7/11 Barcrawl: Chapter One!

Hello hello! Welcome to the first chapter of The 7/11 Barcrawl, my Japan travelogue! If you're curious about the comic or want to learn more about the background, please check my post here for info -- I'll always be updating it with new information! Also, at the end of every post here at The 7/11 Barcrawl, I'll be posting links, advice, and recommendations for learning more about Japan or planning a trip there. Feel free to scroll through to the end if that's why you're here -- no hard feelings. Without further ado, please enjoy chapter one! To read the comic, you can either scroll through normally, OR click on the cover page, which will bring the comic up in a click-through form. 

Okay, there we go -- chapter one! I hope you enjoyed so far. I'll be back next week with more. 

If you're interested in Japanese bathhouses, that's great! They're great places. This is the bathhouse we went to in Asakusa -- I loved it and I would highly recommend it. If you're staying near Asakusa, it would be a great place to relax after a long day. 

Check this link here for Japanese bathhouse etiquette and some more information about what the bathhouse experience is like, and this link for recommendations for the best bathhouses in Tokyo! You can also easily search "bathhouse" and the name of the neighborhood you're staying in to find a good one. Make sure to follow the leads of the people around you, and try to be at ease (although the public nudity may feel somewhat uncomfortable to you if you're American). 

Here's Elsie Larson's post about starting your own capsule wardrobe, as I did when I was packing. If you're interested, it's a great way to get started. I honestly recommend it when traveling internationally because it reduces packing stress and frees up room for all you souvenirs (much needed when you're going to Japan, in my opinion, because you'll want to buy everything you see). If you like the post, follow Elsie on Instagram or check out her blog here.

Interested in studying abroad like I did in high school? That's great! Please feel free to reach out to me on Twitter or Instagram if you have any questions -- I loved high school study abroad and recommend it to everyone, and I would love to chat about it with you. For starters, I studied abroad with CCI Greenheart and would highly recommend their program. You can easily get in touch with their staff via the website to ask some basic questions. Also, I'm writing a comic about my experience studying abroad! I hope you'll read it -- I answer a lot of questions you might have about my experience there. 

My "hometown" for my study abroad was Nagaoka. It's a small town on the sea of Japan, about three hours from Tokyo by bullet train. If you're looking for a smaller town vibe, I would really recommend it. The food is fantastic, and the people there are all very friendly and kind! If you visit, I recommend going to the ocean by Kashiwazaki. The fish markets there are REALLY cool, as well as the Lover's Point (where you can see the entire ocean!). Echigo Hillside Park is a pretty national park -- I would recommend that as an outing as well. It's also quite famous for its summer fireworks show! I arrived too late to see it, but it's very popular and has been voted the number one fireworks show in Japan. 

That's all for this week! Please feel free to follow me on Twitter or Instagram for updates on when I post. I can't wait to share more of this trip with you!