We made it to London. That was a long, long trip. We were up and ready to leave Japan at 6 am Japan time, and it's now 5 am Japan time (or about 9 pm London time). Our first flight was only about 1.5 hours from Hokkaido to Tokyo. Then there was a layover, and the second flight was about 12 hours. And then there was the train and building the bicycles and getting to our hostel. But we're in London now and will be for a couple nights at least while we overcome jet lag and decide what to do next.

We will be in Europe for just under 3 months, so we can go wherever we want to go in that time. We're not tied to any people, places, or schedules.