Welcome to week twenty-four of the backpacking diaries. I’ll be updating you weekly on where I’ve been, what I’ve been getting up to, and most importantly, how I’m really feeling about this insane decision I’ve made.
As you probably know, I’m currently backpacking through Asia after quitting my job and leaving London for good.
I want to remember every moment of this experience, and document as much of it as I can, just like I’ve documented everything else in my life post-18 on this website.
You can keep up to date with my travels on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube but for now, enjoy week twenty-four of the travel diaries!
If you missed the first twenty-three weeks of backpacking diaries, you can catch up here.
Top tip: for mobile data around Asia, we used the Jetpac eSim. This was super handy and easily installed onto our phones as soon as we arrived in Japan! Get $5 off your eSIM package when you use my referral code: 4293IOA9.
Day 162: Monday 26th August 2024
Location: Kyoto, Japan
Dear travel diary,
We were up early this morning as we had an appointment at the Apple Store. Not to buy a new phone or new equipment, but to try out the new Vision Pro headset.
We definitely aren’t in the market to buy something like this with our backpacks containing everything we own and need while we travel around the world. But we wanted to see what the fuss was about and to see how great it really is.
For TV, photos and videos, it’s incredible. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that it’s breathtaking. But for everyday use, working on websites and things? It wouldn’t be my go-to.
After the Apple Store, we headed out to Fushimi Inari Taisha, a famous attraction in Kyoto to walk through. As expected, it was full of tourists stopping for photos, but as you went further into the walk, it became more sparse and a lot easier to take nice photos of the red pillars.
It was another scorcher today, so we didn’t want to be out in the sun too long as the heat was zapping pretty much all of my energy.
We headed to the Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka Streets to take some photos of the temples down the little alleyway, and popped into a Starbucks to get out of the sun for half an hour.
We came back and grabbed our laptops and spent the afternoon in a nearby coffee shop starting to plan out the rest of our travels up until the end of this year.
I have an exciting work call tomorrow that may impact our travel plans in the next few months, but in a very good way. I’ll report back on that tomorrow.
Otherwise, we may have finally settled on a date for moving to Australia – finally!
Day 163: Tuesday 27th August 2024
Location: Kyoto, Japan
Dear travel diary,
Today was a working day. It doesn’t feel like I’ve had too many of these recently, since we are travelling around Japan and exploring almost every day.
I had two work calls with exciting brands that I’m hopefully going to be working with. One involves a potential trip to another country in Asia that I haven’t been to before!
In the evening, I also received an invitation to a yoga/meditation retreat in a country in Asia that I’ve already been to, but may journey back to if the dates work.
Never did I think I would be approached to go on a press/media trip to another country, never mind two in one day!
I’m embracing the delulu mindset that I’m a full-time travel content creator (that isn’t making a salary yet) and that this is my full-time job and will be moving forwards. Maybe if I’m delulu enough to pretend this is my life, it may become my life.
We can only wait (and work) and see.
Day 164: Wednesday 28th August 2024
Location: Kyoto, Japan
Dear travel diary,
Another working day today before we leave Kyoto for Osaka tomorrow. I had a lovely 6.30am work call with a brand I might be working with on some content.
So I was up nice and early and feeling productive. We headed to Starbucks across the street for it opening at 8.30am and got to work.
I finally finished my East Coast Road Trip travel guide, which you can find here!
The afternoon was spent working on more content, collaborations, finalising more travel plans and potentially securing more partnerships.
It’s been a very exciting week to say the least and it almost feels like the stars are starting to align to potentially make this dream of being a content creator a reality.
Let’s see what happens!
Day 165: Thursday 29th August 2024
Location: Kyoto & Osaka, Japan
Dear travel diary,
We left Kyoto this morning to make our way to Osaka. It was only an hour on the metro, and incredibly easy to get to. Well, it would have been if we could work out the subway system.
We tried to leave a connecting station but the barriers wouldn’t let us, and the workers said we needed to go to the fare adjustment machine which we thought meant we hadn’t paid enough money for our ticket. So, instead of paying the £1-2 extra, we hopped back on the train to go backwards, only to get confused and end up back at the same station again.
We sucked it up to pay the difference and it turns out the machine meant we had paid too much. It had wanted to refund us. Next time, we’ll suck up the potential loss of £2.
After that dilemma, we arrived at our destination and left our luggage at check-in to explore the city ahead of another typhoon that was headed our way.
This one doesn’t seem as large as the previous predicted typhoon (that didn’t materialise) but if you read Twitter, it’s supposedly the mother of all typhoons.
We explored as much of the city as possible today as we’ll be in Universal Studios tomorrow and then the typhoon is due to hit on Saturday.
Universal Studios are closing on Saturday and Sunday due to the typhoon so tomorrow may be chaos at the park, but we’ll see.
Osaka’s quite a compact city, but it seems to be more like Tokyo than Kyoto in terms of billboards, bright lights and shops. It’s a very cool place.
We walked around the whole city, saw the famous Glico billboard and then headed for some Japanese onigiri for lunch.
By the afternoon, it was time to check in and I was so glad to see a bed that wasn’t on the floor, wasn’t separated and we had an apartment!! I could finally swing a cat in the room if I wanted to!
We have a kitchen, even a washing machine, a large bedroom, a wardrobe, a sofa (!!) and even a balcony. I feel like I’ve checked into the Ritz.
Himself went to the nearest 7-Eleven to stock up on supplies for the incoming typhoon and then we headed back out into the city.
For dinner, we dined at a famous katsu pork restaurant which was delicious and very filling. We killed an hour in a arcade-themed bar where we played Super Mario Kart, Fifa and more while having a Corona. A very cool spot.
By the time we walked outside again, it was dark and the city had come to life with bright lights. We walked 30 minutes back to our apartment and saw the city full of colour and energy.
Osaka seems to be a very cool place!
Day 166: Friday 30th August 2024
Location: Osaka, Japan
Dear travel diary,
Today was such a fun day!! We were up incredibly early at 6.30am, but we were headed to Universal Studios!
It was a stunning day, and we were very surprised at the lack of crowds. We had heard and watched horror stories on TikTok of people arriving an hour before the park opens to chaos and insane numbers of people waiting to get in.
The park opened at 9am, but we arrived around 8.15am and were able to walk straight in within a few minutes with no queues.
We headed to Nintendo World straight away to see if we could get in, but they were accepting timed entries only. We had reserved tickets for 5.20pm, but wanted to see if we could get in earlier.
Next, we headed to Harry Potter world to see if we could enter there slightly earlier as we also had a timed entry for here at 10.30am. It was actually really quiet, so we were able to enjoy it with a very small crowd.
I was blown away.
I had seen Hogwarts on social media over the years and always wanted to see it in person. It was surreal. It was enormous and life-like, just like it would be in the movie. If you love Harry Potter (like me), this is something you need to see at least once in your lifetime.
I want to move here and go to school here and live in Harry Potter world forever.
We waited around 10 minutes to ride the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride, and then headed to the Flight of the Hippogriff ride where we waited around 20 minutes in line.
We watched the quick show in Olivanders store and then explored the rest of the park. I’m not much of a rollercoaster person, so didn’t get on too many rides. I was mostly there for the experience and I love exploring the different worlds they build in the theme parks.
We watched some shows (Water World and Universal Monsters Live Rock & Roll Show), but they were all spoken in Japanese (obviously) yet it still made for fun viewing.
Himself got on the Jurassic Park ride, which I could clearly see from the ground didn’t look like a good idea. He was as white as a sheet when he found me in the cafe nearby afterwards. I was very glad with the decision I made to stay on the ground.
We finally got into Nintendo World later in the afternoon and it was definitely worth the wait. The world they’ve created is insane. There’s a lot going on and it’s pretty overwhelming and crowded of course, but it’s incredible.
We joined the Mario Kart ride as single riders so we wouldn’t have to wait over an hour in line and it was our favourite ride of the day.
We left the park around 5.30pm, so a very long day from being up at 6.30am. Thankfully, we were only around 20 minutes away from our hotel on the metro, so stopped at a gyoza spot before heading back home.
Day 167: Saturday 31st August 2024
Location: Osaka, Japan
Dear travel diary,
We’ve been following the typhoon all week, and it’s meant to hit the Osaka area today. Universal Studios are closed today and tomorrow, and the city’s expecting disruption and closures.
We had a lie in this morning anyway, but when we woke up at 10am it had been raining, but the weather was looking fine.
It was going to be a laptop day for us, in case the weather took a turn for the worst. So we headed to a coffee shop we had found on Google Maps. When we arrived at 2pm (no judgement please) they had a sign in the window that they would be closing at 3pm due to the typhoon.
Since today is when the Oasis reunion tickets go on sale, himself couldn’t be without WiFi from 3pm onwards, so we headed to the nearby Starbucks instead.
I’m not an Oasis fan myself, but himself is a die-hard. However, half the world is attempting to get tickets today so I’m not too sure on our chances. Plus the fact we should be in Australia when they’re performing in the UK and Ireland. So he’s going to fly across the world to see them live.
Here’s hoping for his sake (and mine) that they release dates in Australia too.
We held out in Starbucks until around 7pm and I was still 70,000 in the queue on Ticketmaster after starting off at number 300,000+. It seemed it wasn’t meant to be.
Here’s hoping Oasis release some dates in Australia so we won’t have to pay £1,000 each to fly home to the UK or Ireland if additional dates are released.
After finishing up in Starbucks, we headed to a Nepalese/Indian restaurant across the street for some momos and butter chicken.
Day 168: Sunday 1st September 2024
Location: Osaka, Japan
Dear travel diary,
We had another slow day in Osaka today, and jumped on our laptops. We headed to a spot called Brooklyn Roasting Company. A huge coffee shop a ten minute walk from our hotel.
The mochas here were excellent. And there was even a bakery inside selling a wide variety of fresh pastries and cakes.
We stayed here for three hours or so and I grabbed a new sticker for my laptop that just says ‘Brooklyn’. Everything in here is New York themed, and the pick-up stations for your coffee are even Brooklyn subway themed.
New York seems to follow us around the world and I’m not complaining.
Around 3pm, we headed to the final Osaka attraction we had on our list to see which was Osaka Castle. It had started to rain but was still super hot, so we didn’t hang around for too long.
For our final dinner in Osaka, we went back to Ichiran and had another solo dining experience. We opted for a spicier version that made our noses run constantly, but it still tasted really good.
We were back in our hotel room early evening to pack and get more work done. I had a call with a brand later that night, and hopefully will be working on some exciting content soon.
It’s crazy to me that I’ve had three work calls this week when I’m ‘unemployed’. But it’s fun that I get to call creating content a form of work for now!
We’re leaving Osaka early tomorrow morning for Hiroshima, one of our final stops on our Japan trip. I can’t believe Japan is already coming to an end and we’ll be in South Korea in a few days!
Make sure to check back in next week when I finish up my time in Japan and head to Busan, South Korea. Country number 11 of our travels so far!
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