Weddingbee Blog

While I still have absolutely no idea how I’m going to summarize our trip to Japan in just a few posts, I do have a very clear understanding of what was and was not necessary on the honeymoon. Jackets, for instance, were definitely a waste of precious luggage space, given temperatures were practically always in the humid 90s–100s. I feel sticky just thinking about it.

For honeymoons involving walking, hiking, or any other sort of strenuous pedestrian activity—you’re going to want good, reliable shoes.

My impression from Japan is that everyone has cute shoes. Cute sandals, cute heels, cute boots—you name it. Well, except for the rampant Croc fascination. I don’t know much about fashion, but the rubbery fashion statement really confuses me.

Anyway, I brought a pair of cute sandals with me, hoping to blend in with the locals. Did I wear them? Zen Zen! (Not at all.) Instead, I spent the entire duration of our trip in these “beauties”:

Yes, old brown Rainbows so worn in there’s a permanent shadow where my foot belongs.

But they were comfortable—six years of tried and true comfortable. No blisters, no foot pain other than the dull ache of walking way-too-much—that equals no problem. Sure, they aren’t cute and trendy, but they certainly allowed me to trek around happily. And Japan requires a lot of walking. Walking to train stations, walking to temples, up mountains to castles, walking in the middle of some seedy pachinko alley because someone didn’t read the map correctly…

Just to give some perspective—on a typical work day I walk about 7,000 steps. Our longest walking day (according to my Pokewalker) in Japan was about 35,000 steps. There was a lot of walking.

So, bring your most comfortable shoes, regardless of how they look! Your feet will thank you.

And lastly—advice for those planning international honeymoons: bring familiar medicine.

I really should have known better, especially after discussing how Mr. Sew gets sick anytime he travels. Luckily he staved off the illnesses until after the wedding, and I consider it a relatively good thing that he only had two vomit incidents in Japan. That’s better than every day, right?

I came to Japan with a massive Hawaiian sunburn and a blister on my foot from a cute, non-Rainbow sandal. Nearing the end of our first honeymoon week, Mr. Sew developed a massive cold sore under his bottom two front teeth. He also made friends with a snot-infection and a cough. There was a little bit of dizziness, too— but that could have been from dehydration and severe heat. Now maybe it was my foreign blood, but mosquitoes decided they loved me, and I had more than ten bug bites on each leg before the end of the trip. It probably didn’t help that we spent a lot of time around standing water in moats/ponds near castles and temples.

My leg, after just one day in Japan:

So, what did I have on me to remedy any of the above ailments?

One small bottle of Advil. That’s it.

Screw an out-of-town bag—we needed an out-of-country bag.

Several convenience and drug stores later, we ended up with the following:

Yeah, other than the Band-Aids, I have no idea what we actually bought either. The “aloe vera” was the consistency of water (but it smelled like aloe vera, so I guess it was okay). The “cold sore medicine” (small tube) we bought because it had a drawing of a guy with a red bump inside his mouth. And the “bug bite medicine” had a drawing of a mosquito on it. I’m thinking maybe it was repellent, because it certainly didn’t make the itchy go away.

Later we bought this, thinking they might be sore throat lozenges since Mr. Sew read the word “nodo” (throat) on it:

But maybe it was just candy, because it didn’t do much for Mr. Sew’s cough.

Poor Mr. Sew.

My point is—if you can’t really read the language, and you can’t really ask for help, and you don’t have international health insurance and an English speaking doctor—bring your familiar medicine with you. I think Mr. Sew would have recovered a lot sooner had we some good ’ol cold & cough syrup.

So in summary, reliable shoes and reliable medicine—go! Add it to the honeymoon pack list!