange program and many of the Japanese students who was on exchange in Denmark. This will be really important to me, maybe more than I think actually.
(Doing the trip alone is not a choice, if I could find someone with time and a foolish wish to bike Japan then I wouldn't hesitate for a second to invite that person.)  
So meeting people I know along my trip will be what I need to motivate myself, I think! 

Last thing I want to mention in this post. I know that some people will be really worried about me, and I think that there is a very real reason to be worried. But I hope that people will believe in me. I will try to take care and not get into trouble or accidents.
And I have a very good reason why I want to finish in good shape. When I'm done I will be going to the Philippines to see my girlfriend who is working there right now. I have checked the tickets and I can make it work! This will help me more than anything in finishing my trip.

This makes my third post and like the two others this has also been kept from you for some time before being released. Take good care of yourself out there!

Quote: Where nothing ventured, nothing gained
Condition: Feeling the pressure!

Planning: part I

Hoping for the best, preparing for the worst! 
                                                                                                                           Wednesday 30/3 2016

This is by far the most difficult trip I have ever attempted. 
And so the planning is quite important. I like to go on adventures, but money is a big issue in this case so I will try to plan ahead and ensure that I don't waste money for no reason. 

Right now I'm measuring km. between the cities and looking up plane tickets. I found some cheap ones, but I have yet to figure out some things so I won't be buying them yet.
I did however find out that going to Wakkanai from Tokyo is waaaay cheaper if the ticket is bought directly from ANA for example as opposed to buying them as a round trip like: CPH - NRT - WKJ. That will save me around 1900 DKK! 

I have also been wondering about my gear. I want a tent, WI-Fi, sleeping bag, some kind of air-madras, computer and a camera. There are many other things I will also need, but these are really on my mind. They're necessary or might prove to be a problem securing for the trip in terms of actually getting them, for example WI-Fi, or transporting them because of size. 

On another note, of course I knew that Japan is really mountainous, but that was not a problem before I looked at Google Earth. One thing is that it's going to be tough, sure, but I need actual roads in order to ride my bike... And unlike Shinkansen (bullet trains), I can't really go "through" the mountain so I have added some kilometers to the trip because of detours around the mountains, especially from Nagano to Tokyo is troublesome in this regard. 

As with my first post notice that I haven't uploaded it right after I wrote it. Due to many reasons I kept this on the low since there were many things that was not certain at that point.

Quote: Hope for the best, prepare for the worst
Condition: Focused

 

Beginnings can be difficult

The start of my journey                                                                                               Tuesday 1/3 2016

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog! 

This blog will be my way of documenting my bike trip in Japan, it's mostly for my own sake, but if you should find yourself interested in my travels I shall encourage you to read on! Maybe you too will be inspired to undertake an adventure like I was! 

I like to think that although I haven't given much thought to the structure of this blog it will come together by itself as time goes on, but in order to insure that this isn't just a complete waste of my time I will also compile a PDF later on with the most essential thoughts, facts and stories. 

First I should write about myself. My name is Anders and I'm from Denmark, you know, the proclaimed "happiest country" with Lego, the little Mermaid and the highest tax in the world. 
Although I like living in Denmark, I spent most of my time wishing I was somewhere else entirely. There is not much to complain about in Denmark, at least not if you compare it to many other developed countries, so I guess you could call me spoiled. I dream of traveling and although I have done my fair share of sightseeing, I like to believe that I will travel for as long as my legs can carry me!

I am currently studying Japan studies at the University of Copenhagen, so Japan - BIKEabout is not a crazy coincident. As long as I can remember I have always had some fascination with Asian culture and especially East Asia. This all started with a Nintendo Gameboy. I played until the sounds and pictures were flashing before my eyes when I closed them. I played Mario, Ninja Turtles, Street Fighter, Tetris and many others! After that I tried to look for more.

Movies, documentaries, manga, anime, games, and books, I consumed it all. I looked for more knowledge about Japan; I wanted to surround myself with it. It became a way to be seen by others as well. In high school, whenever I could get away with it, I would write about Japan, to my teacher's frustration, of course. (He had to read about Japanese history in order to correct my assignment.) Whenever I could relate something to Japan, my friends were almost expecting me to do so.

Of course I started looking at Japanese language as well; I started drawing kanji without knowing how to write them or what they meant. I just felt like I was closer to the culture I was so fascinated with. It is important for me to state this: I didn't want to discard Danish culture and I still don't. I know that without my cultural background this fascination with Japan would probably not exist. So I'm happy that I can get to feel this way about something. And since then I have been wondering where this fascination would lead me.

This is why we are here. My goal is to bike Japan. From North to South.
50 days, one man, one bike and one country.

Now this puts a lot of pressure on me, and many things can happen. I plan to depart to Japan after my graduation this Summer, I have some things I need to attend to, but after that I will move out of my student apartment, sell my furniture, secure a good quality bike and then look for adventures in the land of the rising sun!  
This, of course, brings about many questions! How? When? With whom? Where? So on and so forth, but I have no answers right now.

But this is how I see this blog working out for me:
I will use it as a tool to mediate my thoughts about biking more than 3000+ km (1864.1 m) in a country that has had me fascinated for as long as I remember. I will use it to document my trip with photos, videos and stories so that anyone who is interested can follow me. And lastly I will use it as a way to remember what will probably be one of the most amazing, demanding and breathtaking adventures I will undertake.

What's left to say is thanks for reading a somewhat boring and most uneventful first post.


Quote of the day: Big things often have small beginningsCondition: Thrilled, but tired.