So one day I went for a walk...

After braving the trains from Kansai airport, it was a short walk to my hostel (wonderfully named the "Banana Hammock") for the first night. I arrived just after the sun had set, and was the last to check in for the night. I sat with the owner in the front room and we went through the check in process while we chatted.  He asked if I was only in Japan for one night, as I was checking out in the morning. I explained that I was here for 3 months, and that I was hiking to Tokyo. The look on his face morphed rapidly from confusion to disbelief to astonishment in rapid succession. "That will be 600km, and you are going to... walk??" "Well, actually my route is about 1000km, but what better way to see Japan, right?" I replied. His hand shot out and shook mine, a gesture I was not expecting in Japan. I am really begining to understand that what seems like an exciting (if not daunting) adventure to me borders on lunacy to most people I discuss it with....

I knew that no matter how hard I worked on planning for this trip I was bound to miss some detail and have to start adapting, I just didn't expect it to bite me in the ass 5 minutes after clearing customs! 😂 Landing was smooth and uneventful.  Osaka's Kansai International airport rests on a man-made island in the bay, which makes it incredibly cool by that fact alone. I was concerned about customs.  Had I do e my research correctly? Would they infact issue me a 90 day visa on my Canadian passport as I expected? Would I even understand what to do?? But all those fear evaporated.  I had many helpful staff making sure I was in the right place and doing the right thing. I arrived at the customs officer's desk and we chatted about my stay.  I explained why I was here; that I was hiking to Tokyo. His eyes widened in disbelief.   He was concerned about the length of stay I had written on the customs slip. I showed him my departing f...