How to Plan a Solo Trip to Japan

There are all sorts of trips – family holidays, honeymoons, group trips, work trips, girls weekends, staycation – and right now I am planning my very first solo trip.

Back to Japan.

Because, of course that’s where I’m going.

It didn’t start out as a solo trip but that’s how the dice fell and so that’s what I’m doing.

I go in 9 months, so I have a lot of time to plan. However even so far out I can see a series of pros and cons emerging. So over the next 9 months you’ll read about my process of preparing for my solo trip.

Let’s talk about the initial planning phase of any trip.

1 – Picking the destination

Pros of doing this on a solo trip is that you have complete control over the decision of where to go. You do not have to convince anyone else why they would want to go there. It’s your holiday, it’s your choice.

Con of doing this for a solo trip. You are almost yelling into an echo chamber when it comes to coming up with ideas of where to go. If you’ve already been there it gives you a more informed opinion and YouTube helps to get a feel for it but ask a real person and the response is “it’s your holiday, do what you like.”

2 – Deciding on a budget

Pros of planning a solo trip – you can really make your dollar (or yen, whatever) stretch further. It’s food for one, flights for one, accommodation for one. Our last trip to Japan cost us around $20,000.00 AUD for 4 people for 2 weeks. And that sounds like a lot but flights were $4,000.00 and accommodation was about that too. Going in a group adds up quick.

Cons of planning a solo trip – there is no cost sharing. There’s no splitting the bill. It’s all on you.

3 – Booking Accommodation

Pros of planning a solo trip – a whole world of accommodation choices open up when going it alone and especially when not travelling with young children. Capsule hotels were off the menu for our last trip because the kids are too young so it was top of my list for this trip. Last trip we were also very mindful of not moving around too much so the kids had a bit of a home base, going alone means I can be a bit more fluid and flexible with my itinerary.

Cons of planning a solo trip – a lot of places you pay for the room rather than the number of people in it so it’s $200.00 a night whether it’s 1 person or 5 people. So accommodation for a solo trip can be a big expense.

4 – Planning the Itinerary

Pros of planning a solo trip – your holiday, your choice. Like museums? Go to them! Hate museums? Don’t go to them! Vegetarian? Pick your restaurants accordingly. Love trains? Go on lots! Love theme parks? Get your tickets! Hate crowds? Head for the country.

The choices are endless and it is all up to you. And you don’t need to sell your choices to anyone. I want to go to the Snoopy Muesum in Roppongi, so guess where I’m going in December?

Cons of planning a solo trip – your holiday, your choice. Some of the best holiday memories are made when doing something you didn’t plan or choose. You lose some of that when you don’t have anyone else making choices for the trip.

So that’s my observations so far on the difference between planning a family trip and a solo trip. I am sure there are others who have had similar and different experiences of this. Drop a comment below of your thoughts.