Travel – Travels With Matt Blog

The Hardest Part of Solo Travel Nobody Talks About

Solo travel is freedom.

That’s one of the biggest reasons I love it.

You wake up when you want. You eat where you want. You decide which train to take, which neighborhood to explore, and how long you want to stay somewhere.

The Japan You See When You Stop Looking for Japan

There is a point during a trip to Japan when you stop searching for Japan.

At first, that sounds strange. You flew across the world to see it. You planned the shrines, neighborhoods, observation decks, train routes, restaurants and day trips. You came with an idea in your head of what Japan was supposed to look like, and for the first few days you chase that image.

You look for the neon. The temples. The train stations. The lanterns. The food. The moments that confirm you are exactly where you dreamed of being.

Then, if you stay long enough, something changes.

You stop looking so hard.

The Train Station Exit Can Change Your Entire Day

One of the first things you learn while traveling through Japan is that arriving at the correct train station does not necessarily mean you have arrived where you think you have.

Sometimes the real adventure begins when you choose the exit.

Nowhere has taught me that lesson more than Shinjuku Station.

Getting Around Japan: What I’ve Learned About Transportation After Four Trips

One of the biggest questions I had before my first trip to Japan was how I was going to get around.

Looking at a Tokyo rail map for the first time can be intimidating. There are dozens of train lines, hundreds of stations, and millions of people moving through them every day. Before I arrived, I convinced myself I was going to get lost every five minutes.

The reality couldn’t have been more different.

Why Roppongi Will Always Feel Like My First Tokyo

There are places you visit, and then there are places that become part of your story.

For me, that place is Roppongi.

It was the first ward I ever stayed in when I traveled to Japan for the first time in 2017. At the time, I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t understand the trains. I didn’t know how to navigate Tokyo. I barely understood how to get through a metro station without looking completely lost.

You Got on the Wrong Train in Japan. Now What?

There is a very specific kind of panic that happens when you are sitting on a train in Japan and suddenly realize the station names are not matching what you expected.

The Difference Between Visiting Japan and Returning to Japan

There are few feelings quite like visiting Japan for the first time.

Months before your flight, you’re planning everything. You’re watching videos, reading travel blogs, saving photos, studying train maps, and trying to imagine what life will be like on the other side of the world.

You prepare as much as you can.

But the truth is, you can never fully prepare for what Japan actually feels like.

Why Osaka Feels Better After Dark

Osaka is a great city during the day.

But I think it becomes itself at night.

Once the sun disappears, the city feels different. The streets get louder, the signs get brighter, the restaurants start filling up, and the neighborhoods seem to loosen their grip a little. Osaka stops feeling like a place you are supposed to admire and starts feeling like a place you are supposed to join.

That is what stood out to me most during my 2025 trip.

The City That Never Asked Anything of Me

Every city asks something of you.

Some ask you to slow down. Some ask you to spend money.

Some ask you to fit in, to understand their customs, or to become part of the rhythm they’ve created.

Tokyo never asked me for anything. It simply welcomed me.

Why I Never Feel Finished With Japan

I’ve been fortunate enough to visit Japan four times, and as I plan my fifth trip, one thing has become clear.

I don’t think I’ll ever feel finished with this incredible country.

You would think that after four visits I’d finally start checking destinations off a list. Instead, the opposite has happened. Every trip seems to create an even longer list of places I want to experience the next time I return.

That’s part of Japan’s magic.

What to Do If You Experience an Earthquake in Japan: A Traveler’s Guide

Japan is one of my favorite places in the world, but there is one reality every traveler should understand before visiting: Japan has earthquakes.

The recent earthquake in the Kumamoto area is another reminder of that.

On July 28, 2026, a powerful earthquake struck Kumamoto Prefecture in southwestern Japan, reaching a magnitude of 7.1 and maximum intensity of 7 on Japan’s seismic intensity scale. The earthquake caused significant damage and disruption across the region.

That doesn’t mean you should cancel your first trip to Japan. Far from it.

But if you’re traveling to Japan for the first time, you should know what to do if the ground suddenly starts moving.

The good news is that Japan has extensive earthquake preparedness systems, early-warning technology and procedures designed around earthquakes. And as a traveler, there are a few simple things you can do to make the experience much less stressful.

The First Place You Return To

Every traveler has that place.

The one they find themselves returning to every single trip.

Not because it’s the biggest attraction. Not because it’s the most famous.

But because somewhere along the way, it became part of their story. For me, Japan has two of those places.