This moth is definitely out of its cocoon.

Last time I did my update from Kyoto, Japan and since I had just arrived there I didn’t really have any pictures to share. Thus I am going to make it up to you through this post. While I have long left Japan, explored Vietnam and I am in Laos in a net-cafe right now, I thought I should start with Japan.

I have an extremely tight budget therefore I only went to Kyoto and Osaka for the time being and plan on visiting Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki on my next trip. What can I really say about Kyoto? We flew from Incheon Airport to Kansai Airport using Peach, a budget airline. While a decent looking aircraft and reliable looking from outside, it was unbelievably small and uncomfortable for someone my size. They did however offer cheap tour tickets, which we conveniently missed by sleeping through the entire plane ride.

Once we arrived at Kansai Airport, we tried to find the cheapest method of getting to Kyoto. Well as it turned out, first time Japan visitors get a special discount and can take a train straight to Kyoto Station.  This was awesome, because this deal was even better than what Peach airlines was offering. So using this discount ticket, we arrived in Kyoto and headed on towards our “hotel”.

The hotel was called ‘First Cabin Kyoto Karasuma’ and the description said that it was a capsule hotel. Well, I was expecting something like a coffin, but what I actually got was this:

It was big enough that I could stand in it and the bed was incredibly comfortable. The only downside was that the storage compartment was very small, but I could leave my backpack at the check-in desk and pick it up at anytime.

While the bathroom and showers were shared, we still had privacy and everything was very clean and neat.

And since by the time we arrived in Kyoto, all the tourist attractions as well as restaurants were closed,  we just walked around our hotel area and ate lunch+dinner at the first place we could find open, an Irish Pub.

While I would like to post my thoughts about South Korea and especially about matters that I personally think should be changed, I am too tired to be diplomatic and hence instead I will write about my feelings in regards to my future plans. Currently I am in Japan and soon will be leaving to do some backpacking around Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia-Thailand-Singapore and Malaysia. Why?

Throughout my life, all I have ever wanted was to explore the world. I wanted to go everywhere, meet everyone and make as many friends as I could. However, it felt like life didn’t agree and the timing was never right. Which is why I have only been to a limited number of places during my lifetime, most of which I don’t even remember.

This year, when I heard that I got accepted into Kyung Hee University and I was actually going to come to South Korea, I thought to myself “it is finally time to travel and use the experience to grow up”. While I was very excited about the opportunity of exploring South Korea as well as South-East Asia, I was also incredibly nervous. I hadn’t traveled to too many places alone and traveling in Asia meant that I might have to do some parts of my traveling alone. The thought of being alone and not having anyone to have my back still to this day scares me, but right now I am almost alone, nervous but mostly EXCITED.

By almost alone, I mean that while I am traveling to Japan with two friends and I managed to book a room in the same hotel as them in the last minute, I am still here at the other end of the floor with nobody else. It is too quite and a bit creepy, but I am UTTERLY excited!!! I feel like a moth that is about to break out of  its cocoon.

I can’t wait to start seeing more of the world and hopefully have the same drive as now to keep you all posted about my adventures.

In the meantime, here is how a cocoon is defined on the world wide web:
Cocoon: a protective or comforting envelop or surrounding.