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Discussion on: Take a Vacation!

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rachelsoderberg profile image
Rachel Soderberg

I look forward to my first 'real' vacation, because that will be in celebration of becoming debt free! For now, I'm just taking my PTO as I feel like it - a day here or a long weekend there - to keep my sanity and mental health in check.

How was Japan? How is the language barrier over there if you don't speak much Japanese beyond Konichiwa and Arigato (sp?) That's definitely one of my bucket list locations.

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dotnetcoreblog profile image
Jamie

I used to only go on staycation for the odd day or too. Whatever helps to keep you feeling chilled and refreshed.

I've always loved Japan. In the areas we visited, almost no one spoke English or they spoke out very poorly. I ended up translating for the folks I was with for a lot of the time. It was a great test of my skills, but I love every moment of it.

If you stick to the bigger cities (Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto) then you should be fine. Most college educated Japanese folks are pretty good at English, and a lot of folks have a good grasp of the basics via their high school classes.

I'm not a huge fan of Tokyo, because if you've been to a big city then you've been to Tokyo already - I always want to see the real places and meet the real people when I travel.

Its a little self promotey for one of my podcasts, but I covered a little of my journey in a recent episode of the Waffling Taylors Podcast and added a few photos from my trip to the show notes

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rachelsoderberg profile image
Rachel Soderberg

I imagine your Japanese must be pretty good then, I suppose I assumed it wasn't when I asked so my mistake! :)

I'll check out the show notes and that podcast when I have a few minutes - nothing wrong with being a little self-promotey!

For me staycations are okay, but I really do love traveling the world. I tend to get what I call travel sickness (instead of home sick like most people get once they've left) so I start to get an itch to uproot and see somewhere new if it's been too long between adventures. It has been awhile since my last trip, but for little awhile at least I need to be responsible and pay back my college expenses. :) But thankfully I have people to live vicariously through as they travel on their own adventures!