When you visit Hakodate, Japan, there are so many things that you don’t want to miss: meandering through the red-brick warehouse district, taking a walking tour of the European-style churches, sipping your way through the surprisingly solid craft beer scene, visiting Fine Days Burger, and riding the gondola up to Mt. Hakodate for that famous […]

UPDATED SEPTEMBER 2025 Fact: Koalas are as sleepy, slow, and cuddly as you’ve imagined. And if you’ve ever dreamed of hanging out with them ethically, Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane, Australia is probably #1 on your list of places to do it. It’s the world’s largest and oldest koala sanctuary, but there a few […]

Osaka buzzes with energy at all hours, and if you’re anything like me, you want to stay close to the action, but not in the middle of a tourist stampede. These three neighborhoods are the best of both worlds! Tons of character, killer food (but honestly, that’s EVERYWHERE in Osaka), and easy access to everything— […]

Looking for unique places to visit in Japan for nature? Known as Japan’s “Lemon Island,” Setoda is a small, charmingly rural town on the island of Ikuchijima off of Hiroshima. It’s a refreshing escape from Japan’s crowded cities, with its citrus-scented breezes, scenic cycling paths, lemon groves, mom-and-pop cafes, coastal hiking, ryokans, and friendly locals. […]

Is Japan expensive? It’s certainly trendy (which usually comes with a price tag), but it’s no wonder why– of all the countries that I’ve visited, my first visit to Japan in caught me off guard the most. I fell in love with what once seemed like a fishy (I’m not a fish eater), tacky, and […]

UPDATED SEPTEMBER 2025 Visiting Disney theme parks in the United States can be a headache- an expensive headache. So if you love Disney parks in the USA and are thinking about visiting Japan, you may be wondering, “how much does Tokyo DisneySea cost?” or if it’s simpler to plan than visiting a Disney park in […]

Yes– a taking a DMZ tour from Seoul is touristy as hell, but what the f*ck isn’t nowadays? The DMZ is a buffer zone between North and South Korea that runs across the Korean Peninsula. It’s 2.5 miles wide and was created after the Korean War (1950-1953), becoming a de facto international border. The DMZ […]

Scuba diving with thresher sharks. You might think I’m crazy, or you might be a fellow “lunatic” going thresher shark diving in Malapascua. Either way, this is a rare shark encounter that I’m dying to share! From crying into my mask out of pure joy when a thresher shark swam comfortably within 2 meters of […]