Packing your bag

Nothing compares having everything you need to desperately bothering others to get it.
Once I got so used to training every day that when I left to take a flight to Sweden for a seminar, it seemed like an every day trip to the dojo. So I packed my bag accordingly. This resulted in a missing sleeping bag and inflatable matras. Oh boy, the memories!

So always remember to meticilously pack your bagage with the stuff you need! ?
Do a trial pack. Weigh your suitcase. Twenty pounds should be the maximum. If it’s heavy now, it will feel three times heavier by the end of a long journey. Streamline before you go.

It’s generally considered a good idear to take your training gi with you in your handluggage for the simple reason that when your bags gets lost, you’ll still have your gi to train!

It’s also a good idea to take as few clothes as possible. Plan on laundering. One week’s worth of clothes is MORE than you need for two weeks. Since you’ll be training the most part, it’ll be your gi that gets dirty.

Put all important things like your passport, currency, all credit cards, and airline tickets inside a pouch and always wear it on you when you are traveling.

One item that’s pretty nice is wax earplugs, these will ease the noise of the airplane and will allow you to rest and maybe even sleep during your twelve-hour-torture. A sleeping aid, such as an inflatable headrest or pillow is also convenient. If you don’t have one, ask the airhostess for one. A torchlight or petzl will come in handy too, since there are plenty of times you need to search through your luggage for items in the dark.

A jogging is very comfortable on the plane but make sure to take two additional normal pants in your luggage. Plenty of T-shirts: I take a week’s worth; seven, since you’ll need at least two a day when you train. And if you take two trainings a day than take more, it’s always nice to put on a dry t-shirt!

When you get off the plane and it’s raining, than it would be nice to have your raincoat ready available, and not somewhere tucked deep away in your luggage. A warm pulover or a fleece is also nice in the evening when temperatures drop to the minimum.

High-energy snacks come in handy too, since you’ll be hungry and exhausted if you step off that plane. And also after or in between trainings it’s a welcome boost.

Appart from your tabi, take a pair of extra shoes in your luggage and make sure that they are in good condition and waterproof also take plenty of socks with you.

You may want to bring at least one shirt if you plan on eating in a restaurant.
Swimwear and towels you’ll need because some onsen require it. You can’t travel to Japan and NOT do an onsen (hot water bathing).

And a small phrasebook if you do not speak the langauge. Other items comprise things such as ducktape (it holds the world together) a pen and notebook, vitamins,…things like that.

Leave your keys at home or arrange for someone to keep them safe. Check your insurance for extra coverage. Don’t spend a whole night packing your bags, that should have been done ages ago. If there’s something missing, than don’t worry, it’s only two weeks you’ll have to do without and there’s still the ONE-HUNDRED-YEN shop for emergency’s.

You have every item neatly spread around on the floor before you load it into your travelling bags. At this stage it migth be smart to keep in mind that your bag will be handled like a sledgehammer on a rampage! (this is not a joke).