Hello lovelies.... A new update is here... I planned to write this back on April, yet I forgot and ended up writing about it now. A lot things happened, my focus was rather on other things. X__X but it's okay, thanks to my friend I remembered I have blogs to update. I'm still going to write about solo travel, since it's still on my list. As I said in my previous post, I'm going to write about the practical items to prepare on your solo trip. For the preparation stage, please check my previous post HERE..

Here some tips and trick I usually do on my solo travel. Let me remind you again, this will be based on my own experiences, so maybe it might not work on you.

TIPS

First thing first, please make sure your bag is comfortable and practical enough to put all your necessities inside, like passport, wallet, camera, tripod, and water bottle. For girls, maybe tissue and some lip balm will also a necessities. I don't like to bring big bag with all the time, so i usually bring a small backpack that has enough space for all that.

I'm not the professional photographer type of traveller so I usually just bring my SONY a5000 and basic lens for taking pictures. I don't like to bring a lot of stuff, because I tend to forget things, so this work for me just fine. If you're the pro photographer type, then you need bigger bag. :)

Second, seperate your money into several places.

I'm not the type to use credit card, so I can only depend on cash or debit card. Back then before there's JENIUS, I have to rely solely on cash, haha so I have to be really careful.

I usually seperate my money into several portion. Why? Remember that even if you're cautious enough, bad things can always happen. That and it's to prevent you from spending too much on something like shopping on the first or second day.

Here how I usually seperate my money. when I travel.. First portion is put in my wallet. Usually enough for 2-3 days worth (around 1/4 or 1/5 of my money). The second portion I put in my bag, inside the deepest pocket. Just in case your wallet got robbed, you still have your money inside your bag. I usually put 1/4 portion in there. The third portion is put in my luggages, lol.... Sometimes I also put like 10-20 dollars in my phone case, just in case.... :P

Third, put your shopping spree plan on your last two days. It's easier to see how much space your luggages have. It minimize your spending, and avoiding overweight luggages.

Fourth, things that I usually forget...... Check the charger shape in your destination country. Bring one that has complete set of international charger, and some places for USB charge. One for all kind. Easy on your luggage space too.

Fifth, rather than wifi pocket, better buy local simcard. No need for extra charging devices, so you can save space for your camera, phone, and powerbank instead. Simcard nowdays has better package deal and the price is considerably cheaper than wifi pocket. Remember that you use it alone. If you go in groups, then better use wifi pocket (if you don't have any seperate plan).

Sixth, the tripod. Don't need to bring big heavy tripod anymore, you can always buy the compact one. ;) one that fit in you small bag.

Seventh, bring tote bag for plastic bag replacement. ;)

TRICK

Yes, you might have plan your itinerary well. But the condition can be different from what you expected, count the weather too. So maybe you need to be more flexible when you travel, and sometimes, you need to depend on other people too.... So here's what I usually do to make my trip more enjoyable.....

1. Learn some basic language.

Like Excuse me, Hello, Thank you. And also important questions like where is the toilet, what is it, and how much is it. For me, I like to know some question to help me with shopping. So the first thing I learn is how to ask the price, how to count, and how to haggle. :) It worked so well when I was in Korea. :D

2. Smile and be friendly.

You're alone in foreign country. Some might not be able to speak english. So when you're in a pinch, it's always helpful to smile and ask a stranger. Sometimes this work when you're shopping too... I usually try to talk nicely to the seller, not necessarily haggle... just talk a-b-c-d then when you try to ask for cheaper price, usually they give cheaper price... This only work on places where they don't have other costumer yeah so you can talk more at ease. Busy store won't give you much attention and time... Maybe this also work better because I'm a girl. Have you ever tried this trick? Please let me know if it works for you too...

I have a lot of good experiences when I travel alone; like getting help from strangers, sometimes getting some freebies too... 

3. Meet new friends.

Travelling alone is a good chance to meet new people. You don't have anyone else to focus on, so you can try talking to strangers who share your room or hostel. I met several people from my last trip to Korea and Thailand. We went to the festival, talk and eat together.

Some might be your real friends. :) You can always as for contact exchange when you feel comfortable with them. If you're clicked, maybe you can keep in contact and travel together in the future.. :)

4. Ask your friends for guides.

If you have friend(s) in your destination country, it'll be great to contact them and meet up. If they don't live there, you can always ask for pointer. The key is be nice when you asking and do your research first, it will be easier for your friends to answer your questions too. :) Don't expect them to make the itinerary for you. Do your research, if you still have questions, then ask them.

Those are my tips and trick for solo traveller. If you share same opinion or have different experiences, please let me know. I'd love to know more point of view and your experiences! :)

See you again lovelies~!

xoxo

Anastasia

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Who's never heard about solo travel? I think everyone knew and maybe some of you have tried or considering it at the moment. I've tasted tried it and I actually love it. Not that I have a lot of chances to travel alone, since I wasn't independent before June 2018 (I was still a student until last year). But since I got some chances at solo trip, why not?

If you're considering this type of traveling, here some of my tips and trick and what to prepare for your solo trip..... All this tips and trick are based on my experiences, so it might not be perfect or work for you, but it'd be nice to have a head up before you jump into solo trip.

1. The Basic Plan

Unless you're an expert in surprised-unplanned trip, then yes, you need to plan it (half-way or thoroughly). As for me, I'm more into planning it thoroughly and see what will happen on the field that day.

For starters, decide your destination.

If you're a beginner at solo trip, start off with countries that quite save for solo traveler, specially if you're a girl. My first solo trip was to Nikko, Japan. It was a 2D1N trip to hot spring near Nikko and since I lived in Tokyo at that time, it's not that different to me. The only difference was I got no one to talk to. My second solo trip was to Seoul and Busan, Korea. It was really great because the aunties helped me a lot with direction and I got a lot of freebies even though I was quite confused as how to communicate since I don't speak korean and not many can speak fluent english... As you can see, both Japan and Korea are save for solo traveler, even if you're a girl.

You can also check some of this website for more recommendation on the destination...

My Life's A Movie

Tea Cake Travels

Matador Network

Solo Traveler World - They put the affordability, cost to get there and safety (the writer is based on Canada)

In this step, you have to do a rough research on what you're going to do there, anything you're interested in like the festival, amusement park, the flower season, anything. This research on your purpose of the trip will help you decide on the next step: When and How Long.

After you decided on the destination, ask yourself for the when and how long question.

It's best to decide to go on your free time, like summer break or take a time off from your office, or if you're on the freelance side like me, you can decide on the festival or seasonal theme. For example sakura season in Japan, or Holi festival in India, or Lantern Festival in Thailand. After you decide when, next is to answer the "how long will my trip be?" question.

Once again, please consider your own availability. If you got a tight time off, then maybe you can't explore much or go to far away land. If you got the time, then you can decide on a week or 10 days vacation to a far away land.

The next step is to see your finance.

How much can you spend on this vacation? or how much are you willing to spend on this vacation? The bigger you're willing to spend on your vacation, the greater it will feel. I mean, you won't think twice to book a 4 star hotel, or take a taxi everywhere you go, or enter an expensive restaurant, or maybe enjoy a bit of massage or spa on your vacation. But if you're in the tight budget kind of traveler, you can put more of your money into the activities rather than on the hotel and transportation.

The quickiest thing to do is to go to trip advisor and ask the senior or ask your friends who had been to your trip destination or a friend who live or are from your trip destination.

The additional step is to see how long do you have to save your budget.

If you're happened to be like me, the beggar who doesn't want to travel in tight budget, you will try to save your money for at least 6 months. FYI, I saved my allowance money for 7 months before I took a solo trip to Korea, and 11 months for my upcoming trip to Thailand this year.

If you have 6-12 months to save up, you can save bit by bit, but if you only have 1-6 months to save up, better save a bit more or just take your emergency saving. LOL... it's not recommended to take your emergency saving though... but if you're in an urgent situation where your doctor advice you to take an immediate vacation, then it's an emergency.

2. The Intermediate Plan

You've graduated from your basic plan and there're next steps to consider....

Do more advance research.

Yes, you know your purpose of the trip, but you're not going to do it everyday, aren't ya? Go search on historical places, restaurant, street food to try, nature attraction - things like that... I usually write them down on my notebook; the name, the address, open hour, fee, what can be found or see, and how to get there. Write everything down, or maybe just copy-paste it into your microsoft word.

Here, in this step, I usually look at surrounding district or region if I got a week vacation or so... I will look at how to go there, if I need another plane ticket or train or bus... and how to buy train and bus ticket for between city travel. If it's only a 2D1N trip, better forget it and just focus on your main destination or purpose.

After you got the outline of your itinerary, book your plane ticket.

As for me, who wants to travel without worries and cramped legs (I've got long legs so yeah....), I will recommend you to look at travel fair. I'm not sure if your country has travel fair, but if it has, go check it out. Prepare your credit card for the additional discount! ;) But if you're okay with budget plane, tyou can skip the travel fair.

You need to keep checking until the price is in the lowest (if you have time before your trip). They said wednesday is the best time to buy plane ticket, but I'll say check it everyday for 2 weeks or several months prior to purchase.

After you got your flight ticket, prepare the document for VISA application.

Not all of us have the Singapore or USA passport, so yes, some of us need to apply for VISA. Go look at the embassy website for the list of necessary documents and apply for your visa. This step is not needed if your country has the leeway of free entry to your trip destination, like mine is to ASEAN country...

3. The Advance Plan

This is the final preparation step before you can relax ;)

make your fixed itinerary.

This is exclusively for you OCD traveler out there, a.k.a my companion. Yes, I usually type all the information I wrote on my notebook into excel. I separate them into date and time, place's name, how to get there, and additional info like fees and open hours. I printed them out as my bible (beside maps) while I'm on my trip...

next is book your hotel(s).

Don't forget to check all your dates, don't double book, don't miss the date. I missed a day before and I had to spend NYE in Jimjilbang back in Seoul. It's one of unexpected experience and somehow nice in a way, but if I have choice, I will pick a personal room rather than the bunk bed in jimjilbang... LOL

The last one is to change your money. 

Check the rates and if you're lucky, you'll get a cheaper rate for your upcoming trip.... even a penny difference counts. ;)

Additional step is to buy amusement park ticket, or transportation discount ticket (like JR pass if you're going to Japan), or book a wi-fi for your trip. This might be additional, but quite necessary for  extra enjoyment on your trip.

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Okay, so I went to watch Lion King at Singapore, and had a free day after that, so me being me, and the fact that I haven't visited Singapore for 5-6 years made it like super short trip. My cousins and I decided to go around Bugis and Haji Lane. We took several pictures and just strolling around until late night. It was quite fun, and I hope I can do it again soon!

A little bit after going back to Indonesia, I went to one of my best friend's wedding in Samarinda, Borneo. A short trip and a reunion. I haven't meet them for almost 4 years, and I was so glad I could make it. It was a month ago though, but I still feel happy for my friend and her husband. :) all the best wishes for both of them.

After my little reunion with my ESMOD friends, I have to go back to Tokyo for family emergency issues, so yeah, I'm back in Tokyo. My plan on working got postponed for several months. I was kinda excited to start working, but let just say God wanted me to have longer holiday. I will write some post about Tokyo, so stay tuned!

So far, I've been wandering around Harajuku and Omotesando since my apartment is in Aoyama, and I only need 10-15 minutes walk to Omotesando. Got to spend time in the hospital for some time too, so I haven't roaming around other area. It's not me who got admitted to the hospital, but one of my family member.

There are some things I noticed after going in and out of the hospital for two weeks. It's so different from hospital in Jakarta. The patients are free to roam around, like sitting in the lounge, go down to buy their own snack in the convinience store at 2nd floor, and having visitor(s) in the lounge area. The nurse have to see you drink the medicine before they proceed to take your blood pressure and your temperature. The food menus change everyday and they actually balance the diet (they put your name and room number on each tray to make it feel more personal). And we have to put back the tray ourselves, this is one of the nicest point, like you still have to be independent. LOL.

Next I will update more about my first journey to Gotemba, so stay tune!

xoxo

Anastasia

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lens: 3.5mm, f 1,4

by Sannie Xen

 

Hello again sweetheart (^⌣^)ʃ

I've been wanting to explore Kyushuu area ever since forever, and I got the chance right after graduation. My parents and I planned a trip to Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and Yufuin. I actually wanted to go to Fukuoka and more places near Nagasaki, but since my parents have another schedule right after our trip, I just packed all of it into 1 week vacation.

Why Hiroshima-Nagasaki?

Because of my dad influence, I always feel I have to learn something new whenever I travel. It can be everything like the local culture, history, the art performance, festival, anything! And this time, both my dad and I felt like visiting the memorial of world first atomic bombing to actually remind us the effect of war and well, it's part of my country's history too.....

► HIROSHIMA ◀

We went to Miyajima Island first thing in the morning. A bad move when the tide will go down in the afternoon to evening, but it's still beautiful nonetheless... We need to cross to the island with ferry, but it's cheap. The island itself is quite big and there are more than just the floating torii.. As we don't have a lot of time (as we kept stopping every 5 minutes to take pictures), we only go around the the Itsukushima Shrine, the torii, and the five-floored pagoda.

After Miyajima Island, we went to Atomic Bombing Memorial Dome. The feeling when you saw a picture of the A-Bombing Dome and actually going there is so different. There're the victim memorial hall and museum, and students project wishing for world peace. They also have local tour guide to explain about the historical stories behind this dome.

There's also a bridge near Hiroshima station (and it's literally beside our hotel) and it's a nice place to take picture too..

► NAGASAKI ◀ 

As for Nagasaki, we decided to stay a bit longer here due to a lot of tourist attraction and nearby amusement park, Huis ten Bosch. You can see there are influnces from chinese and western countries in Nagasaki as they have a lot of chinese temple and church. Even the atmosphere is not like in Japan. When I was there, there's no international tourist on my sight, or maybe it's just my bad timing. But I really love the place.

Some places I visited in Nagasaki:

 ● Oura Church

 ● Clover Garden (literally beside Oura Church)

 ● Nagasaki Peace Park

 ● Sofukuji Temple

 ● Chinatown

 ● Urakami Cathedral

After walking around the city, we decided to go to Huis ten Bosch, an amusement park located in between Fukuoka and Nagasaki. It was beautiful, every corner can be snapped and put into your social media. And according to mom, it's not as childish as disneyland, so she was happy when I brought her here. Her reason was the tulip flower. We enjoyed our time here, but the weather was against us that day. ^^a the wind was horrible and it's really cold. Maybe a trip around May or June would be better.

Could you see? Our pictures had to be taken several times due to the wind... and when you're travel alone with your parents, you just can't expect your picture would turn out all good, sometimes it's good, sometimes it's weird. Everytime I took pictures, the wind blows, and in the end I had to put on my sunglasses just to make everything a bit better...

 ► YUFUIN, OITA ◀

After Nagasaki, we went our way across Kyushuu and found ourself in a small onsen town with the-oh-so-cute small shop along the main street. It was quite far from the big city and the train was not as frequent as in Oita. Most of the visitor are from Japan and Korea, as it's not main destination for most countries. But let's give this cute town a bit of exposure. 

If you're a fan of Ghibli, or if you love cute places, cute food, cute shops, and onsen, you definitely have to come here.

I can't recommend specific shop or food, or in better words, you have to try every food they sell since everything looked good...... and our trip was ended in Yufuin. It was hard to leave the place, but I'm sure I will go back again.... and I'll see you again in next post ;)

pssttt............ tell me which one is your favorite place or if it's in your wishlist bucket.. or if you have question or if you want some tips and trick for your trip to Japan ;)

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See you again sweetheart!