Playing Wait and See

Unless you've been living in a cave somewhere, you all know about the devastation and heartache going on in Japan right now. My heart goes out to all those affected by this tragedy.

I think I've only mentioned this once on my blog, but J and I have been planning a trip to Japan for some time now. It has been J's dream to visit Japan since he was a boy growing up with Nintendo. We started saving for it about a year ago and last fall officially booked our trip. We are to arrive in Tokyo on April 12th, stay there 6 days, and then travel to Kyoto for another 3 days.

Obviously everything that has taken place and continues to unfold has caused doubt about whether or not we will be able to go or if it will be safe to go. We have been monitoring the news closely for up to date information on the nuclear power plants and the situation in Tokyo with the rolling blackouts taking place. There is so much misleading information out there sometimes it can be confusing, but I think we have found some good news sources we can rely on. I've also been monitoring the forums at the website I used to do much of my research about Japan and where to visit. There are several people in Tokyo that have been so helpful relaying information to travelers about what is really going on there.

We have not decided to cancel yet. We are hopeful that TEPCO (the electric company) can get the nuclear situation under control, although so far things have not been going well. We are also hopeful that the train service will improve by the time we will be there and that the rolling blackouts are more coordinated than they have been so far. Only time will tell. So for now we continue playing 'wait and see'. I think we'll have a better idea by the end of the month whether our trip will happen or not.