Two summers ago a bowl of ramen changed my life. On a family trip to the Big Island of Hawaii, my family stopped by a hole-in-the-wall Japanese restaurant, Moa Kitchen, serving me possibly the best bowl of ramen I have ever consumed. Almost immediately, before our time in Hawaii had even come to a close, the idea of a trip to Japan was proposed. Now, taking a family of five anywhere, especially abroad, is no easy undertaking. Planning this trip took over one and a half years of pure travel hacking, budgeting, collecting airline miles, and using Chat GPT to narrow down the perfect itinerary. In the end, however, it proved itself as one of the most enriching experiences of my life. My family opted to forgo our typical christmas celebration and instead replaced it with what is safe to say the trip of a lifetime, as a way to make memories both my last year before college, and the last year my eldest brother would likely be travelling with my family.
For the first leg of the trip my family ventured to the city of Tokyo, where we spent three full days. Upon arrival we hit up the nearby 7/11, which, if you are unaware, is a whole different species of convenience store in Japan. Located on virtually every block, 7/11, Lawsons, and FamilyMart (all popular convenience stores in Japan) serve as American embassies in Japan and became both the highlight and, as I will get into later, the low point of the two weeks I spent abroad. Surprisingly, that first night arriving in Tokyo was one of my favorite meals of the trip. For approximately $36 USD, my family of five indulged in a feast complete with pork, noodles, ramen, rice, and about eight different types of dessert. I spent the next several days in Tokyo hopping around on the both clean and efficient metro, consuming street food galore, exploring temples, and wandering around various markets. Even with its exceptionally high population of 14 million, Tokyo was by far the cleanest city I have ever visited. In fact, all of Japan lived up to this standard of cleanliness, which was surprising given the limited number of trash cans present in the city. Just a tip, if you are planning a trip to Japan, it’s the social expectation that you don’t eat food on the go, but rather consume it in or in front of the place you purchased it at. From my time in Tokyo, the coolest attraction was by far teamLab Borderless, a digital museum in which you become a part of the art work. I’m typically not a fan of traditional museums, as seeing 1,000 statues of Jesus doesn’t particularly capture my attention, but teamLab was unique in the way that the artwork constantly shifted, so it was difficult to grow bored or feel dissatisfied. Shibuya Sky took the prize for the second coolest attraction, offering me the chance to see Tokyo from a bird’s eye perspective as the sun descended over the city.
The next city my family ventured to was Kyoto, another expansive city that felt slightly more traditional than Tokyo. I absolutely adored Kyoto, and if I were to describe it I would say it’s the perfect amalgamation of all things charming, lively, and beautiful. My family visited the famous Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine on New Years eve, and while it was crowded, we attempted to make the two hour trek through the Torii gates. My mom, dad and I stopped at the tea house around the quarter point, while my brothers lasted the entirety of the hike. We grabbed a quick snack and coffee at the tea house before heading back down the trail, however that 30 minute break became one of the most memorable of the trip. The atmosphere was quiet, the food was delicious, and while the tea house was quite simple, its location and the hike to get there instilled a feeling of peace and appreciation within me. While I personally only got to spend one full day exploring Kyoto, as I came down with a bad case of food poisoning (which I believe was the fault of 7/11 pork I had eaten several days prior), the day I did spend there was one of the best of the trip. We stayed in Kyoto for four full days, however two of those were spent traveling to the nearby cities of Nara and Hiroshima. Nara provided another exceptional experience. Wild deer had completely taken over the city, roaming all over, engaging with tourists, and even fighting with one another. It was honestly one of the coolest things I have ever seen – a city in perfect harmony with its four legged population.
Following Kyoto, my family bounced between Osaka (which in my opinion was a slightly less put-together version of Tokyo) and Hakone (which was the picture of serenity, regardless of its sulfuric scent). I don’t have much to say in regards to Osaka, as I was still bedridden from my slight illness the day we arrived, however, Hakone offered my family a wonderful change of scenery from the bustling city life we had grown accustomed to over the previous week. Hakone, nestled in between two mountains and most well known for its plethora of hot springs, was possibly my favorite location of the trip. While my family spent most of our day there cooped up in our hotel due to heavy rain storms, I was still able to witness some of the beauty Hakone had to offer. Positioned on the side of a mountain, our hotel overlooked an expansive valley overflowing with a thick fog which arose from the river that carved a path between the two parallel cliffs. At the same time, the greenery surrounding us seemed to shrink inwards, as if the 40 degree temperature and heavy rain had pushed them into a warmth-preserving bundle. I wish I had the chance to see more of Hakone, but honestly, by the end of the two weeks, the only thing I could think about was seeing my friends and, as bad as it sounds, eating a burger.
I will say, I never experienced the terrible jet lag that one would expect from a 15 hour time difference. While I woke up at 4 a.m. the first several days after arriving, I never felt overly tired during the day. Even coming home, after over 30 hours of forcing myself awake and having to get up at 6 a.m. for school the following morning, I didn’t feel any more tired than I typically do during the school week. Other than the minimal jet lag I experienced, the flights to Japan were relatively easy. We took both a three hour and 12 hour flight to get there and back, and in neither scenario did the 12 hour flight feel long at all, so don’t let the slightly difficult journey to get there hold you back.
The conclusion of our trip was somewhat bittersweet. Our arrival home marked the end of both my school break, as well as the last time I would get to see my brother before he set off to college for the spring semester. However, at the same time, as a person who heavily relies on her interactions with friends, going two weeks without seeing any of them drove me slightly nuts, especially considering that the 15 hour time difference made any form of communication less than optimal. All in all, Japan easily falls on my list of the top places I have visited, and I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a relatively cheap vacation that offers something for the foodies, sight see-ers, museum goers, and nature lovers.
