Japan Finale: The Wrap Up
This is my last official post about my Japan trip, because I still left a few things on the table to talk about, and condense a few tips down into one convenient post. Let's go over final budget/spending, final look back, and for those who like the numbers: final stats on the trip.
Final Budget/Spending
My budget post was very long, but that's because there's a lot to consider when budgeting for a three week international trip. I am lucky that I had a fairly open budget, I didn't need to stay under a certain budget, but there was definitely an amount I would not like to reach. Doing something in the moment and Yolo'ing hard can become really, really expensive, so planning ahead and keeping track of numbers is primo.
Some things I did that cost a whole bunch of money: Spent $400+ on an outfit and gifts in Harajuku, $470 on one night in a fancy Ryokan in Hakone, and close to $200 spent at Disneyland Tokyo between the ticket, souvenirs, and food. If we cut all these yolo's out, we're saving $1,000. That's another round trip flight Boston-Tokyo.
I saved a significant amount of money as well: I was backpacking the entire trip, so the majority of my souvenirs came in the form of keychains, which cost an average of ~$5 each. How many did I buy in total? 52. Yep, sounds crazy, but I bought fifty two keychains during the trip for a total of ~$260. Now imagine if I bought real souvenirs like figures, shirts, mugs, books, etc. I could have easily spent $1,000+.
My train pass was a huge money saver. I looked up the cost of all the major train traveling, including to/from the airport, and that would have cost $1,194.70. With the JR Rail Pass, that was instead only $550, less than half, and doesn't factor the times I used JR trains locally, saving even more.
Staying in lower cost hotels, because I only needed a bed to sleep on: saved ~$400. Yes, that was instantly offset by the $470 Ryokan, but you can see how easy it is to save big bucks at the planning phase, and understanding limitations from the start.
Realistically, my flex range for the trip was $5,000 - $7,500. I feel like $1,666.66 a week isn't a bad rate for a trip, but again, just to fly to Japan, get around, and sleep for 21 days totaled $3,671.21. Staying at that $5,000 low goal means only spending $1328.79, or ~$63/day for three weeks. That's doable, but real tight. My high end being $7,500 would mean I could spend $3,828.79, or $182/day, which is yolo'ing pretty hard... drum roll please:
My initial projected budget was $5,397, before buying anything and $100/day spending.
My secondary projected budget was $5,771.21, after booking flights, hotels, tickets, etc., and $100/day spending.
My 100% final costs: $6,309.91.
That means my total spending for the entire trip was $2,638.70, or ~$126/day. That is perfectly in the center of my low/high range. Damn I'm good.
Final Look Back
If I had to do this all again:
Final Budget/Spending
My budget post was very long, but that's because there's a lot to consider when budgeting for a three week international trip. I am lucky that I had a fairly open budget, I didn't need to stay under a certain budget, but there was definitely an amount I would not like to reach. Doing something in the moment and Yolo'ing hard can become really, really expensive, so planning ahead and keeping track of numbers is primo.
Some things I did that cost a whole bunch of money: Spent $400+ on an outfit and gifts in Harajuku, $470 on one night in a fancy Ryokan in Hakone, and close to $200 spent at Disneyland Tokyo between the ticket, souvenirs, and food. If we cut all these yolo's out, we're saving $1,000. That's another round trip flight Boston-Tokyo.
I saved a significant amount of money as well: I was backpacking the entire trip, so the majority of my souvenirs came in the form of keychains, which cost an average of ~$5 each. How many did I buy in total? 52. Yep, sounds crazy, but I bought fifty two keychains during the trip for a total of ~$260. Now imagine if I bought real souvenirs like figures, shirts, mugs, books, etc. I could have easily spent $1,000+.
My train pass was a huge money saver. I looked up the cost of all the major train traveling, including to/from the airport, and that would have cost $1,194.70. With the JR Rail Pass, that was instead only $550, less than half, and doesn't factor the times I used JR trains locally, saving even more.
Staying in lower cost hotels, because I only needed a bed to sleep on: saved ~$400. Yes, that was instantly offset by the $470 Ryokan, but you can see how easy it is to save big bucks at the planning phase, and understanding limitations from the start.
Realistically, my flex range for the trip was $5,000 - $7,500. I feel like $1,666.66 a week isn't a bad rate for a trip, but again, just to fly to Japan, get around, and sleep for 21 days totaled $3,671.21. Staying at that $5,000 low goal means only spending $1328.79, or ~$63/day for three weeks. That's doable, but real tight. My high end being $7,500 would mean I could spend $3,828.79, or $182/day, which is yolo'ing pretty hard... drum roll please:
My initial projected budget was $5,397, before buying anything and $100/day spending.
My secondary projected budget was $5,771.21, after booking flights, hotels, tickets, etc., and $100/day spending.
My 100% final costs: $6,309.91.
That means my total spending for the entire trip was $2,638.70, or ~$126/day. That is perfectly in the center of my low/high range. Damn I'm good.
Final Look Back
If I had to do this all again:
- Fly into Sapporo first, most likely from a connecting flight in Tokyo (avoids backtracking).
- Book all JR Tickets the day of arrival, guarantee seats on the train.
- Wear better sneakers.
- Rely heavily on the subway, as there's so much standing and walking already.
- Check in advance to make sure the cool venues are actually open (looking at you, Nagoya).
- Eat more, I'm so bad at remembering to eat when I'm on a roll.
- Just buy those damn $300 jeans. Buyer's remorse is better than non-buyer's regret.
- Make sure I see Nara's historic sites in the daytime.
- Make it up the ropeway in Miyajima.
- Go to Dazaifu in Fukuoka.
- Book a hotel that will be open on arrival in Okinawa.
- Eat more ramen at the Ramen Museum.
- Go up the tall buildings in Yokohama. I love tall buildings.
Final Numbers
- Photos: 4,814
- Miles walked: 235.1 (9 marathons is 235.8)
- Steps: 481,654
- Vertical Flights: 556
- Total Calories Burned: 93,094
- Active Calories Burned: 35,400
- Exercise minutes: 2,453
- Standing Hours: 281 (iWatch calculates this as standing for a minimum of 1 minute/hour)
- Bowls of Ramen: 21
- Yume Wo Katare's visited: 4/6
- Times I was almost walked into moving traffic because they drive on the other side of the road meaning I needed to look right first, then left: 5.
- Times another bicyclist almost crashed into me in Okinawa: 1
- Regrets: 1. Should have bought those Evisu jeans.
-Joe
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