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godwine 09-02-2010 03:00 PM

Budget vs Travel
 
Hey All

I just want to say one thing, while I disagree with a lot of claims that visting Japan is expensive (base on comments and feedbacks I recevied from families and friends), Japan is not a cheap country for a vacation either, I think it is just in par with a lot of other major cities in terms of its cost of living

That said, I also do not believe that Japan is going to go anywhere (unless some crazy natural disaster really sink the island) anytime soon. So my advice to the would be traveler is that, instead of rushing into the trip, why not save up for another year or a few more months so that you can enjoy the trip

I am seeing a lot of people (Including a lot of my friends) who save up a bare minimal and have to live a sub-standard life while traveling around Japan, you will not enjoy your trip this way.

Just my 2 cents

MMM 09-02-2010 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by godwine (Post 827155)
Hey All

I just want to say one thing, while I disagree with a lot of claims that visting Japan is expensive (base on comments and feedbacks I recevied from families and friends), Japan is not a cheap country for a vacation either, I think it is just in par with a lot of other major cities in terms of its cost of living

That said, I also do not believe that Japan is going to go anywhere (unless some crazy natural disaster really sink the island) anytime soon. So my advice to the would be traveler is that, instead of rushing into the trip, why not save up for another year or a few more months so that you can enjoy the trip

I am seeing a lot of people (Including a lot of my friends) who save up a bare minimal and have to live a sub-standard life while traveling around Japan, you will not enjoy your trip this way.

Just my 2 cents

I agree 100%. I never understand the idea of saving up to go to Japan to eat cup ramen and stay in sub-standard conditions. If you are spending your whole trip watching the money disappear from your wallet, how can you relax and have fun?

godwine 09-02-2010 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MMM (Post 827183)
I agree 100%. I never understand the idea of saving up to go to Japan to eat cup ramen and stay in sub-standard conditions. If you are spending your whole trip watching the money disappear from your wallet, how can you relax and have fun?

Yea, for a lot of us who live in north america, its not cheap to fly to Japan, I keep telling my friends to save up enough to make the plane ticket worthwhile, while spend over a thousand dollars on plane ticket so that you live a substandard life for three weeks

On that note, I also don't understand why anyone would spend so much money on a plane ticket to see Japan for 6 or 7 days, its such a rush trip, there is no way that anyone could appreciate a trip like that...

steven 09-03-2010 12:37 AM

I think it's ironic that people do tend to eat "conbini" food and cup of ramen and stuff like that to save money. You can easily go out for a few hundred yen extra and have a decent meal (plus a thousand yen or so for drinks if you go that route). I went on a group trip my first time to Japan and remembered going to the conbini for like 3/5 of our nights in the city. It's a waste of an opportunity to actually get out there and see Japan. If you travel all the way there, why not have the cajones to find your way into a restaraunt and eat some real food?

Another thing that I've noticed when people visit Japan is that they for some reason insist on having food from their own country. I guess it may just be me being ingorant, but I don't really have any sympathy for people who can't bring themselves to try some new food. It's not like Japan is some third world country... your intestines aren't going to explode if you try some of the food.

Ironically though, even after all those kinds of experiences, people will still leave Japan being completely satisfied with their trip! If only they got to really enjoy Japan. To each his (or her) own I 'spose.

godwine 09-03-2010 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steven (Post 827230)
I think it's ironic that people do tend to eat "conbini" food and cup of ramen and stuff like that to save money. You can easily go out for a few hundred yen extra and have a decent meal (plus a thousand yen or so for drinks if you go that route). I went on a group trip my first time to Japan and remembered going to the conbini for like 3/5 of our nights in the city. It's a waste of an opportunity to actually get out there and see Japan. If you travel all the way there, why not have the cajones to find your way into a restaraunt and eat some real food?

Another thing that I've noticed when people visit Japan is that they for some reason insist on having food from their own country. I guess it may just be me being ingorant, but I don't really have any sympathy for people who can't bring themselves to try some new food. It's not like Japan is some third world country... your intestines aren't going to explode if you try some of the food.

Ironically though, even after all those kinds of experiences, people will still leave Japan being completely satisfied with their trip! If only they got to really enjoy Japan. To each his (or her) own I 'spose.

Interestingly, I was one of the people that did try food from "home" when I was in japan, i wasn't insisting on it, it was more like I walk by Denny's and decide i want to try what Denny's like in Japan

In my case, friends that travelled on a tight budget didn't come back satisfied at all, I am talking about people who really only have money for flight, hotel, food and nothing else, and even on the note of hotel and food they were going by the cheapest, so it will be like onigiri breakfast from AM/PM, ramen lunch and cup noodle dinner. I wonder why they were not happy :p

But you are absolutely correct, it doesn't have to be in a full blown restaurant, but I think people should definitely think about enjoying the culture, not saying that people should travel there as millionaires, but have enough money to spend on street food, on attractions and on souvenirs.......

konbini 09-03-2010 11:48 AM

I agree. I found eating out can be a lot cheaper than in my own country. When I was in Japan, I was there for over a month. I did not spend a lot,stayed at hostels and budget accommodation. I almost always had Japanese food. You can do an enjoyable trip to Japan cheaply and still have a good time.

Tturtle 09-03-2010 09:03 PM

Having blown LOADS of money in Japan I can say I easily would've had a really fun time without having done so. The most fun I had was seeing sights and hanging with friends.

Polar 09-03-2010 11:41 PM

I found prices on par with somewhere like New York and here Toronto.

Yeah the skies the limit in how much can pay in some places but figure $10 for lunch or less or more ... and about $20 for dinner or more or less and I had no issues with prices.

I seldom eat breakfast as does much of Japan I found out :) but like yourself I hit a Denny`s. I was curious ...



Probably the healthiest Denny`s ever !

and the politest ;)



I was surprised at how many Italian places there were seems very popular. I also hit the McDonalds right by hotel because I had to have a big mac in tokyo, I just had to have it. Tasted the same as where ever ones lives but the presentation was better :D

godwine 09-04-2010 02:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Polar (Post 827412)
I found prices on par with somewhere like New York and here Toronto.

Yeah the skies the limit in how much can pay in some places but figure $10 for lunch or less or more ... and about $20 for dinner or more or less and I had no issues with prices.

I seldom eat breakfast as does much of Japan I found out :) but like yourself I hit a Denny`s. I was curious ...



Probably the healthiest Denny`s ever !

and the politest ;)



I was surprised at how many Italian places there were seems very popular. I also hit the McDonalds right by hotel because I had to have a big mac in tokyo, I just had to have it. Tasted the same as where ever ones lives but the presentation was better :D

Oh, you are from Toronto as well? Yeah, i made the statement of it in par base on pricing in Toronto, in fact, some items is actually cheaper in Japan than in Toronto...

Whitey14 09-14-2010 09:00 PM

i agree about the saving up part. When i went back in 2003, i didnt hold back, but that is what i went for...to enjoy it. But now that i know where to find cheaper food etc, i reckon my next trip i should be able to do slightly cheaper...but still enjoy it just as much!

is anyone else holding back from travelling to japan beause of the poor US/GBP exchange rates with JPY? any finance experts here who has any idea when the rate migth get more preferable for us outside of Japan hoping to visit?


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