Make your Japan trip a CAKEWALK in 5 easy steps

Make your Japan trip a CAKEWALK in 5 easy steps

About 90% of people doing their Japan trips for the first time end up over complicating things, wasting a ton of time, and adding unnecessary hassle, not to mention extra stress. And I should know because [music] when clients come to me to get help planning their dream Japan adventure, there’s usually one, two, or all of these missteps going on in their thinking. So, in this video, I’m going to show you five dead easy moves that take your chaotic ideas and turn them into a calm plan worthy of the Dalai Llama himself. No, not that llama. So, imagine you’ve never tried skydiving before, but your crazy friend convinces you to give it a go. Safety protocols out the window. You’re diving solo on your first run, and you jump out the plane without a single Scooby as to when you need to pull the cord [music] on your parachute. I mean, you’re going to need to pull it at some point, but obviously not so late that you strawberry jam yourself. But see, that’s what a ton of people do [music] on their trips. They’ve been on Reddit far too long reading advice from numpties who stayed in Tokyo the entire time they were in Japan and they claim that they were always using credit cards to pay for everything. Now, I could say put all your eggs in one credit card, but the truth is that would be bad advice. I mean, are you planning on checking out any temples or shrines because you can’t pay those entrance fees with plastic? Thinking of eating out a lot? Well, there are plenty of restaurants and cafes that don’t accept cards, even in the big cities. I live in one of them. And my favorite breakfast ery has a big sign up saying no credit cards. And it’s not uncommon for museums, attractions, even Rioan to hold their noses whenever you hold out a Visa or Mastercard. And no, American Express won’t do nicely either. So instead of waiting until you’re right there in the I have no cash on me fiasco, the smoothest move you can make in the very first moments [music] of arriving in Japan is to visit the ATM. Do it right there in the airport. Now, you might be wary about carrying around a big chunk of paper money in your home country, but this is common place in Japan. mainly because of a super low crime rate and people being very trustworthy. Police generally spend more time looking for stolen bicycles than stolen wallets. This way, you’re covered whenever an attraction or shop [music] is cash only. You’ve also got a backup if you ever have trouble using your credit card, which has happened to like literally zero tourists since the dawn of time. And well, there’s another Godzillaized reason why you should get some cash as soon as you finish up at customs because there’s always a risk of an earthquake, tsunami, or typhoon knocking out power. And while I hope you don’t have one of these happen during your trip, if one does, it would be good if you could still buy some food and drink, [music] right? Because do you really think the credit card network functions without electricity? Anyway, I’ve got some pro tips for you about getting cash here. The most dependable ATMs that work with foreign debit cards are in post offices and 7-Eleven convenience stores. Post offices are everywhere. [music] It’s even in the countryside. So, that’s generally where I’ll go for money machine monkeying around. When you’re pulling out cash, always ask for it in Japanese yen, not in your home currency. That’s because you don’t want to get whacked with a terrible conversion rate. It also helps if you have a debit card that doesn’t charge withdrawal fees. So, check out if your bank’s going to fleece you and plan accordingly, like, I don’t know, maybe changing banks. If you can’t get a card with no added withdrawal fees, one option is to get something like a Wise card. This is a prepaid card, so you load up money before you leave home and you use it to withdraw yen in Japan. [music] You don’t get fleeced on the exchange rate. And a bonus is you can also use it to buy yen when it’s really cheap and just save it up for your trip. It also works as a credit card, so I think it’s pretty handy to have. So, you know how making an Earl Grey hot is a complete faf? You’ve got the water boiling, the waiting, the brewing, the waiting, the milk adding, and more waiting until it’s cool enough to drink. Wouldn’t it be great if you could just skip all that fuffing around with just one button? Well, unfortunately, that’s not possible yet. But when it comes to staying connected on your trip, Olifly can make getting a data plan ridiculously easy. Here’s how it works. Before you fly out, go buy your eSIM and then Olafly sends you a QR code and some instructions. You go to the ESIM settings on your device, scan that code, and your eSIM is installed and as soon as the plane touches down in Japan, you turn on that ESIM and you’ve instantly got data. Super simple and zero faffing around. It’s so much better than dealing with all the time wastery with physical SIM cards or pocket Wi-Fi bricks. When I went to Turkey last year, I found it was an absolute nightmare to get a physical SIM card. So, I actually bought myself a second phone that supported eSIMS just so I could use that one for my trip. That’s how gamechanging this move is. And the other game changer with Olafly is that you don’t just get data, you get unlimited data. I mean, I guarantee you’re going to be using a ton of apps on your trip. There’s Google Translate for every restaurant menu that doesn’t have English translations. You’ll be using Google Maps to navigate so much that you’ll start to mimic the lady who gives the directions. And let’s face it, you’re going to be watching a ton of YouTube on those long Shinkansen journeys. So instead of second-guessing how much data you’re going to need on your trip or relying on lackluster hotel Wi-Fi to catch up on the best streaming content, streamline your adventure with an unlimited data eim from Olofly and quit stressing. I put links down in the description and pinned comment. So, go get yourself set up with unlimited data before you fly out. And if you want a 5% discount, just use the coupon code Japan unraveled. So, according to the title that I gave this video, it’s going to make your trip into more of a cakewalk than well, an omnishambles. But imagine it’s your first day of your first time in Japan and you’re literally walking around carrying a cake. How long is that little charade going to last before you smash into a policeman and wreck his pristine uniform? Because just like cake, your state of mind is going to be pretty fragile when you’re wiped out with jet lag. You’re not going to know what day of the week it is, and all you’re going to want to do is get straight to the land of nod via your hotel. So, how do you reach your hotel without adding any extra complications to your plan? It’s time for the third C, KSU, which means transportation. And let’s do a little flowchart. If your hotel is right outside a train station and [music] you don’t need to change trains along the way, then go ahead and hop on the train. But if your hotel isn’t right outside a train station, I 3 million% recommend [music] you take an airport limousine bus instead. The bigger hotels in the bigger cities commonly have a limousine bus stop right outside or at least very close by. So with a bit of planning, you can easily make it a single hop from the arrivals hall to pass out on the floor of your room. Sorry, I mean bed. This is so much easier than hauling cases through subway systems and multiple trains because moving through busy stations is a complete nightmare with lots of luggage. The worst part is waiting for lifts because there’s commonly only one for each platform. Anyway, I’ve put some links in the description for checking airport limousine timets and routes. And while you’re down there, drop me a thumbs up if you’re finding this video useful. So, when you’re traveling across Japan, one of the common problems you’ll see with a lot of tourists is that they get a bowl of ramen, udon, smen, or some other noodly food, and their rice swell up to like three times the size of their stomachs. And not only does this cause trouble with other diners, but it also annoys the kitchen staff a lot when half the bowl is left completely uneaten. And while that’s not an entirely factual story, it’s pretty much exactly the same thing that happens when you plan your trip. I mean, I remember the first big adventure I took in Japan. I went right down to Kagoshima on the southern island of Kyushu for some tom foolery at a place that’s actually called Jurassic Park on Sakurajima. Now after that I spent a few days in Kyoto and other spots in Kansai before taking one of the old sleeper trains all the way to Almori at the top of Honshu. But while I had a thoroughly incredible time at those destinations, [music] I’d been a tad crazy with the timings. I must have been off my face on Marmmites because I completely underestimated how long it took to get from Kyoto to Kagoshima and [music] ended up burning a lot of hours on that journey. It was the same deal getting back from Alari to Tokyo. I thought it would be super fast with the bullet train all the way, but I’d forgotten I needed to take slower express trains before and after. But you can easily keep your itineraries within the realms of the reasonable. Enter the fourth C, the regional pass. Yeah, I gave up on this one. Anyway, if you use one of these, your journeys are going to stay within the boundaries of a particular area, meaning it’s hard to bite off more than you can chew. [music] For example, with the Kasaiwide area pass, you can enthral yourself with countless hidden gems in the region around Kyoto and Osaka. And all of the places are easily reachable as day trips. If you’re up in the Monstropolis, the Tokyo wide area pass also gives you plenty of one-day exploring options, and you won’t need to worry about straying too far from your hotel. So, if you plan your trip this way, you’re never going to be stuck on a train for an excessive amount of time. But there’s another bonus for using a regional pass, and that is you won’t need to worry about buying tickets. That’s because these rail passes work like an unlimited rides ticket, letting you onto as many trains as you want to ride. So instead of gallivanting all across the country, explore in a smaller area and delete the need to worry about buying tickets. This is an easier way than trying to visit multiple destinations separated by hundreds of miles. And if you want to know how to pick the best regional rail pass, I’ve made a video to help you. So go look down in the description. Now, I’ve got some bad news for you. Unless you’re the Bank of England or you actually live here, at some point you’re going to run out of time and have to leave Japan and go back home. And when you get to that last day, there’s huge potential for tons of extra stress. I mean, I don’t particularly want to give you more things to cry about, but I see a lot of visitors making this very mistake. For example, recently I was working with a client who’d got a hotel all picked out for his last night in Tokyo. It was in a great location up in Ikabukuro. The price was good, and there was even an in-house aquarium. And when I looked at the flight details for the next day, I saw Hanned airport and thought, “Oh, that’s fine. He can just take [music] the Yamanote line down to Hammaxo and then get on the Montreal. Job done.” And then I looked at the departure time, 10:00 a.m. [music] So that means sensible people would want to be there by 8 [music] or earlier perhaps, but that would mean traveling across Tokyo with suitcases during the rush hour. And that is what they call in the trade a school boy era. Because my friends, one does not simply take cases on the train during Tokyo’s rush hour. I mean, I tried it once and I ended up waiting in a cafe for an hour until I could fit on the train. But that’s okay because there’s a better strategy you can use that’ll make your last day in Japan so smooth it’ll make lifting [music] a finger seem like hard work. Because if you really must bring large cases with you, do yourself a favor and send them back to the airport ahead of time with luggage forwarding. You cut out all the [music] tedious lugging around stations, on and off of trains, finding a space in the luggage rack, and generally just getting in the way of everyone. [music] And then you just head up to the departure floor, collect your case, and wheel it over to the check-in desk. Yes, the collection point and the check-in desks are on the same floor. Often I only touch my case for a few seconds on departure days, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. It cuts out so much stress. Now, to send luggage directly back to the airport, you do need to be organized because you have to send it 2 days prior to your departure rather than the day before. If you plan ahead, this is actually pretty easy and it stops you actually from having additional packing stresses the night before your flight. So, now you’ve got no excuse but to have the smoothest possible trip in Japan. But it’s all going to be for nothing if you don’t pack the right things. So go and find out what all the essentials are in this video up here. See you.

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/// LINKS
Kansai Wide Area Pass video: https://youtu.be/Axqxa-FB73s
Tokyo Wide Area Pass video: https://youtu.be/B2XQSTtukWw

Wise card: japanunravelled.com/wise

Tokyo Airports Limousine Buses: https://www.limousinebus.co.jp/en/
Kansai Airport Limousine Bus: https://www.kate.co.jp/en/timetable/

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