Since I had a wealth of experiences in my first half of my travel and not much time to write, writing has actually been really relaxing. And an added bonus to this has been immersing myself in Japan, surrounded by Japanese people speaking Japanese, while writing this blog in both languages. Passively listening to people speaking around me while writing in both English and Japanese has definitely improved my Japanese skills. And the matcha frappes are nice.
Imagine the puppies are people and that’s what I like
I’m going to be clear: if it weren’t for the fact I have friends who either live in or are traveling to Tokyo while I’m here, my travel fatigue would have likely taken over, and I probably wouldn’t be doing all that much. Since I haven’t done much prep, they’d invite me on these amazing plans like going to an Owl Cafe, seeing fireworks at night, showing me around great restaurants and more, and all those experiences have been the highlights of my trip.
If you don’t have friends in a foreign country you’re going to, I’d recommend either making some online on language exchange websites (here’s a link to an article listing 14 of them), or try your hardest to make friends there, such as at your hostel. But if you don’t already have friends and don’t want to or have no luck making friends, fear not! As long as it’s not extended travel (beyond 2-3 weeks), you’ll probably have just as much exploring alone!
While I have less energy per day as when I started traveling, exploring along is consistently fun. One of my favorite things to do once I know the area around my hotel or hostel decently well is to just pick a direction and walk. That was my only tactic in Seoul and Nagano, and I had a ton of fun there. Countries like South Korea and Japan are some of the safest in the world, so I have had nothing to fear, but other countries may have more risk, so do your research!
My inspiration for exploring and stumbling upon amazing places was inspired by, as mentioned in a previous post, Rolf Potts’ Vagabonding. His whole message of traveling and doing what you want to do instead of what you think you’re supposed to do really inspired me to sate my wanderlust by… wandering. Many tourist sites in the “supposed to do” category are amazing, and I recommend seeing many of them if you want to, but equally as fun is stumbling upon places when you pick a direction and walk. Pictures from one such adventure (that I did with friends) will be below in the bonus pictures section~
I’m an Ocarinist, and I’m an extrovert. Because of that, I really enjoy performing – though building up the courage to play on the streets usually takes ~15 minutes – and don’t collapse when people watch. At local conventions in America, I even built a reputation as “The Ocarina Guy,” so needless to say I enjoy making music.
Anyways, I often hit the streets and play Ocarina for passers-by while here in Japan. At the Gion Matsuri in Kyoto, I went a few nights, stood near the thousands of people, and started jamming, and about ~50 people took selfies with me. Another night in Roppongi, Tokyo, I played at a busy intersection at night and two things happened: one salaryman gave me $10, and these two North Americans (a Canadian and an American) made friends with me, leading to us hanging out together multiple times afterward. Roppongi is known for people standing outside stores trying to lure unsuspecting foreigners into what they think is a deal, when it’s in reality the most expensive bar you’ll ever go to. According to the Americans, that area normally had multiple people like that around except when I was playing. They said I purified it.
These are ideal situations, and they made great memories from great experiences. However, once in Ebisu, Tokyo, I was doing my usual setlist (Studio Ghibli songs because most Japanese people know a lot of that music), and after about 20 minutes, a police officer comes and politely tells me to stop. I walked away, but it makes a good story to talk about the music-hating-yet-polite police officer.
I really love to dance, and going to a few clubs in Japan and Korea have rekindled that love in me. I’m not great by any means, but I’m good enough at basic breakdance and have high enough energy that people who aren’t dancers think I’m good. It can be a bit expensive, but some clubs have free entry for college students (+ most clubs have free entry for all women), so if you’re smart about it it can be an inexpensive way to have a bit of fun at the end of the day. I went to a club the other night, got free college student entry, and only purchased one drink, leaving my total for 3 hours of fun at $6.50. In Korea, there are even outdoor dance floors which, while a bit dirty, are free and just as fun.
These are just options I personally did to have fun easily. That being said, if you don’t play a musical instrument or write a blog, that is fine. I hope that this at least got you thinking about how you can make the most of what have when you’re abroad. Doing familiar things in an unfamiliar place is, in itself, an amazing experience.
Andy Cormier 