Fushimi Inari Shrine

In September 2019, I travelled to Kyoto in Japan alone, which was my first ever solo trip (I don’t do things by halves). I had such an amazing time and recommend travelling solo at least once in your life.
However, there are some mistakes that I made along the way and things I regret not doing. At least, I have learnt from these and will be better prepared for my next trip to Japan.
Here are 5 things I regret when I travelled to Japan.

1. Not choosing a direct flight
This is personal preference, I understand some people prefer to split the journey up but for me, it just made the journey take a ridiculously long time. I could have saved myself 4-5 hours if I flew directly. Plus it creates less room for error in terms of baggage going missing! My closest airport was Birmingham airport in the UK, which unfortunately do not offer direct flights to Japan. Next time I will fly from London and go direct.

2. Not staying for longer
I chose to only spend a week there as it was my first time travelling solo and wasnt sure how I would be. It took me 4 days to recover from jet lag, which was over half of my trip. I think you need at least 10 – 14 days in Japan, which is a decent amount of time to see the sights and to recover from your journey. Of course, jet lag will depend on where you are travelling from. Japan is 9 hours ahead of UK time so this hit me like a tonne of bricks!

Shimogyo, Kyoto

3. Going in September
Spring and autumn are the best times to visit Japan; the spring is beautiful with all the cherry blossoms and autumn has the rich autumn colours. Both times are also moderate temperatures which is preferable as Japan’s summers are incredibly hot and humid. I thought September would be a slightly cooler month, going into autumn – Oh how wrong I was! It was between 37 and 39 degrees every day, with intense humidity. I really struggled with the heat and Kyoto seems to have its own microclimate. Fortunately, most buildings, hotels and trains are well air-conditioned, so you do get some relief. However, it was amazing to see the breathtaking scenery, in the sunshine.

Nijo Castle gardens

4. Not taking a spare camera or phone
I managed to slightly crack my phone camera on the second day, which caused the light to splurge on any photos with artificial light. So I couldn’t take any decent photos indoors or at night! Just in case something like this happens, I’d recommend taking a spare camera, even a disposable one or an old spare phone. Unless you’re willing to spend money buying a new one when you’re in Japan. Which to be honest, you’re probably in the best place if you do. Kyoto has the yodobashi camera department store which has entire floor dedicated to cameras. There’s also a floor for stationary and an indoor food market. This is opposite Kyoto station.

5. I wish I did more
I did let anxiety get the better of me, and didn’t do as much as I wanted to do. This was partially due to the heat, but I did feel very overwhelmed being alone travelling for the first time. I wont beat myself up as I am in a much better place mentally now, I feel my next trip will be a completely different experience.
Make a list of things you want to do and try and loosely strategically plan when youll do them. For example, keep the indoor activities for rainy days.

Shimogyo, Kyoto

What do you have planned for your Japan trip? Will you be going to different towns and cities? Or staying in one location?

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