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I texted the guide and have asked for the best way to reach him. I assume I'll hear back when he wakes up since he is in a different time zone. I'll let you know.

The guide, YD Kwak, said you can reach him at his email: smartkwak@daum.net

Great! Thank you and safe travels. Love your videos

Thanks for watching and have a great trip!

Thank you! I'm glad you found it helpful. Have a fabulous trip!

Sounds like you had a fabulous trip. I hope to be back again too!

Wow, thanks for the nice compliment. Glad you are enjoying the vlogs!

I wish I could tell you; however, it was all wrapped up in a package by my travel agent for both Japan and S Korea. I tried to get her to itemize it for me in order to share, but she said the company policy wouldn't allow it. I'm sure you can save money if you navigate yourself, but I do think it saved me so much time having the guide. Also, I'm one of these people who move quickly, so when I travel in large groups, I'm always finished before everyone else and then having to wait around. Having a private guide allowed me to move at my own pace and see so much more in a day. This was priceless to me.

Thank you so much and good luck to you! Happy Travels!

Wow, thank you so much for the kind words! I was worried the diary format might make it too long-winded, so I appreciate the positive feedback. I loved Korea, so it was a labor of love to create the video! Happy travels!

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!

If you don't mind that the seat doesn't lie completely flat!

I’m a widower who suddenly found herself alone and I had to take baby steps to find comfort in what I will call my independence. I’m not sure where you live, but maybe you can also take baby steps, such as visiting towns a short distance from you, gradually extending your reach until you meet the ocean. Or, booking an all inclusive vacation where they do everything for you. There are numerous single groups that travel together, so there are many choices. Keep moving forward and hopefully you will see that ocean sooner than later. For me traveling, renews and reaffirms my life. I wish the same for you.

@@seniorsolotravel thank you very much for your kindness! I hope you have a great evening!

Have a fabulous trip!

I assume you mean the JR Pass? If so, you need to calculate how many times you will use it. I used mine to get from one major city to another. In my case that was Tokyo to Kanazawa, Kanazawa to Kyoto, Kyoto to Hiroshima and back, Kyoto to Osaka. I purchased mine before the price went up, so it might not be worth it now. What you may want to purchase is a Suica card for the subway and trains. You can also use it at convenience stores and other businesses. You can load as much cash on it as you'd like. It will definitely be useful for transit. I hope that helps. Thanks for watching!

@@seniorsolotravel Thank you for your quick response. You are amazing!

Thank you! I enjoying connecting with other travelers, so it's my pleasure!

Yep, there's always compromise when traveling with others. It's nice to call your own shots!

@@seniorsolotravel that’s why I travel by my self my two son’s don’t like it but my next trip is to Thailand for ten days

Sounds fabulous! If you are interested in sharing your trip with other solo travelers, please join our Senior Solo Travel Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/443309331791413 I haven't been to Thailand before, so I'd love to hear about it. Cheers!

@@seniorsolotravel sorry but I don’t have facebook

Ok, I understand. Have a fabulous trip!

You're welcome!

Oh, thank you for the positive comment and encouragement!

@@seniorsolotravel 🥰❤

Hi Kay, Thanks for joining. I'm in the process of editing Korea videos now. My travels in Gyeongju and Busan were the best! Cheers!

Thank you!

Thanks for sharing!

That sounds like a sad story of money and politics. Sadly.

Oh, great! Love to hear it. Happy Travels!

Oh, awesome, I hope you like it as much as I do. Glad you got it on sale! And thanks for the compliment...and oldie but goodie! Happy Travels!

Did I show your place in the video?!

@@seniorsolotravel yes

Yay! I love Burlingame. Such a charming community that has everything!

Thanks for the positive feedback. Ii have the Sony RX100 IIV. It really is a nice camera, so easy to carry and great resolution.

Glad you found it useful!

Oh, super! I'm glad it was useful. I hope you have a fabulous trip!

Agreed, the cubicles are definitely better, but the 2-2-2 is usually a little cheaper.

Thank you! I'm glad you thought it was helpful!

Haha! But it was good!

Love the bibimbap! and I’ve only had it on Korean Air. Ok once I did have it on Delta.

I went in late December. It's hard for me to say which month would be better. Perhaps January because it is the warmest month? We saw plenty of whales, so I wouldn't worry about whether you will see them. I can guarantee that it will be fabulous whenever you go! Let me know if you have other questions. Happy to help if I can. Happy travels!

You're welcome! I'm glad the video was helpful. I use either Viator.com or TripAdvisor to find excursions. There are many other sites, such as Airbnb, that do the same, but those two are my go-to sites. Often you will find the same excursions on both sites. Let me know if you have other questions before your trip. Always happy to help if I can. October should be fabulous for fall colors!

@@seniorsolotravel Thank you so much for your reply!

Oh, I'm so glad it was helpful. Get ready for an amazing experience! After I returned from the trip, I updated the packing list in the description. My main problem was gloves and glasses, so hopefully you can figure that out. Let me know if you have other questions as you get closer to the date and actually start packing!

Glad it was helpful!

Good question. I worked with a travel agent that booked it and it was all wrapped up in the entire trip. I've asked for a price breakdown from her, but haven't seen it yet. I'm not sure if the price she would have received, after booking several tours through the same company, would be transferrable to a one-off, though. It was booked through Sunrise Tours, so you might be able to just look it up online. I would also compare it to the tourist train (not sure what it is called) that goes directly from Toyko Station to views of Mt Fuji. If I had a do-over, I would probably go that route.

Oh wonderful. Regarding taxis, of course it depends on how far you go. When I look at my taxi history, the trips averaged around $20, with some higher, some lower. It is definitely cheaper to use public transportation. If I went back again, I would spend more time trying to get a map app to work and guide me through the system. However, I do think I saved quite a bit of time and steps using the taxis. I'm working on the Kyoto video now, then planned to do Hiroshima and Osaka. Hopefully it will be posted before you leave. If you have any specific questions regarding Osaka, feel free to ask here...or take it to the Senior Solo Travel Facebook Page. Other people might have suggestions too! I hope you have a fabulous journey. Safe travels, Laurie

@@seniorsolotravel thank you so much, I will be waiting for those videos ;)

Oh great, I'm glad you found it helpful. For the private tour, I got on Viator.com and they had choices between group tours and private tours. I had planned to join a group tour but noticed the private tour wasn't much more expensive, so decided to do it instead. I literally booked it the night before. The guide's name was Celeste and she was fabulous! Maybe you can track her down. Regarding the Hop On buses, the reason I don't think it works is that Tokyo is so spread out, there is heavy traffic, and they don't have enough buses operating. It's not a great way to maximize your time. There were other buses that were escorted group tours. I can't comment on them, but I think they would be better than the Hop On buses since they at least have a set itinerary. Have a fabulous trip!

@@seniorsolotravel Perfect, thank you so much!

Sounds like a fabulous trip. I've heard from others who said they had no problem either, so I probably should have made more effort. Did you use Google Maps-? It seemed to be the culprit for me.

@@seniorsolotravel on this trip I rented a portable yfi for my tablet. I was always connected to the internet and google map. I use my mini tablet for camera, pc, since I don't have a I phone. This way I have connection with my sister in law in Australia via FaceTime and I can post my pics on Facebook or email easier. Also even though Im Japanese ancestry I don't speak Japanese except for a few phases. I uses Sumimasen (excuse me) a lot lol to get directions.

Actually, no. I flew six legs on them because I had a month-long trip to Japan and S Korea, including Jeju island, which required flights. It seemed like the best and least expensive choice at the time, and the mileage accrued to my Delta Airlines account. I've flown in better business class seats, so would require a good reason to choose them again.

Definitely more fun with family!

Good question. It is called the Cocoon Building and it is an educational building. It was next to my hotel, so it was a good landmark for me. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mode_Gakuen_Cocoon_Tower

Thanks.

Oh dear, thanks for letting me know. I just checked it and it seems to be working for me. Could you try it one more time and let me know?

I just realized that I had used Senior and Solo Travel but the FB group is just Senior Solo Travel, so perhaps if you searched with the "and" I misled you. I've since corrected it, so there is not confusion. Thank you.

Yay! Enjoy your trip. I'm sure you'll have a fabulous journey!

You're welcome! Coming soon!

Excellent suggestions! Thanks for sharing....

I did try a few times, but Google Maps kept going out when I got near the train stations. I'm sure if I would have put more effort into it, I could have figured it out. Taxis weren't very expensive, so I just defaulted to them, especially when I was tired. When I got to S Korea, I took a bit more time figuring things out, and was able to take the trains and buses with the Naver Map app, which worked much better than Google Maps. I wondered if I would have had better success in Japan, if I would have figured out a better navigation app.

@@seniorsolotravel Thanks very helpful to know.

Strange that Google Maps was giving you trouble. In my trip it worked even in the stations and told me the station, the line, the platform, and what the train would say on the front. For viewers, the platform signs and trains alternate information back and forth between Japanese and English. Regular city buses do not so its easier to use the trains. Remember that people are quiet on trains.

Yes, I had watched many UA-cam videos on train navigation and it looked so easy using Google Maps. However, I definitely kept losing service, sometimes just when walking outdoors. I thought maybe it was my settings and made sure I had roaming and wifi on. I even redownloaded the Map App, but still had problems. So, I'm not sure what the issue was. Thanks for sharing that it worked well for you and for sharing your other great advice. Cheers!

@@seniorsolotravel Thanks and thanks for your helpful video. I wonder if you needed the pocket wifi device that some people rent on arrival at the airport. I didn't. This is worth researching. My phone plan had me do an international service option for a fee for when I was there.

Thanks for sharing. Good information. I will definitely be looking into other airlines if I make the trip again. Happy Travels!

Good question. It somewhat depended on where I was. At train stations, I could usually ask the personnel at the gate entrance a question, sometimes by showing them my ticket, and they would point me in the right direction. At restaurant counters, it was spotty, so I would usually just point to what I wanted. At hotel desks, no problem--they always spoke English. In the tourist areas, it is generally easier to communicate because they know minimal English, but in the more remote areas it was harder to find an English speaker. People were very helpful and, if we weren't connecting, one of us would generally pull out Google translator to communicate. There wasn't a day that went by that I didn't use the translator app, so make sure you have it. I also used the app to read signs when there wasn't a translation, especially on menus, which didn't always have an English version. The bottom line: I didn't have a problem getting by and getting what I needed, but sometimes it took a little work! Enjoy your time there. I hope you have some time to enjoy what the country has to offer.

@@seniorsolotravel Thank you!

I stayed at the Keio Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku. I couldn't tell you how much it cost because it was wrapped up in my travel agent's bookings. I do know it was the fanciest hotel I stayed at in Japan and had a fabulous breakfast buffet. I stayed at four hotels in Japan and they all had the same kind of thin hard mattress for their beds. So, you could probably save money by going with a more modest hotel. Everything is so clean in Japan, I wouldn't worry about a cheaper, smaller hotel. I think the reason my travel agent booked this hotel was that Sunrise Tours has an office there. Two of the excursions I booked met at this hotel. It is also a few blocks from Shinjuku Train station. As for taxi's, I was able to travel most places within the city for about 1900-2700 yen, which is about $12-17 USD. I definitely saved time and effort by taking taxis, but public transportation is definitely the cheaper route. Hope that helps. Let me know if you have other questions. Happy to answer...

There are many hotels in Tokyo (and other cities in Japan) that are directly on top of or connected to subway stations. If you're worried about walking, you can look for hotels right by a station.

Thanks for sharing the good info!

@@AgaliaX JR Mets Hotels are often located at or very near the JR stations. I stayed at the one in Sapporo and it was a very good experience.

Thank so much. I'm glad it was helpful!