Travel advice?
 

Hey all!

I would love to visit japan but I have no idea on how to make travel plans to such a place. How much money I should save up, where to go, what to do, items I may need. I barely have any travel experience.

Wow, this is like shooting in the dark :)

What do you like to see, how long do you have, and what is your budget? PM me, I will send you a sample itinerary

I've PMed you dude. :D

First of all you're going to want to save up at least 3 grand (rough estimate). Then you will want to search around for cheap flights that you can book as early as possible. How much money you want to save besides what you need for the flight is entirely dependent on what you want to do while you are there. My sensei went to Japan not to long ago to train and he said he spent 1300 on the flight and only spent 400 while he was there. All he did was train though. If you wanted to sight see and shop you would need a lot more. As far as what to bring, it would depend on your personal preference, how long you would like to stay, what is allowed, etc.

Check out this website, it's the tourist site put out by the Japanese foreign affairs dept.:

Japan National Tourist Organization

Have you gone through the Japan Travel Advice section? All your answers are there.

As MMM says, you need to do some reading. Start with this forum and then check out other sites online. You've been given the JNTO website which is a good one. Come back with some more specific questions and it will be easier for people to help you. :)

Thanks a lot guys :D

My first trip to Japan was a shot in the dark. I shopped around online for flight/hotel deals for the period that I intended to stay. I ended up booking with Expedia.com for a one-week stay. At the time, the cost was about $2000.

Between the time I booked the vacation and the time I was to leave, I bought maps and guidebooks, and learned what I could from my girlfriend about Tokyo.

I spent a little more than $100 per day while I was there, which was in addition to the $2000 for the flight and hotel. Tokyo is not a cheap place to visit.

But, I had a great time, and I returned to Japan again, and again. And now I live here.

3K sound like a lot to me. I spent about around that much including flight, hotel and food for a 2 week stay. And was able to cover souvenir and all the gifts for a 10 day stay......

when i went there it was for 6 weeks and i brought $1k USD, but i spent it all by the 5th week lol then again, i stayed w/ a host family so it's probably good for you to bring more than that

Ok, I won't be able to surive on 1K for 5 weeks, thats for sure :)

I heard about people staying with japanese families in japan for there visit... how do you arrange for something like that O_o,

As I said $3000 was just a rough estimate. It really does depend on what you would like to do while you are there. If you wanted to go to say Shibuya and shop or whatever you might want to save even more than 3k. If you wanted to just go and sight see you could probably do it for less. Some people are just better at managing money than others as well. Also It wouldn't hurt to have a little extra "just in case". If you don't spend it, then you just have it for something else. :vsign:

i went through a youth exchange program with an organization called youth for understanding

Youth For Understanding

Ah I see.. unfortnately, "Youth" is too long in the past for me :P

I don't think I can do it that way :/ ..... ( currently 22)

Hum,

Well I think kaelazors did her home work. I never really thought to stay at a home during a vacation myself. She's awesome. lol. 1K in 5 weeks in JP is really good and I bet she had just as much fun as staying at a fancy hotel too. Anyway maybe this site will help. :)

The Japan Zone

Have fun, I'm jealous. ;)