Joe Rodin Has A Blog

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...

My Japan spreadsheet is pretty cool, and it covers all the important information. Across the board it covers: Date Time of Travel Hotel Cost Destinations Costs This all gets looped together into a vertical version of the sheet, which is easier to read on a mobile device on the go, I won't show the full vertical sheet, because that information is already covered above, and would take up the majority of this post, so this is just for the idea: The items highlighted by a green border  means there's a pre-booked ticket that is on a time schedule. All flights are listed with the flight number and takeoff time 🛫. The item highlighted with the big red question mark❓means the ticket is pending and I won't know until the day of arrival if the voucher goes through. (If not, it triggers an auto-refund). Tokyo Tower and Tokyo Skytree are limited to days the sun ☀️ is out, they close for inclement weather.  Hakone being fairly spread out and requiring busses ...

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 ...