Pancakes from 7-Eleven: East Asia debrief
Musings from my time in Japan and South Korea
The biggest mistake I’ve made in over ten years of solo travel - and I left my passport in Florence once and didn’t realize until I got to Pisa - is never journaling. I’ve always loved to write and I document my travel experiences (as you may know from the fact I post on TikTok way too much), but strangely, I’ve never felt compelled to write them down.
As I enter my thirties, I’ve decided to change that, because memory is a funny thing. Some moments from my travels are so vivid, I can tell you exactly what 11 p.m. on a June night in Paris in 2013 smelled like, but when you’re fortunate enough to have a wealth of travel experiences, some of them start to bleed together. Was that in Panama that we lost water in our hostel? No, Colombia? What was that guy’s name, with the tiger tattoo? Who did I share an Uber to the airport with?
So, I’m going to start writing it down. Better late than never. And I’d love for you to join me. I’m going to start with a trip that I’ve wanted to take for years, and let me tell you, those are always the worst trips. It’s so daunting to do something at the top of your bucket list, because, how could it possibly measure up? I’ve learned that it’s almost always better going somewhere where I have mixed expectations and there’s space for surprise and delight. But Japan? Japan is the ultimate tourist destination. A place I have read about all my life. Relentlessly covered in social media videos. Full of the most amazing food in the world. So clean - no trash cans on the street!
A couple months ago, I finally booked my ticket and I was off. And here’s how it went.
"The first time I came here, it was a transformative experience. It was a powerful and violent experience.” - Anthony Bourdain on Japan
First, I don’t think I realized that Tokyo is literally the largest city in the world. I have never been so overstimulated as when I arrived in Tokyo. And I am utterly ecstatic about that. All the reading and watching couldn’t have prepared me for the smells, sights and crowds, and it was such a wonderful adrenaline rush.
One of my favorite underrated 2010s pop bangers, “Lost in Japan” by Shawn Mendes, tells you the perfect way to experience Tokyo. Get lost. It’s safe enough to get lost. Don’t book a million things (but book a few things). Go to a neighborhood and get yourself lost. Learn how to say “table for one” (hitori desu) and sit in an izakaya. Where else in the world can a solo woman wander a red light district at two in the morning alone and pop in to an arcade? It’s magical. Same goes for Osaka, a smaller, less pretentious Tokyo but with even better neon lights.
Speaking of the neon lights: you must go to Japan in the winter when the sun sets early. These Neo Bowser City streets should be experienced under the cover of darkness. But you must also spend a few days outside of the city. You need to be in nature, even if briefly. I recommend Hakone if you are doing the Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka route.
A few things surprised me about Japan:
The convenience stores really are that good and you shouldn’t be made to feel guilty about eating at them every day.
People are immensely polite and helpful, even if the society is more reserved.
They really drink a lot for a reserved society, though. A Strong Zero will cause you to have one of those nights you never really tell anyone about (good thing you traveled solo, right?); drink with caution.
The trains will ruin all other trains for you.
I also found it the polar opposite of the place I love to travel most, Latin America. It was almost too orderly. It wasn’t social; outside of a few nights where I went out of my way to interact with other travelers (yep, Strong Zero Night™, and also Golden Gai night, which was really lovely sitting around a tiny bar with folks with a variety of passports), I was very alone. And honestly? It was what I needed at the time. I loved the solitude. The anonymity. If you’ve solo traveled Latin America, you know you are almost never alone. It was a stark contrast. Japan itself was a contrast; an assault on the senses that fades into this perfect order once the dust settles from that initial barrage.
People love Japan because of how organized it is. And they really are living in the future; the processes made my Virgo sun sing. It’s funny though, because even though I’m an introvert, I’m pretty quiet, I found myself a bit too…messy for Japan. And that’s on me, that’s not on Japan.
So, when I decided to spend a few days in South Korea at the end of my trip, I was stunned because it kind of felt like…coming home? To South Korea. A country where I barely speak the language and have never visited before. A country very different from the K-Dramas set there. But I felt instantly comfortable in Seoul, so much so that it shocked me. And I think it was because I could exhale a little. Compared to Japan, it’s louder, messier, and I hadn’t realized how much I’d been trying to keep to an order until I could loosen up a bit. Don’t get me wrong, Seoul is still quite clean, safe and very image-focused. But I know I will return to Seoul way before I return to Tokyo. And not just because I am absolutely enamored with a Korean skincare clinic in Gangnam called FI-NE Clinic and need to return there yearly to keep my face looking the way it does now and also I am addicted to salt bread.
Enough of my musings. Here’s your inside scoop as a reward for listening to my esoteric ramblings as an American in Asia.
If you go to Japan, take the two hour flight to South Korea. You might love it as much as I do.
The maple and margarine pancakes from Japanese convenience stores are a delicacy of the highest order if you don’t have them for breakfast at least three times, you did Japan wrong.
Leaf peeping season in Japan was uniquely stunning and the weather was just perfect in November - do not go during the summer.
Universal Studios Japan was an absolute delight; if you are on the fence, go. It surprised me by ending up as one of my favorite days on the whole trip.
There’s no need to get to places at 6 a.m. Sleep in and don’t tire yourself out. Almost nowhere is worth fighting the crowds and you can find beautiful destinations everywhere.
Nara Park (the one with the wild deer) is hilarious and lovely and you should go.
Learn a few key Japanese phrases. A little goes a long way. Literally “konnichiwa” and “arigato gozaimasu” will get you through the day.
Stay in a ryokan with an onsen. It’s divine after walking 20K steps per day.
I get chills thinking about walking down the dazzling neon streets of Tokyo. The biggest city in the WORLD, y’all. And I’m so, so small.