Big eyes and blank stares is the reaction I received when I told some friends I was going to the Philippines and Japan for vacation. Trending right now are destinations in South America or Europe but I had a reason to go to Asia. My brother was graduating so I needed to go to the Philippines and my husband had never been to Japan. I went to Japan a decade ago and loved it, so when the opportunity rose to visit again, I was happy to!

I almost missed my chance to visit Japan a decade ago as my family and I had been traveling for a week prior and I was homesick but changing my flight turned out to be extremely expensive and my father strongly advised "I enjoy the journey." Experiencing Japan is such an amazing experience. My spoiled and bratty outlook didn't even stand a chance against the majesty of Japan. That's right majesty. 

Roughly the size of Montana, I thought what could these islands have that's is different than back home? Experience it yourself. I am a sucker for enjoying the culture in each country but the next 3 reasons I provide you will either excite or put you to sleep. 

1. It's clean and safe

Now that the top priority of Maslow's Hierarchy of needs is taken care of you are free to enjoy the trip. Do I really need to carry on with an explanation? Some would say safety is an automatic risk of traveling but Japan provides a safe environment to enjoy the sights and sounds of Tokyo. I left my hat in a restaurant and the girl sitting next to us ran after us to give it to me! How wonderful is that! I know you will encounter good and bad everywhere but overall you don't need to worry about being targeted by people slashing your bag as I did in Spain or street vendors in the Philippines. One more thing, it's so clean there I couldn't find any trash on the streets! Everyone does their part to dispose of waste appropriately, it's that simple. 

2. Limited Pet Peeves

Efficiency is built into their culture. I may exposing too much of my neurotic tendencies with this post but it's too late now I'm already invested. I know everyone has some silly pet peeve but have you ever been in a rush and trying to navigate between a sea of people ending up bumping into everyone and standing next to the person you forcibly navigated away from at the next set of stairs? Well, Japan has solved the age old problem. When in a hallway, stairs or escalator, stand to the left if you're following the flow, those in a rush may navigate on the right. Also in the metro and subway they have signs everywhere showing where you should stand, who has priority, these decisions and awkward moments are removed from you life so you can go back to making the tough decisions and scrolling down your Instagram feed and checking if I've written a new blog post. 

3.  You are empowered to be independent

Another fabulous perk of Japan are the vending machines on every street, restaurants opened at all hours of the day or night in any neighborhood, numerous transportation options, fully stocked literature in different languages for you to reference from maps to educational literature, helpful staff located at each entry and exit of the metro and on some lines, representatives stood on the platform just in case you forget which platform you need to take. These simple aides are a God send as many Japanese do not speak English comfortably. They prefer to speak Japanese but have learned English basics and can understand you simple plight of trying to get to Shibuya on the Ginza line. I'm a fan of the subway in cities I visit and i was able to travel to all the Tokyo neighborhoods form Shinjuku to Ueno.