Could use some help with my trip. (June '08)

[Nao]

-removed, various reasons

[GhostBlade]

Originally Posted by Nao

Just bought my plane tickets. Locked and loaded, so to speak. Almost definitely going, now.

If it's not too personal, where did you buy it and how much was the final price? I'm still waiting to buy my tickets to depart in late-May or so. I'm really flexible with my time during the summer so it can all change. If you don't prefer to answer than that's ok.

[Nao]

-removed, various reasons

[Omaki]

^ wow I'm flying out of NYC and it's only costing me $900.

[Nao]

-removed, various reasons

[odonata]

I am staying in Ueno and have been for almost a month. I have a good idea of the local area as I walk it most days finding new places. If you need help with anything then give me a mail [email protected] I can even offer to meet you at the station and help you get to your place as I know that when you first hit Tokyo it is a big buzz to know that you a really here. I went with Oakhouse and they sent someone to the station to meet me which was a great help, so I know what matters.

Again, I am here until June 25 so if I can help you then just ask. BTW I am on a 3 month tour made on a instant decision. Shall I go to Japan or not? Sod it, I'm going. No regrets.
Marc

Super sidenote. I know where all of the 105 yen shops are along with great places to pick up houshold items and food. Believe me that I had no assistance, so finding these places was like a great help to my survival here.

[sujuncai]

Originally Posted by Nao

I'm planning on being in Tokyo for the entirety of June (one month). There are a few areas I could really use some advice and comments on.

Location

I'm planning on renting a guest house from Sakura-House. The current room I'm looking at is in Ueno, on Ameyoko, and will run me about JPY74,000. However I've also been looking at other locations and see significantly lesser prices in areas like Asakusa. Why is that? Are they close? I was really looking forward to staying on the Ameyoko, but if I can get there quickly and easily from Asakusa, then I may stay there instead...

Can anyone make a good recommendation, or give input on the situation?

Funding

My total funds for this trip is roughly $5,400.

As far as plane costs go, I've found as low as (after tax) ~$1300.

That brings my funding down to $4,100.

If I rent the room on Ameyoko in Ueno, it'll be a $300 deposit, then around $700 for rent. That takes us down to $3,100.

If I spend $30 a day on food (unlikely, but I like to overestimate just in case), that'll be $900 in a month for food. That brings us down to $2,200.

Train fares... won't be too bad. If I spend $60 between trips to the airport, and then say $10 a day, that'd be $360 total for a month. That brings us down to $1,840.

Now here's something I haven't quite figured out completely. A phone. It would probably be a good idea for me to have a phone, and I've heard that prepaid phones out of Japan now require Japanese residency to acquire. The only solution I've seen for foreigners on temporary visitor visas now is rental phones. I've found a company called "RentAFone Japan", but the prices are kind of steep. They want a $300 deposit before they sent the phone, $10 for shipping to me, the first week is $35, the next 13 days is $36, and the last 10 will be $10, which brings the total cost to $391 for the phone, which is kind of ridiculous. If anyone has a better solution, please, PLEASE let me know. Assuming I went with this plan, I'd be down to $1,449 to last me for a month of fun and any unexpected costs... which, I think will do fairly well, but please give me your input on it.

General Information

I'm not getting a travel guide or anything of that sort, and I'm not planning on any huge trips. I want this to be fairly casual. One of my main issues right now though is finding places I might want to go to (I say might because, as I previously mentioned, I want this to be casual - I'm not setting destinations in stone).

I can read and write hiragana, katakana, and a number of kanji. I can understand and speak the language to some degree, but I am by no means anywhere near fluent. I have a rather basic grasp of the grammar (I'm a bit shaky on some of my particles and conjugations), and a comparitively large vocabulary (compared to my grasp of the grammar).

I am nineteen years of age, and will be traveling alone. I've never lived alone before, been away from my family for an extended period of time, or been in a foreign country (I am a United States citizen).

Conclusion

Any ideas, helps, comments, or constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated. I definitely need the input. I've been looking forward to & planning this trip for months, so I'm hoping everything will pan out as I plan for it to.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

-Nao

Go to my blog and download my Tokyo itinerary - 3 Really Cool Dudes In Tokyo :-D !!!

[Nao]

-removed, various reasons

[MMM]

Originally Posted by Nao

Next, even though I've run the numbers time and time again, I'm still worried about my budgeting. Everything should be fine, but if I made any critical mistakes (which I don't think I have, but can't stop myself from thinking about it) then problems could certainly mount. For instance, every travel insurance company I've consulted has told me that it can take two to four weeks to collect on a claim. That's a pretty long period of time, considering this is a one-month outing. I know the odds are against my getting hurt, falling critically ill, losing everything I have, or otherwise, but it still worries me. Some people tell me I shouldn't even bother getting traveler's insurance. What do you think, JF travel vets?

This week is my finals for this semester of college. Come Friday's end, I have nothing but free time to prepare for this trip. I have an entire month to hammer this stuff out, unless some other vastly time consuming activity comes into play that I am not yet aware of. I'll have a lot more time to worry about this stuff then, so I would appreciate any food for thought you all may have to give me.


-Nao

What are you buying when you buy traveller's insurance? Peace of mind.

But if you are worried buying traveller's insurance is going to throw your budget off, it is having the opposite effect.

Grab a black pen and X-out traveller's insurance from your budget, because you don't need it.

If you are sick or hurt no hospital will reject you. No one is going to leave bleeding and dying in the street because you don't have insurance.

Traveller's insurance is one of the biggest scams in the insurance biz (after additional insurance on rental cars). Cross it off.

Take a deep breath, congradulate your self on finishing finals and look forward to the trip. If you have hotels booked and plane tickets bought, that's 90% of what you need to worry about done. After that it's just picking out what you want to see. That's the fun part.

No offence, but you sound a little like a worry-wart, so be prepared to have your perfectly laid out plans go out the window once your foot hits the floor in Tokyo. It's an adventure, so you need to prepare YOURSELF not YOUR TRIP to be an adventurer.

[Nao]

-removed, various reasons