Year: 2020

Osaka to Shanghai – Making the Trip on the Su Zhou Hao Ferry

I can't say that I am much of one for slow travel. I get impatient and anxious if I am in a city for more than just few days. This is partly because I would rather pack more in my travel allotment, accounting for time and money, then spending more time at one particular spot.

In fact, I have not visited any international city for longer than 5 nights on any trip. Sometimes, however, the financial aspect catches up to you a bit and slow travel becomes one of your only options. I found myself in that very same situation while planning my recent trip from Osaka to Shanghai.

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Unusual Temples and Other Incredible Things to Do in Kyoto

Kyoto is an amazing city, quite possibly my favorite in Japan.  It is one of those places you can picture yourself living if you had to move abroad. There is little else that can be said to generalize the place better than that. 

Although Kyoto has well over a million residents, it is hard to tell except for the southern end of town near JR's Kyoto terminal which has a constant exchange of both locals and tourists alike. 

Unlike smaller towns in Japan, such as Nagano and Nagoya, the city of Kyoto has the benefit of having large town attractions as well, making it rather unique in the tightly packed country of Japan.  However, like all big cities, some of the tourist attractions fall short, especially when compared to other, more unique options that are available. 

The following is my take on some of my favorite things to do in Kyoto that I have visited in the previous 48 hours.

I must stress that this is my views after two weeks of travel in the country.  If Kyoto was the first stop on a trip, the sites may have been perceived differently.

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Things Will Get Back to Normal… Eventually

2020 has been weird.

We had big travel plans this year and were hoping to put our ~100 days of travel on the road in 2019 to shame. Then the global pandemic hit.

Thankfully, we are doing okay. Our blogs took a beating in the spring during the major shutdown/panic but our local blog is pulling its weight now to keep our little media business going (albeit, at the bare minimum). This travel blog on the other hand, not so much.

I'm not complaining about this in the slightest, but I was a bit shocked all the same when I logged in and found I hadn't published an article in almost two months. So, today I thought it'd be appropriate to share a bit more as to why things may be quiet for a while around here. Don't worry, this one is not about COVID and is instead about the content we write about.

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Packing Cubes Review – Which Are the Best to Save Space?

I recently got the opportunity to acquire a handy travel accessory that I would not have purchased under normal circumstances- compression packing cubes. These packing cubes were advertised to increase packing efficiency and available space in your luggage, and naturally I was a bit suspect.

The product always seemed like a bit of a wash to me, as it sounds somewhat unreasonable that a zippered packing cube best organizes my luggage and saves space. And prior to receiving them, they were not something that I would ever want to spend $20 per set for.

But after receiving them I have to say, I was impressed. Now I never leave home without them.

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