Looking for advice on traveling overseas.

[jvrlopez]

I'm leaving for Okinawa, Japan this Monday and am curious as to if anyone has any advice for traveling overseas? Should I take some local currency with me before I depart? Where should I look for for help first?

My sponsor has filled me in quite a bit but some more help couldn't hurt.

I'm pretty excited but I'm not looking forward to flying from San Antonio to Dallas, from Dallas to Tokyo (13 hours!), making my way across Tokyo to get from my arriving airport to my departing one (THIS should be interesting), and flying another 2 hours to Okinawa.

7000 miles away from home with a ton of baggage, no cellphone service, and not being well versed in the local language - SHOULD BE FUN.

[Caciss]

Re: Looking for advice on traveling overseas.

KAWAIII

[altoecko]

Re: Looking for advice on traveling overseas.

If you only have a little bit of space but you want to bring a lot of clothes roll up your clothes instead of folding them, they take up a helluva lot less space. For currency go to a bank and get as much money as you need till you get paid next, exchanged for local currency over there. This'll normally net you a cool antique bill in there since they had to dig into the backlog of currency. I found when traveling an ATM/Credit card is fantastic you can just fill up your bank-account and then get money ANYWHERE in Japan. Just look out for service fees. For the language just bring an English to Japanese dictionary and most people will be kind enough to help.

Edit: How are you going to get money once you get over there? Are you going to have to get a local bank account or getting paid in cash?

[jvrlopez]

Re: Looking for advice on traveling overseas.

I have my debit card that is tied to the banking account that receives my direct deposit.

I'm going to hold onto that, open up a new bank account on the air base, and then have my direct deposit switched over.

[Chad]

Re: Looking for advice on traveling overseas.

You should just get to taming the natives immediately. Bring plenty of extra crosses and bibles and make sure not to let them run amok.

[Vanilla Iced Tea]

Re: Looking for advice on traveling overseas.

Well, do you have an American flag shirt? That's the most important thing for travelling to foreign countries. Here's one that's pretty sweet: http://www.sheplers.com/mens/his_and...&CS_010=091919

[Kefka Jr.]

Re: Looking for advice on traveling overseas.

Okinawa is awesome. It's like Hawaii, but poorer, so you can actually afford things there. And my beach experience was nothing but extremely pleasant.

Good news about Japan is that they like Americans, and they're pretty helpful by nature. And a lot of businesses actually teach some of their employees some rudimentary English. Some of the bigger food chains have English menus, too.

I don't know what public tranportation is like down there, though. Our host had a car.

[IRC]

Re: Looking for advice on traveling overseas.

You should be able to exchange currency at airports and post offices. I think train stations too but I'm not sure. When I was there I just withdrew money out of a Citibank atm. I have no idea what kind of fees and penalties I incured though.

Pretty much everything KJ said is right except that some people are so helpful that they'll lie to you if they don't know the answer to what your asking. Pretty much all food places have picture menus. Anything ending in don is great.

[Magus]

Re: Looking for advice on traveling overseas.

Do they have Mos Burger in Okinawa?

[Kefka Jr.]

Re: Looking for advice on traveling overseas.

I don't remember seeing any.

There was a pretty cool arcade in Naha, though.

[madcopper]

Re: Looking for advice on traveling overseas.

I was just in Japan last week and used the ATM's there, the fee was only like $1.50 which is actually less then what I pay in the states some times... Oh and if your a single guy, get ready to cream your pants because the girls there are so amazingly beautiful that you just wont know what to do. Besides that, do some karaoke, eat some sushi, drink some saki, and have your self a good time. If you do go out with friends, remember that this is not your country so don't be demanding, loud, or obnoxious.

I have lived overseas for about 8 years and it is so embarrassing to see American tourist who just are loud and annoying. One in Budapest I went to burger king (I hadn't been to one in 2 years) and there was this loud group of about 20 Americans in front of me. Naturally the people at the counters did not speak english and the tourist people just got so mad. After they got done I had to go and order and the lady was not happy. But I wish you the best of luck. Have fun.

[Kefka Jr.]

Re: Looking for advice on traveling overseas.

Oh, yeah, like IRC said, you can never go wrong with dishes ending in "don". Or "soba".

Oh and if your a single guy, get ready to cream your pants because the girls there are so amazingly beautiful that you just wont know what to do.

Dude, did I go during an off-season? I was nothing but disappointed by the attractiveness of women in the Tokyo area - and I was looking pretty hard.

I think the highest density of good-looking people was in Yokohama. Okinawa was all right, too.

P.S. American tourists are apparently less obnoxious than French ones.

[madcopper]

Re: Looking for advice on traveling overseas.

Dude, did I go during an off-season? I was nothing but disappointed by the attractiveness of women in the Tokyo area - and I was looking pretty hard.

I think the highest density of good-looking people was in Yokohama. Okinawa was all right, too.

P.S. American tourists are apparently less obnoxious than French ones.

Or maybe we just have different taste in women...
Nice find with the French tourist thing, they even hate French tourist!

[Valkysas]

Re: Looking for advice on traveling overseas.

most japanese girls are borderline grotesque, especially if they open their mouths.

[Stormy]

Re: Looking for advice on traveling overseas.

Also, you should try very hard to attend the Sasuke tournament (a.k.a, Ninja Warrior here in the states). Or atleast watch it on television, its pretty popular over there. And if you do get to actually go to the tournament, you should post pics, I'd give you all kinds of rep for it