Asia

Cheers to meeting new people and new experiences! For those who are not familiar with couchsurfing, it is a website/community of people who sign up to host people (couchsurfers) and be hosted while traveling. Some might be a little leery of the idea of staying with and meeting random strangers, but the site does include some verification as well as reviews ... Read More »

For a great view of Kyoto, be sure to hike Mt. Daimonji. This is part of the eastern mountain range in Kyoto and will not disappoint. The hike (scenic option) can be done by most anyone in relatively decent physical condition and includes both wooded and open areas, so we suggest wearing sunscreen and insect repellent. There are some additional ... Read More »

Grocery shopping and cooking your own food while traveling is a great way to save money and stick to a budget. Over the course of our RTW trip we will be staying at a number of guesthouses and hostels that will include a kitchen and other cooking utensils, so we will be taking advantage of these when possible. While we still ... Read More »

A VERY quick four days! We spent four days and three nights in Tokyo and we can say with absolute certainty that this was not enough time to truly see the city, but we have a schedule to keep:) We had an overnight bus to Kyoto booked, so we had to pick and choose what we wanted to see most, ... Read More »

Can you stay overnight in the Tokyo-Haneda International Airport? Yes, you can! Our 12 hour flight from the U.S. arrived around 10:30pm local time. So, instead of paying for an outrageously priced airport hotel for maybe a few hours of sleep, we chose to stay overnight in the airport. Anyone who wishes to stay overnight must make their way to the international ... Read More »

It was decided we wanted (needed) some coffee after we finished the complimentary tea in our room…our jet lag is in full effect at the moment. Numerous coffee cafés were seen near the Senso-Ji temple, so we figured they would be prevalent everywhere and easy to locate. The temple area is unbelievable, but we wanted to see some new parts of ... Read More »

We made it to our first destination on our round-the-world (RTW) adventure – TOKYO, JAPAN! Overall, everything went as planned to begin our trip, which does not happen often when it comes to us and flying. We stayed in Minneapolis the night before with some friends and got to the airport without rushing in the morning. Our flight to Los ... Read More »