So, following this r/ closely over the past few weeks has made me think. And people, don't take this the wrong way, everyone is different and has different levels of comfort around planning itineraries etc., I am not right, you are not wrong,…
But I find it confusing to what level of detail many people seem to plan their Japan trip weeks (months) in advance:
"On day three the alarm will go off at 5:45 and we'll be on the 6:12am Limited Express to so and so… then walk this picturesque alley for 12 mins, then have a soy chai latte at this place (but only if the queue is not longer than 8 people, otherwise we miss our time slot for TeamBlobs Universe)…"
On the other end of the scale:
We (+1 and I) just returned from our second trip to Japan a week ago. We went to Fukuoka for the first time on this trip. I had a JR regional pass sorted beforehand, I had the hotel booked, I knew we would have 3 full days, I knew we might do a day trip to Nagasaki or Kumamoto (we ended up going to Kumamoto but only decided the night before), I knew there was the reclining buddha (which we ended up visiting), I knew about Dazaifu (which we ended up visiting), but otherwise I didn't plan anything. No restaurants (we booked one restaurant through the hotel concierge when we were there a day out), no detailed planning of what to do when in advance (typically discussed each evening what we'd do the next day). Anyway, you get the drift. We then continued on to Kyoto after this, and again not really detailed planning ahead of time (but granted we had been to Kyoto before so this is a little different).
And the best thing: I don't feel like I missed anything or wasted time, nor does my partner. We still saw heaps, walked 20k steps each day, ate great food (and never queued anywhere for it), had a blast of a time. Actually given that we probably haven't seen everything makes me really want to go back again.
Anyhow, just a reflection and not a judgement, but maybe a tip out of all this: "Less is often more!" Let it happen, go with the flow, you don't need to see or do everything. Have fun in Japan, it's a great country with great people and don't overthink it!
PS: Just realised I should mention maybe, I am not on Instagram or TikTok so this might also have to do with it 🙂
by PristineMountain1644
28 comments
Because people are comfortable with different ways of doing things.
If planning every minutes makes them feel comfortable with their trip, then they should do it.
If not planning at all makes them feel comfortable with their trip, then they should do that.
And no one should tell them which one is better. Unless you plan to go to Nishiki at 8pm when it’s closed.
I think planning things to the hour or minute is a mistake. A lot of joy from travelling in Japan is the unplanned and restricting yourself to a tight schedule means you miss out. I understand why people do it as it’s possibly their only trip there and they don’t want to miss out on their must sees.
I find planning a couple of things a day works best as my day fills up with random things.
It’s just different people, different expectations.
My husband is pretty Type A and he hates wasted timings and unknowns so having a schedule is something he really appreciates when we travel. The good thing it doesn’t have to sound as bad as in writing. Our recent end of december trip he paid an agency to plan a bespoke itinerary with us,including arrangements so we did Matsumoto, Hakuba and got to see and eat everything we wanted on our own crazy schedule but in comfort.
As for me, I prefer traveling like you guys. Just ensuring I have most of the big ticket items like accommodations, airflights and transportation routes worked out but I don’t really research deep into what is in the area since I enjoy being surprised. I tend to this form of traveling when I’m extending on my business trips so I don’t burden people with me being spontaneous.
I do minimal to no planning and it’s just fine for me. I have my plane tickets, I booked a place to sleep, and then I just take it day by day with a rough idea of some stuff I want to do while I’m there.
Okay and this time I arranged some scuba diving for one day but that’s a rare thing.
Some people thrive on being spontaneous, some need a lot of rigid structure, and most fall somewhere between the two – and that’s fine. You seem more like you are on the spontaneous end like me and that’s totally great. Other people would die of stress and need structure – that’s fine too!
Honestly I just have a lot of fun planning things 😂😂 I like knowing what I’m going to walk into, and I also get bored really easily and I hate being bored so I want to make sure I have something to do at all times. But as everyone is saying, everyone’s different!
I just want to start saying I am on the “underplanner” side. Over-planning has barely a down side. It hypes you before the trip, takes you away from your daily routine, and sometimes a 1-week trip can actually become something much more than that, due to the whole process building up to the trip. It is unlikely you will miss a nice spot, etc.
I think underplanning has 2 problems. In a big city with lots to see, you might miss some hidden gems if you just go with the flow, or check what to do lightly. But then there is a much bigger problem for me.
Unfortunately that was not the only case for me, but I will mention a trip I had to Matsumoto. I woke up 7am, rushed to eat my breakfast at the hotel, and headed to the station to take the train to Narai. The first train was at 10am! After that I was heading back to Tokyo, and decided to stop in Suwa to check 2 big temples. After a while waiting for the bus, I saw a sign saying that there was no bus for one week! Because of the new year’s holiday. And the temples were 1 hour walk from where I was, and 2 hour apart.
I think in some places underplanning may work, but there are areas that certainly need some research. And I think underplanning also may feel ok due to the “ignorance is bliss” kind of thing. I mean, you didn’t know what to do before, and you will probably not know what you missed after. So, you will feel satisfied with your trip. And that is all that matters! But if you are exposed to information, you will probably feel a bit bad for missing some spots, especially if you don’t have the opportunity to come back to Japan soon. But like you said, it varies from person to person.
The thing is there are things you as a traveler may need to plan around. For example my first trip to Japan with my family we made a basic itinerary based on a few reservations we had for places like teamLab, Disney, and the Ghibli Museum. Although Disney was more of a “Monday is a holiday so Tuesday or Wednesday we don’t have anything reserved so let’s see which tickets we can get.”
We did have a few other hard dates like we had to leave Tokyo on a certain date because we moved to Okayama so we had the hotel changes planned out. Our last 2 days we had actual meeting times at the church so we had to be at the church at X time kind of things.
This last trip I did solo. I had booked 3 things so I had reservation times/dates but other than that I just kind of did whatever. A few days before my flight in I decided that my first full day didn’t have anything planned and would be the middle of the week so that’d be a good day to do my day trip to Yokohama. My trip to Senso-ji and Skytree were driven by falling asleep at 6PM and waking up at 11:30PM and just being up all morning so hey, no crowds at Senso-ji if you take the 5am train.
I’ve always advocated for planning around your hard set reservation times. Then kind of select an area near your reservation spot and explore or if you want to do something specific in that area that’d be a good time to do it.
Honestly it goes both ways with Japan for me.
The most I have broken down this trip is, AM go to A, PM go to B, Night go to C. Understand what is around A, B, C to fill in the gaps and that is it. Plan ZERO meals, beyond a fancy Kobe Beef dinner or that type of thing.
I have spent way longer learning the language and the customs of Japan and how to tackle their bureaucracy and systems of doing things (EG how to book and catch trains), than I have researching what to do when I am there.
I would agree that if you plan every day the way you described… I would hate that.
I think that there is an healthy middle ground between planning to the minute/overbooking activities and have a true 0 plan.
I can see a really good reason to plan at least some things. For example there is things that would just be impossible to do without booking a week to a month in advance. So if you look at the possible options and there is this one thing you really want to see, why not book? Things that I have reserved in advance on my last two trips include teamLab (2x), scenic train (4x), soba making workshop, concert/event (2x). The date of my last trip was even based on the date of an event I was able to get a ticket for. Would it have been possible to do some of these things without booking ? Yes, maybe, but other probably not.
The second thing is, when going to major locations where public transport is frequent, no problem. But when you get to parts of the countryside where there is a bus or train every few hours and the places you are interested to see require a connection between these… you kind of need to plan. And yes, there is days that I wrote notes like I HAVE to take the train the latest at that time because it’s the last one that let me connect to the last bus to my accommodation. But I guess that with less plan I might have not known about these places I went to…
Personally I like to have a plan, but overall, my itinerary is not a “must do”, but more a list of options. Does it happen that I feel that I missed things… yes, I guess, but not in a negative way. Like I know that there is a limited number of things I can see and I have a limited amount of time. There is things that I know exist and could just not go for different reason or that I just decide not to go to. But knowing that there is places I did not go to does not mean that I feel that I missed out.
Overall different strokes for different folks. Having been fortunate to travel to Japan 5 times in the past 10 years, I comment based on my experiences. No one way is correct. Some trips have been better than others, but no trip have I had such a terrible experience that just turned me off to going to Japan again.
What makes the biggest difference is who you go with. With me and my wife; we have general plans but can get detailed when we feel the need.
With other groups may need to be more detailed since we wouldn’t want anyone’s “wants” to be missed because of spending too much time in another area
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And the best thing: I don’t feel like I missed anything or wasted time
This is indeed the best thing. I think the way some people are influenced especially by social media creates a FOMO/bucket list mentality which is hard to escape from.
I plan some things rigorously if it looks like it will help — eg ryokan in the country and how to get there.
But quite often we plan to go to some place because there is something there we like the sound of; but actually when we arrive and get the stuff from the tourist info, we find a bunch of other great things instead.
Even when we end up with eg the ‘thing’ is closed, we still have a great time. We are on holiday, not working through a to-do list.
i think having a general plan for the day is a good balance between sort of meandering and wasting time but also maintaining a flexibility to take detours/shuffle things around. in general i just list out the things to do in a city/area im in and then group them by proximity to e/o so usually im exploring a specific neighborhood/sub region per day
i don’t plan much if i explore near the city/inside the city, since i can hop any trains quite easily/change plans quite easily
but if i want to visit remote area and could take 3 hours from my hotel, i better create plan in detail (google sheets), i don’t want to stuck because i miss last bus
in certain area of Japan, some buses / trains is quite limited
Japan rewards planning.
That awesome restaurant full of locals? Booked up two weeks ago.
That scenic train with cool snacks and special seats? Runs three times a week, book a month early.
The ryokan on the best corner in the onsen town with in-room, open-air baths with a view of the mountains? Six months ahead.
The Michelin tasting menu where everything is from the farm out back? Three months.
The yakiniku place I go to four times a year with A-4 cuts and reasonable prices? Two months.
But yeah, you can still have a baller time just vibing out. It’s all up to you and what you value.
When I visit other Asian countries from Japan, I don’t plan as much (just a few dinner reservations) and just wander and chill. But that’s after like, trip number 5-6 to Hanoi/Bangkok/HCMC/Singapore.
It’s up to you and how you wanna apportion your time.
some people find joy in planning, some people find joy in spontaneity, some people find joy in planned opportunities for spontaneity. the only thing I judge are the posts pontificating like theirs is the ‘right’ way to travel.
Welcome to a world of different personalities.
And contexts. And backgrounds.
Shocker.
Also survived one of the most navigable places on Earth without detailed planning.
Double shocker.
I like to plan. It’s fun and helps me to learn about the area I will be visiting. I usually plan one or two things a day and also a restaurant to try something new to eat.
A lot of good comments in this thread. I am also a more relaxed/middle of the ground traveler. I like identifying places/things I’d like to see and having a general idea of how to get there/how long they take, but I don’t generally plan things down to the minute.
But I think you are neglecting one thing, which I was reminded of while reading your first example: some things simply _do_ require down to the hour/minute planning. If you ever visit the countryside or a less accessible attraction that involves multiple transfers, you’ll quickly learn that knowing exactly how long a sight takes to see/how long it takes to walk to/and the schedule of the next train/bus is very important. I’ve been to places where trains and buses only come every 1-2 hours, where everything is a thirty-minute walk, where the only restaurants around close at 7pm, etc. In those cases, you really do need to make sure you’re on your game. Sure, some people might be okay with a mistake that gives them an extra two hours in the middle of nowhere or that has them eating cold sandwiches for dinner, but many aren’t.
Obviously, this is a special case that doesn’t apply to most people on the golden route, but it’s worth noting here because many people who wing their first couple of trips to Japan get comfortable with that and then get caught up in a mistake when they branch off from the larger paths.
Either way, I’m all for people planning however they want as long as their plans aren’t physically impossible (which sometimes they are in the first versions of itineraries…).
If you’re traveling with a psychorigid partner you’ll most likely will have a tight schedule well kept in a Notion app. You’ll most likely go to all the influencers-ridden places and have little to no fun.
I leave tomorrow morning for Japan and still haven’t planned anything including where to stay or go for 2 weeks
Rest assured, you’re probably like most tourists, who plan only to a certain extent and have heaps of fun in the end. There’s nothing wrong with those over planning it to the minute either, if that’s what suits them.
Now, I don’t feel it’s a good thing to be “extremely overwhelmed” while planning their trip, or to post totally clueless questions which can be answered in a quick search. The extremes are never good.
Very refreshing to read. I’d never want to anywhere and have things planned out to the minute. What if you want an extra hour or bed or you love the restaurant you’re in and want to stay a bit longer?
It’s sort of funny to watch the battle of who’s the best at planning to see the most overcrowded, hokey, touristy spots in Japan. Enjoy!
You don’t know what you don’t know. ☺️ you feel fine about it because you had a great experience!
However, myself and a couple other type-A friends like me (not all, but a couple) like to map it out, because THEN we know when to go with the flow. We know exactly what we’re ditching when life hits us with a surprise adventure. There were times in my trip I totally ditched that plan. But I knew what I was missing and what I was trading it for.
Not to diminish your experience, but you may find going with the flow means going with what your body’s telling you in the moment and experiencing as much as IT will allow. Which can be good. And can be bad.
My body is a wreck. My spirit is full!!! Because my balance of a full schedule and knowing when to pull off of it has allowed me more than, say, my brother who I’m with that did not plan. He still had a great time! And his legs aren’t aching as bad. And he’s gotten more sleep than me.
But ask our family when we’re back after talking with us about our experience and you may consider the latter approach. ☺️
PS. I do not subscribe to sticking to a minute by minute schedule. But there were times when we did not, and the infrastructures of the world that DO operate on that schedule (ie. Japanese transit/ Shinkansen) quickly remind you what could’ve been. It’s a balance!
よいいちにちを ✌️
Personally, re: planning, It’s really situational and also based on what I want to avoid.
So for example, I loathe eating a bad meal just because we are hungry and desperate, so I like to plan lots of options for eating. 30-40% of the time, we end up picking something I haven’t planned, but having options helps us avoid picking out of desperation (or hangry fighting about what we are going to eat).
But on the opposite end of the spectrum, I’ve spent lots of time hanging out at or around rural train stations because it doesn’t bother me—we always find something good to eat, people watch, or just relax and try out some different vending machine drinks. But I know that would make other people crazy.
the description of the way you did it is definitely not the other end of the scale. Other end of the scale would be turning up with no accommodation booked, no events planned and no idea where you were going or what you were doing.
my plan is buy plane ticket (done), pack bookbag, show up, and get jiggy with it. the only planning im doing is the necessities, like making sure i have access to money and phone data and stuff. not even booking any hotel rooms until i show up
You make such a point out of mentioning neither is ‘wrong’ or ‘right’ and people have different travel styles, yet you end the post with mentioning that people should ‘just go with the flow’ and ‘not overthink it’. If you really believed your way isn’t the only way, you wouldn’t be giving this “advice”.
Also, your way is definitely not the other end of the scale of detailed planners. There are people boarding flights without even their first night’s accommodation booked. I think your way is quite common, especially if you’ve already travelled quite a bit.