Things I didn't try early on: Monitor tours

Getting to explore new places for free sounds like a dream, doesn't it? It's often a possibility here in Japan via monitor tours. What's a monitor tour, you might be asking? Basically, places like prefectural tourism organizations often want foreigner feedback on how certain destinations are perceived, what they can do to improve them, and the like.

Essentially, you get to visit places for free, or perhaps better framed as for the price of your feedback.

I've found monitor tours being advertised on Facebook ads (probably targeted through geographic location), through large foreigner focused publications like Tokyo Weekender, and the like. One of my absolute favorites was to Monbetsu in Hokkaido, where I got to stay at a lovely ryokan, go on an ice breaker ship, learn to cook with local crab, and plenty more.

I wish I'd been aware of these kinds of opportunities earlier on, because they jave been such a cool way to see parts of the country without heavy spending.