Yearly Archives: 2021

While every place on our beautiful planet is a sight to behold, some are simply magical, such as the city of Kyoto. Standing as the monument to the imperial age of Japan for over a millennium, Kyoto is the very lifeblood of traditional Japanese culture. 

Naturally, the list of everything you can do and see in Kyoto is as long. Vermillion shrines and golden temples to graceful tea ceremonies, spiritual quests, swaying bamboo forests and taking mind-soothing strolls through Zen rock gardens – Kyoto is more like a place from another dimension. 

What can you expect? 

The city is swarming with tradition, culture, rich history and architecture. Shrines and temples, wooden treehouses, luscious forests, peaceful gardens and shimmering pavilions are just the tip of the iceberg. 

From top food to deep spirituality, Kyoto takes you on a journey where you’ll get to know its history and people and get in touch with your inner self. While Kyoto is the center of traditional Japan, it is also a city that gives way to modern technologies. 

You’ll find all the perks of the modern world here, including a vibrant theater and food scene, countless vending machines, concrete high-rises, excellent infrastructure and so much more.

How to avoid crowds? 

The crowds in Kyoto can be large at certain times of the year. In addition to locals, tourism has been booming in this city. After all, it is one of the biggest tourist attractions in Japan. However, there are certain ways you can ensure that the trip is not too overwhelming, especially if the crowds are something you are not used to being around. 

• Stay for more than a few days. Kyoto is a beautiful place to visit, and several days are not enough to see everything. If you stay longer, you can go exploring early in the morning and take a break sometime in the afternoon. 
• Book hotels closer to the sights you want to see. You do not want to spend the whole day on a bus or train. Thus, it is best to book a hotel closer to the locations you want to see. Then, you will be able to go on foot and explore more beautiful sights along the way. 
• Get up early. Not really a morning person? In Kyoto, you should be. The earlier you manage to roll out of bed, the bigger the chances that the streets will not be packed. Furthermore, since many temples in Kyoto open pretty late, you might want to schedule your visits appropriately. For instance, Kiyomizu-dera opens at 6:00 AM, and it could be the first one you visit. 

Visit the Fushimi Inari shrine

While in Kyoto, Fushimi Inari is a sight you simply must visit. It is a breathtakingly beautiful shrine with countless bright orange torii gates diving into the forest as it snakes up into the misty mountains. 

Visiting this shrine can be a simple temple visit or a forest hike. There are many other shrines to visit along the way, with stunning miniature toriis and magnificent stone fox statues. The fox is vital to Japanese culture as it is considered the messenger of Inari – the Shinto god of rice. The shrine is open 24/7, and entry is free.

Experience the beauty of Southern Higashiyama and Gion

Gion is part of southern Higashiyama, which is one of the most interesting areas to visit in Kyoto. You can find some of the best-preserved and most picturesque streets from old times in the city. It’s considered a historic district and is crowded with paper lanterns, paved stone pathways, narrow lanes and wooden houses. 

The entire district is loaded with temples, but the area we recommend visiting first is Gion. Being that Gion is Kyoto’s main geisha district, you can see many beautiful women in traditional Japanese attire. That aside, Yasaka Shrine, Shinbashi-dori, the Shirakawa Canal and Hanami-koji are also top sights that should be on your radar. Overall, Gion is known for its mesmerizing, historic atmosphere with many elements of the traditional Japanese culture preserved. 

Additionally, do not miss the opportunity to visit Shijo Dori. It is a shopping street full of goods for tourists with high-end tastes. Even if you do not plan on buying anything, just seeing all the gorgeous things for sale is an experience. 

Check out the Kiyomizu-dera temple

Kiyomizu-dera has been standing since 778 AD and is another monumental Kyoto sightseeing spot that you shouldn’t miss. What is so characteristic about this particular location is its rather dramatic hillside view across the city. The first thing that will captivate you is a vast wooden main hall that was built entirely without a single nail. 

Then, there is also a thousand-armed, eleven-faced statue of Kannon to behold as well. You can also find other interesting things to see in this rather large complex that houses many other buildings and structures such as the bizarre Tainai-meguri, quiet paths into the forest, red three-story pagoda and the captivating entrance gate.

Take a stroll down the Philosopher’s Path 

Located in Northern Higashiyama along a canal lined with cherry trees, the Philosopher’s Path is truly a wonderful sight to see. It connects two of the most popular temples, Ginkaku-ji and Nanzen-ji, and is 2 km long. It is an excellent place for getting in touch with your inner energy and doing some meditation, as well as strolling down the canal while exploring smaller temples along the way. Of course, you do not have to go all the way along the path. You can walk for as much as you like and turn around. 

Visit teahouses for a short break

You might need some time to rest before visiting another place. Teahouses are the place for calm and soothing contemplation and relaxation. Thus, be sure to visit at least one teahouse on your trip to Kyoto. If you are more used to seeing coffee shops, teahouses serve a similar purpose. However, instead of coffee, you get tea. 

For instance, if you are already in the Gion district, there are countless teahouses you can visit. While some might be more modern, other teahouses will have preserved their original authenticity. Hence, for the full experience, we suggest visiting Ichiriki Ochaya. It is a historic teahouse, a place that is mentioned in the history books. After all, Japan’s revolutionary warriors assembled in this place to talk strategy. 

Stay safe while exploring Kyoto

Being in Kyoto is a brilliant travel experience. In addition to modern technology, you get to behold one of the most historic places in the country. Additionally, almost all locations are well-preserved, allowing you to imagine what they looked like centuries ago. 

However, all fun aside, staying safe in Kyoto should also be a priority. After all, you might get enchanted with everything around you. And then, accidentally, you might lose important documents or put your digital data in danger. 

Here are some basic travel safety tips while you’re visiting Kyoto to make sure you have the best time possible. These recommendations work in any city you visit. So, remember them whenever you are about to embark on any trip. 

• Do some research on the most expected problems that will probably arise in the destination you’re visiting. A simple Google search will allow you to prepare for unexpected situations. For instance, did you know that you should not take photographs of the geishas in the Gion district? If you want to capture the moment, you must ask for permission first. Furthermore, attempts to take pictures might lead to fines. 
• Make copies of all important documents and keep them in a safe place. This recommendation is simple, and you should do this before any trip.
• Make sure your hotel room is always locked when you’re not there, and when you’re inside as well. This is an easy way to protect your belongings and to have that peace of mind that all of your stuff is safe.
• When using the hotel Wi-Fi, it’s always best to ensure your connection is as secure as possible. You can do this by enabling a VPN before you connect to the internet. A VPN protects your data and ensures that everything you do online gets encrypted. Thus, eavesdroppers will have no chance of intercepting your communications. 

The post How to Have the Most Rewarding Time While Visiting Kyoto appeared first on Wandering Earl.

Archaeologist Sergio Gomez displays a pot that’s shaped in the image of storm god Tlaloc, found inside a 2,000-year-old tunnel built under the ornate Feathered Serpent Pyramid, which Gomez believes recreated the underworld and was used to initiate new rulers among other religious rituals, in the ruins of Teotihuacan, in San Juan Teotihuacan, Mexico August 12, 2021. Toya Sarno Jordan / Reuters

Read the Complete Story On Skift

Quite often I receive emails that ask – Earl, how can I live the digital nomad lifestyle? How can I become a digital nomad?

I always reply and usually, my response starts off with something like:

That question equates to asking – how can I become an office worker? 

They are both very broad categories (and goals) that don’t really offer a direct path or set of defined steps to reach them. They both exist but they are both merely outer shells. What matters most is what you fill them with inside.

What is inside?

A job. A way to earn money. 

The Digital Nomad Truth

Here’s the truth – the term “digital nomad” is not a job.

It’s a lifestyle. A digital nomad is a person who has the freedom to move around due to the fact that they can work from their laptop and/or other portable devices.

In order to be a digital nomad, you need to figure out a way to earn money. The nomadic part and the money/work part are generally two very separate things.

And finding work that can provide a nomadic lifestyle generally requires the same process as finding a job that requires a daily 9-5 trip to the office:

• examine your skills, abilities, interests and education
• figure out which jobs are suitable for what you can offer
• narrow it down to jobs/work that interest you and provide benefits that match your needs
• try to get hired by a company offering that job
• for some, you might create your own business or freelance opportunity instead

Again, whether you strive to be a digital nomad or office worker, you need to find a suitable job/source of income that will lead to that lifestyle/work environment.

The Digital Nomad Opportunities

Luckily, these days, the number of jobs that can match up with a nomadic lifestyle is only increasing. For example, between the years of 2009 – 2018, whenever I met someone on the road who worked online, the chances were quite high that they were a travel blogger or were trying to do one of the less official jobs that I even mentioned in this post. But over the past few years, that has changed significantly. Now I rarely meet another travel blogger.

Instead, I meet data scientists, tech support agents, language tutors, professional development consultants, video editors, advertising reps, psychologists, app developers, magazine editors, accountants, artists, trainers, human resources managers, musicians and on and on.

This is great news. This means that real jobs that earn good money, and offer a remote lifestyle, are more accessible than ever.

Ignoring All the Fluff

Sure, there’s also a lot of fluff out there too. And the point of this post is to try and explain how to create a real digital nomad lifestyle that provides the real freedom you seek. To do so, I would ignore the fluff:

• courses that promise an incredible life with almost no work
• get rich quick schemes
• the lure of ‘easy’ drop shipping success
• courses on how to quickly become a successful life coach
• anyone that teaches you something new and promises you quick results

It all sounds good and glamorous, but it’s not reality, trust me.

If you want to create a longer term, sustainable nomadic lifestyle that provides the genuine freedom to move around as you wish, I’d personally focus on work that has an actual existing market, plenty of job opportunities and that pays a good, consistent salary. I would also highly consider applying for actual remote jobs as opposed to trying to create your own stream of income. It’s a far easier and more stable path to a successful digital nomad lifestyle.

Also, it’s important to keep in mind that work is work. It doesn’t have to be the ‘job of your dreams’. That’s rare and, in my opinion, is not something to strive for. Or else you’ll be running around in circles for years trying to find that ‘perfect job’. 

Instead, strive to find work that interests you to a decent degree and allows you to use your non-work time to do the things that you really want to do in life. It’s about finding an ideal balance. The job pays the bills, and hopefully provides some satisfaction along with the freedom that an office job would not provide. There’s always going to be a trade off, but that’s absolutely okay.

My approach to the digital nomad lifestyle is to take a step back from all the noise, grand promises and too-good-to-be-true social media accounts that are thrown in our faces nonstop. If you really want to succeed, take a BIG step back, shake it all off and then proceed with a more grounded and focused approach, one based in reality and proven results.

Use your actual skills, knowledge and abilities. Find actual jobs that pay well and allow you to work remotely. Avoid getting lost in the endless, nonsensical rabbit hole of trying to figure out how to work 30 minutes per day so that you can spend the rest of your time lounging at 5* resorts in the Maldives. Again, that’s just not reality.

On the other hand, a nap on a hammock in Aruba every now and then, in between work sessions, can certainly happen…

The Digital Nomad Rewards

What is reality, is the opportunity to live a very fulfilling life. The opportunity to spend your time living in places around the world, or in your own country, that you really want to experience. The opportunity to spend your free time doing new activities, meeting new people and soaking up a new culture in ways that would not be possible if you never left home.

That’s the goal – to be able to make decisions that are more in line with what you actually want to do and achieve in life instead of what you have to do because of circumstances.

If I think of all my friends who live this nomadic lifestyle as well, it is those who took a step back and ignored the noise and absurd promises that are the most successful. They are the ones who have genuine freedom to travel the world, or stay put in one place, as they wish. They are not on social media bragging about their travels and they are not making grand claims about what they earn while selling a course on how to earn the same.

Instead, they are the ones who are quietly traveling the world, doing their work each day and earning good, consistent money that will keep them going for as long as they want, while also being able to save for their future at the same time. Some of them have remote jobs with companies and others started their own businesses but either way, they all ignored the noise and built something real.

We all have the ability to make this digital nomad lifestyle happen if we want. Just look at the complete history of digital nomads and you’ll get inspired to do just that.

We just have to remember that the foundation of this lifestyle needs to be built out of strong, reliable substance (a job), hard work (there will be challenges) and time (it doesn’t happen quickly). Once that’s understood, the opportunities are indeed endless and the chance of success increases drastically.

As always, if you have any questions at all, just let me know and I’d be happy to assist!

The post The Digital Nomad Lifestyle – Reality, Opportunities and Rewards appeared first on Wandering Earl.