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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 th...

January 5. Instagram The earliest train that will take me to Hakodate is at 8:39am, which is later than I want it to be, but it all works out because I can have breakfast ramen in Sapporo. Isonokatsuo Ramen, or at least I'm pretty sure that's where I ate. I went to the shop that google maps and the concierge told me to on the map, but something didn't seem quite right, but regardless, I ate ramen and it was delicious. Extra nori on my ramen at Isonokatsuo, Sapporo. My arrival in Hakodate was about 12:30pm, which again means I'll have a short afternoon, but plenty of night activities again, which includes the big one here: Mount Hakodate at Sunset. Honestly, that's such a big ticket item for me that I literally put nothing else on my to-do list in Hakodate, and I'd just let the wind take me where it pleased. Luckily for me, as soon as I stepped off the train, it showed me an advertisement for a really rad observation tower and park, so off we go! I sp...

January 4. Instagram Today is the longest train ride of my journey split into two pieces. The first is Sendai to Shin-Hakodate 6:40am-10:01am, switch trains, and then Shin-Hakodate to Sapporo 10:24pm-1:46pm. For a total of 7 hours and 6 minutes. I used most of this time to write short stories and anecdotes that I will never publish, but just to have them saved somewhere outside of my brain, and to research my route through Sapporo. The one downside of the train method is that I'll be losing the most time of this trip by arriving in Sapporo late in the afternoon. A small benefit is that Sapporo being the 5th largest city, there are a lot of late-night options, and I'll have a 4 hour train ride in the morning and can use that for nap time if I need to. Yes, I'm a light sleeper, but the trains feel like they're floating on clouds and it's such a smooth ride. On my arrival to Sapporo, my first stop is a ramen shop by the station called Sapporo Ichiryuan. Based o...

January 3rd. Instagram My Train to Sendai leaves Tokyo Station at 6:32am, and again I'm up very early in the morning. The one thing I realized when I woke up today is that I am starving. I didn't really notice it, but I only ate one meal yesterday, which was that super amazing ramen at Kikanbo. Other than that it was little snacks here and there. I was so enveloped in having fun I didn't eat, it happens sometimes. There are days at work I'll forget to eat because I'm having so much fun. I decide to hit a late night ramen shop for breakfast, and that's this place next to my hotel called Yaro Ramen. Spicy again, lots of egg, delicious. Yaro Ramen, Spicy w/Egg. The train ride to Sendai is 372 km, which is almost identical distance from Boston to New York City (379km). The fastest train from Boston to New York City takes 4 hours and 8 minutes. I was on the slower train from Tokyo to Sendai, and it took 1 hour and 32 minutes, arrival 8:04am. Can you imagin...

December 31st - January 1st. Instagram One more recommendation for travel: fly on New Year's Eve. The airport was empty and I made it through security in under 10 minutes. When Japan Airlines sent me the reminder email, they said I only needed to be the airport an hour in advance, but my instinct is to always arrive at least two hours early. Boy was I wrong. I sure did sit at that airport for two hours waiting and waiting and waiting! It ended up being fine, because with no one at the airport, the WiFi wasn't bogged down and I stayed entertained for the most part. The flight as well was a breeze. Japan Airlines has plenty of leg room, and the movie selection was pretty solid, so as long as you stay busy: time flies. I think the movies I watched in no particular order were: Jumanji 1, Maleficent 2, Toy Story 4, Aladdin, X-Men: Dark Pheonix, and Shazam! I paid the premium for inflight WiFi, and it wasn't fast enough to do most things on the internet, but was good enough...

Criteria The most important thing when it comes to traveling, first and foremost, is where I'd like to go and what I want to accomplish: Criteria . A real vacation should cover these six fields: Sightseeing/Tourism, History, Food, Shopping, Weather, Leisure. Sightseeing/Tourism : If it's ancient or brand new, if it's a cool building, a fun event, a "must-do" whether for locals or travelers, I want to do all of it, or as much as possible. I'm a tour guide in Boston, so I love to see what other cities have to offer. History : Square and a rectangle with sightseeing, not all sights you see are necessarily historic, so if I'm going to a new country/city, I need there to be a draw in terms of its history. Food : When it comes to being at home, I honestly order almost the same thing every week from the same places, and maybe have 7-10 recipes I rotate through. When I'm in a new country, I love to just go wild trying every new dish I possibly can, and ...