where did you go this year?
If the answer is “nowhere this time”, may I suggest a European visit next year?
Most Japanese take woefully short vacations – I mean can you really call five days off (including a weekend) a “vacation”? – however, a trip to Europe definitely deserves two weeks, coworkers’ and the boss’ feelings be damned. Most preferably a self-organized trip so you would have enough time to “stop and look around”.
Japanese tours, while usually good value for the money, are notoriously busy leaving very little time to explore interesting sites, off the beaten path places or less frequently traveled locations. Book the hotels yourself and you can choose something that’s more interesting, charming or unique than the accommodations tour companies usually select. Rent a car and drive around at your leisure, giving you ultimate freedom to go anywhere, anytime you wish and stay as long as you desire. It’s definitely more challenging than joining an organized tour however the enjoyment factor is also much higher.
What countries should you visit? Well, that’s really up to you and your budget.
If it’s Western Europe you are interested in, well you better hurry as the “old” Europe you may have seen in movies, heard of or remember from a previous trip won’t exist much longer.
Unchecked immigration, herds of illegals from North Africa and South Asia flooding into those countries, has irrevocably altered the once charming and safe cities, made France, Italy, Germany, Holland, the UK, Sweden etc. more like third world hell holes than once thriving cultural centers of the world.
Numerous large Western European cities and capitals have “no-go” zones where even the local police don’t enter.
They are ruled by immigrant gangs, drugs and violence are rampant.
As immigration is ramping up in Japan, it’s just a question of time before similar things happen here too, make no mistake about it. Most of the newcomers to Japan have large reproduction rate (fertility rate), same as immigrants in Europe, they
often have 3-4-5 children per family compared to the 1.2 (2022 data) in Japan. It’s a demographic time bomb waiting to explode.
Do you want to see those people in the pictures in your neighborhood?
I think not…
If you really want to see what Europe used to look like I suggest a visit to East Europe and to a lesser degree Switzerland and Austria, although the latter one also has a lot of problem now with immigrants in places like Vienna and other large cities.
On the other hand, East Europe is still pure, clean, safe, customer service is as it should be and on top of that much more wallet friendly than the West. You can walk around in any city in Hungary, Slovakia, Poland or in the Czech Republic and won’t be harassed, mugged, beaten or your property stolen by immigrants.
You can enjoy reasonably priced accommodations in beautiful cities, good food and friendly faces serving you with a smile, as it should be.
The same cannot be said about the West, as I have experienced it first hand on my trip this summer to Italy, Switzerland and Germany. In Venice most of the souvenir stands are staffed by people who looked like they are from South Asia. They have zero customer service skills, are rude and ignorant. In one souvenir shop I was greeted by Indian music blasting from loud speakers! In Venice!
Talk about ruining the mood.
And it was similar in Germany. In the hotel I stayed at in Stuttgart the front desk staff, two Middle Eastern looking men, were sitting outside the hotel, smoking! Unimaginable in Japan or indeed in any country with decent customer service standards. It was a 3-star hotel, not a rundown youth hostel. The West is declining and doing it fast so plan your trip as soon as you can if you want to catch the tail end of what’s left of this once magnificent continent as the inevitable decline of Western civilization is already here.
Old (Western) Europe is no more.
And a phone call to your local government representative regarding limiting the number of immigrants to Japan would also be a good idea. If you want to leave a livable place to you children, that is.
Make no mistake, they are coming!
Does Japan have the foresight to protect herself?
Alex