Howdy all. I’ve been back, as I write this, nearly a week but it will be more like 10 days before you read this as, well I like to get in early I guess. So I like to do a reflective post or two after a trip to think about this places I went, what the travel experience was like, the airlines I flew and you know, have I learnt anything about travelling and about myself. Did I take into account previous lessons learnt? So here are some points.

1/ I DON’T Learn My Lessons

I returned last year from my ‘round the world trip’ identifying that I need to slow my rate of travel down. Then I go for four weeks, and although I didn’t have a case of 2 days here and 2 days there, staying at least four nights in any location, I packed loads and loads in to almost every day. So, four days is still a short time to visit most places, although there are definitely locations, usually places you pass through you can do a day or two in. In some ways, sure, it’s great not to waste your time chilling in places, you don’t want to miss out – after all you flew all the way to get there and you spent a lot of money too so you don’t want to turn around and do nothing for four days, but also, it’s a holiday and you want to relax some, surely?

2/ If it isn’t already, China should be considered the ‘NEXT BIG DESTINATION’

Whilst Japan is utterly amazing and a great place to travel, China receives few foreign tourists – at least outside of Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai etc – the well known places. And being one of the largest countries in the world, there are so many places that are worth seeing. That’s not to say they are not packed – they are. Domestic tourism certainly is booming, and there are some ways to go to make the place more ‘foreigner’ friendly and I am planning a blog about tourism in China in general soon, but Zhangjiajie’s natural beauty and the calmness and attractiveness of Kunming do not seem to be, for example, on the foreign tourist’s radar.

Maybe the world won’t cotton on. Maybe China won’t take attracting the foreigner seriously enough (although it has started, Australia is one country that if you are from here you can now enter China without a visa for 30 days) but as far as sights go, China has so many we in the ‘West’ have never even heard of, and we are missing out.

3/ Japan IS Over-Touristed

The main reason for going to Japan this year was family, but I will never miss a chance to get to see more of the country when we go. But Japan is no kind of secret, EVERYONE is going there. And in 2026 with war in Europe and the Middle East – affecting access to Europe and making it all so unpredictable, and with the USA dropping off many people’s lists due to political factors shall we say, people are flocking to Japan in 2026 like never before.

To the point where it is bulging at the seams in places, like major city railway stations, which have always been hella busy, but wow, Kyoto station in 2026 – you feel like you could drown. And of course, Japanese people are rightly proud of their country and they love to travel domestically too. So I am fully understanding how some are unhappy with foreign tourists coming and not respecting the culture. I didn’t see many examples of it, thankfully, although I did see a group of foreigners mimicking the way the attendants at USJ were talking which seemed pretty disrespectful as they were only a few feet away.

4/ Sometimes it’s Worth Spending Extra on the Right Airline and Direct Flights

I took a transit flight to Japan with Malaysian Airlines and Japan Airlines. It was half the price of a direct flight but it’s less than 10 hours direct Melbourne to Tokyo and I ended up on an eight hour flight to Kuala Lumpur and a six and half hour flight to Tokyo from there, with three hours at KLIA. In the end it was nearly twice as much travel time as I needed to take. But – finances are always something to be managed.

Flying home on what Skytrax claims as a ‘5-Star Airline’, Hainan Airlines, was okay I guess and I do like the chance to try airlines I haven’t been on before. It’s also a good choice for a vlog and was a really good price – less than $350 from Vientiane to Melbourne on a full-fare airline nothing extra to pay for seat selection, checked bags or food. Still, I can’t help but think that if I’d flown Thai or Singapore Airlines it would have been a bit more comfortable.

Anyways, just a short list today! Thanks for reading! Take care wherever you are in the world and… May the Journey Never End!