Winter Vacation in Amsterdam
January 8th, 2007 at 7:39 pm
I was planning on staying in Japan for the holiday. I didn't have much money, and had spent every other vacation away form Japan, so I had never had the chance to see some important places like Kyoto and Hiroshima. But since travel here in Japan is actually MORE expensive than flying to another country and traveling there, I decided I'd do a bike trip. All was going well up until the last 2 weeks. But as I tried to find friends to host me, I found that winter break is a horrible time to couchsurf in Japan. All the other people on couchsurfing.com were either on vacation themselves or already hosting other travelers who planned way ahead.
One thing let to another, and soon my trip was being thwarted not only by a lack of hosts, but also no car, fully booked trains to Kyoto, panniers that hadn't shipped to Japan, and reports of icy roads in the south. So it was great fortune that my friend, Jia, emailed just days before my vacation started and asked me to come see her in Amsterdam. I replied "YES" right away, and we spent the rest of the night planning the trip from my cell phone email program. My Japanese friends probably didn't think I was serious at the time, but as soon as I got home I booked the cheap flight Jia had found for me, and the idea became a reality. The Japan trip was scrapped. I was going to Amsterdam!
Christmas with Jia, Heather, and Denis... wierdness