Hey everyone, like most others here I'm going on a trip to Tokyo for 16 days from July 29th to August 14th. This will be my first time ever on a plane let alone out of my country. I was hoping to hear about your experiences so I can know what to expect and be better prepared. Here is my current plan with some questions:
*Budget:*
Currently the plan is to land in Tokyo with $4,500 with some emergency money. As of now it could be more or it could be a little less due to financial circumstances. I believe this to be a decent amount to do things with. But feel free to correct me if I am wrong.
*Plane ticket/Hotel:*
The first and foremost nerve racking thing for me. It's been eating at me that I don't exactly know what to expect. I bought my plane ticket and hotel as a package through United Airlines. I think the hotel is located pretty much center of Tokyo. I did this for planning reasons I explain below. I know there is a little form I have to fill out on the plane but I am still unsure as to what it is or what to fill out. What is it for? Also I know you are able to do it ahead of time but not sure where to look for that. What was your personal experience going through the whole flight process from start to finish. I have been watching videos but I want to know if these videos are truly accurate.
*Hotel Part 2:*
What is it like checking into a hotel in Japan? Is it relatively the same as checking into one in the states? Should I expect the language barrier to be a even bigger problem than I expect? The hotel says they also speak English but I am not expecting fluent. I see a lot of hotels have self check in stations. Is that a common thing or should I ignore those and talk to a person?
*The plan:*
I have seem a lot of people say that spending 2 weeks in Tokyo alone is too much, however, I am a pretty big nerd so I enjoy a lot of the stuff there. I plan on visiting every major part of the city for at least a little bit, which is why I choose a hotel as close to center of Tokyo as I could get. I also plan on going to a lot of restaurants, arcades, and stores. Especially the Godzilla store lol.
The first 2 days I expect to be recovering from the plane ride and exploring around the hotel's area. Am I over reacting here? Is the plane ride that bad or not too terrible? I have never flow before so I wouldn't know.
The next following days are something I am still unsure of and need to do a bit more research on. Suggestions are always welcome but the general plan as of now is to hit every major part of Tokyo and do the typical tourist stuff in each one as well as more nerdy stuff.
The way home is the second most nerve racking part for me. When leaving what should I expect. You see a lot of videos on arriving but not a lot on departing. Is it relatively the same? Does Uber work in Japan or just take the train?
by OdorousBadge1