Things I didn't do early on: Exploring other parts of Asia

Living in Japan presents a whole host of cool opportunities, and one of them is getting to explore other destinations in Asia. For instance, Hong Kong is a 5 hour flight away, Seoul is about two and a half hours, and Taiwan is about 3 hours. Easy enough to do as a weekend trip, if you time it right!

It took a little while (maybe about 8 months or so) of living here before I took my first trip outside Japan in Asia, and since then I've managed to tick off quite a few countries. I'm from Australia originally, so some Asian countries aren't crazy long flights from home for me, but I know that for other folks who might hail from the Americas, Europe, or Africa, that these opportunities are hard to pass up.

Cute street art in Hong Kong

If you do have the time and the finances, I highly recommend planning some trips outside Japan while you're living here. It's such a cool way to experience other cultures, try new foods, and so forth.

If you've done any travel in Asia while you've been living in Japan, do you have a favorite destination?