Jeremy

Jeremy founded Living the Dream in 2008 to chronicle his long-term trip around Asia. Since then he has been on two long-term trips, visited 69 countries, and is just getting started. He is now on a Lifestyle Design quest to build businesses to pursue a life of travel.

Going on an Onsen Crawl at Kinosaki Onsen in Japan

When visiting Japan, odds are good you have soaking in the natural hot springs of an onsen on your must-do list.

But did you know there is a town with not one, not two, but seven onsens open for visitors to enjoy? And, perhaps important to many, are also tattoo-friendly? Enter Kinosaki Onsen, a beautiful mountain coast town in northern Japan that is just a 2 1/2 hour train ride from Kyoto.

While we have an entire article dedicated for how many days in Kinosaki Onsen (read: more is always the answer), in this one we thought we’d share a little bit about the seven onsen you can find in town- what they’re like, which ones we liked, and which ones we did not spend much time in at all.

Although all the onsen here are quite fun and you should check each out on a visit, a few were standout favorites.

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A Guide to the Best Hawker Centres in Singapore

Singapore Hawker Centres. Those three little words make my mouth salivate just hearing it. I have a theory that when it comes to food there are only two types of people in this world.  Those who know the miraculous wonders of the Singapore Hawker Centre concept and those who do not. 

If you aren’t salivating right now, I’ll take it that you are in the do not category.

But don’t worry, this post is going to let out all of the dirty little secrets of this amazing eating concept for food in Singapore. 

If you aren’t booking your accommodation Singapore now, you surely will be by the time I get through with you as the hawker centres are surely one of the best attractions out there.

These food centres are, after all, the whole reason I went to Singapore in the first place.

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How Many Days Do You Need in Kinosaki Onsen?

We decided to visit the aptly named Japanese onsen town, Kinosaki Onsen, halfway through our 16-day journey around Japan as we thought it’d be a welcomed escape after nine busy days in some of the country’s largest cities.

As expected, it was everything we hoped for and then some.

Between hopping around six of the seven tattoo-friendly onsens found in the town (the seventh was closed for construction during our visit), enjoying incredible food and drink, and checking out some of the other non-onsen sightseeing activities, we really wished we had stayed for more than two nights as we only really got a brief teaser of what this town has to offer!

So, in this one, we thought we’d share more about what there is to do in Kinosaki Onsen and nearby and why you may want to book more nights than you think here!

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5 Tips to Get the Most Out of Your First Visit to Oktoberfest

I know, I know, another 5 tips for Munich’s Oktoberfest post. 

They’re all over the internet, and we’re not helping by putting another one out there. 

But there is a reason behind this madness. Most of the ones out there are just plain awful.

After reading through countless other Oktoberfest tips posts that exist, we have realized that most of the authors have likely not been to the party at all. 

If they had, they would have spent less time recommending you to buy a dirndl or lederhosen to fit in (really, that is the best tip you can find?) and more time giving actual advice that could help your trip be more enjoyable.

So if you’re looking for real tips for enjoying Oktoberfest from someone who has been there (us!), read on!

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