This journal has been a revelation for me, Suzanne. My mental view of east Germany is so outdated, and it’s not a place I’ve thought of visiting. I imagined a network of roads beaten up by tank treads.

Glad you enjoyed it! I guess I can laugh now. I'm glad I wrote about the experience because I have a way of forgetting the difficult parts of our trips and only retain the things that were gratifying.

I think I enjoyed this page the most of any from your journals, Suzanne. It is so easy to relate to. Has enough time passed that the two of you laugh about it now?

I’ve lost count on the nightmare scenario of losing a wallet. Now we always each carry our own cards, for different accounts, so we’re protected from my innate absent mindedness. Be glad you didn’t lose your passports too, as we did in Spain!

This is just about when we got our Garmins also. Like you, I had misgivings about preplanning routes - I’d miss the paper maps, the spontaneity. We thought (correctly) though that we’d get hopelessly lost in Japan. We’ve never regretted it.