I think we all make mistakes when we travel we're out of our comfort zone
we're in a new place over the years I have made some really dumb purchases and
we're just excited to go on vacation but sometimes these mistakes could probably
be prevented especially like spending a lot of money on a plane ticket so in
today's video I'm talking about my top 15 travel mistakes that I made when I
went to Japan you could probably apply this to any
future trip that you have coming up really hope you don't repeat them be
sure to grab your tea or coffee today I am drinking jasmine tea it's nice and
laurel and fruity so I really hope to create more of these like chatty style
videos so you can get to know me a little bit better and we can just kind
of hang out and talk so if you guys enjoy this video be sure to give it a
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on the button here or down below so without further ado let's hop into this
video go
if you were to ask me what my first mistake was is probably not purchasing
Wi-Fi so Wi-Fi or even getting a SIM card in Japan is actually really cheap
it only costs about $10 a day you could probably download your Google Maps or
rely on hotel Wi-Fi but sometimes it's a little bit spotty you kind of have to
make decisions on the go sometimes I found myself kind of lost walking around
Shinjuku and Harajuku and I'm like where should I go to eat you can pick up a
portable Wi-Fi card at the airport or even at the hotel and it's really cheap
it's about ten dollars a day
mistake number two was not doing enough research on all of the different modes
of transportation in Japan there are so many different types of transportation
options there's the jr train you can ever take a
taxi you could ride the bus like the options are endless so there are certain
ways you could save money if you do your research beforehand I'll link one of my
favorite blog post down below she did a great job talking about whether or not
you should buy the jr pass so yeah be sure to go check it out
mistake number three was probably packing for the wrong season when I went
around the end of March I seriously thought it would be like screwing at
summer whether it be nice and hot where could wear dresses it was a brutal
awakening because it was freezing there I was so cold and I really wish I had
just done a quick like five-second weather research and see that yes it is
really cold you should layer up will definitely benefit you in the long run
another thing I noticed was I probably wore clothing that was kind of
inappropriate for people in Japan so in Japan people don't typically like
flip-flops leggings or like ultra revealing clothing like off shoulder
items I seriously did not see a lot of when you're traveling you want to feel
like you're blending in and not standing out like a sore thumb I really want to
make a full video on this topic let me know if you'd be interested on what you
should and should not wear in Japan comment down below
take number five not buy your souvenirs early enough in Japan there are so many
duty-free shopping options which literally means you don't have to pay
tax on the things that you buy no joke I probably went to five duty-free stores
looking for strawberry KitKat's and they were completely sold out so if you see
something you like just get it you're planning your next travel destination
and you can't decide whether you want to stay out of the top or an air B&B
sometimes the air B&B can give you a more local and more authentic experience
than staying at a hotel but each one's has its pros and cons so which one's
better hi friends welcome to my pan when you walk through the front door you get
this little hallway and immediately to your right you have a sink a stove have
the microwave water kettle fridge with freezer and refrigerator the bathroom
you have your traditional todo toilet and then a huge bathtub the walls were
not insulated I could hear someone eating breakfast in the morning and
their chopsticks tapping on the bowl and it was just so frustrating for me
because I really missed the quietness of staying at the hotel and yes you do get
more space if you're checked out really early in the morning and you're heading
out for a flight that day you want a place to store your bags and staking out
a hotel is great because you could put your bags in the back and they'll store
it for you for free my main reason for going to Japan was to see the cherry
blossoms that was all I wanted to see so I booked my trip for the end of March
not knowing that the cherry blossoms actually blew about April so a really
cool tip for you guys is to look up the location tag on Instagram of popular
cherry blossom spots and see if they're actually in full bloom
I noticed that some people will post pictures from like years ago so I
thought oh my gosh they're in full bloom but in actuality the trees were pretty
bare when I went location tags are super helpful with looking up the weather
seeing if a restaurant is busy finding local cafes that you might not have
discovered on your own on Google and maybe places that only locals go to so I
will link a few of my favorite hashtags over here and down below tip number
seven is to get cash you want to avoid really expensive transaction fees that
can go up to ten percent can also avoid transaction fees by using a travel
credit card Bank of America and chase makes a really
good one and they don't charge any fees for using your card international not
wearing comfortable shoes I probably walked anywhere between 10 to 15 miles
per day and Japan is just one of those places where you want to get lost and
explore so definitely ditch those high heels
because you're not going to go very far in them you're going to deal with a lot
of foot pain there's also not that many places to sit so be sure to find some
like flat shoes sneakers really chunky shoes because those are the ones that
will last you all day long with no foot pain or back pain who I've been talking
a lot I probably should take more sips of my tea before it gets cold
you always kind of forget about my tea and then it gets kind of lukewarm does
that ever happen to you guys number nine I regret not bringing a
bigger suitcase Japan is definitely the spot where you could find all of these
little trinkets unique fashion items accessories shoes and you don't want to
miss out everyone going there is definitely doing it right with like a
ton of duty-free items so pack a bigger suitcase this is not a place where you
bring just a carry-on trust me oh my gosh the jet lag from traveling from San
Francisco to Japan was brutal it took guts a little tired he hasn't had his
coffee yet I probably spent about four days just
trying to recover from jet lag when I landed so that's a lot of time wasted so
a great tip for you is to try to prep yourself beforehand try pulling if you
all-nighters maybe two days before your trip and trust me it will help you so
much better if you can't pull the all-nighters bring with you some
melatonin this is a natural ingredient that helps you fall asleep it will make
your trip a lot more bearable and your trip home a lot more comfortable
konichiwa arigato gozaimasu when you're traveling
to Japan you'll notice that everyone speaks Japanese and people are very
polite they're great tip is to download Google Translate it's completely free
you could scan photos of menus if you don't understand what's on there you
could take pictures of things scan it translate live this is so helpful so a
few helpful words to learn is thank you which is arigato gozaimasu stop be sure
to learn a few simple key Japanese words which will definitely take you a long
way did you know that Japan will be hosting the Olympics in 2020 well that
just means that it's going to get even more crowded Japan is notoriously a very
popular tourist destination during the spring season especially for the Sakura
flowers or the cherry blossom flowers there are so so many people everywhere
going to restaurants there will be lines out the door going to popular temples
and shrines if you're planning on taking pictures be sure to research ahead of
time on Google and see what are some times where there's more people and
there's less people I find that the least busy time of day is probably near
sunset or like off-peak hours
should you go eat at that really popular restaurant that has over a thousand
reviews on Google well it's really up to you but in my opinion I would rather not
wait about an hour to just eat like a really famous donut or ramen noodles I
rather spend my time more wisely because time is precious you don't want to waste
it just standing in line waiting time for popular restaurants could be really
long like boba shops deserts ramen or even sushi the queue
could be extra high during peak lunch or dinner hours so go during off-peak hours
do a quick google research on types of days when there are less people my
fourteenth regret is not meeting up with a local I really enjoy getting to know
the culture I really wanted to know what does it really like to live in Japan
because sometimes I find myself doing all the touristy things you know even
here in living in San Francisco I would not go to Fisherman's Wharf or walk
across the Golden Gate Bridge but these are very touristy things that people see
on Instagram and they kind of get sucked into doing because you think you want to
do off the quick highlights first and then do the normal more mundane everyday
things we made it a point at least one day do everyday normal things that we
would do back at home just to get a sense of what if you like to live as a
local
my last and final mistake is not bringing with me a water bottle when
you're traveling you're probably doing a ton of walking and exploring currently
in the designer fruit section where everything costs more than seven dollars
which me doesn't achieve this one yeah $20.00 watermelon $15 $20 strawberry and
you probably don't want to spend a lot of money on plastic water bottles so
bringing your own even to the airport is super super helpful this one is super
cute it's from beaker or bkr it also has a
lip balm on the top to keep your lips nice and moisturize so you don't have
chapped lips during your trip so I will link this for you guys down below if
you're interested in purchasing this one but yeah any reusable bottle is so
helpful so those were my top 15 travel mistakes that I made while I went to
Japan looking back I realized I probably could have planned a little bit better
for this trip especially because it was quite pricey and I went for about 16
days comment down below and share with us what is your most silly travel
mistake that you've ever made and what was a lesson from it I'd love to know
and read it be sure to follow me on Instagram a username is fashioned by Ali
I love to share silence creation and outfit ideas over there
I love you guys all so so much and I will see you in my next video bye