AH! Home Sweet Home!
Living in Japan can be great, especially if you have all the right circumstances working for you. However, right circumstances or not; you will always feel homesick. The warm feeling of familiarity surrounding you and The Friends & The family that you wanted to get away from are people you are looking forward to seeing. The pet that doesn't know boundaries or privacy will in no doubt leap for joy as they see you.
Traveling back home can be a bit of chore from Japan. A country whose main form of web currency is payment in cash for delivery, convenience store payments (combini) and of course the bank transfer. If you somehow manage to snag that rare Japanese Credit card then you are in luck as it tends to make a HUGE difference in paying for items online and for booking a ticket and hotel.
This post is dedicated to those who need to travel but needs a more concrete plan to do so. We talk about all things from setting up travel arrangements from plane, hotel, airport travel and currency exchange.
TIP # 1
Picking an Airline
If you are a frequent flyer then this should be no problem. However, if you're a bit of a cheapskate and is looking for the best deals and not necessarily interested in accruing miles then you are bound to look for sites like Expedia.
An all in one site usually lets you book a plane ticket, hotel and car services all in one site.
However, if you are traveling using your airline that you visit their yearly calendar to look for the best deals.
Some and not all airlines do offer you a look at which specific dates are cheaper to fly and lets you decide which deal fits your budget. Here is a typical look at Cathay Pacific ticket offers for a last minute trip to NYC.
Booking ahead lets you get the best deals early so if you are going home for the winter and summer it is best to visit your Airline's website 50-60 days before traveling.
As mentioned earlier there are plenty of sites that offer combo packages that are easy on the wallet. Sites like Expedia are a great resource but the Yamanashi Podcast recommends SkyScanner.com
It should be noted that this is not a paid advertisement by the website. This is a very reputable site that does exactly what a specific airline does. They give you a monthly calendar on the best prices of your desired destination. Their search function can easily be filtered to remove unwanted or unreputable airlines, but generally lists all the prices of different airlines traveling to your desired destination. You can also have filters for desired travel time, convert the prices to yen, find direct flights and easily check the prices for Premium Economy all the way to First Class.
Here is a look at the SkyScanner Calendar when booking 45 days in Advance from Tokyo to NYC. They search all online listings for every Airline traveling to your desired destination and list the cheapest available price on the calendar. Make sure to play around with the calendar as you can usually get cheaper deals from other Airlines on different dates.
We also recommend using a Travel Agency like JTB if you are confident with your Japanese. Airlines and Hotels usually send exclusive deals to travel agencies that are not available online. Travel agencies can also help with your tourist visas and making travel arrangements to and from the airport and everything in between. I used a travel agency for a trip to Hong Kong and got a great deal on an Airport and Hotel. 5 Days for 47,000 yen in Hong Kong.
Whichever resource you use to buy your ticket home, just remember to make sure you have all the right documents when traveling to your desired destination (Tourist Visas and all)
TIP # 2
Getting to the Airport
The Yamanashi Podcast recommends that before clicking on that PURCHASE/BUY Ticket button that you generally take about 5 minutes to assess your ticket's itenirary. Are there any layovers? If yes, how much more to stay at a hostel, capsule hotel or AiBnB?
This is a very important step that should be considered carefully. Even the cheapest ticket can provide the biggest headache. The cheapest tickets often come because of how early the flight is. The dreaded 7 AM flight usually require you to be in the airport atleast 2 hours before departure and that means getting an overnight hotel and then arranging a taxi or airport bus to drop you off at the airport. These are cost that should be considered before purchasing your ticket. What is the point in getting a cheap plane ticket when there is an added cost of an overnight hotel in order to make that flight?
The Yamanashi Podcast advises you to grab a notebook or a piece of paper to write down the travel time of your desired ticket and evaluate and see if that flight time can be manageable for yourself. The question you need to answer is. If the flight leaves at ### time, when do I need to leave my apartment to make sure I make the flight on time?
TIP # 3
The ''Omiyage''
Traveling back home to see friends and family? Well then be prepared to spend some cash on some omiyage. You might be saying to yourself, oh I'll just get them some Japanese KitKats or whatever. Well....actually that's a good omiyage. However, Airport souvenirs are SUPER expensive and the problem with getting to the airport for an early check in for your flight is that you are bound to look around and maybe find something that you like for someone. So make sure to STAY AWAY FROM AIRPORT SOUVENIR SHOPS!
While it is not biggest kind of deal considering the amount of money you are spending on plane tickets. The Yamanashi Podcast recommends visiting your local DAISO store and grabbing a few cheap trinkets that is sure to entice your family and friends. I mean who doesn't love a nice Kendama from DAISO?
And ofcourse, there is other side of the coin which is coming back home to Japan and figuring out which Omiyage to bring your co-workers and Japanese friends. Remember, Japanese people love food omiyages so visit the local grocery store to buy them some chocolates or snack confectionery.
TIP # 4
Currency
The problem with booking a ticket in Japan is that it is very difficult to get a Japanese credit card and using an international credit card tends to pose some problems. When paying for your ticket using combini payments or bank transfer your current bank balance takes a big hit and this affects on how much money you can bring home to spend for shopping and general things.
Once you decide on how much money to bring home, you should take the time and do some research on where is the best place to exchange your cash to its proper currency.
The Yamanashi podcast recommends that you change your currency once you arrive at your place of destination. So whether you change it at the airport of your destination or outside it, you will tend to get better rates at your destination as oppose to a Japanese airport. Japanese Airport currency exchange places usually have no reason to buy their own money.
Tip # 5
Finding a temporary ''Home''
Depending on your friends and family's current economic situation this should either be super easy or hard. Have your parents converted your old room to a library or rented it out to someone else?
Do you mind sleeping on a friend's couch? Or if you're feeling a little Richie Rich get yourself a hotel.
Wherever you are going you are going to need a place to rest. A place you can have some privacy from all the people trying to grab you so that they can learn all about your Japan adventures. And others just trying to grab a Japanese souvenir.
This tip also refers to traveling to a place for leisure as oppose to traveling home. Traveling overseas can pose some problems that involve cultural differences to language barriers. What is considered good enough for that country can also be considered terrible in another. There is also that feeling that you are not getting what you paid for. 100 dollars for a small hotel room that has an even smaller toilet/shower combo with no toilet paper. (DAMN IT! China!!!)
We advise that you do your due diligence and not to ruin it for everyone else by being polite and respecting the culture of the country you are traveling to.
Finally, The Yamanashi Podcast recommends that you actually take the time to not only look at the hotel reviews (It should be noted that some are SUPER FAKE) and make sure to either contact the hotel and get the latest pictures for your room and hotel. There are a lot of instances where hotels just posts pictures of hotel toiletries to fulfill their obligation on posting pictures for their hotel and room online listings. So make sure to know what kind of room you are getting when booking a hotel.
Tip # 6
Communication
In this day and age, we are lucky that can have access to smart devices to help us with our travel. Getting a smart sim prepaid card that allows you to use a smart device to get navigation and translation going is of a huge importance. Especially if you are traveling to a foreign country.
Coming back home and hoping to use your current Japan mobile device can prove difficult in some circumstances. You would have to unlock your phone and Japanese companies are very strict with unlocking their device for use with another company.
There are some instances where if you contact your current cell provider that they can provide you with some assistance. Currently as of October 2016 AU KDDI lets you unlock their Iphone 6S and 7 models for use on other countries. No information yet if they currently allow this on Android devices.
So buying a prepaid smart device can be one more thing that you need to keep in mind when traveling.
Yamanashi Podcasts advises you to visit your local second hand Electronic store like Hard Off and visit some other shops, legit or not that sell second hand cell phones. Some are unlocked and can be bought for cheap.
It should be noted that unlock your own phone can cause some problems. You void the warranty of the phone and will not be accepted by your cell provider for a trade in once they know it was unlock by other means.
Tip #7
Coming Back to Japan
Well the hard part is over and all the tears have been cried out at the airport. Time to go back home. Time to make sure that traveling back home to your apartment in Japan is as easy and convenient as possible. Here are some things to consider when traveling back home. What time is your flight arriving at the airport? Do you have enough time to travel back at your apartment? Are you going to use a luggage delivery service like Yamato Transport?
The latter half is usually for people who want to spend a bit more time in the city before going back home to their rural placement.
The Yamanashi Podcast thinks that if you have the money to send your luggage back home then do it. It certainly is as convenient as it sounds. Less time dragging those heavy things around to get to the buses and trains and more time walking freely and possibly discovering new things to look forward to the next time you are in the big city.
What did you think of the tips provided by the Yamanashi Podcast?
Did we miss anything? Let us know what you think on the comments below.
