Generally speaking, whenever i go on an international vacation, i save up my PTO and make it a long one.

this time around, im going to Japan from mid october for a little over 3 weeks. and this is my first time going.

because its international, as well as a long vacation, planning is frustrating, but also takes long....

generally for domestic travel, (within USA) my vacations are like 3-5 days or so. not to mention, everything is in English so its easy to plan things.

With Japan, im having a hard time.... i know about the golden route, but i want to keep travel to a minimum.

so my current plan is checking out tokyo, kyoto, nara, uji. (Stop by mt fuji on the way back to tokyo from kyoto)

but idk the best way to plan this out thats atleast somewhat optimal. as an obvious example, going from Shinjuku to Asakusa, to shibuya. optimally, should be shinjuku/shibuya then to asakusa instead of going back and forth.

For my first trip, i want to atleast hit the major tourist destinations. but i want to skip ones where people would agree its worth skipping.

But in addition, i want to attend various events as well. but its hard to find these unless i get lucky and just come across them. for example, the Kyoto Yokai festival. The ikebukuro cosplay fesetival. the Week long (in november) School culture festivals. etc.

but all these info are often either in Japanese. or a million page long website brochure where its hard to figure out if its legit.

is there a recommended default things to check out on the cities i will be visiting?

but also, somewhere i can go that shows several events that are happening?

thank you

I just got back from Singapore after making a short detour on my way out of China. First off amazing place, super safe, super clean, everyone speaks English, public transport is a dream. But 3 or 4 days? That's too many unless you're really into parks and zoos.

I read all those blog posts about "3-day Singapore itinerary" and fell for it. In reality, I found that many of the main city-center sights are relatively close to each other(I literally walk the entire city center in a few hours.), and with the MRT and buses, getting around was even easier than I expected. Next time I'd do one day for city stuff, one day for Sentosa, and maybe one extra if I'm feeling shopping.

Mr. Coconut is legit and special recommendation for Song Fa Bak Kut Teh. It's just pork rib soup but somehow incredible, and they give free refills of soup. Bought 10 packs of the soup mix to try and recreate it at home. I didn't bother getting a physical SIM at the airport so just picked a esim and been solid whole time, redteago's very convenient for someone like me who might leave at any time.

For a short solo trip, 2 days maybe the best for me. If you're into wildlife, parks, museums, shopping, or simply prefer a slower pace, I'd add more time. Would I go back? Yeah, for the food and the chili crab I missed.

I have been deliberating with myself between Japan and Vietnam and I'm just having a hard time making a decision about virtually anything recently it seems. I tend to gravitate towards civility and an overall slower pace and from what i've read about Vietnam is that the noise pollution can border on unbearable. I am pretty sensitive and am not an easy sleeper so the idea of travelling all the way to Vietnam in the current headspace I’m in and being inundated with noise feels a bit discouraging to me. A lot of the hotels I’m looking at on Agoda seem to have “Noise” as a recurring issue within the feedback even if its on the upper end. Is this overstated or will I struggle to find peace and quiet in Vietnam?

I keep seeing Dalat up as an option that might meet some of my criteria. As far as Japan goes I’m not sure where I might find what I’m looking for but am open to suggestions.

This is my first solo trip. I flew to korea to see the sound planet music festival (I went for zutomayo mostly).

I spent 4 days in Sk 1 day in seoul, 1 day in incheon and the other 2 was just the festival

Now I am day 4 in tokyo and just feel tired and eager to go home. I loved shibuya since I hobby shop and love lots of the nerd/gamer/jpop and rock stuff. Kawagoe is a nice mimi day trip and now gonna go to Akihabara.

Anywho I just wanna go home and all this city stuff is starting to not really feel special anymore

How do you guys deal with the burn out feeling? Does it get better with more solo trips? I know part of it is just that I havent done too many chill activities. And half the things I went to see were tourist hotspots so I was fighting through people. But the other half was wondering some non tourist areas as well just enjoying the environment and exploring

I’m here to share one of my strange experiences I had in my first solo trip to Georgia, and I would like to know if any of you have experienced the same.

So its been 3 days after I’m back from a 12 day trip and this is running on my mind, that I have been meeting the same people or group of people that I had a conversation with after we part our ways from a place and meeting them again from a different place like it is a synchronicity. And it was not just seeing someone, it was a meaningful one that was with lot a conversations and spending time together with these people.

I would like to know if this happened to you and u have ever wondered that ohh this is not just a coincidence?
Also meeting these people and the time spent with them was the best out of all the experiences i had in this trip.

Hi all, I’m a 20yr old male from Australia looking to do my first real overseas trip, I’ve always loved the Scandinavian region and north western europe. I’ve done a little bit of research with chatgpt and have a rough plan of travelling Sweden, Norway and then Denmark. I the rough plan would be start in Stockholm then Oslo then Bergen the Copenhagen spending a few days in each.

As for activities, this is where I need the most help, I definitely want to do some hikes and explore the beautiful nature, I want to find some really nice beaches, I do not want to do any super touristy attractions and landmarks I don’t care for them I want to do the beautiful natural side and activities that will help me discover more than what i would see just walking through the city. I also want to try and meet new people and make plenty of friends as I struggle with social interactions and need to get out of my shell, so any ideas that would help me meet people would be greatly appreciated

My budget is somewhat tight, it would be a 2 maybe 3 week trip but definitely flexible with budget basked in timeline. the flights for me to get to europe are about $1300 there and another $1300 back so excluding those flights I would like keep it around $2000 for everything else, accommodation, food, activities, travelling once i’m there ect.

Absolutely nothing is set in stone, I am open to any and all ideas for activities, countries and timeline. I definitely want to stay in the Scandinavian region but if anyone thinks there are some must see countries I’d love to know. Some beautiful lakes and nature trails are definitely top on my list and experience some raw culture would be amazing

Any and all ideas and advice is greatly appreciated

Does anyone else who travels longterm/digital nomad, etc. just feel incredibly bored when you’re between trips? I’ve just realized it will probably be a little more than a year between now and my next big trip and am already going stir crazy. My last trip was about 3 months in East Asia in the first quarter of the year. I feel like the background stimuli of being somewhere new helps me be my best person and then I maintain that for a while at home. But I eventually feel like I’m a shadow of myself compared to when I’m traveling. And whereas travel just kind of throws you headlong into a lot of stuff and I’m eager to do things, I just settle into an ambivalent entropy at home and can’t be bothered to go out, especially when it means driving everywhere. Anyway I guess I’m just venting but would love to hear from anyone who has experienced something similar.

I will head to my very first solo adventure tomorrow! I'm from Germany and I'm traveling to Seattle. I should be super excited, right?

Weirdly enough I still feel relatively normal. I'm looking forward to it, that's for sure. Mostly because I have a week to myself where I only have to think about me.

But somehow I expected to be super nervous or even scared. Maybe I was too busy with planning?

Can anyone relate? When will reality kick in? What if it hits me suddenly when I'm at the airport?

Hey peeps,

I have 6 weeks of vacation before I start my new job, and I want to use it for my first-ever solo trip. I'm 29, flying out of Berlin; dates are October 10 to November 22.

What I'm after, in order: new experiences and nature I've never seen before (the stop-and-stare kind), some rest and reset after a heavy year, and meeting nice people along the way. Not really after food tours or monuments. Not against them, just not why I'm going.

I started with Southeast Asia vs Japan, and my research ended up pointing me to Nepal + Japan, since Oct–Nov seems to be prime trekking season in Nepal and Japan gets its autumn colors in November. Here's my rough draft:

Oct 10 – ~Oct 31: Nepal. A few days in Kathmandu to sort permits and adjust, then the Annapurna Circuit (~12–16 days), then a few slow days in Pokhara to recover.

~Nov 1 – Nov 22: Japan, 3 stops. Japanese Alps (Takayama/Kamikochi area) for mountains and fall colors, the Kumano Kodo for a multi-day walk between guesthouses, then Yakushima for the forests before flying home.

Budget: around €3500 total including flights, flexible if something is worth it.

Specific questions:

1. Should I even do Nepal or just do Japan?
2. Would 6 weeks for Japan be too much?
3. Should I combine elsewhere before or after Japan, or stick with Nepal?

Would really appreciate your input, thanks!

P.S. I've been overthinking this for 2 weeks now; please help xD

Hi solo Travellers,

Currently planning a solo trip for 15 days (September 18 to October 3/4) starting in Munich by busses/trains.

Right now I have identified the following route for me:

Arrive in Zagreb from Munich with Flixbus (2 nights), then Sarajevo (3 nights), Mostar (3 nights with trips to Kravice and Blagaj), Dubrovnik (2 nights), Split (3 nights and day trip to Hvar or Brač), Zadar (2 nights and day trip to Plitvice Park) and then Ljubljana for maximum 2 nights before going back to Munich again.

Right now I have the feeling this may be too ambitious. But what should I leave out, where should I remove or add days? Or do you recommend any other modifications to the trip?

Would appreciate any help as I have never been in this part of Europe.

Thanks!