Was it just 2 nights and 3 day trip to Hokkaido? It seemed like I was there for a week. The trip wasn’t planned, we were planning for a short distance trip (like a 3 hour drive by car) but what made us ended up in the northern Japan? We were discussing about taking a short vacay, to clear our mind, to relax a bit before the New Year. There were many, many options but I wasn’t enthusiastic about it at all. It could be pretty much anywhere but anywhere seemed so costly.

二泊三日の北海道へ行って来たのか？まるで一週間いたかの様な充実ぶりだった。北海道行きは予定していなかった。もっと近場へ、たとえば車で２、３時間ぐらいの距離を予定していた。カジュアルな旅行を予定していた、予算もあまりなかったし、あまり気張らない感じのを。でも、何処を提案されてもいまいちピンと来ない。困ったなぁ。辞める？

Then, Hiro my partner said, what about Hokkaido? Air tickets aren’t so expensive if we use LCC and Japanese government are doing a Go To Travel campaign which if you travel, they will give you some coupons… Hummm, I went a bit further and suggested, “why don’t we use this Japan Airline mileage campaign call [Go somewhere with 6000 mile].”

するとソファに開いていた暮しの手帳に北海道の記事が。北海道も良いよねとなった。LCCを使えば飛行機代も高く無いし。しかし、決めたのがギリギリすぎ、以外の高かった。ならば奥の手を使おう。あれだよあれ。JALの「どこかにマイル」！

This is a unique campaign by JAL, with only 6000 mile you can get a roundtrip to anywhere in Japan (which are usually around 12000 miles for a roundtrip in Japan), but with one little exception. You don’t know where you are going. LOL It’s sort of like a mystery trip with a little hint. First you can choose the airport you want to fly out from. For us this will be Haneda airport. Next you choose the date of travel, approximate time of departure and arrival back to Haneda. With these infos, JAL will come up with 4 destinations for you. The combination of the 4 destinations can be changed by reshuffling the combo until you are pretty much pleased with the 4 choices (there are a limit for reshuffling and I think it was around 12 times) . When you had made up your mind, you push the submit button. In 2 to 3 days there will be an email from JAL telling you where you are flying! The four destination we submitted was, Yamaguchi Ube (good sake spot), Sapporo (where we wanted to go), Fukuoka (never a bad choice) and 　Asahikawa (another city north from Sapporo famous for a Zoo). 2 days after the submission, we got an email saying that our destination is———-[Sapporo] !! Yay, we got the destination we wanted to go!

通常の半分のマイル６０００マイルで往復で日本の何処でも行ける。何処でも行けるのですが、ちょっとポイントがあり、行き先が分からない。ちょっとミステリーツアーぽい。ただ、全く分からない訳でもなく、まずは出発先を指定。私達の場合は羽田。次に旅行の日程と大体の時間帯（飛行機で移動する時間帯）この３点をインプットすると、JAL様のAIが４ヶ所の候補を提案してくれる。この４ヶ所が気に入らなければ、組み合わせを選びなおすことが出来る（ただし上限がある）。納得いく４択になったら、応募する。私たちは山口宇部、札幌、福岡と旭川の４択で応募した。結果は２〜３日でメールで届くのですが、今回は行きたかった札幌に当選。やった〜！

After I emailed to Hiro that we landed a ticket to Sapporo, he quickly made a reservation to an old Onsen establishment he wanted to go. I spent several days researching the area and noted all the info in my traveler’s notebook. >>>To be continue

札幌行きに決まった事を直ぐに夫にメール。すると、彼は狙っていた宿を即予約。私は彼の行動範囲をチェックして、早速札幌リサーチに入る。全く土地勘が無い街。夫は仕事で数回行った事があるが、私は初・北海道であるのだ。＞＞＞続く