Will I Stay or Will I Go?

Well…we’ve come down to this. After over a year of planning and prepping Dad and I are scheduled to arrive in Osaka in 4 days. The problem is the biggest storm of the year, Typhoon Hagibis is currently pounding Japan and conditions do not look good.

I messaged the company that is handling our tour and they said they have no way of knowing what the trail conditions will be until after the storm passes. This is projected to be Monday ET. This means that depending on what the report is coming out of Tanabe City, we will either journey there as planned on Tuesday or….who the heck knows.

I am constantly telling myself that there is nothing I can do and I know that is true. It doesn’t make it any better to my mindset though. If we have to cancel I have trip insurance so it doesn’t have any financial ramifications. What it does have is an emotional one.

I told a colleague yesterday that it’s as if I trained to go to the Moon and one day before liftoff I am told I am going to Mars. With all the work studying the trail, the customs, and the emotional preparations to achieve this physical challenge it’s going to be tough to not end up doing this week.

So here are the possible scenarios:

  • Scenario 1: Super Typhoon Hagibis will wipe out part or most of the trail and/or take out electricity of most of the small towns along the trail and the trip will be cancelled before I even journey out there.
  • Scenario 2: The above will happen but I won’t know until I land in Osaka.
  • Scenario 3: My Dad and I will find out at the same time but because I leave earlier than him (He’s going straight from SF to Osaka) I will already be in the air.
  • Scenario 4: We will be able to do the trip with a lot of last minute detours to accommodate the storm’s damage THIS IS THE MOST LIKELY SCENARIO

Stay tuned for what’s next! It’s going to be an anxious time until I am on the plane on Tuesday! Follow me on Instagram for pictures and updates @FollowGreg