Plotting a trip is a lot like planning ahead for life. First, you dream. You find inspiration–from friends, family, social media, or other vagabonds you meet along your journeys. Then, you research; you gather intel from sources online and offline about the best sights, sites, bites, and–hopefully–hidden gems. Armed with recommendations, you start booking flights, Airbnbs, side excursions, and restaurant reservations. Plan. Purchase. Then sit back, and wait. Countdown the day

If you don't see the sun for a day, do you consider the entire time as night? … I thought, as my flight from Hong Kong to Tokyo lifted up above the cloud cover. It was 9 am on Sunday, and the first time I'd seen sunlight since Friday evening, New York time. We’d chased the sun’s wake the entire journey around the earth, but it remained steadily out of reach. As I lowered my window shade mid-way, I found myself relieved by its return. Of course, I knew the sun had been there t