The Itinerary—
Day 0: Nonstop flight to Rome
Day 1: Landed in Rome early in the morning and got an early check-in to the hotel. Got oriented to the city by walking around Piazza del Popolo, Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain
Day 2: Visited the Trevi Fountain quickly before our 8:55 guided tour of the Colosseum Arena and Forum. In the afternoon, visited the Capitoline Museums and walked around Tiber Island and a bit of Trastevere
Day 3: 7:45 guided tour of the Vatican and St Peters Basilica. After lunch, walked around Campo di Fiori and visited Piazza Navona as well it’s underground
Day 4: Attended a cooking class where we made pasta and tiramisu. Afterwards, visited the Roman National Museums
Day 5: Day trip to Orvieto. Visited the duomo, underground caves, and St Patricks Well
Day 6: Early train to Florence. Walked around the Duomo before lunch. Afterwards, climbed Brunelleschi’s Dome. For the rest of the day, walked around the Ponte Vecchio area.
Day 7: Took a guided day trip to 2 Tuscan towns. Spent time walking around Siena before a winery tour and lunch in a Tuscan winery. After lunch, visited San Gimignano before heading back to Florence
Day 8: Visited the Uffizi right when it opened and then climbed Giottos Bell Tower before lunch. Saw the David afterwards before relaxing in the evening and enjoying a Florentine T-bone steak
Day 9: Morning train to Venice. After checking into the hotel, visited St Marks Basilica, wandered Dorsoduro, and rode in a gondola
Day 10: Got up at 4:30 to watch the sunrise, wandered around the San Marco area without the crowds and then did the secret itinerary tour of Doges Palace. In the afternoon, walked around in the Cannaregio area before spending the evening at St Marks Square
💶 The Cost for Two People—
Attractions and Tours: €1200 ——I did a small group tour for the Colosseum, Vatican, and Tuscan winery
Hotels: €1700 ——All 3 star hotels near the city centers
Meals/Drinks/Gelato: €1000 ——Ate a light breakfast everyday and ate out at a sit down restaurants for almost all meals (skipped maybe 2 dinners if I had a big lunch)
Flights: €3300 ——Nonstop flight from the US to Rome and 1 stop from Venice back to the US
Transport within Italy: €300 ——Prima Class on Italo trains, ubers, vaporetto pass, transport to/from airport
TOTAL COST: €7500
Travel tips I learned: 1. Book tours for important sites and get into sites right before they open or close. I got the earliest tour for the Colosseum and shared the arena floor with the 4 other people in our group. Surprisingly, it never felt crowded in the Colosseum

1. Only book SMALL or private tours. Both tours for Colosseum and Winery had 6 people total whereas the Vatican tour had maybe 15. For me, having 15 people in a group was way too many. I think that for crowded/popular sites, spend the money for private tours or tours that have less than 10 people.
   
2. Don’t only visit the big cities. I enjoyed Orvieto and Siena way more than Florence and Venice. (Rome was my favorite stop though)
   
3. Get up early or stay up late. I got up for sunrise at Venice and it was magical. Completely different than during the day and 10 times better
   

DISCLAIMER
I almost didn’t post this. Not because I think it’s too wild or doesn’t make any sense. In fact, quite the opposite. The information I present here, which is the result of countless hours spent re-watching videos, listening to audio, and cross-referencing official information, is something that now seems to me to be far too viable not to be correct. I have actually tried to prove this theory wrong and… well basically I can’t. So, please bear this in mind as you read. This could end up being one of those rare occasions when we’re actually onto something. Either way, I hope you enjoy the post.
First point; this is going to be a long post. Given the subject matter, it needs to be. Second point; I have not added any images or videos directly into the post but have instead included a great many links embedded within the text itself. This should ensure that the post is no longer than it needs to be but should still allow you sufficient opportunity to fully scrutinize every part of my theory, so that you can determine for yourself whether or not you think it holds weight.
I have organised all of the information under specific headings designed to make everything more accessible. Each section focuses on a particular aspect of the main theory. Even if you think that some of what you are reading may not be relevant, I can assure you that everything written here has been included as an important part of a much larger puzzle, and so I would advise that you patiently make your way through the entirety of the post. In an effort to ensure that your time invested here is appropriately rewarded, and in the spirit of preserving the scientific method, I have tried to keep flavor text and blind speculation down to an absolute minimum.
Note that I will be listing various aspects of this post as being confirmed correct or incorrect as and when we have official information to verify such facts. So here we are, after five long years of waiting, the inevitable release of Starfield, like the event horizon of some nearby black hole, is almost upon us. With the Showcase now a mere 24 hours away, it is time for us to take a look at what makes this particular game so special, as well as discovering just how we will be given the means to fly among the stars.
And so, without further ado, let us begin.
Hitchhiker's Guide
From watching gameplay footage, and also listening to various devs talk about Starfield, we know that at some along the early part of the story, we will find ourselves on board a Constellation Starship, which is appropriately named Frontier. With us on the ship is VASCO, an adorable robot assistant who will eventually become one of our possible companions. But how did we even end up on this ship? Well firstly, I do not believe that Frontier is our ship, or at least not at first. And so, we’re probably here in the capacity of a ‘guest’ of some kind, or more likely, a hitchhiker.
If we take a look at this scene, we first hear a male shouting “that’s the Crimson Fleet!” and then a female saying “Everybody get ready!” After this, we can see that the group we are with is attacked. We already know that we uncover some kind of unknown artifact whilst mining for ore near the beginning of the Main Quest, and that the aforementioned Crimson Fleet is essentially an organised collective of space pirates. But what we don’t know is why they attacked us. This is not something I will be diving into in this particular post, although I do have some theories about this. But the relevance of the series of events here described cannot be understated, as they seem to be the launching point for our entry into Constellation and the adventures that follow.
Next, if we look a little further, we can see that this seemingly-important member of Constellation is not with us when we arrive at their Headquarters on Jemison, which suggests that he may have been killed during the above mentioned attack. Also note that, in-spite of not having a voiced protagonist this time round, we can clearly hear somebody talking over Frontier’s comms system, which means that there must be a designated pilot. Given the fact that we don’t see anyone who is confirmed as being the pilot (although it may actually be this person), it is safe to assume that this designated individual was with us during the flight but was first injured in the attack on the planet’s surface and was then taken to Medical Bay after we successfully land on Jemison.
It is my belief that, after perhaps being exposed to some kind of energy pulse from a grenade or something similar, the first member of Constellation we see was outright killed (hence why we are then asked to join up ourselves, perhaps to take over his role). The pilot, however, clearly survived as we can hear him talking to Control over the comms system during what is actually an extended two-way conversation, but I think that his vision was somehow compromised so that, even though he is able to speak, he is temporarily unable to see. The good news about this most unfortunate situation is that it opens the door for us to quickly step into the hot seat and, with the pilot acting as our guide, we will experience our very first Starfield flight tutorial.
Radio Chatter
If you listen to the beginning of both the Official Teaser Trailer and Official Gameplay Reveal for Starfield, you will hear both halves of the radio conversation I have referenced above, or at least the parts of it that Bethesda have given us so far. The first of these is spoken by somebody being referred to as Control, and the second by Frontier’s pilot. I previously posted a link to an audio I made and put up on Soundcloud, which gives us all of the confirmed parts of this conversation carefully spliced together and enhanced for clarity. Note that some of the audio, despite these enhancements, is a little hard to make out.
The final, in-game conversation is going to be a fair bit longer than what we have here and will be based on the specific processes that are required before attempting a Grav Jump. I don’t think we will hear this conversation every time we perform a Jump (especially given that our protagonist does not speak), but the first time we experience this early step-out moment, a detailed and appropriate pre-launch conversation will only serve to enhance what I’m sure will be an awe-inspiring experience.
Note that, at the end of this post, I have provided a link to a written transcript detailing what I think is being said in the full version of the above conversation. In the meantime, here is a breakdown of the confirmed parts of this audio. This is slightly different from the version I previously posted, due to new evidence clarifying exactly what is being said here. I have left line-spaces to help show where the missing parts of the audio will eventually go:
PILOT: "Control this is Constellation Starship Frontier."
CONTROL: "Constellation Starship Frontier, we have you on scanners."
PILOT: "We're ready to start on your signal."
CONTROL: "Performing Road Systems check. Helium-3 tanks, check. Seals are intact."
PILOT: "Maintaining Exit Vector course, Steady 'till Ready."
CONTROL: "We are still go."
PILOT: "Coordinates input, plotting Jump course."
CONTROL: "We read you Constellation."
PILOT: "Sky-Bus is converged, we're looking good."
CONTROL: "Jemison route looks good."
PILOT: "Allocating Auxiliary Reactor Power."
CONTROL: "Prepare for departure. Graviton Loop Array Spool, check."
PILOT: "System checks are green across the board."
CONTROL: "Your space Lane is clear."
PILOT: "Grav Jump commencing in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1."
Road-Trip
At first, this seems like a typical, albeit futuristic version of an Air Traffic Control conversation. After all, much of what is being said does sound very familiar, and the rest seems appropriate to Starfield’s apparent Hard Science Fiction theme. But it’s only when you start digging a little deeper that you realize that something else is going on here as well.
Note the following terms taken from the above transcript: Road, Exit, Course, Coordinates, Bus, Route, Departure and Lane. All these words share a very noticeable common theme. They are all in some way related to Road Networks. Note also the phrase “green across the board," which sounds like it could also be a reference to Traffic Lights.
Zooming Along
Next, let’s look at this map, which features the home of a certain Software Development Company you may have heard of. If you zoom out a fair bit, you will see two large Cities, namely Washington and Baltimore. Zoom out a little more, and you can now see the cities of Richmond to the South and Pittsburgh to the North-West. Zoom back in over any of these four major cities, and you will see that there are many more smaller locations within each of the city limits.
Now scroll the map over to any of the areas outside of these cities, and you will find a multitude of other important locations. These include residential areas, airports, medical facilities, sports and leisure facilities, research facilities, manufacturing facilities, tech companies, supermarkets), hotels, places of worship, and many others. All the above locations are important in one way of another to the continued functioning of our society, and all can be placed within two distinct categories. These are Population Centers and Infrastructure.
You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat
Now imagine that there has been some kind of catastrophic flood in this area, and all these locations, although somehow miraculously intact, are now separated from each other as a series of individual islands in the middle of a newly formed ‘ocean’. Suddenly, the existing Road Network, along with any cars, busses, and other road vehicles, would become useless. You would need to use a completely different system, one designed to properly accommodate these changes, which would of course have to incorporate such elements as harbors, shipping routes, and vehicles capable of travelling along a waterway.
Now let’s zoom out again, this time further. Much, much, further. Each location has now been transformed into either a planet or a moon, spread across various star systems covering a vast region of space. Each one of these planets and moons will have its own individual features, resources, possible inhabitants, and infrastructure requirements. With such a quantum leap in terms of scale, if we now wanted to travel between these locations, which could in many cases end up being several light years apart, we are going to need something far bigger in terms of scale, complexity, and technology.
Shown In 60 Seconds
During the first ever 60 seconds of Starfield footage we all saw, shown in the form of the Official Announcement Teaser at the end of BE3 on June 11th 2018 (which redditor InToddWeTrust2023 has very nicely referenced here), we were given some surprisingly important clues which now form the cornerstone of this theory. Not only have these clues stacked up with every consecutive trailer released, as well as many of the other official videos and various other snippets of information, but their sheer level of consistency places them well outside the realm of possible coincidence.
Some of these additional clues were given to us in the two videos referenced above which contain the comms audio. The second of these two videos, namely the Official Gameplay Reveal, dropped, as would be expected, at the end of last year’s Showcase on June 12th 2022. Some of the most crucial information we have been given to date regarding my theory is actually contained in the 70 seconds shown before Todd even begins to speak. We will discuss the relevance of all of this a little further on in the post.
Lo-go/no go
First, some Space related terminology. In Mission Control speak, a Launch Status Check, also known as a go/no go poll, is part of a very carefully designed system implemented by US Space Agencies to ensure maximum safety and the best possible survival chance of both the ship and its crew prior to launch. This, or something similar, will undoubtedly form an integral part of the pre-launch, or rather, pre-Jump procedures incorporated into Starfield, especially given what we know in relation to its specific influences, attention to detail, and focus on realism.
But let's look for a moment at a different type of launch. Let's look at the process of carefully managing the flow of information when you are launching a long-awaited, multi-million-dollar triple-A video game and you happen to be a major player. With the combined might of Bethesda, Zenimax, and now Microsoft, there is clearly a great deal of scope in terms of how they were able to execute all of the steps involved in this process. One critically important factor, and one that has been masterfully implemented in the promotion of Starfield, is the use of familiar iconography.
If we look at the iconography seen during the promotion of Starfield, we can see that there are two main elements. These are the circular Starfield logo, first unveiled in 2018, and of course the recently updated Bethesda Games Studios logo, which has existed in various iterations since around 2006. Both of these share a common, simplistic yet effective design, and the BGS logo in particular is now light years ahead of its original design as seen on box art and in promotional materials for The Elder Scrolls VI Oblivion. At the time of Oblivion’s release, the long-term use of this particular logo, which incorporates the now familiar Fallout Vault Door, was a little uncertain due to restrictions with the associated licence (more on this below). But once this matter had been resolved, it would make a lot of sense that they would then develop this logo into the much sharper, more modern version we see today.
Licenced to Fly
Way back in April of 2007, Bethesda realized one of their biggest long-term business goals by finally securing the full rights to the highly acclaimed Fallout series. Prior to this, in 2004, they had been granted limited rights which would allow them to develop Fallout 3 and then two additional games, but they clearly wanted full and unrestricted access to the franchise and all of its assets. Since this time, in addition to Fallout 3, we have seen the release of Fallout New Vegas, Fallout 4, and Fallout 76, as well as a number of smaller projects, including Fallout Shelter. This is all the proof you need to confirm the fact that, in-spite of some initial setbacks, Bethesda’s insistence on going the extra mile with regards to securing the full franchise, was most definitely worth it, and was seen by many as a landmark achievement.
Looking at the most recent entry to this ever-expanding series, namely Fallout 76, I would like to draw your attention to two of this particular game’s trailers. First, we have the Fallout 76 Official Trailer from 2018, and then The Pitt Story Trailer from 2022. In the first of these two trailers, at around the 35 second mark, we see the new BGS logo once again, and then near the end of the video we see a smaller version, neatly tucked away over on the left-hand side of the usual copyright notice. If we then look at the second trailer, at around… Hold on a second, let me rewind that a bit… wait, what?
This is where things start to get really interesting.
One Small Step
Okay, going back to the Fallout 76 trailers, although the smaller version of the BGS logo can be seen at or near the end of each of these, only the first incorporates the larger, ‘splash-screen’ version. “But why is this even important?” you may ask. “They may have simply forgotten to include this detail in the second trailer.” I can assure you that this is most certainly not the case. In fact, I am one-hundred-percent confident that this was quite intentional. I would even go as far as saying that this one, seemingly insignificant detail, actually brings us a step closer to unlocking the secrets of Starfield. Essentially, Bethesda have taken full advantage of how we all think we remember certain details, and as such, this is an example of truly expert-level hidden marketing on their part. I also believe it will form the basis of at least one of the big reveals during the showcase.
One Giant Leap
Let’s go back one more time to the Announcement Teaser and the Gameplay Reveal for Starfield. Look at how drastically different the BGS logo is in both of these videos compared to any of those used in promoting Fallout 76. What will really blow your mind here is the fact that all four of the trailers mentioned above were first shown to us during the same two Showcases we have just been discussing! In other words, the first of these videos for both Fallout 76 and Starfield were both unveiled at the 2018 Showcase, and the second of each at the 2022 Showcase. And yet each respective pair make use of drastically different versions of what we all thought was the exact same logo. This means that Starfield has been designed, from the ground up, to be viewed and experienced in a totally different way than, and completely separate from, any of Bethesda’s previous titles.
To clarify this point, after extensive research, I can confirm that this new, animated BGS logo, with the vault door rolling off to the left and then ‘opening up’ just before the text appears, has never been featured anywhere in an official capacity that is not directly related to Starfield. It is completely unique to this specific IP. This fact ties together everything we have looked at in the post so far. It also lets us see things from a completely different ‘orbital’ perspective. For example, I believe that this information gives us the real reason why Bethesda worked so hard to secure the full rights to the Fallout franchise in the way that they did. Not only did they wish to create awesome games set within the Fallout universe, but they also needed total freedom to make use of a specific part of this franchise that so that they could then incorporate it into their next, very very big, space related IP.
For Mankind
Okay. This is the part you’ve all been waiting so patiently for. This is the big reveal. For months now, perhaps even years, we have all been drip-fed the idea that Starfield is essentially “Skyrim in Space.” The reason I think that we have been told this is to misdirect us away from an intrinsic, interwoven connection between Starfield and Bethesda’s other major franchise, which is of course Fallout. But just to put your mind at rest, I do not for a nanosecond believe that the reveal will be, “We fooled you all, it’s actually Fallout in space!” no matter how cool that might at first sound.
What I do believe is that Starfield will be so different and so unique when viewed alongside anything else that Bethesda have published, that it will quite literally take your breath away. This game, the spark of which was first ignited 25 years ago, is Todd Howard’s true passion project. Everything else was simply the path he took to finally get here. This is the story he has always wanted to tell, the story of Mankind’s true legacy. And it all starts, just as it did when Interplay released the original Fallout) game back in 1997, with a familiar, but staggeringly different Vault Door.
The Vault
There is a very special and completely unique hidden Vault in Starfield. Not only is this particular Vault unlike anything you have previously seen anywhere within the Fallout universe, but it is also unlike anything you have seen in any game. Period.
This hidden Vault is actually the key to both interstellar and interplanetary travel. And it also happens to be the single biggest construction project in human history, extending across a span of almost one-hundred light years. And it is not even close to being completed, even after more than two-hundred years of construction.
This Vault is, by its very nature, completely invisible and shielded away from view. It is quite literally hidden in plain sight, and it can only be accessed through one of its specially crafted Vault Doors. But what does all of this mean for gameplay, and how does something like this even work? I’m glad you asked! Let’s strap in and prepare for launch, because we’re all in for an incredible ride.
Welcome, ladies and gentlemen... to The Starfield
Entering The Starfield
The following is my own interpretation, based on scientific reasoning and a huge amount of detailed analysis, of exactly how I think this system works. It is, as ever, backed up with several links throughout, as well as additional evidence for which I shall provide a separate link at end of the post. I am expecting perhaps some differences in terms of specific details once we get hold of the final release of Starfield, but I am confident that I am at the very least well within the ballpark with all of this. Okay, here goes.
The Science Behind the Magic
Starfield is the name given to a vast network of interconnecting tunnels, spanning the entirety of the Settled Systems, providing us with a very fast and highly practical means of travelling between different planets, and even different star systems. These tunnels exist within a localized, folded state, known as Tunnel-Space. The construction of the Starfield is made possible thanks to a technological breakthrough which allows gravitational waves (or Gravitons) to be woven together to form something known as a Gravity-Tunnel, which is then stretched out and connected between any two existing stellar objects, such as two planets in a given system, of even two stars from different systems.
In order to maintain the integrity of each tunnel, it is wrapped in a special type of Exotic Matter known as Superfluid Helium. This has a number of highly unusual properties, including negative energy density and negative energy pressure. This essentially makes it the physical-space equivalent of time going in reverse, meaning that it is capable of counteracting the effects of any conventional physical force, including the gravitational pull of a black hole. As such, it will hold the structure of the Gravity-Tunnel together for an indefinite period of time over a potentially infinite distance through space.
Within the Starfield are a large number of Nodes and Junction Points. Nodes are used to connect together all of the planets in any one Star System, and Junction Points then connect different Star Systems together, making use of much larger Gravity-Tunnels that are the equivalent of Interstate Highways. Note that all flight between any given planet and any or all of its moons is handled locally, outside of the Starfield.
Because all of the stars, planets, and moons in the Settled Systems are in a constant state of flux, by which I mean their relative distance and positions) are constantly changing in respect to each other, the tunnels within the Starfield have been designed to be able to expand and contract almost infinitely so that they can accommodate any changes in these two factors depending on when, where, and how you travel.
Although the main tunnels are designed to transport people, resources, waste, and other items directly relating to either Population Centers or Infrastructure, I believe there is also a sub-system) that will allow much smaller objects, such as probes, to carry data-packets that can be upload at one location and then downloaded at another, effectively solving the problem of inoperable delays in communication between remote locations.
Inside of each Gravity-Tunnel is a bi-directional singularity, which can be switched between two opposite polarities whenever required with the help of the surrounding Exotic Matter, allowing for two-way traffic inside what is essentially a one-way system. This means that, as long as you are able to ensure the correct polarity of all connecting Nodes and Junction Points along your route (as in “Sky-Bus is converged” and “Jemison route looks good”), you will be able to travel, in theory at least, from any point A to any point B, as long as all of the required interconnections exist within the system.
When travelling through the Starfield, you will set a specific route, known as a Sky-Bus, which is a specified pathway that runs from your staring location to your destination. You will then, with the help of Starfield Control, access the tunnels using a Gating System which I will explain below. Incidentally, I believe that the accepted in-universe name for the actual transit network that we are making use of within the Starfield is the Sky-Bus Tunnel System.
Each tunnel in this system actually has two separate ‘Lanes’, one on the left for outbound traffic, and one on the right for incoming traffic. As I have explained above, each of these tunnels can only accommodate a single direction of traffic flow at any given time. And so, a safety measure had to be incorporated to prevent any accidental attempts to travel the wrong way down a tunnel and destroying yourself and your ship.
At each end of any given Node or Junction Point is a Gate. These are the ‘Vault Doors’ I have been referring to. The Gate comprises of a gigantic metal outer-ring connecting to an inner Vault Door. This Vault Door will either be at the center (closed position), or the left (open position) of the outer ring. The open/left position will allow outbound traffic to leave the orbit of the current planet they are in proximity to. To allow inbound traffic, the entire outer ring, with the Vault Door locked in place, will rotate clockwise through 180 degrees to the open/right position to allow access to the inbound Lane. When the outbound Lane is then once again required, the structure then continues to rotate in a clockwise motion until it reaches the open/left position once again. When required, the Vault Door will return to the neutral position at the center of the ring, and the tunnel will be locked.
Regarding Grav Jumps: Whenever you wish to perform a Grav-Jump, you must first request permission from Starfield Control, who will guide you through the process. Once the route is set and your Exit Gate is locked in place, by activating your ship’s Grav-Drive, along with it’s incorporated spooling system, you will first lock on to the front of the tunnel entrance.
Next, using a system similar to an Aircraft Catapult, you will be pulled into the tunnel at great speed, where the Graviton Loop Array will hold your ship in-place inside the tunnel, and will also ensure you don’t accidentally go down the wrong path. At the other end, the spooling system described above then acts as an Arresting Cable, slowing you down over a very short distance.
If all of the above is actually correct, especially the last part, then I think I will be having this on repeat in the background before Grav-Jumps!
Finally, here is the link to my additional supporting evidence and other materials, including some stuff I haven’t had a chance to really go into yet. Feel free to throw any questions at me, and I’ll do my best to answer them. In the meantime, Showcase will commence in 24 Hours…

hi! i’m going to move to utrecht around mid august to start my studies at the university, i already arranged housing through short stays (i have a studio apartment in plaza’s building inside the campus for the first year). i come from rome and i use the car for everything cause i live in a pretty isolated neighbourhood, also the public transports are awful here. i’m planning on taking a roadtrip to get to utrecht and bring my car with me there. of course i wouldn’t use it to get to the city center, i would mostly like to use it to take small travels to the nearby cities or natural landscapes (for instance, in germany or belgium too, not just inside the netherlands). i’m wondering though about how much it could actually be worth it, before beginning to book hotels’ rooms for the roadtrip, i’d like to be very informed about the use of a car there, and maintenance costs too. i know that, being a student, i wouldn’t need to register it, but are there other expenses i should take in account? and what about parking? are there any free spots near the university campus? also, every small insight you could give about the subject to help me decide would be highly appreciated, thanks for your support! :)

Hello JapanTravel,
London couple (mid thirties) visiting Japan late April - early May 2024 for the first time. This is a belated honeymoon - we were meant to go in 2020 but for obvious reasons were unable to :(
Husband is massive Nintendo/ Pokémon fan.I love historical holidays but can find food tricky when travelling as I’m vegetarian (dairy is fine but no meat/ fish).
Would be grateful of any feedback on sights chosen and days of week/ times of day planned to visit.Please assume for day trips that we will arrive as early as we possibly can face!
I also have some specific questions detailed below so would be grateful of any pointers please!
**Day 0 (Friday)**LHR - HND
Day 1 (Saturday) Tokyo- Arrive in HND around 11am- Go to Hotel Blossom Hibiya
Spend afternoon in Ginza/ Chuo City- Head to Okuno Building, check out Room 306 if open- Pokémon Centre Tokyo DX- Nihombashi Mitsukoshi Main Store- Grab something to eat at T’s Tantan- Head back to Hotel Blossom Hibiya
Day 2 (Sunday) Tokyo
Spend morning in Asakusa area- Asakusa Shrine- Senso-ji Temple- Checkout Tokyo Skytree- Visit Kirby Cafe (will look to book in advance)
Spend afternoon in Akihabara- No specific plans other than to be sure to check out Super Potato- Explore! Play in the arcades!- Maybe walk up to Ueno park if we feel like it- Eat dinner at Bon restaurant- Head back to Hotel Blossom Hibiya
Day 3 (Monday) Day Trip to Kamakura & Enoshima- Kotoku-in (arrive around 9am)- Hasedera- Early lunch at Cotonoha- Komachi-dori street- Tsurugaoka Hachimangu- Enoshima Benzaiten Nakamise Doir- Enoshima Shrine- Enoshima Daishi- Enoshima Sea Candle- Head back to Hotel Blossom Hibiya (leave about 5:30pm)- Dinner at Mutsukari
Day 4 (Tuesday) Tokyo
Explore Shinjuku area- Go up Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building first thing- Explore Shinjuku National Garden- Head back to Hotel late afternoon & freshen up- Get the New York Bar at Park Hyatt for drinks around 5pm- Dinner at Shuwashua Peace at around 7:30pm- Explore Shinjuku nightlife (Kabukicho area)
Day 5 (Wednesday) Day Trip to NikkoQUESTION: is it better to go to Kegon Falls in the morning or afternoon?Will probably bring snacks for lunch or grab a quick bite to optimise time!
Here’s my current plan:- Shinkyo Bridge (arrive 9am)- Nikkozan Rinnoji Temple- Nikko Toshogu- Nikko Futarasan jinja- Kanmangafuchi Abyss- Kegon Falls- Back to Tokyo (leave around 7pm)- Dinner TBD
Day 6 (Thursday) Tokyo- Ghibli Museum (hoping to nab a 10am ticket)- Check out Hard Off Kichijoji- Back to Shinjuki Station, aiming to leave around 1ish
QUESTION: is this too much for half a day, assuming we’re here until late?
Spend afternoon in Shibuya area- Meiji Jingu- Harajuku- Go up Shibuya Sky- Check out Shibuya Scramble- Rub Akita dog- Head to Center-Street- Visit Pokemon Centre- Visit Nintendo Centre- Dinner at Tudore Tranquility around 8pm- Head back to Hotel Blossom Hibiya
Day 7 (Friday) Tokyo + travel to Mt. Fuji- Check out teamLab Planets- Check out Tokyo Tower- Lunch at Diago- Around 3pm - make way to Mt. Fuji- Arrive at around 6:30pm at Hotel Konansou- Grab dinner at Pizza Onda at around 7:30pm- Head back to Hotel Konansou
Day 8 (Saturday) Mt. Fuji + travel to Osaka- Watch sunrise from Kawaguchiko Bridge- Check out Chureito Pagoda- Walk around Lake Kawaguchiko- Be on 5pm bus from Kawaguchi station to Mishima Station- Take train from Mishima to Shin-Osaka- Arrive at Hotel The Flag around 10:30pm
Day 9 (Sunday) Osaka
QUESTION: is this too much for one day? I could push some activities out to Day 12…
- Osaka Castle- Shinsekai- Nipponbashi Debden Town- Hozenji- Dontobori- Back to Hotel the Flag- Dinner at Paprika Shokudo Vegan- Drinks & karaoke
Day 10 (Monday) Osaka- Super Nintendo World- Maybe check out Tempozan Giant Ferris Wheel, if feeling inclined…?- Back to Hotel The Flag- Check out teamLab Botanical Garden- Dinner at Vegetarian Meals ROCCA- Maybe have a drink or two at a bar near the hotel- Back to Hotel The Flag
Day 11 (Tuesday) Day Trip to Miyajima, Hiroshima & Himeji Castle- Itsukushima- Hiroshima- Stop off at Himeji Castle on way back to Osaka- Back to Hotel The Flag- Dinner TBD - reckon we’ll be back quite late…
Day 12 (Wednesday) Osaka + travel over to Kyoto
QUESTION: Not too sure about the plan for this - maybe we’ll want to go back to any areas we want to from Day 8?
Current ideas/ plans are:- Check out Amerika-Mura?- Check out Abeno Harukas?- Get cheesecake?- Have early-ish dinner somewhere? Saijiki Vegan restaurant?- Take 8:21pm train to Kyoto- Check into The Gate Hotel Kyoto at around 9pm- Have drink at hotel/ head to bed
Day 13 (Thursday) Kyoto- Hanamikoji Street- Yasaka-jinja Shrine- Maruyama Park- Chion-in- Lunch at Zirael Vegan Restaurant- Nanzen-ji Temple- Eikan-do Temple- Philosophers Path- Higashiyama Jisho-ji- Taxi back to The Gate Hotel Kyoto- Dinner at Gyoza ChaoChao
Day 14 (Friday) Day Trip to Nara- Nara Park- Todai-ji & Todai-ji Daibutsuden- Namdaimon Gate- Todai-ji Nigatsudo- Lunch at Vegan Cafe Ramuna- Bit more Nara Park-ing- Back to The Gate Hotel Kyoto- Dinner at Teppan Tavern Tenamonya at around 6:30pm- Visit Fushimi Imari at around 8pm- Check out Ojamakan Fukakusa Store around 9pm- Back to The Gate Hotel Kyoto at around 9:30pm
Day 15 (Saturday) Kyoto
QUESTION: Should I go to Nara on Saturday and do this day on Friday, in terms of crowds?
- Otagi Nenbutsu-ji Templ- Adashino Nenbutsu-ji Temple- Saga Toriimoto Preserved Street- Gio-ji- Jakko-ji- Lunch at Tenryuji Temple Shigetsu- Tenryu-ji- Arashiyama Bambbo Grove- Togetsu-Kyo Bridge- Arashiyama Park (see Poke Lid)- Back to The Gate Hotel- Dinner at Itadakizen Kyoto
Day 16 (Sunday) Kyoto- Kinkaku-ji- Ryoan-ji- Lunch at Tofu Restaurant Saigen-in- Take a taxi to: Hokan-ji Temple- Visit Nineizaka Starbucks- Kiyomizu-dera- Higashiyama Ward- Back to The Gate Hotel- Dinner at Hyssop
Day 17 (Monday) Kyoto + travel back to Tokyo- Fushimi Inari- Rengeo-in- Pop into Marufukuro hotel- Lunch TBD- Check out Nishiki Market- Stroll around Gion- Dinner TBD- Catch 8pm train back to Tokyo- Check into Hotel Hillarys Akasaka for night
Day 18 (Tuesday) Tokyo + Day 19 (Wednesday) Tokyo
QUESTION: I haven’t made an solid plans for my last two days in Tokyo, would like it to be relatively chilled - got some ideas though so feedback very welcome!
Current ideas/ plans are to:- Check into Hishinoya Hotel for last two nights- Check out Roppongi area maybe on Monday? Wasn’t too sure what there is to “do“ there???- Check out Imperial Palace maybe on Tuesday ?- Husband would like to go to Pokémon Centre Mega Tokyo - is it worth trek as we’ll have been to two other Pokemon Centre’s already??
We’ll travel back to London on Day 20 (Thursday), leaving HND about 1ish
Thanks in advance for your advice!

Motivation : Body Swap Motive
I think I deleted nearly half of the rules of Danganronpa.
It is worth mentioning that:

• role is random
• No Monokuma that everyone hates as host, replaced by a character I made myself
• No motivation, instead unnatural events
• there may not even be a mastermind in it
• The moderator has no intention of interfering with the students
• There is still killing, there is still despair, but despair is not the goal of this 'game'
• ... (and possibly others, but I can't think of any)

​
I modeled this fan motivation by using a random roulette to draw 10 people. Also I plan to only write stories from when the motive is revealed to when someone dies.
The reason for only writing ten people is: this motivation will be more complicated if there are too many people, but it should be relatively easy for the ten people selected with distinctive personalities.
​
●In response to motivational needs (called unnatural events in this story), if A becomes B, it is shown as
A(B) :
If you're wondering, read on and you'll know what I'm talking about.
​
Character :

• Leon Kuwata (Main POV.Of course, by lottery)
• Kiyotaka Ishimaru
• Kyoko Kirigiri (Dr1)
• Kazuichi Soda
• Chiaki Nanami
• Sonia Nevermind (Dr2)
• Rantaro Amami
• Kokichi Oma
• Angie Yonaga
• Himiko Yumeno (V3)

...
The explanation at the beginning of the story: Leon, the Ultimate Baseball Star, wakes up in an unknown place with 15 other students Leon doesn't know. Here they are trapped, in a seemingly abandoned town center. A translucent wall traps them here. The center of this small town should be the place with the most resources, which may be one of the reasons why they are there. They were told the rules of this place by an artificial intelligence named Kokokuka (they can't attack Kokokuka, not because the attack will kill, but because Kokokuka is a projection, they can't touch it, and they can't find the projected place)
"You have to kill to be the only way out of here, but you have to participate in death debates, go undetected and be voted to get out of here. If you choose the right person, he will die; if you vote for the wrong person, that person will die, and the murderer can leave. Every time someone dies, no matter what the ending, new places open up and the better your chances of finding the truth, that's your second condition for leaving. This is the rule of this place. And, during this time you will encounter various events that may or may not entice you to kill, I call it unnatural events, when all the survivors are in the same place, I will detail when you encounter that event. As for any potential regulations here, I can tell you that there are none, but I suggest you not go out at night. After 10 o'clock, it is safe indoors, but not necessarily outdoors."
It's been a while since they woke up from this strange place, and besides the 10 mentioned above, the other six... are dead. It could be that one of them has a reliable [detective], or it could be that they don't want to kill innocent people, so they help the case as much as possible, and that's why no one has escaped from here yet.
They once asked Kokokuka a question: "Are we in a virtual world? Because that wall is not something that would appear in real life..." Kokokuka's answer was: "This is the real world, the unreal real world ."
Note: In this story, everyone actually knows the rules of this killing game, under normal circumstances. Because this is a story that happened after Dr1, 2 and V3, but they are the same age. That is, they know Momokuma. But those three killing games had a very vague impression on them. No one remembered that they killed or were killed, and even if they remembered, they were not among them. Everyone remembers people differently, which leads them to think they're in 16 different killing games.
Now, the story begins!
Midnight. Leon lay on the bed, thinking about everything that had happened.(For me, if I don't explain the previous story well, I will be very sorry.)
Leon: "Damn it, someone died again yesterday, what the hell is going on?"
Leon: "In my understanding, even if it is a killing game, three people will not be killed by the same person at the same time! This is because the damn Kokokuka didn't set the rules!...Although it is so, Kyoko said that the two died The cases are all because of those unnatural events...otherwise no one would die at all...why..."
Yesterday, Leon made a friend and they swore to escape together, but, he died.Not just him, but many others.
If there were no unnatural events... would none of this happen? But it's impossible...
Leon fell asleep sad and angry. Nothing should happen in a short time, right? Leon thought. But this place doesn't seem to give them a chance to rest at all.
Seven forty the next day. Leon woke up, but normally he didn't need to get up until after eight o'clock. Eight o'clock in the morning, this is the time they should have woken up in the previous killing game. But since Kokokuka doesn't call them and has no rules, it doesn't matter what time they sleep. However, to avoid accidents, Ultimate Moral Compass usually wakes everyone up during this time, and his voice is very loud, which is not a problem.
"Had a bad dream..." Leon thought, rolling over and looking at the clock. (Is that clock weird?) "Wait a minute, that guy Taka is coming to call us, alas... I can't sleep, let's get up and wash up first."
Leon got up, wait, what was he wearing? Leon looked at what he was wearing now in disbelief. A princess outfit.
Leon: "AHAHAH!!! WHAT THE FUCK!?...HOW IS THIS!?!?"
A crisp female voice sounded. He knew the dress and heard the voice. To be precise, very familiar. Sonia Nevermind, Ultimate Princess, the girl who met in this killing game, the same age. She's cheerful and well-mannered because she's a princess, right?
Undoubtedly, he became Sonia.
Of course Leon didn't believe it, he rushed into the bathroom, looked in the mirror, and there was a panic-looking "Sonia" inside.
Leon(Sonia): ". . ."
Leon(Sonia): "Damn."
Leon screamed inwardly. It took him a while to get used to not having pants and being a girl.
Now, Leon was faced with a challenge. He had to tie up Sonia's hair, which, as he remembered, was partly braided and the rest flowed slightly to the left. And she has a green and black ribbon in her hair. It wasn't hard to find that ribbon, the hard part was tying it. After a while, Leon finally fixed his hairstyle, which was simpler than imagined.
??? : "Everyone! Time to wake up!"
Another female voice rang out, it's eight o'clock. The voice sounded familiar, but she didn't seem to speak like that. The voice is familiar, but the tone has changed.
Leon(Sonia): "No way...everyone..."
Leon opened the door cautiously and looked out. He saw a familiar figure, it was Kyoko Kirigiri. Kyoko Kirigiri, Ultimate Detective, is a clever and mysterious girl, thanks to her talent, we were able to find the killers... Now, Leon was looking at Kyoko, watching her trying to wake everyone up with her throat, and Kyoko didn't notice him.
Leon(Sonia): "Although I have a bottom line in my heart, I still can't be sure if other people are like me..." Leon tried to pose Sonia's usual graceful movements, which was very difficult because Leon NOT a princess.
Leon pretends to be nonchalant and walks out of his room, well, it should be Sonia's room. And he just ran into Kyoko. (Is this just a coincidence?)
Kyoko(?): "Good morning! Ms. Sonia!" Suddenly, Kyoko(?) paused, "Would you agree...I call you Ms. Sonia?" It seems that Taka has indeed become Kyoko, Leon thought.
"I don't disagree, but I do mind."
Leon(Sonia): "I think I know who you are..." Kyoko(?): "Rea...really?" This was probably the most surprising Leon had ever seen Kyoko, well, if she was Kyoko.
Kyoko(?): "..." Kyoko's face seemed a little red. Kyoko(?): "Okay, okay! I'm Taka! Are you satisfied?"
Leon(Sonia): "Ah! Uh...I didn't mean to...I apologize if I upset you. And...I'm...Leon." Leon found himself going a little too far.
Taka(Kyoko): "Well, I'm not used to it yet, I'm too impulsive. But, why is it like this?" Leon(Sonia): "Needless to say, there must be some incident." Taka(Kyoko): "Then we Should we meet up with the others first? So that AI can explain it to us..." Leon(Sonia): "Maybe? But it might take some time for others to get used to it."
Leon(Sonia): "By the way, have you been to other places?" Taka(Kyoko): "Oh, yes, uh, did I mention that the place where Sonia live is the last place I came to?"
Actually, they don't live in the same hotel, some are in the residential area, some are in the hotel. Since Sonia's hotel is farthest from where Taka lives, when Taka comes to wake Sonia up, it's normal , everyone else is awake. And now Leon is Sonia.
Leon(Sonia): "You haven't met anyone else?" Taka(Kyoko): "Yes...but I promise, my voice will be enough to wake them up." They arrived at the restaurant where they usually gather.
Empty.
Leon(Sonia): "What do you think, how long do we have to wait here for all to arrive?" Taka(Kyoko): *sigh* "Hard to say."
...
Leon(Sonia): "Hey, Taka, let me ask you, is the talent we have now still there? I mean, is the talent we have now the original one, or the current body?" Taka(Kyoko): " I don't know. " Leon(Sonia): "..." "It doesn't matter, just try it and find out!"
Leon left Taka, and when he came back, he had an extra tennis ball in his hand. Taka was still wondering, but Leon had already assumed the pitching posture of a baseball pitcher. Taka(Kyoko): "Hey you... what are you---" The tennis ball flew past Taka at an extremely fast speed, and the air current caused by the tennis ball blew up Taka's long lavender hair. (There will be a mismatch between the appearance and the name, that is.)
Taka was shocked.
Taka(Kyoko): "..." "So fast...Wait, Leon! Do you know if you do this, you will attack other people? Please stop your behavior!" Leon(Sonia): "Sorry~ But I can be sure that the straight ball I throw will not deviate from the target by more than five centimeters!" "One more thing I noticed, you know? I threw that ball with all my might." Taka(Kyoko): "Of course...so it's fast... " Leon(Sonia): "No, it's too slow, my top speed is 160 km/h speed pitch, I can see it." Taka(Kyoko): "Hmm... back to the question you just asked me, I have an idea." Leon(Sonia): "What?"
Taka(Kyoko): "I think we may have two talents now, but both are weakened. Um...let's say you're a football player and you become a helicopter pilot. You can play football because you remember the skills and tricks of playing football, but due to physical factors and other reasons, you can't perfectly show your original talent. And you are a helicopter pilot now. When you come into contact with things related to flying a helicopter, you will find that you are somewhat familiar with this thing, so you can fly a helicopter. But if it is a proportion, the original talent will remain more. I guess."
Leon(Sonia): *puff* Leon laughed. Taka(Kyoko): "Uh? So...so...what's up? I...just speaking my mind! I'm just guessing..." He was a little flustered. Leon(Sonia): "It's okay, it's okay, what you said is very reasonable, very reasonable. I just see Kyoko in you." Taka(Kyoko): " ? "
...
Taka(Kyoko): *Walking around* "I already went to call them! Why aren't they here yet? They're already late!!!" Leon(Sonia): "As I said, they might need a little time--" Taka(Kyoko): "It's been a long time!" Leon(Sonia): "..." *sigh*
Taka(Kyoko): "I want to find something to do..." Leon(Sonia): "I'm hungry..." Taka(Kyoko): "Oh? Uh...yes! I can...try to make breakfast for Her Majesty the Princess!" (He didn't make breakfast)Leon(Sonia): "I'm not Your Majesty...but you can call me that if you want." Taka didn't hear it. Leon(Sonia): "Taka has never been to the kitchen...But Kokokuka took a bunch of recipes before, it should be okay?"
Ten minutes later...
???: "Good morning~~~Your Majesty Sonia~~~" A high-spirited, enthusiastic and lively male voice sounded. Oh no, Leon wanted to laugh again. ???: "Oh? Is Her Majesty Sonia the only one here?" Leon(Sonia): "Ah, and Kyoko, but she went to the kitchen." Leon was holding back his laughter, he still didn't want to ruin Sonia's demeanor. ???: "Really? (she looks excited) I'm going to her!" Leon(Sonia): "Ah! Wait--" He goes. Leon(Sonia): *poof* Leon laughed again. He probably knew who he had met.
Yes, Angie is inside Taka's body.
Angie Yonaga, Ultimate Artist. She's supposed to be the most poised of them all, she almost always has excitement and a big smile on her face, and she's not afraid to die. Leon guessed she didn't care about face, because she usually came out in nothing but a white ruffled bikini top and a yellow cover-up. So Leon was a little surprised when he found that the person in front of her was Angie. He didn't expect Angie to be able to wear Taka's military-style white school uniform and black lace-up boots.
Leon(Sonia): "I think... there is a good show to watch..." Leon looks to the kitchen, and
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
It was a very high-pitched, piercing scream.
Leon(Sonia): "Uh...?"
Looks like something happened in the kitchen.
After a while, Taka and Kyoko came out from the kitchen. The former had a big smile, while the latter had a helpless expression.
Leon(Sonia): "What happened?" Leon knew that the voice just now belonged to Taka.
Taka(Kyoko): *sigh*
--- (review) ---
Taka is in the kitchen now. Taka(Kyoko): "What am I going to make for breakfast? Well, I haven't been in the kitchen at all." Taka held a cookbook, thinking. At this time, a voice he was very, very familiar with sounded.
??? : "Kyoko~~~ you are here, right?"
Then came Taka's scream.
--- (end of review ) ---
Angie(Taka): "Sorry~ I didn't expect you to be scared so easily!"
Taka(Kyoko): "I seem to have become less courageous... Do you know that what you said just now is really scary!?"
Angie(Taka): ":)"
Oh no, I found that I typed too many things, so I gave up typing all of them before posting, because it would take a lot of time for me to type this story. This is just the beginning of this motivation, if I could I would hit it to the point where someone dies. But this will be very long, please forgive me.
As for why there is a spoiler warning at the beginning of the character introduction, because some characters have not yet appeared. :)

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Currently in search of a friends with benefits situation, basically someone to hook up with then go see a movie or walk around discovery green and get dinner afterwards
A bit on the shorter side (5' 6") with a dad bod, but I'm working out and trying to slim down. Easy going, friendly, and not too hung up on looks
I live near the medical center and can host, travel to you or get us a nice hotel room on occasion :)

This is a response to https://doorcountypulse.com/the-importance-of-pronouns/, and it also reflects on https://doorcountypulse.com/hello-peninsula-pulse/.
Dear Emma,
Supreme Court cases do not operate the way the Independent article suggests. Small details in a decision, tangential to the issue being decided, do not turn it into a landmark case, or even establish precedent. Rather, it is a decision's holding which determines whether a case is a landmark or not. The Independent is foreign owned and operated, but being a large outlet, they should know better than to put out an article like the one you linked to.
In the court system, pronoun policy is currently split at the appellate level, with the Sixth Circuit and the Seventh Circuit taking opposing sides. The Supreme Court has not weighed in on this yet, but the split makes it more likely they will choose to rule about it.
Besides this, Jonathon Turley writes at https://jonathanturley.org/2023/04/25/seventh-circuit-upholds-termination-of-high-school-teacher-who-objected-to-pronoun-policy/ that a currently pending religious accommodations case, Groff v. DeJoy, could "gut the underlying standard used by the Seventh Circuit in its ruling for the school district".
Links:
Sixth Circuit https://www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/21a0071p-06.pdf
Seventh Circuit https://adfmedialegalfiles.blob.core.windows.net/files/KlugeSeventhCircuitOpinion.pdf
Oral argument for Groff v. DeJoy https://www.oyez.org/cases/2022/22-174
The results of a 2021 survey imply that the purpose of pronoun requirements are especially in order to get rid of conservative employees and civil servants. https://legermarketing.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Leger-The-Atlantic-Survey-Wokeness.pdf#page=10 found that Biden voters backed woke pronouns by a nearly 3 to 1 ratio over Trump voters. The table on page 4 shows that most people surveyed disagreed with woke pronouns: https://legermarketing.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Leger-The-Atlantic-Survey-Wokeness.pdf#page=4. It follows from this that you should not expect your article to be supported by most readers. If people aren't responding negatively to you, it may indicate that they stay quiet because they don't want to be targeted, rather than that they agree. The 14,202 Door Countyites which voted yes on Wisconsin Referendum 1 not that many years ago didn't just disappear when 5 Supreme Court justices ruled against them between eight and nine years afterwards: https://web.archive.org/web/20081127174554/http://elections.state.wi.us/docview.asp?docid=10049&locid=47.
Both Champaign and Indianapolis are large cities, which can draw on outlying areas to get workers, making up for having below-replacement fertility. Door County also relies on importing workers, but because it is not a large city with lots of political power, this is less reliable. In 2020, for example, the supply of foreign J-1 workers was abruptly cut off. Door County manages to get a consider number of immigrants from outside the county, but most who relocate for longer than a season are wealthier than people residing in Door County. They also tend to be older and not looking to start new families.
Instead, as larger-scale governing bodies destabilize Door County and break down its social fabric and economy, they can use former Door Countyites to solve the worker shortages in large metro areas. Support for transgenderism is a shibboleth for the economic interests of large metro areas. This manifests itself locally as a lower quality of life and an economic leakage to outside the county. An example of this is in the letter by Janet Wilmoth about having to drive to Green Bay to see a veterinarian: https://doorcountypulse.com/letter-to-the-editor-emergency-veterinary-service-needed/.
Because it isn't a big city, Door County is especially dependent on its birth rate for its future. Its total fertility rate in 2020 was 1.533 lifetime births, well below replacement of 2.1 lifetime births. At this rate, each generation, without factoring for immigration or emigration, will be 27% smaller than the one before. However, since something like 30% to 40% of young adults leave the county, the effect is even stronger than 27%.
Transgenderism's concomitant drugs and surgeries tend towards sterilization, and towards making its subjects less attractive to the opposite sex. Assisted reproductive technologies are too expensive to be implemented on a broad scale. Transgenderism is a risk to Door County's future, because it could help push that 1.533 figure even lower. In this way, transgenderism is a demographic factor in the overall gentrification, just as unaffordable housing is an economic factor. Just as it is unwise to encourage unaffordable housing, it is unwise to encourage transgenderism.
Or even if you think replacement fertility is unrealistic and unachievable, consider that when the age structure of a population gets too unbalanced, it is harder to take care of the elderly. The struggles at Scandia Village are an example of this: https://doorcountypulse.com/scandia-village-up-for-sale/. Or should elderly people just be relocated far away, or as some think, even euthanized? Every transgender sterilization is a step in the wrong direction.
It follows then, that someone who refuses to use preferred pronouns might not be a horrible bigot who gets perverse satisfaction from it, but rather, someone who loves his or her community and wants it to have a future. Such people may even be willing to personally be on the losing side of a litmus test for the collective good.
The sponsors for Open Door Pride are listed at https://opendoorpride.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/THANK-YOU-TO-OUR-2023-SPONSORS-2-1024x576.jpg.
Some of them, such as the Miller Art Museum, Door County Community Auditorium, Peninsula Music Festival, Northern Sky Theater, have benefited from, and can expect to consider benefiting from, public, tax-funded support. Because taxpayers come from all sorts of political backgrounds, these organizations should have avoided all political activities, aside from lobbying for particular things directly related to their organization.
An example of the political trust vested in the Door County Community Auditorium is described in https://doorcountypulse.com/struggle-for-a-stage-door-community-auditorium/. But like Disney in Florida, they are engaging in partisan activity, betraying that trust. Institutions which benefit from public funding should be non-partisan and impartial. Public money should not be spent on group-think.
Most of the sponsors are local, but Carrie Busse Shorewest Realtors and Napalese are from Green Bay, the Avenue Art & Company is from Appleton, and Marketini Media is from Madison. They get to influence Door County while their cities benefit from Door County's emigrating young-adult population.
I'm not sure if this has been covered in your classes so far, or privately by your boss. If so, bear with me as I restate it. The Pulse has a different political makeup among its advertisers versus its readers. That it is a free paper tends to result in a readership which is inherently less educated than the readership of a subscription newspaper. I used to know a man who had once ran a free paper, but sold it. He was a conservative. It had a lot of general-interest content, nothing political, and especially featured ads for alcohol. Free papers tend to be read by people who read occasionally rather than regularly.
Occasional readers are less educated than regular readers, and the level of education corresponds to the political alignment. This means that natural readership of the Pulse is more conservative than the overall population of Door County. For people with a regular reading habit, the Pulse competes with a number of subscription outlets, while for occasional readers the Pulse has less competition.
Yet the Pulse isn't dominated by gas station and liquor store ads. Unlike many other free papers, its advertisers run more towards the left. This makes sense, because presently Door County has a disproportionately left-wing visitorship. One factor in the loss of right-leaning tourists may be in marketing decisions over recent decades has shifted. Right-wingers from the Chicago metro area are probably drawn more towards state parks in Indiana and other Door County alternatives. Local businesses geared toward tourists, or even seasonal residents, will probably be well-served by advertising in the Pulse.
This leaves the Pulse in the situation where it is to the left of its readership, but still financially sustainable. Its leadership must be aware of this vulnerability, as the Pulse's podcast tends to be to the left of the paper. That it sometimes leaves its readership behind is exemplified how, in the recent midterm election, Ron Johnson did not return any answers to the Pulse's questionnaire, while his Democratic opponent did. Door Countyites voted for him anyway, by a margin of only 75 votes. During the 2022 election it seems that a number of Republicans intentionally spurned media outlets over left-wing bias. To the extent that they did so, and won office anyway, this served to send a message to their base that they were unwilling to be manipulated by left-wing media. It could even be seen as a plea for fair treatment in the future.
Instead of pronouns, there are other topics out there. Recently, a large firm was paid a lot of state money to write a report which claimed that "Potawatomi was chosen in honor of the tribe that had lived in the area before ceding its land to the US government in the 1830’s."
Link: https://widnr.widen.net/view/pdf/infpwyoyy2/GRAEF-Potawatomi-Tower-Concept-Report.pdf#page=9
You could write an article debunking this, and explain what really happened. I think it would be well-received locally, though maybe not by the DNR. Had you written an article about how pronouns should always be biologically honest, that would have hurt your chances of getting a job someday as a journalist in a large metro area, but I don't think debunking Graef would hurt you. With some effort, you should be able to find other topics which are win-win for both your future career and for Door County. Although this is a social relationship, were it a biological relationship instead, this would be "mutualism" rather than "parasitism" or "predation".

First Previous Next
Chapter 27 - I Guess a Bathhouse Episode was Inevitable
Last Time: Having attained at least some measure or personal safety, the party recovered from their wounds in a forest clearing. Aiden awoke from his nightmare-troubled sleep to see everyone waiting. They had found a fortuitous ally in the form of Alex, a teamster who had happened upon them during their flight from Tripit, though they were away retrieving the party’s belongings. The day passed peacefully enough, and good news was had when Oxcard awoke from his sleep. In the relative quiet, plans were made for what the party would do going forward. Aiden, Laran, Leor, and Oriwyn would follow Arcadia and Oxcard as they made their way to Diareen, a distant trade city. In addition to following them, Aiden made Arcadia and Oxcard the offer to join their party. The two siblings deferred their answer but acquiesced to the party joining them on their trip, and thus it was that they set travel that night at a much more leisurely pace than they had been forced to take the night before.
We had been traveling for about three days. During the first, all of us had been jumpy. Many small clumps of people lined the roads that led from Tripit, little communities that arose in order to be near Tripit or which persisted despite the meteoric growth of their larger neighbor. Any time someone glanced over at us, I felt like they were going to report our whereabouts to Daisy and we would need to flee into the darkness. Luckily, however, there were no incidents and we began to be able to fully relax.
Oxcard was making a good recovery. He still rode in the cart more often than not, with Oriwyn often joining him to minister to his wounds as best she could. It quickly became apparent that he knew more about treating injuries than Oriwyn, so her attempts quickly turned into lessons. Arcadia normally walked nearby, chatting pleasantly with Oxcard whenever he otherwise didn’t have anything to do - I had noticed she didn’t talk to the rest of the party as much, but given the circumstances I figured that her joy at saving Ox merited a little bit of single-minded focus.
It felt strange to lead the group with nothing really going on. We had too many injuries to really try to train, and we wanted to spend as much time as we could traveling to put some distance behind us just in case someone was following, so we barely acted like an adventuring party. In general, it felt more like we were a group of backpackers who had run into each other and decided to stick together rather than an adventuring party on a quest for future glory.
All in all, I couldn’t say I really minded it.
In the quiet times after we’d made camp but before I fell asleep, I would occasionally check Lorna’s pocket mirror. The first time I did, I was unsurprised to learn we had all leveled up - I was level six, Laran and Leor were level seven, Oriwyn was level eight, Arcadia was level five, and Oxcard was level six. In addition to that, I had increased in bond with everybody. After such a harrowing venture, it felt right.
About midway through the third day of travel, Alex called out to us all, suddenly excited.
“I thought this looked familiar! See the weird tree that looks like it was hit by lightning? And that pile of boulders over there that kind of looks like a bunny? If we take the side road we’ll find in about ten minutes, then we’ll get to YaDa’s!”
I had no idea what Alex was talking about, so I shot a look around to the rest of the party. They seemed equally as mystified, so I decided to take one for the team.
“Uh, YaDa’s? What is that?”
Alex slapped a hand to their heart as if they’d been offended.
“You don’t know of YaDa’s? It's the finest combination inn, general store, and bathhouse in all of Tal!”
I snorted with laughter at Alex’s mock indignation. The place certainly sounded interesting - even after only three days on the road, I could do with an inn, a general store, and a bathhouse. If they all happened to be in the same building, then that was all the better for it. I did have one question though.
“I think we’re interested, assuming it won’t cause us too much delay. That being said, why is someone trying to run a business out in the middle of nowhere? Sure we’re not too far from Tripit and we’re on a decently large road, but I can’t imagine that enough people pass through to make it fully worth their while.”
Alex just shrugged and smiled.
“The owners seem to do just fine for themselves! Maybe it’s because they tend to get a lot of repeat customers. I’m not the only one who looks forward to my path taking me by YaDa’s - in fact, I stop pretty much every time I’m going to or from Tripit!”
I nodded along as Alex continued to ramble about some of the amenities of YaDa’s. Everyone else seemed interested too, so it wasn’t much of a decision to declare we would stop in and rest the remainder of the day. Everyone’s mood got an immediate boost and we all moved faster - even the pack animals pulling the cart seemed excited. Soon enough we found a simple wooden sign next to a side road, which Alex directed us down.
The sign had three pictograms on it - a coin purse, a plate of food, and a steaming bath. As I looked at them, my brain started to work out what order I wanted to do the actions they represented in.
Oriwyn’s eyes were bright and wide open as we came down the path. Already, a building could be seen in the distance. It was large for how little else stood near it - a big, blocky building that matched what I thought an inn should look like was flanked by a smaller, blocky building and a large geodesic dome. I blinked a few times, startled by the shape. It looked like triangular panes of glass rested on a wooden substructure, making a shape that I always associated with retrofuturism. Leor looked interested too - maybe she had some interest in architecture?
As we approached, Alex rumbled their wagon to a halt.
“You six - sorry Brams, seven - go ahead and run in ahead of me. I have an understanding with the owners so I’m going to hitch Peggy and Gary up in the stables before I try to get settled. Someone should be working the front desk - introduce yourself, they’re friendly!”
We thanked Alex for their insight and made our way into the building. We entered into a slightly small space - it wasn’t cramped, but it definitely felt small for what I associated with the entryway for an inn. A few plush chairs were arranged around a fireplace on one wall and a desk stood at the far end. It was currently unoccupied, but I saw a small hanging bell and a hammer on an iron stand on the desk. Shrugging, I took point and walked up to the desk. I glanced around but couldn’t see anyone, so I picked up the hammer and tapped the bell. The resulting noise was surprisingly loud and the answer was almost instant.
“So sorry! Be with you in a second!” came a deep but feminine sounding voice. Sure enough, after a short time had passed, a door opened and a woman stepped through.
To call the woman tall felt almost like an understatement. It seemed like she needed to duck under the doorframe - my best guess is that she was six foot eight or taller. She was built in a way that suggested the Ghost of Christmas Present to me - red hair and all - and when she walked behind the desk it looked comically small before her. She appeared to be human, but I wondered if giants were a thing in Tal - if they were, she definitely looked the part.
“Welcome to YaDa’s!” she said, smiling brightly. She swept a hand up to herself by way of introduction. “My name is Ya, and Da is around elsewhere, and together we run YaDa’s! I don’t think I recognize you - is this your first time?”
Leor was the one who stepped up to answer, which surprised me. I shifted back a little to let her take point.
“Yes, this is our first time, though you came highly recommended by our associate Alex. I believe they should be joining us soon!”
Ya beamed behind the desk.
“Oh! Alex is a good sort - glad to see them back! Their favorite room is even open right now - unless they’d be staying with you?”
“We hadn’t discussed how we would be doing lodging arrangements, but I assume Alex may want some peace and quiet after having us unexpectedly tail along for a few days. What sort of accommodations are there?”
Ya ran a quick count on our number. “For six? We have suites that can take six, or you could do three rooms of two. Honestly, it’s cheaper if you’re all together, and we have a harder time filling the big rooms anyway.
It was at that moment that Brams began to try to scale Ya’s desk. With a scrabbling sound and some snorting, he made his presence known. Ya looked down, looked a little surprised, then reached over the desk and held out her arms. Brams gladly stopped scrabbling and flopped into the proffered embrace, so Ya lifted him and placed him on the desk.
“My my, aren’t you a strange one, little creature! Can’t say I’ve seen your like before…”
Brams made a snorting sound that seemed almost indignant and shook himself. His tail wiggled with the end of the shake, then he sat and stared up at Ya. There was a moment’s silence and Brams looked very intent - all of us leaned in a little, as it seemed like Brams was about to do something. A violent sneeze burst from his muzzle, making us all jump, and the moment was over. Ya smiled at him and tousled the hair on top of his head with her huge hands.
“Well, sorry for not including you in the count. I’m sure that the room will fit seven, though you may need to squeeze a little. Follow me!”
With that, Ya pulled a bulky key from a pocket in her pants. She bent down and unlocked a drawer in the desk, withdrawing a smaller key. As she handed it to Leor, she gave her some instructions.
“Now this key is enchanted. After we’ve opened your door, you’ll have ten minutes to make as many copies as you’ll need. Just take the key, leave it on an open spot of the table, and make sure nobody looks at it for about a minute. When you look back, there’ll be a second key on the table. Take the key and give it to someone - have them put it out of sight - and repeat it until you have what you need! When you’re done, stroke the first key and tell it thanks and it’ll stop duplicating itself.”
I chuckled - hotel key cards had nothing on what I’d just seen. Sure the whole system seemed a little convoluted, and there was a part of me that wanted to keep summoning keys for a few hours just to see how many I could make, but it still felt really cool. In a way, it felt like proper magic, like in a fairy tale.
It was amazing how quickly parts of Tal had become passé to me. I figured since I’d been living in Tal for a while, it was natural that I'd done my best to try and fit in, which would explain how I so quickly became inured to the magical wonders of the world. After all, it seemed like my life was going to continue on as it had been for the foreseeable future. Still, sometimes something small would hit me over the head with a sudden feeling that I was somewhere different from Earth.
Over time, that feeling had been less and less negative.
We followed Ya as she led us to our room. She had to slow a little, as Arcadia made it a point to walk in front of Oxcard and walk slowly so he wouldn’t try to keep up with the tall woman and possibly re-open his wounds. Despite the delay however, we made it to our rooms fine before too awful long.
Our lodgings were simple but spacious. Beds lined two of the walls, creating a corner for sleeping that stood opposed to a clear space with some tables, chairs, and what appeared to be a simple wood-fired stove. A stack of small firewood sat in a basket and thick quilts covered the bed, and overall the whole place gave off a very cozy feeling.
We wasted no time in thanking Ya and starting to get settled in. Arcadia, Oxcard, and Oriwyn took the three beds on one wall while Leor, Laran, and I took the remaining. Leor busied herself making keys, though had some trouble because Oriwyn kept trying to sneak a peek of the key when it split, causing the magic to not work. Eventually though, each of us had a copy - we even made a copy for Brams and tied it around his neck loosely with a piece of ribbon, figuring that it would be a good backup. Leor had an odd look on her face when she began to stroke the key and tell it thank you, which got the rest of us laughing. The key shivered in her hand and let out a contented sigh, which made Leor drop it. Oxcard started laughing so hard that he doubled over in pain, but there was no damage done and the mood stayed high. I decided I should address everyone and come up with something of a game plan.
“Well everyone, it looks like we have some R and R time on our hands! What do people want to do?”
What followed was a pleasantly lively discussion. Arcadia, Laran, and I really wanted to see about the bathhouse side of things, while Oriwyn and Leor argued that they were hungry. Oxcard stayed quiet for most of the deliberation, offering noncommittal answers if ever directly asked about anything, which I found a little strange but which I didn’t press on. The whole time, Brams ran laps around the room, flapping his wings as he jumped from bed to bed. I noticed he seemed to be getting just the littlest bit of a glide going as he leapt over the longer stretches - I would bring that up with Ori later. It also seemed like a positive development that the movement didn’t cause him pain, despite the healing scar on his wing.
Eventually, a plan was settled on. We would go to the general store to see if they had bathing clothes and something to eat. If they did, we would make our purchases then head to the bathhouse, which we assumed was the glass-encased dome structure. If we couldn’t find something that worked as a snack, we agreed we would get a proper meal before swimming. Our plan solidified, Oriwyn calmed Brams down enough so that he stopped running laps of the room, and we headed back to the front.
When we got to the store, we found someone we hadn’t seen before. By the look of her, she seemed to be Ya’s daughter - she hadn’t inherited her mother’s prodigious height entirely, but still stood roughly six feet tall. As we all walked in, she perked up immediately.
“Hello! My name is Yada, and I run the general store here! Have you ever visited one of our shops?”
So many things hit me at once I had trouble figuring out what to focus on first. The first thing I came to grips with was that this person’s name was likely a combination of her parents’ - it wasn’t that hard to imagine, but it still felt weird. The second was that there were multiple shops. Obviously the concept of a chain of stores wasn’t foreign to me, but they were a concept I thought I had left behind with Earth. Curiosity overtook me, so I decided to press for a little more information.
“No I can’t say I have - where are they?”
Yada puffed up behind the desk and looked proud of herself.
“Oh they’re around! Pick three out of the four cardinal directions from Tripit, and there you’ll find a branch of Yada’s General store. My siblings - Yadayada and Yadayadayada - run those two stores, but I was the one who started the whole thing and got this shop made! Mom and Dad really mostly care about the hospitality part of things, so I was free to make the business as I wanted it.”
Leor snorted and bluntly asked Yada a question that I had to admit had occurred to me too.
“Yada, Yadayada, and Yadayadayada? Good thing your parents didn’t have more kids or that would get unwieldy. Are they not very creative people?”
I may have phrased things a little more delicately, but I was still curious of the answer. Luckily Yada laughed it off and didn’t seem to take any offense.
“No, they’re good hosts but not the most imaginative when it comes to naming. We always joked it made it easy for people to remember who was the oldest - take the number of syllables and divide by two!”
Leor just raised her eyebrows but Arcadia burst out laughing. I don’t think I’d heard her laugh like that before. Oriwyn looked at her and slowly began to chuckle along, slowly crescendoing to full-blown laughter as well. I managed to keep a straight face until I glanced over at Laran, who looked utterly mystified. Ox was smiling - the first time I’d seen him do so in the short and intense time since I’d met him - and even Leor was giving a disdainful look, which was tantamount to a grin from her. When everyone calmed down, we thanked Yada for the introduction and got to the business of shopping.
There were sandwiches wrapped up in little paper bags, which we all bought one or two of. Oriwyn, Leor, and Oxcard immediately wolfed theirs down while Laran, Arcadia, and I went to a small table set off to the side and had a more leisurely time of things. As we ate, the other three began to look at the wares of the shop.
Oriwyn immediately found little baubles and spent a good while combing through a small chest of brooches. While she was doing that, Oxcard went to some shelves that had what looked like medical supplies. He came up to Arcadia with an armful and asked for some money, which she hurriedly fished out and gave him. Finally, Leor seemed to be focused on a small collection of clothes. She held up a garment and wandered over to a mirror to see how she looked in it. It didn’t take me long to figure out it was some sort of bathing suit.
I was really, really thankful that Tal had the concept of bathing suits. Part of me had been quietly dreading the prospect of skinny-dipping with five people who were barely more than strangers to me. The fact there was some reasonable expectation we would all be clothed was a relief.
After we finished our sandwiches, we all went to look at the bathing wear. Yada wandered over and started talking about things, going over what was popular where and who had suggested certain styles. I did what I normally did and grabbed the first pair of anything that reasonably looked like it would fit me, and it seemed Oxcard did the same. Arcadia was the next to choose, then Leor. Laran and Oriwyn were debating extensively amongst themselves, going over minute differences in material and cut that I wouldn’t have even thought to look at, so we left them to it and told them to meet us in the bathhouse. They agreed, so we set off.
When we entered the glass dome that hosted the baths, I saw that I had been right. A wooden frame created triangular ledges that held up glass panes. Some of them seemed to be missing from strategic places, creating a cross breeze. Still, the glass held in a large amount of steamy air, and we quickly picked out a large pool to claim as our own. There were only two other bathers, and they were off in a much smaller pool off to the side, so we had plenty of choice. We saw some booths off to the side and went to get changed.
As we gathered by the pool, my head idly studied what bathing suits we’d all chosen. I had gone with what was familiar - a pair of baggy trunks that had a cinch at the waist so they wouldn’t fall down. They didn’t have the weird inner netting that I was used to in place of underwear, which felt a bit strange and loose, but otherwise they were comfortable enough. Oxcard seemed to have chosen much the same as me, but where mine were dyed a green color, his seemed to be wholly undyed. I wondered if they had been the cheapest pair available - that might track with what little I knew about him and Arcadia.
Speaking of, Arcadia was wearing what looked like a sports bra and spanks. I’m sure there were women back home who would have killed for her sporty build, though given her life I’m sure she hadn’t come by it in a way that was in any way pleasant. The last to emerge was Leor, and I had to stop myself from laughing. She looked like a candy cane, wearing a red and white striped one-piece bathing suit that made me think of the old-timey Victorian bathing suits I saw guys wearing in movies and read about in history books. The lower part nearly came down to her knees, and given her beard and candy-cane coloring I got the impression of one of Santa’s elves on holiday. The mental image was doubly funny given that Leor was very definitely a dwarf, but I managed to hold myself together regardless.
We all slipped into the water - it was warm and inviting - and had just started to chat when we heard the bathhouse door open. We waved at Oriwyn and Laran as they entered, and they quickly went and got changed in the hutches we had vacated. It was with some curiosity that I watched for them to exit.
Oriwyn wore a loose, draped garment that seemed to be gathered at specific places to preserve her modesty - it looked vaguely Greek to me. I only had a few seconds to observe the cut though, because she immediately took a running start and jumped towards the deepest part of the pool. Brams immediately followed, offering a secondary splash nearly as large as Oriwyn’s as he splashed down. He began to paddle around the pool happily, having tucked his wings up and out of the way, while Oriwyn surfaced, shooting a cheesy grin at Leor - who she had splashed severely with her entrance - and took a place along the ledge at the edge.
When Laran came out, my face turned a little red. Now I wasn’t a prude, and over the years I had seen several men in very, very revealing swimsuits, but Laran’s suit was drawing my eyes in a way that I felt like they hadn’t been drawn since I was going through puberty. He wore what appeared to be folded fabric instead of trunks like Oxcard and I had found - some distant memory thought it looked vaguely Roman in Earth terms. It was a dark burgundy and not even that revealing, but something about seeing him in it brought back the bashfulness I had experienced when he’d run around the edge of the house shirtless the first time I met him. He seemed to be thinking the same way as I saw his cheeks darkened, but ignored his self-consciousness and walked over without comment to join us in the pool.
We all relaxed in the warm water, trading the occasional bits of small talk. After a while Alex walked in and we waved, but they seemed bent on going to a particular pool on the opposite side of the room. After a while of discussing nothing important, Arcadia cleared her throat to get our attention.
“Excuse me? I don’t want to be too formal or anything, but Ox and I have been talking about your offer and I figured we should share what we decided.”
My heart nearly froze in my chest. My curiosity on if they’d join us had been burning away at me for the whole trip so far, and it seemed like it was going to be answered. Of course we would survive without them, but with what all we’d been through I very much wanted them to accept. Also, part of me wondered if I felt that way because their refusal would mean our group wasn’t worth joining. I tried to push the sudden jumble of emotions down and focus on what she was saying.
“We talked it over and decided we’ll join you. I didn’t have a much better plan long term, and you’ve already proved you’re trustworthy. So, assuming you’ll still have us, we’d like to join.”
Arcadia looked a little nervous while Ox remained hard to read. I felt a sudden soaring in my heart, but Oriwyn beat me to accepting the offer.
“Yes! Of course! We never rescinded the offer after all, plus we work well together!”
Arcadia looked pleased, and I thought I saw the ghost of a smile on Oxcard’s face. Leor smiled too, while Laran suddenly shot to his feet.
“This calls for a proper celebration! Wait ‘ere!”
With that, he got out of the pool and raced off. In short order, he returned with two wine bottles and a few glasses. He eagerly began passing them out, Leor enthusiastically helping get things uncorked and poured. When we all had our glasses, Laran raised his in the air.
“A toast! To new allies an’ a new team! May we do well, do good, and do well for ourselves in so doin’!”
He said the words as if he’d heard them before - I wondered from whom for a moment but abandoned that train of thought quickly. Everyone readily agreed to his toast and raised their glasses, myself included, before taking hearty drinks of our wine. It was a sweet, almost citrusy flavor that bordered on too sweet for me, but its flavor cut through the steamy air of the bathhouse well. I enjoyed it and it seemed everyone else did too. As we lowered our glasses though, we all got quite a shock.
“Cheers! Now where’s my glass?”
The voice came from Brams, who was happily paddling in the center of the pool. Laran choked on his wine, shooting a little out of his nose. Leor just stopped and stared into her glass, looking for an explanation there. Oxcard and Arcadia looked at the rest of us, vaguely confused, but it was Oriwyn’s reaction I really wanted to see.
She sat on her ledge in the pool, a broad smile across her face. I could see a hint of surprise in her eyes, but still she flashed her smile to the rest of us.
“Why are you all acting so surprised? Did you think I was talking to Brams just for fun?”
Elsewhere: The captain of the river barge stood eagle-eyed at the front. It wasn’t like he needed to steer very much - just about anybody could control a riverboat when it was being pulled by horses on the bank - so his attention was much better spent keeping an eye out for threats. He looked to the side - the group of three mercenaries he had hired to accompany his boat and walk by the horses trotted along, weapons sheathed and chatting amicably. He couldn’t blame them really, given that they’d been going for a full day and a half since he’d picked them up without trouble. Still, he knew this stretch of the river and knew he should expect trouble. He scanned the gently rippling surface of the river again, a sudden feeling of discomfort settling over him. A disruption caught his eye, and he let out a cry. The bubbles that caused the disruption began to surface more violently, making the calm stream look like a pot of water at a roiling boil, and the captain cursed his luck. He’d been a fool to try and make his run when he did, but he felt like he’d had no choice. Now he was going to pay for that specific incautious decision - all he could hope was that he didn’t pay too dearly in either coin or life.
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Chapter 27 - I Guess a Bathhouse Episode was Inevitable
Last Time: Having attained at least some measure or personal safety, the party recovered from their wounds in a forest clearing. Aiden awoke from his nightmare-troubled sleep to see everyone waiting. They had found a fortuitous ally in the form of Alex, a teamster who had happened upon them during their flight from Tripit, though they were away retrieving the party’s belongings. The day passed peacefully enough, and good news was had when Oxcard awoke from his sleep. In the relative quiet, plans were made for what the party would do going forward. Aiden, Laran, Leor, and Oriwyn would follow Arcadia and Oxcard as they made their way to Diareen, a distant trade city. In addition to following them, Aiden made Arcadia and Oxcard the offer to join their party. The two siblings deferred their answer but acquiesced to the party joining them on their trip, and thus it was that they set travel that night at a much more leisurely pace than they had been forced to take the night before.
We had been traveling for about three days. During the first, all of us had been jumpy. Many small clumps of people lined the roads that led from Tripit, little communities that arose in order to be near Tripit or which persisted despite the meteoric growth of their larger neighbor. Any time someone glanced over at us, I felt like they were going to report our whereabouts to Daisy and we would need to flee into the darkness. Luckily, however, there were no incidents and we began to be able to fully relax.
Oxcard was making a good recovery. He still rode in the cart more often than not, with Oriwyn often joining him to minister to his wounds as best she could. It quickly became apparent that he knew more about treating injuries than Oriwyn, so her attempts quickly turned into lessons. Arcadia normally walked nearby, chatting pleasantly with Oxcard whenever he otherwise didn’t have anything to do - I had noticed she didn’t talk to the rest of the party as much, but given the circumstances I figured that her joy at saving Ox merited a little bit of single-minded focus.
It felt strange to lead the group with nothing really going on. We had too many injuries to really try to train, and we wanted to spend as much time as we could traveling to put some distance behind us just in case someone was following, so we barely acted like an adventuring party. In general, it felt more like we were a group of backpackers who had run into each other and decided to stick together rather than an adventuring party on a quest for future glory.
All in all, I couldn’t say I really minded it.
In the quiet times after we’d made camp but before I fell asleep, I would occasionally check Lorna’s pocket mirror. The first time I did, I was unsurprised to learn we had all leveled up - I was level six, Laran and Leor were level seven, Oriwyn was level eight, Arcadia was level five, and Oxcard was level six. In addition to that, I had increased in bond with everybody. After such a harrowing venture, it felt right.
About midway through the third day of travel, Alex called out to us all, suddenly excited.
“I thought this looked familiar! See the weird tree that looks like it was hit by lightning? And that pile of boulders over there that kind of looks like a bunny? If we take the side road we’ll find in about ten minutes, then we’ll get to YaDa’s!”
I had no idea what Alex was talking about, so I shot a look around to the rest of the party. They seemed equally as mystified, so I decided to take one for the team.
“Uh, YaDa’s? What is that?”
Alex slapped a hand to their heart as if they’d been offended.
“You don’t know of YaDa’s? It's the finest combination inn, general store, and bathhouse in all of Tal!”
I snorted with laughter at Alex’s mock indignation. The place certainly sounded interesting - even after only three days on the road, I could do with an inn, a general store, and a bathhouse. If they all happened to be in the same building, then that was all the better for it. I did have one question though.
“I think we’re interested, assuming it won’t cause us too much delay. That being said, why is someone trying to run a business out in the middle of nowhere? Sure we’re not too far from Tripit and we’re on a decently large road, but I can’t imagine that enough people pass through to make it fully worth their while.”
Alex just shrugged and smiled.
“The owners seem to do just fine for themselves! Maybe it’s because they tend to get a lot of repeat customers. I’m not the only one who looks forward to my path taking me by YaDa’s - in fact, I stop pretty much every time I’m going to or from Tripit!”
I nodded along as Alex continued to ramble about some of the amenities of YaDa’s. Everyone else seemed interested too, so it wasn’t much of a decision to declare we would stop in and rest the remainder of the day. Everyone’s mood got an immediate boost and we all moved faster - even the pack animals pulling the cart seemed excited. Soon enough we found a simple wooden sign next to a side road, which Alex directed us down.
The sign had three pictograms on it - a coin purse, a plate of food, and a steaming bath. As I looked at them, my brain started to work out what order I wanted to do the actions they represented in.
Oriwyn’s eyes were bright and wide open as we came down the path. Already, a building could be seen in the distance. It was large for how little else stood near it - a big, blocky building that matched what I thought an inn should look like was flanked by a smaller, blocky building and a large geodesic dome. I blinked a few times, startled by the shape. It looked like triangular panes of glass rested on a wooden substructure, making a shape that I always associated with retrofuturism. Leor looked interested too - maybe she had some interest in architecture?
As we approached, Alex rumbled their wagon to a halt.
“You six - sorry Brams, seven - go ahead and run in ahead of me. I have an understanding with the owners so I’m going to hitch Peggy and Gary up in the stables before I try to get settled. Someone should be working the front desk - introduce yourself, they’re friendly!”
We thanked Alex for their insight and made our way into the building. We entered into a slightly small space - it wasn’t cramped, but it definitely felt small for what I associated with the entryway for an inn. A few plush chairs were arranged around a fireplace on one wall and a desk stood at the far end. It was currently unoccupied, but I saw a small hanging bell and a hammer on an iron stand on the desk. Shrugging, I took point and walked up to the desk. I glanced around but couldn’t see anyone, so I picked up the hammer and tapped the bell. The resulting noise was surprisingly loud and the answer was almost instant.
“So sorry! Be with you in a second!” came a deep but feminine sounding voice. Sure enough, after a short time had passed, a door opened and a woman stepped through.
To call the woman tall felt almost like an understatement. It seemed like she needed to duck under the doorframe - my best guess is that she was six foot eight or taller. She was built in a way that suggested the Ghost of Christmas Present to me - red hair and all - and when she walked behind the desk it looked comically small before her. She appeared to be human, but I wondered if giants were a thing in Tal - if they were, she definitely looked the part.
“Welcome to YaDa’s!” she said, smiling brightly. She swept a hand up to herself by way of introduction. “My name is Ya, and Da is around elsewhere, and together we run YaDa’s! I don’t think I recognize you - is this your first time?”
Leor was the one who stepped up to answer, which surprised me. I shifted back a little to let her take point.
“Yes, this is our first time, though you came highly recommended by our associate Alex. I believe they should be joining us soon!”
Ya beamed behind the desk.
“Oh! Alex is a good sort - glad to see them back! Their favorite room is even open right now - unless they’d be staying with you?”
“We hadn’t discussed how we would be doing lodging arrangements, but I assume Alex may want some peace and quiet after having us unexpectedly tail along for a few days. What sort of accommodations are there?”
Ya ran a quick count on our number. “For six? We have suites that can take six, or you could do three rooms of two. Honestly, it’s cheaper if you’re all together, and we have a harder time filling the big rooms anyway.
It was at that moment that Brams began to try to scale Ya’s desk. With a scrabbling sound and some snorting, he made his presence known. Ya looked down, looked a little surprised, then reached over the desk and held out her arms. Brams gladly stopped scrabbling and flopped into the proffered embrace, so Ya lifted him and placed him on the desk.
“My my, aren’t you a strange one, little creature! Can’t say I’ve seen your like before…”
Brams made a snorting sound that seemed almost indignant and shook himself. His tail wiggled with the end of the shake, then he sat and stared up at Ya. There was a moment’s silence and Brams looked very intent - all of us leaned in a little, as it seemed like Brams was about to do something. A violent sneeze burst from his muzzle, making us all jump, and the moment was over. Ya smiled at him and tousled the hair on top of his head with her huge hands.
“Well, sorry for not including you in the count. I’m sure that the room will fit seven, though you may need to squeeze a little. Follow me!”
With that, Ya pulled a bulky key from a pocket in her pants. She bent down and unlocked a drawer in the desk, withdrawing a smaller key. As she handed it to Leor, she gave her some instructions.
“Now this key is enchanted. After we’ve opened your door, you’ll have ten minutes to make as many copies as you’ll need. Just take the key, leave it on an open spot of the table, and make sure nobody looks at it for about a minute. When you look back, there’ll be a second key on the table. Take the key and give it to someone - have them put it out of sight - and repeat it until you have what you need! When you’re done, stroke the first key and tell it thanks and it’ll stop duplicating itself.”
I chuckled - hotel key cards had nothing on what I’d just seen. Sure the whole system seemed a little convoluted, and there was a part of me that wanted to keep summoning keys for a few hours just to see how many I could make, but it still felt really cool. In a way, it felt like proper magic, like in a fairy tale.
It was amazing how quickly parts of Tal had become passé to me. I figured since I’d been living in Tal for a while, it was natural that I'd done my best to try and fit in, which would explain how I so quickly became inured to the magical wonders of the world. After all, it seemed like my life was going to continue on as it had been for the foreseeable future. Still, sometimes something small would hit me over the head with a sudden feeling that I was somewhere different from Earth.
Over time, that feeling had been less and less negative.
We followed Ya as she led us to our room. She had to slow a little, as Arcadia made it a point to walk in front of Oxcard and walk slowly so he wouldn’t try to keep up with the tall woman and possibly re-open his wounds. Despite the delay however, we made it to our rooms fine before too awful long.
Our lodgings were simple but spacious. Beds lined two of the walls, creating a corner for sleeping that stood opposed to a clear space with some tables, chairs, and what appeared to be a simple wood-fired stove. A stack of small firewood sat in a basket and thick quilts covered the bed, and overall the whole place gave off a very cozy feeling.
We wasted no time in thanking Ya and starting to get settled in. Arcadia, Oxcard, and Oriwyn took the three beds on one wall while Leor, Laran, and I took the remaining. Leor busied herself making keys, though had some trouble because Oriwyn kept trying to sneak a peek of the key when it split, causing the magic to not work. Eventually though, each of us had a copy - we even made a copy for Brams and tied it around his neck loosely with a piece of ribbon, figuring that it would be a good backup. Leor had an odd look on her face when she began to stroke the key and tell it thank you, which got the rest of us laughing. The key shivered in her hand and let out a contented sigh, which made Leor drop it. Oxcard started laughing so hard that he doubled over in pain, but there was no damage done and the mood stayed high. I decided I should address everyone and come up with something of a game plan.
“Well everyone, it looks like we have some R and R time on our hands! What do people want to do?”
What followed was a pleasantly lively discussion. Arcadia, Laran, and I really wanted to see about the bathhouse side of things, while Oriwyn and Leor argued that they were hungry. Oxcard stayed quiet for most of the deliberation, offering noncommittal answers if ever directly asked about anything, which I found a little strange but which I didn’t press on. The whole time, Brams ran laps around the room, flapping his wings as he jumped from bed to bed. I noticed he seemed to be getting just the littlest bit of a glide going as he leapt over the longer stretches - I would bring that up with Ori later. It also seemed like a positive development that the movement didn’t cause him pain, despite the healing scar on his wing.
Eventually, a plan was settled on. We would go to the general store to see if they had bathing clothes and something to eat. If they did, we would make our purchases then head to the bathhouse, which we assumed was the glass-encased dome structure. If we couldn’t find something that worked as a snack, we agreed we would get a proper meal before swimming. Our plan solidified, Oriwyn calmed Brams down enough so that he stopped running laps of the room, and we headed back to the front.
When we got to the store, we found someone we hadn’t seen before. By the look of her, she seemed to be Ya’s daughter - she hadn’t inherited her mother’s prodigious height entirely, but still stood roughly six feet tall. As we all walked in, she perked up immediately.
“Hello! My name is Yada, and I run the general store here! Have you ever visited one of our shops?”
So many things hit me at once I had trouble figuring out what to focus on first. The first thing I came to grips with was that this person’s name was likely a combination of her parents’ - it wasn’t that hard to imagine, but it still felt weird. The second was that there were multiple shops. Obviously the concept of a chain of stores wasn’t foreign to me, but they were a concept I thought I had left behind with Earth. Curiosity overtook me, so I decided to press for a little more information.
“No I can’t say I have - where are they?”
Yada puffed up behind the desk and looked proud of herself.
“Oh they’re around! Pick three out of the four cardinal directions from Tripit, and there you’ll find a branch of Yada’s General store. My siblings - Yadayada and Yadayadayada - run those two stores, but I was the one who started the whole thing and got this shop made! Mom and Dad really mostly care about the hospitality part of things, so I was free to make the business as I wanted it.”
Leor snorted and bluntly asked Yada a question that I had to admit had occurred to me too.
“Yada, Yadayada, and Yadayadayada? Good thing your parents didn’t have more kids or that would get unwieldy. Are they not very creative people?”
I may have phrased things a little more delicately, but I was still curious of the answer. Luckily Yada laughed it off and didn’t seem to take any offense.
“No, they’re good hosts but not the most imaginative when it comes to naming. We always joked it made it easy for people to remember who was the oldest - take the number of syllables and divide by two!”
Leor just raised her eyebrows but Arcadia burst out laughing. I don’t think I’d heard her laugh like that before. Oriwyn looked at her and slowly began to chuckle along, slowly crescendoing to full-blown laughter as well. I managed to keep a straight face until I glanced over at Laran, who looked utterly mystified. Ox was smiling - the first time I’d seen him do so in the short and intense time since I’d met him - and even Leor was giving a disdainful look, which was tantamount to a grin from her. When everyone calmed down, we thanked Yada for the introduction and got to the business of shopping.
There were sandwiches wrapped up in little paper bags, which we all bought one or two of. Oriwyn, Leor, and Oxcard immediately wolfed theirs down while Laran, Arcadia, and I went to a small table set off to the side and had a more leisurely time of things. As we ate, the other three began to look at the wares of the shop.
Oriwyn immediately found little baubles and spent a good while combing through a small chest of brooches. While she was doing that, Oxcard went to some shelves that had what looked like medical supplies. He came up to Arcadia with an armful and asked for some money, which she hurriedly fished out and gave him. Finally, Leor seemed to be focused on a small collection of clothes. She held up a garment and wandered over to a mirror to see how she looked in it. It didn’t take me long to figure out it was some sort of bathing suit.
I was really, really thankful that Tal had the concept of bathing suits. Part of me had been quietly dreading the prospect of skinny-dipping with five people who were barely more than strangers to me. The fact there was some reasonable expectation we would all be clothed was a relief.
After we finished our sandwiches, we all went to look at the bathing wear. Yada wandered over and started talking about things, going over what was popular where and who had suggested certain styles. I did what I normally did and grabbed the first pair of anything that reasonably looked like it would fit me, and it seemed Oxcard did the same. Arcadia was the next to choose, then Leor. Laran and Oriwyn were debating extensively amongst themselves, going over minute differences in material and cut that I wouldn’t have even thought to look at, so we left them to it and told them to meet us in the bathhouse. They agreed, so we set off.
When we entered the glass dome that hosted the baths, I saw that I had been right. A wooden frame created triangular ledges that held up glass panes. Some of them seemed to be missing from strategic places, creating a cross breeze. Still, the glass held in a large amount of steamy air, and we quickly picked out a large pool to claim as our own. There were only two other bathers, and they were off in a much smaller pool off to the side, so we had plenty of choice. We saw some booths off to the side and went to get changed.
As we gathered by the pool, my head idly studied what bathing suits we’d all chosen. I had gone with what was familiar - a pair of baggy trunks that had a cinch at the waist so they wouldn’t fall down. They didn’t have the weird inner netting that I was used to in place of underwear, which felt a bit strange and loose, but otherwise they were comfortable enough. Oxcard seemed to have chosen much the same as me, but where mine were dyed a green color, his seemed to be wholly undyed. I wondered if they had been the cheapest pair available - that might track with what little I knew about him and Arcadia.
Speaking of, Arcadia was wearing what looked like a sports bra and spanks. I’m sure there were women back home who would have killed for her sporty build, though given her life I’m sure she hadn’t come by it in a way that was in any way pleasant. The last to emerge was Leor, and I had to stop myself from laughing. She looked like a candy cane, wearing a red and white striped one-piece bathing suit that made me think of the old-timey Victorian bathing suits I saw guys wearing in movies and read about in history books. The lower part nearly came down to her knees, and given her beard and candy-cane coloring I got the impression of one of Santa’s elves on holiday. The mental image was doubly funny given that Leor was very definitely a dwarf, but I managed to hold myself together regardless.
We all slipped into the water - it was warm and inviting - and had just started to chat when we heard the bathhouse door open. We waved at Oriwyn and Laran as they entered, and they quickly went and got changed in the hutches we had vacated. It was with some curiosity that I watched for them to exit.
Oriwyn wore a loose, draped garment that seemed to be gathered at specific places to preserve her modesty - it looked vaguely Greek to me. I only had a few seconds to observe the cut though, because she immediately took a running start and jumped towards the deepest part of the pool. Brams immediately followed, offering a secondary splash nearly as large as Oriwyn’s as he splashed down. He began to paddle around the pool happily, having tucked his wings up and out of the way, while Oriwyn surfaced, shooting a cheesy grin at Leor - who she had splashed severely with her entrance - and took a place along the ledge at the edge.
When Laran came out, my face turned a little red. Now I wasn’t a prude, and over the years I had seen several men in very, very revealing swimsuits, but Laran’s suit was drawing my eyes in a way that I felt like they hadn’t been drawn since I was going through puberty. He wore what appeared to be folded fabric instead of trunks like Oxcard and I had found - some distant memory thought it looked vaguely Roman in Earth terms. It was a dark burgundy and not even that revealing, but something about seeing him in it brought back the bashfulness I had experienced when he’d run around the edge of the house shirtless the first time I met him. He seemed to be thinking the same way as I saw his cheeks darkened, but ignored his self-consciousness and walked over without comment to join us in the pool.
We all relaxed in the warm water, trading the occasional bits of small talk. After a while Alex walked in and we waved, but they seemed bent on going to a particular pool on the opposite side of the room. After a while of discussing nothing important, Arcadia cleared her throat to get our attention.
“Excuse me? I don’t want to be too formal or anything, but Ox and I have been talking about your offer and I figured we should share what we decided.”
My heart nearly froze in my chest. My curiosity on if they’d join us had been burning away at me for the whole trip so far, and it seemed like it was going to be answered. Of course we would survive without them, but with what all we’d been through I very much wanted them to accept. Also, part of me wondered if I felt that way because their refusal would mean our group wasn’t worth joining. I tried to push the sudden jumble of emotions down and focus on what she was saying.
“We talked it over and decided we’ll join you. I didn’t have a much better plan long term, and you’ve already proved you’re trustworthy. So, assuming you’ll still have us, we’d like to join.”
Arcadia looked a little nervous while Ox remained hard to read. I felt a sudden soaring in my heart, but Oriwyn beat me to accepting the offer.
“Yes! Of course! We never rescinded the offer after all, plus we work well together!”
Arcadia looked pleased, and I thought I saw the ghost of a smile on Oxcard’s face. Leor smiled too, while Laran suddenly shot to his feet.
“This calls for a proper celebration! Wait ‘ere!”
With that, he got out of the pool and raced off. In short order, he returned with two wine bottles and a few glasses. He eagerly began passing them out, Leor enthusiastically helping get things uncorked and poured. When we all had our glasses, Laran raised his in the air.
“A toast! To new allies an’ a new team! May we do well, do good, and do well for ourselves in so doin’!”
He said the words as if he’d heard them before - I wondered from whom for a moment but abandoned that train of thought quickly. Everyone readily agreed to his toast and raised their glasses, myself included, before taking hearty drinks of our wine. It was a sweet, almost citrusy flavor that bordered on too sweet for me, but its flavor cut through the steamy air of the bathhouse well. I enjoyed it and it seemed everyone else did too. As we lowered our glasses though, we all got quite a shock.
“Cheers! Now where’s my glass?”
The voice came from Brams, who was happily paddling in the center of the pool. Laran choked on his wine, shooting a little out of his nose. Leor just stopped and stared into her glass, looking for an explanation there. Oxcard and Arcadia looked at the rest of us, vaguely confused, but it was Oriwyn’s reaction I really wanted to see.
She sat on her ledge in the pool, a broad smile across her face. I could see a hint of surprise in her eyes, but still she flashed her smile to the rest of us.
“Why are you all acting so surprised? Did you think I was talking to Brams just for fun?”
Elsewhere: The captain of the river barge stood eagle-eyed at the front. It wasn’t like he needed to steer very much - just about anybody could control a riverboat when it was being pulled by horses on the bank - so his attention was much better spent keeping an eye out for threats. He looked to the side - the group of three mercenaries he had hired to accompany his boat and walk by the horses trotted along, weapons sheathed and chatting amicably. He couldn’t blame them really, given that they’d been going for a full day and a half since he’d picked them up without trouble. Still, he knew this stretch of the river and knew he should expect trouble. He scanned the gently rippling surface of the river again, a sudden feeling of discomfort settling over him. A disruption caught his eye, and he let out a cry. The bubbles that caused the disruption began to surface more violently, making the calm stream look like a pot of water at a roiling boil, and the captain cursed his luck. He’d been a fool to try and make his run when he did, but he felt like he’d had no choice. Now he was going to pay for that specific incautious decision - all he could hope was that he didn’t pay too dearly in either coin or life.
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So the older I get, the more it comes to dawn on me that other people, lots of other people, in fact, most other people, don't have the same experiences I do. This is true with pretty much everything. I have posted about my specific, singular experiences with everything from STAR WARS to Heroclix on various other online forums. Now I'll spend a few minutes telling you about my experiences with the work of Stephen King.
I am currently 61 years old and by slightly odd coincidence (it doesn't really matter, it's just a number thing) I was born in late 1961. The first Stephen King novel I ever read was THE SHINING. I read the trade paperback with the shiny silver color and the blank faced boy image on it. I enjoyed it a great deal and when one of the very few other student in my high school who read for pleasure saw me with it, she mentioned she liked the author a lot and offered to loan me his two other books. In the end she welshed – I was to discover she wasn't very reliable or trustworthy – but it got me interested enough to go looking for other stuff by King at the public library and that was where I first got copies of CARRIE and SALEM'S LOT – both mass market paperbacks as well. I don't remember the cover of the CARRIE book I read but the SALEM'S LOT had a black cover with an embossed child's face that had a single drop of red blood at the corner of the mouth.
I enjoyed both books even more than I'd liked THE SHINING. In King's forewords to his various different collections, he often contradicts himself as to events of this time period, but one thing that does come through very clearly, and this is obvious from the fiction he's writing too, is that he has always seriously seriously yearned to be a literary writer, rather than a commercially successful genre writer. He tells a story about his agent at the time warning him that if he does a haunted hotel book after the psychic teenager book and the vampire book, he's going to get 'typed', and how he laughed that off and said it was perfectly fine, and I tend to think that's a romanticization of what happened, because King is clearly, as my daughters would say, 'thirsty' for highbrow approbation. He wants the New York Times literary critic to praise his work. He wants to win a Pulitzer and all the other la di da prizes. It just kills him that he's the most successful author in the world in a 'trashy' genre. (When he parody/pities himself in MISERY, his fictionalized self is a writer of trashy romances. That will tell you right there how much respect King has for the genre fiction that has made him an unprecedented and nearly unimaginable success, and the fans of that fiction. He thinks horror is essentially the same thing as trashy romance.)
I think by the time THE SHINING came out King was anxious to be taken more seriously, and that's why THE SHINING seems so much more 'literary' than CARRIE or SALEM'S LOT. It's characters are more grimly realistic, the 'issues' it confronts (alcoholism! Child abuse! Bad parenting!) are all deeply serious. There is no Father Callahan character reviling social consciousness and yearning/demanding for a darker, more supernatural, occult, and 'unrealistic' evil to confront. Jack's alcoholism is the root of all the evil in THE SHINING, and in the end, his even momentary ability to take control of himself again is what allows the 'good guys' to triumph.
There's no such tedious grappling with real life problems in CARRIE or SALEM'S LOT. Oh, CARRIE is obviously centered around the cruelty of bullying, but King is hardly preaching about it or proposing any kind of real life action be taken; in CARRIE, some kids are absolute assholes, they pick on the wrong girl, and they get Blowed The Fuck Up. Nothing literary there. In SALEM'S LOT, King makes the occasional head fake towards tedious real life social problems – Parkins Gillespies tiresome speech about gory drive in movies is one such passage – but mostly he's all about getting this dumb little town in Maine eyebrows deep in vampires as quick as he can. He's obviously having a good time with the narrative and so are we. Again, nothing particularly grim n gritty, no real literary social issues to grapple with. None of the major characters are drunks or gay; Teen Mom is a child abuser but boy does she get hers, so that's okay. And as mentioned previously, Father Callahan is right in there talking about how much grim n gritty reality sucks balls and what he really wants is to fight True Evil.
And then THE SHINING comes along and it's a terrific book, wonderfully well written, but it seems very much to be King trying hard to get some serious reviews from the literary outlets. And ROADWORK, the trudgingly realistic novel he also wrote at this time and published as Richard Bachman, is just soporific.
But after THE SHINING comes THE STAND, which at the time seemed like a hugely ambitious undertaking that King nonetheless pulled off with aplomb. We had no idea exactly how huge an undertaking it really was as we would not see the sprawling, undisciplined monstrosity that was THE UNCUT STAND for decades to come. With THE STAND it seemed very much as if King had given up his quest for literary stature and gone back to just telling a really rockin' action-horror story. Twenty years later we'd find out that this was mostly an illusion; it's just that wise editors, knowing what mass audiences wanted, cut all the horrible real life social issue happy crappy (like the endless weeping and whining about Frannie's pregnancy and her fraught relationship with her psycho mom – King's good books always have a psycho mom in there somewhere – and the homosexual rapes embodied by The Kid and all that other lugubrious nonsense). After THE STAND came THE DEAD ZONE – a more down to earth narrative, absolutely, but still a damn good story with great heroes and villains and a central doomed love affair that proved, for the first time, that King really could be a top notch romance writer if he wanted to. And after THE DEAD ZONE came FIRESTARTER, one of my all time favorite King books. Like THE RUNNING MAN, FIRESTARTER is nothing but high velocity heavy impact action action action, and I loved every word of it. Wonderful heroes, truly villainous villains, and all of it painted with King's deft touch for characterization and atmosphere that made it all seem very believable. FIRESTARTER is, really, almost a remake of John Farris' THE FURY (which is also very much worth reading) but the rule of rip offs is, if you gotta steal, make your version better, and King absolutely accomplished that.
Yeah, and then came CUJO which made me want to barf, it was just SO bad. A killer St. Bernard! An adulterous affair! An advertising guy! OH THE LITTLE KID DIES! And maybe, who knows, we can't say, really, but maybe it had something to do with that crazy cop from DEAD ZONE? Maybe? Holy shit what a terrible, terrible book, and again, yet another one where King was obviously desperately jumping up and down and waving his arms, saying “hey big literary critics! Over here! I'M GRAPPLING WITH HUMAN FRAILTY AND VITAL TRENDY SOCIAL ISSUES!”
DEAD ZONE had come out when I was a senior in high school; FIRESTARTER came out when I was a freshman in college, and I bought it in hardcopy because that's how much I liked Stephen King. I still have that volume on my shelves; on the inside flap of the badly tattered dust cover you can still make out that cover price – $13.95. A lot of jack for a kid who didn't even have a work study job, but I doled it out and was not disappointed.
But once CUJO hit, I got warned off by another student who liked King. So I didn't buy it in hardcover or paperback, I waited until I could get it out of the library, and it blew moist chunks. And that was a very weird time for King's stuff. Next thing was the non fiction DANSE MACABRE, which interested me not at all, and then a lot of strange shit started bubbling up. King had just started to get his swagger on, with like eight best sellers under his belt, so he did CREEPSHOW and CYCLE OF THE WEREWOLF and they were pretty terrible, other than the pretty pictures. Hollywood had discovered King by then and that just added to his strut. He was starting to realize he could hand a stack of old dish towels to his publisher and his publisher would do their best to turn that into a new horror novel by Stephen King. I think it was about then his substance abuse issues really started to get their claws into him, too. Whatever the case, I stopped being an avid fan, and started being a 'maybe I'll read this when I can get it out of the library, if someone else tells me it's any good'.
Around this time – the early 80s – a lot of King material started bubbling up in various places. His first Gunslinger short story came out in THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION, and I was very disappointed by it. Another story followed in the next issue of F&SF, “Night of the Tiger”, and it was pretty bad too. I had absolutely loved pretty much everything in King's first collection NIGHT SHIFT, so between CUJO and this nonsense, I was really starting to rethink how much I liked King.
Then DIFFERENT SEASONS came out, and it was all great, especially “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption”. But I wasn't swayed; King's own introduction told me all four novellas had been written earlier in his career, when he was still doing fine work. When CHRISTINE came out I was like “haunted car? No thanks”. But a guy I was living with at the time said “No, it's good, give it a shot” so I did and I loved it. And as it turned out, it was the last book by Stephen King I would ever wholeheartedly love, but to this day, I think CHRISTINE may be one of his finest works every. Great characters. Great villains. Will Darnell, Wretch In Residence. The awfulness that was Roland D. LeBay. And of course, that central doomed romance... not between Leigh and Arnie, or Leigh and Dennis, but between Arnie and Dennis.
CHRISTINE was an absolute masterwork, King back fully in control of his talent and his craft. And it was the last time he ever was, as far as I can see. Every thing he's put out since has just been one disappointment after another. Some are worse than others – there's really just no excuse at all for his two exercises in towering self pity, MISERY and THE DARK HALF – but none of them manage to ever get better than, well, kinda interesting. There's a real story somewhere in INSOMNIA, but King would have needed to work to polish it and he didn't want to and no editor was going to make him. SCENES FROM A BUICK 8 has a lot of interesting stuff in it. DESPERATION and THE REGULATORS were certainly a cool idea he had no idea how to make work. It's all just a flow of trash, junk, and mediocrity. NEEDFUL THINGS seemed like some kind of gleeful revenge fantasy where he got to dole out horrible, EC Comics style come uppances to thinly disguised versions of everybody he was mad at. TOMMYKNOCKERS and DREAMCATCHER were just bewildering.
Over the past few years I've seen bits and pieces of King's work I liked, but mostly it is still disappointing. THE INSTITUTE is pointless junk. REVIVAL seems silly but that ending is pure raw high octane Lovecraftian terror and almost worth sludging through the rest of the narrative to get to. DR. SLEEP is offensively stupid; King's characterization depends on presenting narrative events from the third person-first person viewpoint of his characters, and we spent far too much time behind Jack Torrance's eyes to be willing to believe he'd ever had an affair, much less one that knocked the girl up.
One of the sections of HEARTS IN ATLANTIS, about the kid who gets involved with the guy who escaped from the Dark Tower and is being pursued by Low Men In Yellow Coats, is actually really enjoyable; it inspired me to write one of my own novellas.
Still, for the most part, if you haven't read CARRIE, SALEM'S LOT, NIGHT SHIFT, THE SHINING, THE STAND (not the uncut edition, if you can avoid that, do it, King badly needs gifted editors), THE DEAD ZONE, FIRESTARTER, CHRISTINE, and DIFFERENT SEASONS, you haven't read King's best work, or probably the finest horror novels produced in the 20th Century. I would also throw in there two Bachman books – RAGE is a much better book than it is given credit for and deserves far better treatment than to be taken out of print because it predicted a contemporary social evil, and THE RUNNING MAN is one of the best things King has ever written.
Once you get through those, though, the pickings get very slim. There's some glitter in the dirt, but it is mostly fool's gold and often it's buried in big piles of shit.
Still, a lot of great writers publish really bad books. My other favorite writer ever, Roger Zelazny, has written some truly unreadable tripe. But he also wrote LORD OF LIGHT and I'll forgive him any number of DAMNATION ALLEYS for that. King wrote SALEM'S LOT and FIRESTARTER and CHRISTINE and “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption” and I can forgive him a great deal of fucking nonsense for giving the world those stories. (It is more difficult to forgive the truly terrible TV and movie adaptations his works seem to near universally inspire, but that is another long post entirely.)

Hi everyone! This sub was so incredibly helpful to me in the planning process - I was deeply grateful for everything I learned, so I thought I'd post a trip report now that we're back!
About us: We're a 30s couple from the Midwest US. We're pretty experienced travelers (South America, UK/Ireland, Europe, lots of places in the US), but this was our first visit to Asia and first visit to Japan. As travelers, we love getting out on foot, local food/drink (especially street food), live music, nerd shit, weird art/vending machines. Also, my partner is a cis guy, but I am a trans masc person who is visibly trans (post-op in a few ways, but not passing/not stealth).
Dates: May 13 - May 29
What we did: Tokyo Kyoto Osaka Hakone Back to Tokyo
Tips and tricks:

• Definitely get your walking training in ahead of time! We walked 10 miles a day on the trip. We're pretty avid backcountry camping/hiking fans who regularly put in 8 - 10 miles on the trail (not to mention taking our dog for multiple walks a day in the neighborhood), so I figured we'd be good - but it was A LOT, especially since you're also trying to translate and navigate at the same time. Japan is not generally a super accessible place from a disability perspective; benches and public seating areas are not common. I found myself wishing I'd packed a collapsible seat of some kind, tbh!
• Good shoes a must! Merrell Moabs are my go-to for hiking, but for this trip I went with Nike Dunk 6 high-tops, which rocked. My partner went with Onitsukas and didn't do as well - he wound up buying inserts partway through the trip, which helped.
• Work on a little Japanese ahead of time! We came in with about a dozen words/phrases, which was honestly truly helpful. So many people are so kind and thoughtful anyway, but it was an appreciated gesture that we had planned ahead and were trying our best. Google Translate's camera feature (Google Lens) was a life-saver for translating written words on signs!
• We had a great experience with Ubigi for an eSIM. The days of purchasing an actual SIM card or even a burner device (like we used to do when backpacking in Europe) are long past. We hooked up our Ubigi eSIMs beforehand, flipped the switch when we got there, and we were golden. Just in case, we'd set up our Verizon coverage to include a Pay-As-You-Go international plan, but we didn't end up using it. We also didn't use half as much data as we thought we would - we both came home with extra GB on our Ubigi plan still. We didn't do a PocketWifi and I don't think we needed it - Ubigi did most of the heavy lifting, and free WiFi at various places did the rest.
• Fly into Haneda, not Narita - way closer to Tokyo city center.
• Get your Suica right away at the airport - our beloved Suica got us through so many things! We also withdrew some cash and split it up between us - we withdrew a few more times on the trip and it worked like a charm. (Just make sure it's an international ATM that includes your card type - not all of them do. Also, notify your bank you'll be traveling, so your card doesn't throw a flag!) We used our credit card as well - the Chase card was accepted pretty much all places CCs are, but many places remain cash-only, especially bars and restaurants.
• Had a great experience using the Friendly Limousine Airport Bus service straight from Haneda to our hotel area.
• I booked shinkansen tix ahead of time, so I got nice discounts on weekday Green Car tix for two - but I really needn't have worried, there were plenty of seats available day-of.
• Don't bother with shinkansen for Kyoto to Osaka - we wound up just hopping on a local with our Suicas and it was fine.
• Don't bother with the Romancecar from Hakone back to Tokyo - it's fastemaybe a nicer seating experience, but just hopping on a local with your Suica is an order of magnitude cheaper.
• Look things up in Japanese if using Google Translate; use Tabelog for restaurants if possible. Google Maps in English is more touristy reviews/reactions.
• Tokyo Skytree was hit-or-miss - only real letdown of the trip.
• Tokyo teamLab PLANETS was completely worth it - absolutely worth the hype in my opinion.
• Queer and trans travelers - I felt completely safe, but as a plus-size trans masc nonbinary queerdo, I stuck out like a sore thumb. I didn't feel in danger, but I was absolutely aware that I did not fit in. Stares were common, especially from older men and young kids. (Weirdly, local women seemed more friendly and curious about me!) Just be prepared for it and remember you're not in any danger physically - it's all just curiosity.
• I have to thank this subreddit for recommending Hakone, especially for the tip to book a ryokan with private onsen access. We had an absolutely beautiful experience at Yamanochaya in Hakone, which included both a private "onsen" soaking tub in our room and private 1:1 access to a larger, actual hot spring onsen on the property. I otherwise would not have been able to experience a real hot spring onsen at all, as they are gender-segregated. Thank you, /JapanTravel!

Because I'm a nerd, here's the actual breakdown!
DAY 1 ARRIVAL 📍 Flew into Haneda; made it to our hotel (lovely experience at Hotel Plaza Sunroute); had our first world-famous konbini 7/11 experience; walked around Shinjuku; went out for dinner at Ryu no Miyako Inshokugai - talk about jumping in the deep end 🍣 Onigiri and vending machine green tea; little whipped cream treats; Nagahama ramen and sesame mackerel donburi 👣 10,400 steps 🏁 4.8 miles
DAY 2 SHIBUYA 📍 Meiji Shrine and Gardens - got goshuin and omamori; Harajuku, went to 7/11; back to the hotel for a nap; Shibuya, including Don Quijote, Center Gai and Dogenzaka Street; Nonbei Yokocho for late night 🍣 7/11 (plum onigiri and corn/mayo sandwich, some kind of spam musubi situation, matcha roll); Ichiran coin-op ramen with extra chashu and a matcha tofu custard thing; banana shock smoothie at Shibuya109 in Center Gai; chicken and pork belly yakitori with beers at Morimoto; brown sugar shoju and shoju-infused Oolong tea cocktails at Tight Bar (strong recommend for this joint!); grilled squid, octopus, and okonomiyaki for afters at Tsukishima Monja Kuuya Shibuya 👣 32,000 steps 🏁 14.5 miles 😮‍💨
DAY 3 SHINJUKU 📍 Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden; Shinjuku area (including Disk Union, Disney, Onitsuka); Kabukicho and Kabukicho Tower; GODZ metal bar; Golden Gai; Omoide Yokocho 🍣 7/11 (onigiri, matcha filled roll thing, royal milk tea, tomago sushi, strawberry donut, cafe latte); many types of dango (sesame oil, soy sauce, and apricot mochi were our favs); McDonald's (weirdly good chicken sandwich with yuzu radish topping, vanilla custard chocolate pie, white grape soda); yummy little warm imagawayaki filled with adzuki bean paste + royal milk from depachika); a couple of Asahis at GODZ; simple yakitori snacks at Golden Gai (including some… mystery offal items); back to 7/11 for drunk matcha ice cream and waffle snacks 👣 28,800 steps 🏁 13.0 miles
DAY 4 ASAKUSA 📍 Went out for coffee; walked around Kinarimon Gate and Nakamise; toured Asakusa Shrine, Senso-ji Temple, surrounding Shinto and Buddhist shrines; stopped for sushi and mochi; went for a walk up Sumida River; dipped into Shoden and Imado shrines; crossed Kototoi Bridge to Tokyo Skytree; went up Tokyo Skytree; back to Senso-ji for night photos; capped off evening with gyoza 🍣 Lattes at cute puppet theater coffeeshop (espresso, dandelion tea); 7/11 for breakfast-y fuel; strawberries from a street stall at Nakamise; sushi lunch; beautiful mochi + tea dessert; grilled gyoza, soup dumpling gyoza, shoujo Oolong tea cocktail for afters 👣 25,500 steps 🏁 11.66 miles
DAY 5 JIMBŌCHŌ, AKIHABARA 📍 Train to Ichigaya - notable French-inspired neighborhood; breakfast at local French café; Yasakuni Shrine; Kanda River walk by Hosei University; Tokyo Daijingu Shrine; Jimbōchō Old Book Town; walked from there to Akihibara; hit up noodles, arcade, nerd shops (comics, TCGs/CCGs, retro video games systems, TTRPGS, etc); gachapons; hit up the bizarre rare vending machines 🍣 Vending machine coffee and milk tea; yummy French pastries (bacon and sour cream roll, quiche, sour cream raisin custard thing); had to try some avocado and cheese Doritos; cold udon with duck broth soup, curry rice for Chris; fish-shaped taiyaki with custard cream dessert treat; dope gyoza place ("weekday" version with pork and cabbage, shrimp and chili mayo, yakitori with tare, and shogayaki with onions) 👣 Forgot watch at hotel - we’ll say 10,000 steps 🏁 Guessing about 5 or 6?
DAY 6 TEAMLAB PLANETS, TRAVEL TO KYOTO 📍 Hit up teamLabs, had an amazing time exploring the exhibits - the infinite light crystal room was our fav; train to Tokyo Station; lunch at underground Ramen Street restaurants under the station - went with Soranoiro, one of the few veg/vegan ramen shops in Japan - delicious; shinkansen to Kyoto; out for nightlife in Kiyamachi-Dori and Pontocho 🍣 Quick 7/11 snacks; train snacks (pocky, coffee, little teriyaki cutlet sandwich); Soranoiro ramen bowls; killer yakitori we fried right at our table in izakaya in Pontocho (honestly probably a meal highlight of the whole trip); brown sugar shoujo; 7/11 for ice cream on the way back 👣 18,900 steps 🏁 8.63 miles
DAY 7 KINKAKUJI, NISHIKI, GION 📍 Kinkakuji Temple; bus back to Kiyamachi-dori; spent whole afternoon walking and eating street food at Nishiki Market; back to hotel for rest, laundry, rooftop drink; out for nightlife in Gion 🍣 Family Mart for coffee and doughnuts; Nishiki Market Street street food delights - seared yakitori style crab stick, little octopus chuka idako on skewers, kara-age on skewers, sea squid croquettes and beer, strawberry and adzuki bean mochi balls; mimosas and red wine; Kyoto Gion Okaru - geisha-decorated izakaya with insane curry udon bowls and beers; picked up box of mochi dango for dessert 👣 20,200 steps 🏁 9.07 miles
DAY 8 SHRINE DAY 📍 OK, this is a lot:

• Yasakajinja (we happened to be here while a young couple was having a Shinto wedding ceremony!)
• Yasui Kompira-gū (built 1170, shrine for ending bad relationships and starting new ones, has special stone that you pin your wishes to - many young girls will crawl through the stone to mark a breakup or wish for love)
• Kennin-ji (built 1202, large grounds - among the oldest in Kyoto);
• Reigen-in (part of Kennin-ji grounds, a Zen teahouse with a tea garden where they served adzuki bean buns with tea made from the actual hydrangeas of the tea garden outside!)
• Zenkyoan (boar shrine which we initially thought were cute hedgehogs)
• Kyoto Ebisu Shrine (dedicated to fishermen - we happened to be here during the shrine's annual mikoshi festival - a battalion of locals in traditional clothes, hoisting and dancing with the mikoshi around the neighborhood)
• Kodai-ji (built 1606, gorgeous grounds - we skipped the tour)
• Hōkan-ji/Yasaka Pagoda (dating back to 589 and rebuilt in 1400s, huge black 5-story pagoda featuring massive shakyamuni pole inside and reliquary of a bone of the Buddha in the foundations)
• Ryōzen Kannon (built 1955 after WW2, massive Buddha statue and active Buddhist temple)
• Of course the world-famous Kiyomizudera (built 778, enormous Kyoto-red temple with beautiful buildings spiraling up into the forest)

🍣 Hotel coffee, tea, cream puffs; adzuki bean buns with tea made from the actual hydrangeas of the tea garden at the shrine; dope bento box lunch; got takeout fast food donburi and fizzy lemonade 👣 22,800 steps 🏁 10.39 miles
DAY 9 FUSHIMI-INARI 📍 Fushimi Inari, the famous shrine of over 1,000 torii gates - super amazing (and intense!) summit of Mt Inari! Back to Nishiki Market for reward street food and drinks; back to hotel for a rooftop drink and soak; finally out for soba at Kawamichiya Ginka in Pontocho. 🍣 Snack pack on our hike (sausages, cheese, some kind of fish meat/cheese stick, and surume - sweet chewy dried squid stuff); orange smoothie; conveyor belt sushi; strawberry mochi roll; whisky highball and red wine; massive soba spreads (chicken seared with wasabi/yuzu/horseradish dipped in ponzu sauce, fried soba noodles in a rich soup, cold soba noodles dipped tsukemen-style in a really amazing umami soy sauce soup, tempura shrimp and veggies, a hot soba noodles in a clear broth soup) 👣 27,600 steps 🏁 Supposedly 12.3 miles, but that hike to summit Mt Inari was something else 😤
DAY 10 TRAVEL TO OSAKA, SHINSABASHISUJI, AMEMURA, DOTONBURI 📍 Beautiful brunch on the bank of the canal in Kyoto; local train to Osaka-Umeda; checked into Osaka hotel; walked around Shinsaibashisuji and Dotonburi a little bit; scoped out Amemura ("Ameri-mura") for dope American-inspired Japanese streetwear; wandered up and down street food stalls in Dotonbori; swung by Namba Hips (mostly pachinko); found a couple of fun little hole-in-the-wall places (little Japanese craft beer brewery, retro video games bar) 🍣 Brunch at Kawa Cafe (croque monsieur, ramen, tea and delicious apple tart); takoyaki, cheesy waffle shaped like a massive 10yen coin, sweet chili hotdogs from stands in Dotonbori; dashi gose craft beer (by Derailleur Brew Works) from Umineko, shots at Space Station bar 👣 19,500 steps 🏁 9.01 miles
DAY 11 NAMBAYASAKIJINA, DOTONBURI 📍 Morning Japanese breakfast at a wonderful little 24-hour diner; Hozen-ji (moss shrine); Kamigata Ukiyo-e Museum across the street (focusing on Osaka woodcuts celebrating Dotonburi's kabuki and entertainment history); Nambayasaka-jinja (lion head shrine); Den Den Town (Osaka's Akihabara); ended up at a cozy little kushikatsu bar which actually was playing the Tigers game (away game vs the Swallows at Tokyo); street food waffles for dessert; hit up a late-night batting cage - ended up at Round1 (a big multi-floor arcade complex) and did the rooftop batting cage! My partner won a giant plushie for me from a claw machine! 🍣 Dope traditional japanese omelette and fish breakfast; cute macarons from market stand; Family Mart for snacks before nightlife; skewers, beer, and highballs from Dotonbori kushikatsu place; ridiculous nutella, whip, and strawberry stuffed waffle from Waffle Khan 👣 29,100 steps 🏁 13.31 miles
DAY 12 KUROMON ICHIBA, OSAKA CASTLE, DOTONBURI 📍 Kuromon Ichiba Market for street food; Osaka Castle Park and Nishinomaru Gardens; toured Osaka Castle and museum all the way up to the top; subway to Tanimachi-9-chome subway station for amazing live jazz at Sub Jazz Cafe. (This was amazing! Akira "Ro" Hasegawa (sax) and Yukie Fujikawa (keys) - Ro is also the owner and was bartending on this particular night too.) Out to Don Don for killer yakiniku and beer; found our way to Oboradaren, an Tokunoshima-themed island vibes bar and music spot where there was a great live band playing fun island vibes beach rock - big crowd of 40s+ Japanese women who knew all the songs, wound up drinking passionfruit chuhai and joining them in the conga line around the bar 🍣 Oden hot pot, wagyu skewer, otoro sashimi, crab gratin in the half-shell, bracken green tea soy cakes at Kuromon Market; ice cream sandwiches at Osaka Castle; milk tea, little roast beef sandwich, and cheesecake at Sub Jazz Cafe; yakiniku-style wagyu, ribs, ox tongue, assorted mushrooms; passionfruit chuhai and red wine at the island vibes spot; taro and brown sugar boba teas 👣 23,000 steps 🏁 10.42 miles
DAY 13 KAIYUKAN, SHINSEKAI, DOTONBURI 📍 Fun trip to Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan; quick pass through Shinsekai; lunch at spot where you can fish your own catch from an indoor fishing boat pool; out for one last Dotonburi night - wound up getting konbini snacks and sitting on the waterfront talking and people-watching for hours 🍣 Not a banger food-wise, but interesting little spread at the fish-your-own place - huge prawn for grilling, kara-age, and fatty tuna nigiri for Max, tempura veggies and whitefish with doteyaki for Chris; from Family Mart, fruit smoothie, ice cup, and KitKat for Max, onigiri and lemonade for Chris 👣 19,100 steps 🏁 8.64 miles
DAY 14 TRAVEL TO HAKONE, HAKONE SHRINE 📍 Bombed to Shin-Osaka for an early shinkansen to Odawara; trained to Odawara to Hakone; dropped luggage off at ryokan, then bus to Motohakone; saw Hakone Shrine and Onshi-Hakone Park (as well as a segment of the actual Old Tokaido!); returned to ryokan for the night, where we were treated to a gorgeous 1:1 kaiseki from a Michelin-star chef, private hot spring onsen, and private in-room hot spring bath 🍣 Konbini snacks before shinkansen; snacks and coffee on train; late lunch in Motohakone (curry and soba, pork cutlet); incredible, massive multi-course kaiseki and sake for dinner, plus strawberry cake, champagne, and more sake for dessert 👣 13,900 steps 🏁 6.26 miles
DAY 15 HAKONE OPEN AIR MUSEUM, TRAVEL TO TOKYO, LAST NIGHT IN SHINJUKU 📍 Woke up in gorgeous ryokan; leisurely kaiseki breakfast with leftover cake; final soak in the private onsen; Hakone Open Air Museum - very cool; had kind of a challenging trip back but finally made it from Museum back to ryokan to bus stop to Hakone-Yumoto to Odawara to Shinjuku to the hotel 😮‍💨 Considering the last night as our real "last night" of the trip, our final night out in Tokyo was all just extra icing on the cake - went out for yakitori skewers and Asahi Superdrys in cozy alley in Omoide Yokocho, found really wonderful cake and tea dessert open late also in Omoide, hit up 🎵 Donki! 🎵 for a final round of bulk snacks and souvenirs, ended up on a late-night excursion to find Park Hyatt Hotel (featured in Lost in Translation); finished night at hotel watching the city go to sleep from our balcony 👣 22,700 steps 🏁 10.3 miles
FINAL SCORE 📸 Pics: 1,929 👣 Steps: 337,700 🏁 Miles: 153.78 (we averaged 9.6 miles per day, every day, for 16 days) 🇯🇵 “Nihongo jōzu!”: 4 (I know more proficient Japanese speakers are insulted, but it's honestly a pretty nice comment when you're at my level) 👶 Comments on how young we look/how we can’t possibly be celebrating our 10-year wedding anniversary: 3 ✨ Gratitude: Infinite.

https://hbr.org/2020/01/the-founder-of-chewy-com-on-finding-the-financing-to-achieve-scale

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The Founder of Chewy.com on Finding the Financing to Achieve Scale

by

• Ryan Cohen

Most people assume that the high point of my professional career came on April 18, 2017, when the owners of PetSmart paid $3.35 billion for Chewy.com, the pet retailer I had cofounded six years earlier. No doubt, that day was incredible. It represented the culmination of a dream and a tremendous amount of work. But believe it or not, another handshake—another deal—mattered even more to me.
That one happened on September 26, 2013. I had launched Chewy two years earlier with Michael Day, using our own cash and small loans, but my vision was to build a large business, and I knew that significant capital would be required to finance the growth. We approached dozens of VC firms—I even flew out to Silicon Valley from our South Florida headquarters and went door-to-door on Sand Hill Road explaining how Chewy would succeed by delighting customers and running an ultra-efficient operation. But everyone turned us down.
Larry Cheng at Volition Capital was one of the people we pitched our company to. We first met him in 2012; he was en route to Disney World with his family and agreed to make a quick stop at our office. I remember that he asked me, “Who’s going to take this company to $100 million in sales?” I was 26 and probably looked even younger, but I confidently answered, “I am.” He didn’t invest.
He followed up with us about six months later, though. We’d beaten the sales projections that we’d previously given him, and he was impressed. A few days later he signed off on a $15 million investment in Chewy. The satisfaction of that victory was even greater than the pride I felt following the eventual multibillion-dollar sale. After two years of building Chewy—and more than 100 conversations with VCs that went nowhere—I’d finally found someone who believed in me and our business model. Larry had validated our idea.
From that point on, the mission was larger. I was even more committed to making Chewy an industry leader, because it was no longer just our own money on the line. Larry had gone out on a limb for us. I felt that responsibility.
I approached every subsequent round of financing, including PetSmart’s acquisition, in a similar way—by underpromising and overdelivering on sales. Our mission was straightforward: to build a best-in-class, customer-obsessed pet retailer. We also wanted to leave everyone who’d backed us a winner.

An Early Pivot

I’ve been working since I was 13, when I started building websites for family members and local businesses. From there I moved into affiliate marketing. I met Michael in an online chat room discussing website design and computer programming. We hit it off immediately and started talking about collaborating on a business.
I’d always wanted to build an e-commerce company, so we settled on what we thought was a terrific idea in an industry ripe for disruption: online jewelry sales. We built the website, set up the delivery systems, bought the inventory, and even put a safe in the office to store it.
But about a week before our scheduled launch, I had a revelation. I was in a local pet store with my toy poodle, Tylee, asking the owner about the most healthful food I could buy for her. That’s when it hit me: I was getting into the wrong business. I didn’t care much about jewelry, but like many dog and cat parents I knew, I was passionate about what I bought for Tylee. The pet industry was big and growing, moving from mass market to premium. It was clear that the opportunity was huge.
So although we were only a week away from launching the jewelry business, we pivoted. We sold all the rings, necklaces, and bracelets—and the safe—and started learning everything we could about the pet industry. We built a new website. We found a local distributor and partnered with a third-party logistics company nearby. In June of 2011 we launched. In just three months we went from my epiphany at the pet store to running a pet-supplies business.
We intended to build a best-in-class, customer-obsessed pet retailer.
People sometimes ask if I worried about following in the footsteps of Pets.com, in 2000 one of the highest profile failures of the dot-com bubble. I didn’t. For one thing, I was 15 when that company declared bankruptcy, so I wasn’t very familiar with the story. Second, Pets.com existed at a time when most people had dial-up internet and weren’t comfortable making purchases online. By the time we started, e-commerce was second nature for most consumers.
I also got questions about Amazon, and, of course, it was a real competitor. It had an incredible infrastructure, established relationships with customers and suppliers, and endless capital. But I knew that other companies, including Zappos (later acquired by Amazon) and Wayfair, had found success in specific product categories. Their secret was offering a differentiated customer experience. I thought we could do something similar in the pet space.
With limited resources, we served as our own C-suite. I was CEO, Michael was CTO, and my longtime friend Alan Attal was COO. We knew that superior customer service had to be one of our core competencies if we wanted to deliver the same experience I’d had at the neighborhood pet store, so our first priority was building a team to work the phones, live chat, and emails in our call center so that we could stop doing all that ourselves.
From the outset we reinvested all our cash from operations in the business, but eventually we needed the larger pools of money that VC firms offered. After months of searching, we finally found Larry and Volition.

Scaling Up

We closed the series A financing round on October 24, 2013, and I’ll never forget the moment the money hit our bank account. Although we had signed the term sheet, part of me was still skeptical that it was all going to work out. But when I saw the transfer confirmation, it became real.
With that money we could invest in developing the systems, technology, and teams needed to scale up. We could also bring stocking and shipping in-house. We already recognized that if we wanted to create a multibillion-dollar business, fulfillment had to become another core competency.
Consultants had told us that it would take a year and a half to build a warehouse from scratch. But with 300% growth year over year, we didn’t have that much time. The logistics company handling fulfillment couldn’t keep up, so the Chewy customer experience had begun to deteriorate. We needed more control, and fast. We knew we had to make the transition within a few months.
We started scouting potential sites in February of 2014, focusing on the northeastern United States because so much of the country’s population lives there. The location we chose—Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania—would allow us to provide overnight delivery to customers in the densely populated tristate area of Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. By that summer we’d opened a 400,000-square-foot facility full of bags and cans of dog and cat food, carriers and cages, leashes, litter boxes, toys, and treats.
Although we managed to get up and running in less than six months, it certainly wasn’t easy. Everything that could go wrong did. We couldn’t hire people to work in the warehouse fast enough. When we were finally staffed, the scanner guns would stop working, or the Wi-Fi or warehouse management system would go out. We were tackling issue after issue 24/7 until we worked out all the kinks.
We also focused heavily on marketing. From day one, we invested almost exclusively in direct response ads, so every dollar spent could be tracked—no Pets.com-style Super Bowl commercials for us. We expanded by investing in the team and processes to effectively acquire the right customers at the right cost. Our governor of growth was free cash flow. Our sales more than doubled from $205 million in 2014 to $423 million in 2015.
Our new hires played a big role in scaling up the company. I realized early on that I’d need to use my time efficiently and focus on hiring. At first recruiting was a challenge. Alan and I spent countless hours reaching out to candidates on LinkedIn, explaining how quickly the company was growing and describing what we intended to build, but 98% of them didn’t bother to respond.
Surprisingly, that turned out to be a useful filter. The 2% who did write back were true believers, team players, and business builders who were excited for the opportunity. They all had tremendous heart, fire in their bellies, and a will to win. We hired for passion. Many people quit stable jobs and relocated with their families from across the country to join us. It was a tremendous sacrifice that we never took lightly.
Ultimately we raised six rounds of financing totaling more than $350 million from T. Rowe Price, BlackRock, Greenspring, Lone Pine, Verlinvest, and the investment bank Allen & Company.

The Next Level

Our revenue was $901 million in 2016 and growing 100% year over year. That got us thinking about an IPO for our next round of financing. We had about 7,000 employees and six warehouses, with plans to add another two in the next 12 months. From an operational and strategic perspective, the company was strong.
As we prepped for the IPO, Petco, one of the biggest U.S. pet retailers, approached us about a merger. It couldn’t meet our terms, so we shook hands and parted ways.
In early 2017 PetSmart, Petco’s primary brick-and-mortar rival, also reached out. I received an email from Raymond Svider, a partner and the chairman of BC Partners, the private equity group that had completed its acquisition of PetSmart in March of 2015. He said he was interested in buying Chewy and wanted to talk. We had met previously but didn’t know each other well.
PetSmart was one of our top competitors, so we proceeded carefully. I explained that we were preparing for an IPO, so we expected a certain price in an all-cash, public-style deal. In view of the competitive dynamics, we weren’t going to give away our proprietary information and start a lengthy due-diligence process. I told Svider that if he wanted to make the acquisition, he would need to do it quickly. To his credit, he did. In April of 2017 we signed an agreement to sell the company for $3.35 billion. It was the largest e-commerce acquisition in history.
Our investors were happy too. The early-stage ones made huge gains, and the later-stage ones earned significant money. Investing in Chewy had made a lot of careers, and I’m proud of that. Those investors put their trust in me and my vision, and I repaid them with returns. The same would soon be true for BC Partners and PetSmart.
Chewy’s revenues continued to rise post-acquisition, hitting $3.5 billion in 2018, while its losses narrowed to $267 million. In June of 2019 PetSmart spun Chewy off into a publicly traded company at a valuation near $9 billion, close to three times the sale price only two years before.
I left the company in March of 2018. It wasn’t an easy decision, but I felt I had done all I had set out to do. The company was sound, the foundation strong, and the vision set. But I was no longer in full control. And I didn’t want a boss. I’m a business builder, not a manager. My work was complete.
When I think back to why raising the money to help grow the business was one of the best moments of my life, I realize it’s because the journey was far more exciting than getting to the finish line. I relished the challenges of disrupting an entire industry and trying to delight customers to a degree that had never been achieved before. The excitement I felt from putting together a world-class team of employees and investors, succeeding against all odds, and building a multibillion-dollar retail leader from nothing was unequivocally the greatest of my career.

Hello, I would like to seek fellow redditors opinions, input and recommendation on how I could better finetune my itinerary better. There's only so much I can think of, and plan as an individual, but with everyone's input and comments I can further refine and enhance the travel experience before I set foot into Japan. Do forgive me in advance for the theorycrafting wall of text.
I know it may be difficult to review the itinerary, so to make the review easier I have broken the itinerary down into specific sub-groups e.g. Shikoku, Kinki etc. Specific questions that I have are bolded.
Thank you in advance for taking your time to provide your opinions!
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Baseline information

• 32M, average fitness, solo traveller
• Public transport only (challenge); I have a driver's license but I have not drove a car for god knows how long so I would prefer not to test it against the green hills of Shikoku
• Interest: anime (select few), experience autumn/nature, visiting secluded spots, and just trying random stuff
• JP language skill: rudimentary at best (N4), but I will not shy away from speaking in simple, broken japanese or use a translator to communicate. Reading/interpreting kanji is not a problem (in general).
• Visit history: Visited twice (once to Hokkaido for ~8 days, and once toKyoto and Osaka for 8 days
• Will probably travel around with a (slightly) oversized luggage at ~166cm (A+B+C), that’s the only one I have with me. This will be a problem on the Shinkansen (but hopefully not so much on sightseeing trains/limited expresses).
• Will be visiting during (almost) peak autumn at 11 November, and will depart on the 16th of December
• Jet lag is unlikely to be a problem (1h time difference), but nevertheless I will maintain a low tempo on the first day to acclimatize to the environment
• Only thing firmed as of now is the air ticket, everything else is up in the air.
• I like planning/min-maxing to some degree, though I recognize that I may not fulfill all objectives during the trip and I am totally ok with that [its just a guideline or framework to give the holiday some structure, that’s all.] FWIW, I personally like traveling at a high tempo pace like some japanese travel show do (e.g. ローカル路線バス乗り継ぎの旅)

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Specific goals/objective:

1. Experience Shikoku in autumn (specifically the views at Iya Valley) and in other prefectures (thus making nature sightseeing more of a priority this time round)
2. Experience Kanazawa for anime stuff
3. Experience the Shimanami Kaido in full (including any sightseeing spots in between the 6 island chains)
4. Bonus - try as many sightseeing trains as possible.
5. Bonus - if weather, time and schedule permits, try skiing as an option in Nagano.
6. Bonus - stay in as many onsen ryokans as possible, without breaking the bank.

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Locked-in prefectures [i.e. I will definitely go to those prefectures no matter what]:

1. Shikoku (as per above objective)
2. Hiroshima (because its on the opposite end of the Shimanami Kaido)
3. Kanazawa (for anime related reason)
4. Tokyo (that is my starting and end point so it has to be included by default)

All other prefectures are basically float i.e. I am open to consider dropping said itinerary for something else based on your suggestion that aligns with my preferences/interest. Most of the other locations I added are prefectures that are often next to each other, or well-connected (apart from the initial Tokyo Kagawa jump via Sunrise Seto/Shinkansen).
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Wait-list prefectures (prefectures that I want to go, but I don’t think I can realistically fit in without dropping other locations):

1. Snow skiing at Nagano (depending on how cooperative the weather is in early-ish December (would 2 days be sufficient?))
2. Ehime, Kochi expansion [spend 1-3 more days]
3. Izu Peninsula (~2 days, via Saphir Odoriko)
4. Nagoya + lower Nagano (Kiso Valley) (~3 days)
5. Ishikawa expansion [1 extra day at Kaga]

I am open to dropping a few days in Tokyo/Osaka etc to make that trade off [currently kept 3 days free for further development]. Alternatively, if the planning can be better optimized based on your inputs I might be able to do one of those without compromising on the base set. I would like to hear your opinion on what locations you would drop in the itinerary to make time for one of the above.
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General planning philosophy:

1. My itineary adopts a breadth approach (cover as much area as I can humanely possible without rushing/touch-and-go) as opposed to depth (i.e. spending much more time within Shikoku than what I allocated); though I would be open to considering more days at selected locations if you have strong recommendations. My thought is to experience how different autumn is at various parts of the country (if possible), and maybe winter too (to a certain degree).
2. Due to the nature of my travel, I note that luggage logistics is a critical consideration when moving between prefectures; my thought is to park that luggage at the next hotel as quickly as possible so that I can free myself for sightseeing within the vicinity, or leave the luggage at the hotel after I check out until I am ready to travel to the next location. I will need to send (quite a fair bit of) emails to the hotels to confirm on this prior to booking.
3. I will attempt to minimize transit time between prefectures to no more than 2~3 hours a day to avoid having excessively long transport days (except the initial Tokyo Kagawa jump).
4. Because of the long trip, I will also need to factor a bit of downtime at night for administrative stuff (e.g. catching up a little bit on work, laundry etc).

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Shikoku (~7 days)
Specific thoughts while planning:

1. I will need to exploit Limited Express trains as much as possible to minimize downtime between the 4 prefectures. Fortunately, for the most part these train frequencies are almost hourly, thus missing one train isnt too deadly consequence-wise.
2. The transfer between Kochi and Ehime [Matsuyama] is oddly quicker via express bus as opposed to trains (!)
3. For Kochi, my opinion is that it is best explored on car instead of public transport [it’s a really wide prefecture]; I feel that 1 day may not do it justice, but it is probably adequate for exploring the city centre as a whole.
4. There's a fair bit of uncertainties while planning this leg so I would deeply appreciate any advice you may have.
5. This current iteration is unable to weave in the Shikoku Mannaka Sennen Monogatari sightseeing train [四国まんなか千年ものがたり] ; if you people think its something not to be missed do let me know and I will reshuffle my timetable as such.

Day 0: Tokyo Kagawa (Sunrise Seto) [Saturday, 11 Nov]

• Touch down at Narita at 1720hours
• Transfer to Tokyo Station via NEX or Skyliner
• Settle administrative matters at the Midori-no-Maruguchi (e.g. get all the booked tickets etc from JR Pass, for Shinkansen and all other sightseeing trains) at Tokyo Station.
• IF Sunrise Seto ticket is obtained via the JR West portal booking, chill till 2200 and take Sunrise Seto to reach Kagawa (Takamatsu) at 0700 the next day. Try to snag the ticket online (likely via the japanese portal since there's no option to buy Solo Deluxe through the english/international website. Otherwise, compromise and go for Single)
• IF Sunrise Seto ticket is NOT obtained, proceed to take the furthest possible Shinkansen westwards (probably Okayama) and rest for the night.

Day 1: Kagawa (Takamatsu) [Sunday, 12 Nov]

• Chill around Takamatsu. Drop luggage at coin locker OR the hotel (near JR Takamatsu ideally)
• Look at whats left of Takamatsu Castle en route to the port.
• Day trip to Naoshima or Teshima to visit the art museums (Chichu Art Museum, Lee Ufan Museum etc).
• Ritsuin Garden in the evening (closes 1830)
• Find an eatery with Sanuki Udon for dinner if possible.

Day 2: Kagawa (Kotohira) Tokushima (Iya Valley) [Monday, 13 Nov]

• Morning trip from Takamatsu to Kotohira (either via JR or Kotoden). Visit Kotohiragu [includes inner shrine] and Kanamaruza Theater
• Return to Kotohira to pick up luggage, transit to Oboke via Limited Express Shimanto [Takamatsu Tadotsu Oboke]
• Retire at a local hotel around Oboke. If time permits, take the chance to explore around Oboke Gorge itself.

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Day 3: Tokushima (Iya Valley) [Tuesday, 14 Nov]
[Post-research note: I realized that there is NO public transport to Mount Tsurugi on a weekday. I will have to rent a taxi direct to Mount Tsurugi, make the 'climb', then thereafter take the taxi down to the other attractions. I am inclined to just go full hog on the private taxi and rent it (almost the whole day, probably 7~8 hours for 4300yen/hour) to save the trouble.
Otherwise, I will need to hike downhill which can be rather rough since its just a single lane road (looking at nearly 10++ km) so I think it wise not to penny pinch in the interest of both time and safety.]
Spend the day at Iya Valley.

• Take a taxi after breakfast to zip to Mount Tsurugi and speedrun it to the mountain peak (aka using the chairlift to speedrun a good chunk of the mountain) about 2.5 hours ~ 3 hours as per the Iya Valley guide
• Taxi from Mount Tsurugi chairlift down to Oku-Iya Niju Kazuraashi and cross it (~1 hour estimate)
• Taxi down to visit the mannequins/scarecrows at Nagoro Village (~3km downhill from Oku-Iya). (~1 hour estimate)
• Check out the Peeing Boy Statue (~0.5 hour estimate [its just looking at the statue that is overlooking the entire gorge is it not?])
• Cross the outer vine bridge Iya-no-Kazurabashi (~1 hour estimate)
• Taxi back to Oboke, and retire for the day (~0.5 hour estimate, thus looking at about ~8 hours taxi rental total, with some leeway for lunch break)

​
Day 4: Tokushima (Iya Valley) Kochi (Kochi) [Wednesday, 15 Nov]

• Transit from Iya Valley [Oboke] to Kochi via Limited Express Shimanto (again) after breakfast. (~1 hour transit)
• Park luggage at hotel [ideally near JR Kochi Station], then proceed to mill around Kochi, visiting places such as Kochi Castle [高知城] and Harimaya Bridge[はりまや橋]
• Transit to Sakamoto Ryoma Memorial Museum [高知県立坂本龍馬記念館] via local bus which is also near Katsumatsura Beach incidentally. Chill at Katsumatsura Beach in the evening
• Return to JR Kochi, dinnesupper at Hirome Market (ideally to try out Kochi's speciality seared bonito). [is visiting the market more preferable during lunch OR dinner?]

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Day 5: Kochi (Kochi) Ehime (Imabari) [Thursday, 16 Nov]

• Complete any remaining items in Kochi in the morning, then transit to Imabari via train (Kochi Tadotsu Imabari), via Limited Express Shimanto (yet again!) and Ishidzuchi**[TBC: this might be better done via highway bus instead which is faster at ~2-3 hours]**
• Drop luggage at Imabari for the next 2 days, either at Sunrise Itoyama OR Cycle no Ie. [both are well positioned for the Shimanami Kaido, and are also one of the selected hotels eligible for the Sagawa luggage transfer.] Ideally done just around lunch time, so that there's still the better half of the day to explore Imabari.
• Spend the remainder of the day visiting Imabari Castle (closes 1700) and Towel Museum (slightly out of the way) (closes 1800) [TBC: I note this place is quite out of the way from Imabari itself, even the JP website suggests taking a taxi (!) there from the nearby train station. Might have to drop this).
• Attempt to try some Ehime-related food specialties e.g. Taimeshi (Sea Bream), Ehime oranges, Champon for the next 2 days

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Day 6: Ehime (Matsuyama / Imabari) [Friday, 17 Nov]

• Take the Limited express train Ishidzuchi to Matsuyama day tripping. (~1h one-way).
• Explore Matsuyama Castle, and the nearby Matsuyama Ropeway Shopping Street
• Visit Shiki Memorial Museum
• Visit Dogo Onsen [and attempt to soak in the waters if possible].
• Also consider looking at Ishiteji (石手寺) beside Dogo Onsen.
• Bonus: Subject to train schedule, if possible, attempt to secure tickets for the Iyonada Sightseeing Train (伊予灘物語), Futami leg [双海ふたみ 編] , and also visit JR Shimonada Station (JR下灘駅) at the same time.
• Bonus: visit Yawatahama Port where the movie Suzume took reference from,
• Return to Imabari via the same Limited express Ishidzuchi and retire for the night.

Day 7: Ehime (Imabari) Hiroshima (Shinamani Kaido) [Saturday, 18 Nov]
I am of the opinion that 1 day in Shimanami Kaido is adequate if I attempt just the main route which is about 80km [as a test run, I did 70km and finished it within 6-7 hours with lunch breaks included]. For now I will plan for two full days, however should I truncate it down to one day later, I will add an extra day to either explore Matsuyama or Okayama.
​

• Start off at Sunrise Itoyama [watch the sunrise, have breakfast here, cafeteria opens at 0700, rental opens at 0800] OR Cycle no Ie. Do paperwork to send luggage over to the next accomodation via Sagawa.
• I will (probably) follow the recommended 'extended' route on Cycle no Ie's website and do the following:
  • Take the west coast for Oshima (~13km) and cross to Hakatajima, with possible stop on:
    • Mount Kiro Observatory Point [I am aware that there's a steep incline so this would be contingent on my physical/mental status by then].
    • Nagahama Beach
• Take the coastal route for Hakatajima (~17km) and cross to Omishima and enjoy the coastal scenery
• Take the coastal route (again) for Omishima (~41km) (or lesser depending on how I'm feeling at that point) , with possible stop on:
  • -TBC: Okunoshima (there is apparently a ferry route to the well-known rabbit island via Omishima port. Not sure if anyone else have tried this particular route and if this is a better approach than going through Tadano-umi (though I would acknowledge that there's historical stuff to visit in nearby Takehara), and I would not be able to buy rabbit food in advance).[Based on Google Earth estimate, its about 3km for the entire island loop - seems doable within 2 hours to tour the poison gas museum with a bike and pet some rabbits).
  • Oyamazumi Shrine Treasure Museum
• End the day at WAKKA (Omishima) OR Guesthouse NEST / Soil Setoda (Ikuchijima) just beside Kousanji / The Hill of Hope (closes 1700). If possible, visit before closing, otherwise defer to next day.
• Try the ice cream at Dolce at Ikuchijima if possible.
• Bonus: if for some reason I am still ahead of time at this juncture (<1500), proceed to finish Innoshima and Mukaishima, then take a ferry to backtrack to Wakka/Soil Setoda or cycle back (last boat is ~1700) and rest; however, the next day I will zip straight to Onomichi via ferry after breakfast.

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Hiroshima + Yamaguchi (~4 days)
Specific thoughts while planning:

1. Onomichi is a pretty good base to jump to Okayama to explore Okayama, Kurashiki or Tomonoura with the Shinkansen accessibility, but it is impossible to cover them all within a single day. If I finish the Shimanami Kaido within a single day or finish it early on the second day, I will have that extra time to visit those.
2. There's another sightseeing train etSETOra from Onomichi to Hiroshima but it only operates on Monday/Friday/Saturday/Sunday. For now the schedule could fit the train timetable pretty nicely.
3. Would anyone suggest visiting Miyajima in the morning or in the evening? This would help me determine the order for the Kintaikyo Bridge/Miyajima day trip. Watching the sunset at either destination is pretty good in my books.

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Day 8: Hiroshima (Shinamani Kaido Onomichi) [Sunday, 19 Nov]

• Continue from Ikuchijima towards Innoshima and Mukaishima (~18km) via the western coast route after breakfast, with possible stops on the following areas:
  • Innoshima: Innoshima Flower Centre, Shimanami Beach [open to more suggestions]
  • Mukaishima : there seems to be a lot of brunch places like Willows Nursery etc, soak the view at Mukaishima Rest Park [TBC: open to more suggestions]

Ideally reach Onomichi just around lunch or earlier. Chill for the rest of the day, and if I'm still up for it, explore Onomichi, including but not limited to:

• Exploring the cat alley
• Visit the exhibits at Onomichi City Museum of Art
• Consider walking to Senkoji and Onomichi Hondori Shopping Street
• Look into trying Onomichi-style ramen.

Retire at a guesthouse/hotel near JR Onomichi that I have forwarded the luggage to.
​
Day 9: Hiroshima (Onomichi, Takehara+Kure OR Tomonoura OR Okayama) Downtown Hiroshima) [Monday, 20 Nov]

• Mill around Onomichi in the morning (if not done yesterday), with a side trip to EITHER Takehara/Kure OR Okayama/Kurashiki OR Tomonoura (choose one):
  • Takehara: stroll along the historical townscape [and look if they have any Tamayura-related merch], Okunoshima (if not done during the Shimanami Kaido leg / Kure: look into trying Kure curry/Niku-jaga and visit the Yamato Museum
  • Okayama: Okayama Castle (zip via Shinkansen) / Kurashiki : Kurashiki Bikan Historical Quarter
  • Tomonoura: stroll along the townscape during the day (zip via Shinkansen, transfer to local bus)
• Return to Onomichi (no later than 1400), board the etSETOra sightseeing train at 1437, and zip to Hiroshima. Enjoy the sunset along the coastline.
• Retire for the night at Hiroshima proper, probably near JR Hiroshima OR the bus terminal. If time permits, take a gander along the streets and see what takes me from there.

​
Day 10: Hiroshima (Downtown Hiroshima) [Tuesday, 21 Nov]
Spend the day surveying Hiroshima proper.

• Peace Memorial Park (平和記念公園) and Atomic Bomb Dome
• Hiroshima National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims (国立広島原爆死没者追悼平和祈念館)
• Hiroshima Castle
• Orizuru Tower (おりづるタワー)
• Shukkeien (縮景園)
• Optional: Mazda Museum / Kure (if not done the previous day)
• Try to source for Hiroshima-specific food: Okonomiyaki, Dandan Noodles

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Day 11: Hiroshima (with a day trip to Yamaguchi) [Wednesday, 22 Nov]

• Daytrip to Yamaguchi [Shin-Iwakuni] to visit Kintaikyo Bridge via Shinkansen. Also stop by the nearby Iwakuni Castle.
• Try Tonosama Sushi at Iwakuni if possible.
• Take the local train back to Miyajimaguchi and take the boat to Itsukushima.Take the time to stroll around the island and perhaps watch the sunset at the torii gate.
• Exit back to Hiroshima via boat to Hiroshima Port direct, and transit back to hotel.

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Shimane + Tottori (4 days)
Specific thoughts while planning:

1. Matsue becomes the main jump point for Shimane just because of the subsidized highway bus from Hiroshima, and ease of access towards Tottori later. There's no direct train between Hiroshima and Izumo/Matsue (!).
2. Tottori is really wide size-wise, to the point that it feels more efficient to have two separate hotels in two nights (Kurayoshi/Misasa Onsen + downtown Tottori) rather than one hotel for two nights (i.e. downtown Tottori). Could be just me making excuses to get into an onsen ryokan however.
3. Is there anything interesting at Yonago (Tottori) that I should take note of? Based on my initial survey nothing in particular pops up (other than the Tottori Prefectural Flower Park).
4. Skipping Tottori Castle since it doesn’t seem to be interesting at first glance. Any other interesting things to at Tottori downtown (or nearby)?

​
Day 12: Hiroshima Shimane (Matsue) [Thursday, 23 Nov]

• Make good use of the 500yen highway bus from Hiroshima to Matsue. (3.5 hours transit). Fortunately the frequency is not too bad (7-8 buses per day, looking at 0800 departure or later); if there are still outstanding places to visit in Hiroshima I will visit them in the morning.
• Check in at a hotel near JR Matsue, and proceed to trawl around Matsue with whatever daylight is left. (TBC: am considering taking a few stops down to Tamatsukuri Onsen 玉造温泉 or Matsue-shinjoko Onsen instead of the typical hotel. Does anyone have any positive experiences there?)
• Attempt to spend the afternoon at the Adachi Museum of Art. Local train to Yasugi, transfer to free shuttle.
• Chill off in downtown Matsue for the night. Prowl for Shimane-specific food such as Naniwa Zushi (浪花寿司), Shijimi clams (しじみ), Izumo soba, Izumo Zenzai (出雲ぜんざい).
• Bonus: visit the Tottori Prefectural Flower Park for the winter Hanakairo Flower Illumination at Yonago at night [which is just beside Matsue. Free shuttle bus at Yonago bus terminal].

​
Day 13: Shimane (Izumo / Matsue) [Friday, 24 Nov]

• Day trip from Matsue to Izumo. (JR Matsue JR Izumo, swap to Ichibata local rail to Izumotaisha-mae)
• Take a stop at Izumo Taisha, as well as the nearby Shimane Museum of Ancient Izumo (島根県立古代出雲歴史博物館)
• After lunch, return to JR Matsue and proceed to Yushien Garden (由志園) via bus. Enjoy the sunset over the garden.
• Stop by Matsue Castle on the way back.

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Day 14: Shimane (Matsue) Tottori (Kurayoshi) [Saturday, 25 Nov]

• Transfer from Matsue to Kurayoshi in the morning via Super Matsukaze Limited Express (~1h).
• Settle down luggage at Misasa Onsen, then proceed to hike up Mitokusan Sanbutsuji Temple (三仏寺). Cater extra time just in case I have to wait for another fellow to pop up to climb in pairs. Estimated climb time excluding wait is about 2-3 hours both ways?
• Excess time to be spent sauntering Misasa Onsen and its nearby area such as the Nijisseiki Pear Museum [二十世紀梨記念館（なしっこ館)] and Kurayoshi Historical Quarter.
• Retire at Misasa Onsen for the night. Bonus: watch the constellations at night at Misasa Onsen on a Monday/Wednesday/Friday, 2100JST. Current plan does not fall within those 3 weekdays
• Bonus: take a short detour to Conan Town (postnote: not a big fan of the show).

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Day 15: Tottori (Kurayoshi Tottori) [Sunday, 26 Nov]

• Transfer from Kurayoshi to Tottori (~35minutes transfer) in the morning, and proceed to tour around Tottori.
• Drop luggage, take a local bus to Tottori Sand Dunes, and visit the nearby Sand Museum.
• Transfer northwards to Uradome Coast via local bus and spend the remainder of the day there. Watch the sunset over the coast.
• Return to downtown Tottori, stroll around and call it a night.

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Hyogo, Kyoto, Osaka , Nara, Mie (10 days)
Specific thoughts while planning:

1. Kinosaki Onsen is intentionally designed to be a slow-paced leg to recover [and also to make time to enjoy the onsens].
2. The limited express train between Kinosaki Onsen and Osaka stops by Himeji thus I thought of resting a night there instead of doing day trips via Osaka.
3. Osaka itinerary does look sparse but that is in large part because I have already visited most of them in the past. Nevertheless, I would like to experience how different it is in autumn compared to summer [based on those few destinations that I loved going previously].
4. I have kept one float day to decompress, OR shift to any of the other prefectures (TBC).
5. There are (multiple) special limited express train by Kintetsu; they're not covered by JR pass but nevertheless I would love to ride on those as an experience. The Kintetsu pass covers the basic fare only but based on my preliminary cost estimate, it is still worth getting it.
6. Is it feasible to compress Himeji and Kobe to a single day?
7. The itineraries for Osaka, Kyoto, Nara and Mie are flexible since they're literally beside one another - makes it particularly easy to shift around base on ground situation.

​
Day 16: Tottori (Tottori) Hyogo (Kinosaki Onsen) [Monday, 27 Nov]

• Settle any outstanding sightseeing spots in the morning if required in Tottori, then transfer to Kinosaki Onsen via the Sanin Line.
• Make a pitstop at Amarube ('Sky Station') and marvel at the engineering work.
• Deposit luggage at the ryokan (or put in the coin locker), and stroll around and enjoy Kinosaki Onsen [after all its an onsen town].
• Try to hit as many of the 7 external onsens that are usable. Retire for the night here.
• Optional: go up the ropeway and oversee Kinosaki Onsen in the evening (last ride up ~1630)
• Optional: take a short hike up to Onsenji Temple.

​
Day 17: Hyogo (Kinosaki Onsen + Northern Kyoto (Amanohashidate) day trip) [Tuesday, 28 Nov]

• Optional: take a (very) early start to the day to Takeda Castle Ruins and witness the 'floating castle' effect in the morning (<0800).
• Day trip to Amanohashidate via ToyookaKyotango Railway. Do the funny bend-down pose on the bench at Amanohashidate View Land, and see how it feels like looking at the world inverted.
• Cross the sandbar and look from the other side (Nariaiji Temple / Kasamatsu Park)
• Select one of three additional side-trips:
  • EITHER take a local bus up to Ine to look at the Funaya + sightseeing boat,
  • OR local rail down to Maizuru to look at the Maizuru World Brick Museum + eat at the Michi-no-eki;
  • OR reverse to Toyooka spend time in the city itself e.g. Izushi Castle Town
• Return to Kinosaki Onsen, and continue experiencing the remainder of the onsens. Retire for the night here. Optional: ride the Aomatsu sightseeing train back to Toyooka.
• Optional: Take a trip to Ankokuji Temple (安国寺) in the evening. Likely to visit post-peak autumn which means less than ideal viewing conditions.

Day 18: Hyogo (Kinosaki Onsen Himeji) [Wednesday, 29 Nov]

• Transit from Kinosaki Onsen to Himeji via Limited Express Hamakaze (~2 hours).
• Deposit luggage at the hotel or the coin lockers at the station, then proceed for sightseeing.
• Walk along the Miyuki Street Shopping District which is en-route to Himeji Castle.
• Himeji Castle sector : Himeji Castle (姫路城), Kokoen (好古園)
• Take a local bus at Himeji Castle to go to Mount Shosha and hike up Engyōji Temple (圓教寺)
• Optional : Stroll along Hyogo Prefectural Museum of History and/or Himeji City Museum of Art which is beside the castle, OR Shosha Handicraft Museum which is just at the foot of Mount Shosha
• Optional: Make a detour to the Japan Toy Museum near Koro station (~30 minutes from JR Himeji). Closes 1700.
• Look for Hyogo-specific food: Kobe beef, steamed pork buns, sobameshi, himeji oden, etc

Retire at Himeji for the night.
Day 19: Hyogo (Himeji Kobe) Osaka (Dotonburi) [Thursday, 30 Nov]
Day trip to Kobe, before continuing further down to Osaka.

• Check out from Himeji, transit further down to Kobe for another stop before Osaka. Place luggage at the holding facility within the Shinkansen station.
• Take a visit to the Earthquake Memorial Museum (人と防災未来センター) to look at the devastation wrought by the 1995 earthquake.
• Stroll along Kobe Harborland (神戸ハーバーランド) and Meriken Park (メリケンパーク) , look at the Kobe Tower since its closed till 2024 for renovation, and look at the damage caused by the earthquake
• Optional: Head westwards to Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art.
• Optional: Hit up the ASICS Sports Museum (アシックススポーツミュージアム)
• Look at the engineering feat that is the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge and the nearby Akashi Kaikyo Bridge Exhibition Center at Maiko. (Suzume no Tojimari)
• Return to Shin-kobe, pick up luggage, and transit to Shin-Osaka via Shinkansen, and then to Dotonburi/Shinsaibashi. End the (long) day in Osaka.

Day 20: Osaka [Friday, 1 Dec]
Osaka Nostalgia (acid) trip, speedrun edition: revisiting places that I want to go again

• Day trip to Mino Park and revisit the waterfall (I loved visiting it previously) via the Hankyu line in the morning.
• Zoom down to the Osaka Aquarium after lunch and walk around it (Minoo Umeda Honmachi Osakako Station).
• From there, race towards Abeno Harukas and watch the sunset/nightview at Abeno Harukas.
• Bonus: revisit Sumiyoshi Taisha if time permits.
• Spend whatever time remains at night at Nipponbashi Denden Town (shops close at ~2000) and Dotonburi (some stores are still open near midnight) and/or Shinsekai (新世界).

Day 21: Osaka (Nara day trip) [Saturday, 2 Dec]
Spend a day in Nara.

• Zoom from Namba to Nara via Kintetsu (note: non-JR)
• Explore Todaiji Temple, Kokufuji Temple, Isuien Garden and Kasuga Taisha.
• Optional: pass by Naramachi (奈良町) on the way back.
• Take the Kintetsu line down to Mount Yoshino. [TBC: subject to whether I am too early or late for the koyo.Based on last year's prediction I am about 1-2 weeks too late. Might swap this out to a Uji day trip instead in Kyoto.). Spend time walking around the Shimo Senbon and Naka Senbon and experience the autumn.
• Transfer back to Osaka. Bonus: take the Blue Symphony back to Osaka instead of the typical train. (non-JR)

Day 22: Osaka (Mie day trip) [Sunday, 3 Dec]
Day trip to Mie.

• Take the Iseshima Liner from Tsuruhashi Station (near Namba/Dotonburi) to Ise. Bonus: take the Hinotori from Osaka to Tsu, then transfer to Mie. (non-JR)
• Hit up Ise Jingu (伊勢神宮) [both inner and outer] and Okage Yokocho (おかげ横丁)
• Try to eat Matsuaka Beef or Ise Udon for lunch.
• Head westwards to Futamiokitama Shrine (二見興玉神社) / Meotoiwa Rocks; and if further time permits, go to Toba for the Ama Viewing Platform.
• Take the returning Shimakaze Limited Express train back to Osaka (note: only one train at 1630; if this train is missed, change to normal express trains). (non-JR)
• Retreat back to Osaka for the night. Consider doing any other night activities in Osaka if time, and body permits.

Day 23: Osaka ('north' Kyoto day trip) [Monday, 4 Dec]
(north) Kyoto day trip.

• Take a stop at the Kyoto Railway Museum. Optional: also consider heading to To-ji Gojunoto first if I reach Kyoto way early before 10am.
• Walk back to Kyoto station, and take a bus northwards to Kyoto Manga Museum.
• Hop on the bus direct from the Manga Museum to Kinkakuji. [bus 15]
• Select one of two side-trips:
  • EITHER head westwards to Arashiyama (note: already visited once in the summer but I still think it nice to visit in autumn/winter this time round). Bonus: experience sunset along the Togetsukyo Bridge.
  • OR head eastwards to Higashiyama (closes 1700), Philosopher's path etc (did not visit these in my past trip here so there's the 'new' factor, but it is going to be a physically taxing day. Also, most likely will reach here nearing evening i.e. closing time thus there's a limit to how much I can visit realistically).

Whichever choice, return back to Osaka for the night. Look out for Kyoto-specific food such as Yudofu, Saba Sushi, Warabi Mochi, Nishin Soba (にしんそば) etc.
Day 24: Osaka ('south' Kyoto day trip) [Tuesday, 5 Dec]
(south) Kyoto day trip edition (mainly Uji and Fushimi).

• Zip from Osaka to Kyoto via Keihan to Uji Station.
• Spend the better half of the morning in Uji.
• Visit the Byōdō-in and the nearby Tonoshima and Tachibana Island.
• Hike up to the Daikichiyama Observation Deck to oversee Uji as a whole. On the way down, explore Ujigami Shrine.
• Take the chance to buy some Uji tea as gifts to relatives. Have lunch along the Omotesando Road.
• Head further northwards to Fushimi, and do another hike up Fushimi Inari. (Note: visited once in the past but I liked the experience thus I would like to do it again.) Bonus: if its done in the evening.

Head back to Osaka and retire for the night. Consider doing any other night activities in Osaka if time, and body permits.
Day 25: Osaka (wildcard) [Wednesday, 6 Dec]
Spare day to do whatever I feel like doing OR reallocate this to another prefecture. Intentionally left blank for later planning
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Kanazawa, Gifu+ (4 days)
Specific thoughts while planning:

1. Is it likely for the skiing season to open around 9~10 December at Shiga Kogen or Nozawa Onsen? Would very much like to try skiing for fun, but am uncertain if the snow condition would be satisfactory by then. Some of the skiing website indicates that these two destinations are usually the first to open. I would like to seek advise on this if possible [never skiied before].
2. As an additional question to point 1, is 2 days adequate just to get a flavor on skiing?
3. Kanazawa is a pretty solid jump point to Shirakawago/Takayama via express buses (~1 to 2 hour one way).
4. My initial planning considered going to Kurobe Gorge (Toyama) but apparently the railways are closed from December onwards. Please correct me if I am mistaken.
5. Another sightseeing train in Kanazawa that I can fit in nicely in my current plans (花嫁のれん), runs on Mon/Fri/Sat/Sun.

Day 26: Osaka Ishikawa (Kanazawa (Kanazawa cityside)) [Thursday, 7 Dec]

• Zip from Osaka to Kanazawa via Limited Express Thunderbird in the early morning (~3hours; ideally the 0740 or 0810 service). Drop luggage at the hotel near JR Kanazawa and explore the cityside.
• Have lunch at the Omicho Market (近江町市場), OR at Higashi Chaya District.
• Stroll around Kanazawa Castle (金沢城, Kanazawajō) and the nearby Kenrokuen (兼六園) / Seisonkaku Villa (成巽閣, Seisonkaku) .
• Consider visiting one or more of the nearby museums if possible:
  • D.T. Suzuki Museum OR
  • National Crafts Museum OR
  • 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art
• Optional: Head southwards to Myoryuji Temple + Nishi Chaya District.
• Optional: Head northwards to Higashi Chaya District (if not done for lunch).

Any outstanding spots not completed today, to be rolled over to the next 2 days (if possible).

• Retire in Kanazawa for the night. Be on the lookout for Kanazawa-specific food: Gold-leaf ice cream, oden, hanton rice
• Optional: have a stay at Yuwaku Onsen for at least one night for anime-related reasons. (Hanasaku Iroha)

​
Day 27: Ishikawa (Kanazawa cityside) / Gifu (Shirakawago, Takayama) [Friday, 8 Dec]

• Day trip to Shiwakawago and Takayama via Nohi bus (non-JR, ~1h). Grab the morning bus express bus to Shirakawago and explore the place in the morning. Experience early snowfall (?) there. Optional: visit Ainokura on the way towards Shirakawago.
• Take another express bus down to Takayama for lunch (~1h travel time).
• Explore what Takayama has to offer. Stroll along the old town near the bus terminal and visit the Takayama Jinya. If time permits, stroll along the Higashiyama Walking Course.
• Optional: pay a visit to Hida Folk Village.
• Return to Kanazawa via Hida Limited Express to Toyama Shinkansen to Kanazawa, OR take the same Nohi express bus directly back (non-JR).
• Retire at Kanazawa for the night. Last express bus from Takayama to Kanazawa is 1630, arrive at 1845. Alternatively, head northwards to Toyama via JR and transfer to Kanazawa.

​
Day 28: Ishikawa (Kanazawa cityside / outskirts) [Saturday, 9 Dec]
Side trip to Wakura Onsen / Nanao for anime-related sightseeing. (Insomanics after Class, Hanasaku Iroha)

• Zoom from Kanazawa up to Wakura Onsen/Nanao via Limited Express Noto Kagaribi. Do some sightseeing related to Insomanics after Class and Hanasaku Iroha.
• Do some train spotting with two anime along the Noto Railways. Stop at Nishigishi station for some sightseeing. (non-JR)
• Return to Kanazawa in the evening from Wakura Onsen via the sightseeing train Hanayomenoren [花嫁のれん, last train 1630).
• End the night at Kanazawa.

Day 29: Ishikawa (wildcard) [Sunday, 10 Dec]
Spare day to do whatever I feel like doing OR reallocate this to another prefecture. Intentionally left blank for later planning
--------------
Tokyo (~6 days)
Specific thoughts while planning:

1. Specific interest to target: anime/vtuber stuff, music (piano in particular), bookstores etc.
2. This is the point in time I should go ham on souvenier purchase if I have not done so. I'll probably get an extra cardboard box or duffel bag to lug with me to the airport to store extra stuff.
3. Would like to seek recommendation on where I should set my base for the 5~6 days here. For now I am planning to pit at Ginza, subject to availability and cost. My thought is that as long as its along the Yamanote line everything rolls I suppose.
4. Hard pass on Golden Gai on the Shunjuku leg (I do not drink).
5. There's way too many to list in terms of what I would like to do in Tokyo, but I have listed items that are of particular interest to me first within the available time frame. If you have strong opinions on specific locations do let me know.

Day 30: Ishikawa (Kanazawa) Tokyo (Ginza) [Monday, 11 Dec]

• Zip from Kanazawa to Tokyo via the Hoririku Shinkansen in the morning (just north of two hours). (TBC : If I can optimize my schedule better, I can try squeezing two days here for a stop at Nozawa Onsen / Shiga Kogen (Nagano) for a short ski experience).
• Deposit luggage at one of the Ginza hotels (TBC: subject to cost; might swap for another location later on)
• Explore ('south') Tokyo with the remainder of the day.
• Marvel at the architecture that is the Tokyo Station and its surrounding.
• Visit the Imperial Palace.
• Head south towards the Mori Art Museum (closes 2200)
• End the night with a stop at Tokyo Tower (closes 2230).

Day 31: Tokyo (Shibuya, Shinjuku and Nakano) [Tuesday, 12 Dec]
Explore ('west') Tokyo, namely Shibuya, Shinjuku and Nakano.

• Start off with an early day visit to Meji Shrine / Yoyogi Park.
• Head up to Shinjuku. Spend the remainder of the morning and lunch exploring Kabukicho, Hanazono Shrine and Omoide Yokochō (ideally have lunch here). Also make a pit stop at Kinokuniya's flagship store at Shinjuku.
• Head northwards to Nakano Broadway and trawl for anime goods for several hours (closes ~1900)
• Head south down back to Shibuya and experience the crossing in peak night condition. Walk around and soak in the atmosphere. Optional: stop by the Ishibashi music store at Shibuya (closes 2000).
• Cap off the night and look at the night view at Shibuya Sky (closes 2230). Zip back to the hotel at Ginza.

Day 32: Tokyo (Akibahara, Asakusa and Sky Tree) [Wednesday, 13 Dec]

• Kick off the day with a morning visit to Asakusa (i.e. Sensoji).
• Transit over to Tokyo Skytree to watch the Tokyo cityscape in the day.
• Trawl around Akibahara for the afternoon. (Animate, Sega claw machines, etc).
• Also stop by Ochanomizu for sightseeing (Suzume no Tojimari)
• Zip back to the hotel for the night. If time permits, stop by the two flagship music stores along Ginza: Yamaha Ginza and Yamano Ginza. Also, visit Itoya Ginza (stationary store).

Day 33: Tokyo (Kamakura day trip OR Ikebukuro) [Thursday, 14 Dec]
EITHER take a day trip Kamakura, OR explore northern Tokyo (Ikebukuro)
Kamakura leg:

• Make a detour to Used Tyre Market Sagamihara Store to experience the retro vending machines. Then head southwards to Enoshima.
• Look at the giant Buddha statue and stroll along Hasedera.
• Take the Enoden to Enoshiima and explore the island.
• Take the JR back to Ginza and retire for the night.

Tokyo (Ikebukuro leg):

• Visit Otome Road for otaku related stuffs.
• Trawl the usual suspects such as Bic Camera etc.
• Make a stop at the Mejiro Gardens.
• Visit the Waseda International House of Literature (The Haruki Murakami Library) at Waseda University.

Day 34: Tokyo (wildcard) [Friday, 15 Dec]
Spare day to do whatever I feel like doing OR reallocate this to another prefecture. Intentionally left blank for later planning
​
Day 35: Tokyo Home [Saturday, 16 Dec]

• Contemplate life at the hotel, doing whatever I feel like for the morning and early afternoon. Bonus: have an early breakfast at Tsukiji Market in the morning if staying at Ginza.
• Clear any last minute administrative matter (if any), or do (very) last minute sightseeing/buying. Most likely limited to Ginza and Akibahara.
• Get a nice lunch omakase to cap it off if possible. (taking recommendations if anyone has one, ideally meat/beef centric instead of just sushi).
• Head off to Narita from Tokyo Station via NEX just after lunch at 1430 1530 to Narita, flight at 1830.

END
---------------------
If you're still reading up to this point, here's my own personal ramblings/thoughts on JR pass usage:
I have thought of two ways of doing this for the first 21 days:
a. easy-mode : just get 21 days JR global pass before the price hike at 60450 yen, OR b. hard-mode: get a 7 day JR global pass (to cover the NEX fees, the basic fee on the Sunrise Seto to Shikoku, as well as limited express trains within Shikoku) (29650) + 5 days for JR Okayama Hiroshima Yamaguchi Area Pass (15000) + 4 days for JR Sanin Okayama Area Pass + 5 days for JR Kansai Wide Area Pass (10000) for a total of 59230.
The initial conclusion was to go with option A since that reduces the administrative burden, but I realized the individual passes do have its own perk which truimphs over the global JR pass. For instance, the Sanin Okayama Area Pass provides a (minor) discount for the Adachi Museum of Art; the Kansai Wide Pass covers the Kyotango route between Kinosaki Onsen and Amanohashidate which the global JR pass does not cover, JR Okayama Hiroshima Yamaguchi Area Pass covers JR buses within Hiroshima for free, therefore I am inclined to go with the hell option (option B) as it stands.
For the remaining 14 days, I could also get the global 14 day JR pass at 47250 yen but it is not worth it at all, because I will be relying largely on Kintetsu for the Osaka/Kyoto/Nara/Mie leg which the JR pass most certainly does not cover.

• For the Osaka/Nara/Mie/Kyoto leg, I intend to make good use of a mix of both local metro and the Kintetsu rail pass for 5 days (4900). If I do exploit Kintetsu's limited express train to its fullest, I should be able to save money by buying the pass. The Osaka Amazing Pass at 2600yen a day does not make financial sense for me this time round, given how little I am exploring within Osaka.
• For the Osaka Kanazawa, Shirakawago and Takayama leg, the preferred pass of choice is the Takayama-Hokuriku Area Tourist Pass over the global JR pass, in large part because this pass fully absorbs the Nohi highway bus fees (which can rack up quite a lot at ~8000yen for a return trip between Kanazawa and Shirakawago/Takayama). Also this absorbs the Thunderbird fee. One major issue with my current plan is that it does not cover Wakura Onsen nor the sightseeing train.
• For the final Kanazawa Tokyo leg, the preferred choice is the Horuriku Arch Pass that covers the direct Shinkansen back to Tokyo, and the NEX fees to Narita when I depart from Tokyo. Will only break even with the pass at best unless I make a stop at Nagano.

So all in all, there's quite little incentive to get the global JR pass after I worked out my schedule, apart from the initial 7 days for the Sunrise Seto jump which the All Shikoku Pass will not cover.
Through the hodge-podge of multiple area passes, it works out to around 102890 yen for the whole trip of 35 days, contrast with 107700 yen for a 21 + 14 global JR pass. While there's a minor cost saving doing the hard way which sweetens the deal, the additional minor perks associated with the area passes sells it for me, as I would had to pay more out of pocket to cover non-JR pass buses/rails and such which would add up to much greater cost than I would had anticipated. Also, if I did this trip post-price hike in October, the calculus becomes a no-brainer: avoid the global JR pass like the plague.
-----
Thank you very much for your opinions, suggestions and advice in advance!

So this is a list of the podcast episodes Shaffir listened as ones he particularly liked as he is now ending the show.
There's also direct links to 0-200 as a comment below Enjoi.
First 100:

37: The Nuthouse (Brody Stevens):

"Steven Brody Stevens stopped by Skeptic Tank Studios (my apartment) to share the details of his 17 day stay in the psyche ward at UCLA. It took us, like, 30 minutes to get into the topic, but eventually we did. We diverged a lot into a really cool discussion about perspective on life and how you can fall into a negative and self sabotaging way of thinking about things."

40: Prostitutti Frutti (Miss X):

An upscale prostitute came to the Skeptic Tank to share with us about her job. It was one of the most interesting conversations I've had in a very long time. She was open and honest and very friendly. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did.

50: Buddhism (Duncan Trussell):

Duncan Trussell and I shared a ride out to Brea, CA to do shows at the Brea Improv. Duncan has always been into Buddhism and I figured what better time to talk about modern Buddhism than on a ride to the Inland Empire. It was a really interesting talk and it completely enlightened me to the humongous differences between that and the Judeo-Christian religions in regards to daily life. Enjoy.

73: Love Scam (Sarah Tiana):

Sarah Tiana met me at the Comedy Store to talk about her crazy experience with love in the Middle East. It's sort of a sad story. We're comics, so it was still funny, but it was still really sad at the same time. So it averages out to sort of sad.

80: Chester the Molester (Dale Dudley):

"Dale Dudley came over to my hotel room in Austin, TX to shoot the shit and talk about his childhood molestation. It's way more fun than the subject matter. This is a really good, honest, and funny podcast. It's exactly what I envisioned when I started the Skeptic Tank."

79a: We Are Anonymous (Luke Harder, Star_Fawkes):

Luke Harder and Star_Fawkes met me at the Comedy Store to talk about Anonymous. It was a really enlightening conversation. I think we all got the wrong idea about these guys. This is one to spread around.

79b: We Are Anonymous:

@Anonyphant and @Star_Fawkes came back to the Comedy Store to finish off our conversation about Anonymous. It was a really interesting and enlightening conversations and one of my favorite podcasts I've done. They're not out to get us, you guys. They're here to help us. They are us. We are Anonymous.

92: Caddyshack (Greg Fitzsimmons, Steve Simeone, Greg's hyper dog):

Greg Fitzsimmons had me over to his garage to tell me about his days as a caddy. I had no idea any other comedian had ever worked on a golf course. It's a strange community and it was an enexpected treat to be able to talk about it.

99: Scrappy Doo w Greg Fitzsimmons:

Greg Fitzsimmons had me over to his garage to tell me how much he loves to fight. Not organized fights. Just fights. Just regular, two dudes don't know each other and then one is punching the other, fights. It's a pretty fun podcast. What he does in the car is hard for me to wrap my head around.

95: Childless (Dom Irrera):

Dom Irrera met me at the Laugh Factory to talk about not having children. Dom is one of the only guys I know who has gone through most of his life while avoiding parenthood and we talked all about what that's like. It was a great podcast with an amazing comedian. Twitter him at @DomIrrera.

100: Deliverance (Ryan O'Neill, Jeff Danis, George Saint Pierre, Nate Diaz, Ari Shaffir):

Jeff Danis and Ryan O'Neill came by my apartment to talk about their jobs as grocery delivery drivers. Oh my god, there were so many hilarious stories. They're both comedians from the Comedy Store and their job is so ridiculous. For delivery drivers, there's a shocking amount of talk about nipples and Down syndrome.

104: The Art of War with Greg Jackson and Kevin Christy:

Greg Jackson of Greg Jackson's MMA met me in a hotel room in Vegas a few hours before UFC 156. Greg has always asked me about standup comedy and how comics will handle different situations. After some time he told me why he was so interested. He sees similarities between all art forms. He tries to find universal truths that apply to many art forms so he can apply that knowledge to MMA fight theory. It's really fascinating stuff. We've been talking about this stuff for years now and it's so interesting to me. If, like me, you thought everyone associated with cage fighting were meatheads, you're about to get a beautiful reminder of how people from all walks of life can offer you growth and knowlege.

105: Going Blind (Tom Segura):

Tom Segura invited me to go to his new Barbie Malibu Beach House so we could talk about masturbating. Just two best bro dudes intimately talking about making their penises shoot out loads of semen. And then somewhere at the end we talked about drunk driving. I don't think we ever talked about masturbating while drunk driving but we should have at least brought it up, huh?

115: Heroin - Down In A Hole (Donovan Pee):

Donovan Pee met me in my hotel room in Vancouver to talk about Heroin. Donovan was a heavy heroin user and lived on the streets of one of the most drug addicted blocks in North America. He was involved with the drug for decades and has only recently gotten away from it. It's a fascinating look at the life and exactly the kind of thing I like for this podcast.

113: Lefty Liberty (Jimmy Dore):

Jimmy Dore came by my slop haven of an apartment to tell me the truth about politics. I've never been very political, but lately I've started to become increasingly angrier about how little representation the average citizen has. Jimmy was always into the leftist side of things and he did a great job of explaining the problems with how things are run. And Mat Edgar joins me for the intro and outro to talk about Shroomfest and to share a few extra stealing stories that he forgot to mention on "Klepto."

120: Shroomfest 2013 w Tony Hinchcliffe, Mat Edgar, Pete Cornacchione:

Tony Hinchcliffe, Mat Edgar, Pete Cornacchione, and I spent Shroomfest together this year. We drove out to Joshua Tree, ate some shrooms, and wandered out into the wilderness. And then we had, what I believe, is probably the first podcast recorded at Joshua Tree National Park.

122: Exspecially Cutting:@JustyDodge

Justy Dodge came over to my New York apartment on the hottest day of the summer. We talked about her various mental disorders but centered on cutting. Justy is a New York based standup who spent her teens in and out of rehab for self mutilation. It was a great conversation despite a couple of her white trash words slipping out.

123: You Know What Dad (Robert Kelly):

Robert Kelly invited me over to his beautiful Manhattan apartment so we could talk about becoming a father. He had his first son 45 days ago and we had a nice discussion about what it was like. It was nice for me to hear how a former degenerate like Robert could transform himself into the type of dad that won't get child services called on him.

124: Rape & Eggs (Kathleen McGee):

Kathleen McGee invited me over to the apartment she was staying in while we were in Winnipeg together and we talked about her rape. It's about as lighthearted a conversation as possible considering the subject matter. This is kind of what this podcast is all about. Stark, realistic views of the world told in funny ways. Enjoy.

133: Fuck the Government (Dave Smith):

Dave Smith came over to my apartment so we could talk about this growing disillusionment I'm experiencing with our federal government. Dave is a devout libertarian and he knows a lot more of the facts than I do, so we discussed a lot of where we've gone wrong and where our politicians and generals have betrayed the will of its people. Listen to it now, because when the revolution comes, downloading podcasts won't be easy.

134: Maniac (John F. O'Donnell):

John F O'Donnell met me in Bushwick to talk about his manic depressive disorder. He's gone off the deep end a few times in his life and we got into it all. How it started, what happens, how it's affected him. It was a fun podcast that only got interrupted a couple times by a gang of 8 year old handball punks.

141: Happiness (@SteveSimeone) by AriShaffir:

Steve Simeone invited me over to his place while I was in LA and we talked about happiness. It started off being a conversation about being broke, but it quickly shifted as it became evident that Steve's poverty level was no longer the main influence on his mood. We talked about girls, and about family, and about giganitic boobs. But at its base, it's just a couple of buddies hanging out.

142: Gender Bender (Lauren Hennessy):

Lauren Hennessy came over to my NY apartment to tell me about what it's like to be a he/she. Lauren is a boy trapped in a girl's body. He's been that way since he was born. And you think you had it tough. Don't worry, this didn't get too serious or sad. Just two dudes talking about one of the dude's vaginas.

151: Ass Burger (@AutisticThunder):

Josh Meyrowitz came over to my LA apartment to talk to Mat Edgar and me about asperger's syndrome. I've been hearing about it ever since I was little but I've never met anyone with it until Josh. He's a little different than they way it's usually portrayed on TV. Maybe that's the comic side of him. Anyway, fun conversations on an interesting condition.

152: The Streetz, USA (Doc Willis):

Doc Willis met me at the Comedy Store to talk about his days slinging rock on the streets of Detroit. That's right, when Doc was 14 (What? 14? Yes, 14) he was in a gang and sold drugs to make a living. We go into who his customers were, all the violence, what makes someone hard, and much, much more. It's a really good episode. Enjoy.

157: Divorce, of Course:

"Jacob Sirof and Sherry Sirof (nee East) each had me over to their places of residence to talk about the divorce that they're going through right now. First I went to Moshe Kasher's old place where Jacob is staying. Then a week later I went to their old apartment to talk to Sherry about the same topic. It's an interesting view into two sides of a disolution of the bond of marriage."

159: Thrilled (@TomSegura):

"Tom Segura had me over to his palatial beach house to do an in depth analysis of his first album, Thrilled. It was a hilarious album and I'm glad he was able to give an inside look at how the bits came to be, his delivery style, and the problems he has looking back at the album. We treat it kind of academically. It's something I'd like to see a lot more comics do in the future and I'm so happy Tom was willing to do it here. The standup will be hilarious and the analysis will be instructive."

169: Blacklanta with Big Jay Oakerson and Ms. Pat:

Ms. Pat joined me in a park in Brooklyn (maybe Park Slope? No, that seems wrong) to tell me about what it was like growing up in the hood in Atlanta. Spoiler alert: It was way different than how I grew up in the suburbs of Maryland. It's a story of teen pregnancies, gunshot wounds, and Jimmy Carter..

170: HIV for Victory w Jeff Scott:

"Jeff Scott had me over to his West Hollywood apartment to tell me the story of his HIV. How he got it, how he's managed to live with it for 30 years, how it's affected his life, how he's been treated by others, and about the friends he's lost. It's one of the most interesting podcasts I've done. You should share it with everybody."

173: Beijingaling (@DesBishop, @ComicDaveSmith):

Des Bishop met me in a park in Beijing to tell me all about China. Des is a comic from Ireland by way of New York and he moved to Beijing a couple of years ago to learn Mandarin to try to do standup for Chinese people. He came as an outsider and after almost 2 years there, he's made quite a few observations about the country and about Beijing in particular. What a cool thing about podcasts that I can record these with minimal effort on the other side of the planet. Dave Smith joins me for the intro and outro.

183: Popo (@MarkDemayo):

Mark Demayo came over to my apartment this week. We drank some beers and talked about his 20 years as a policeman in New York. It was a fun, open conversation. I asked him a ton of questions about what being a cop is like and Mark answered everything. Fun podcast.

197: Injection Protection (Morgan Black):

Morgan Black met me in my hotel room in Vancouver to talk about his job at Insite. Insite is the safe injection place on Hastings Street in Vancouver. It's a place in heroin alley where junkies can go to get clean needles and they can use those needls to shoot up in a place that's supervised by people like Morgan. He watches over them to make sure they don't overdose. If they begin to, it's up to him to try and save them. He's seen a lot since he's been there and he shares it here.

203: Prison Rules (Ali Siddiq)

Ali Siddiq met me at the Comedy Store to talk about prison. I always knew prison life was hard, but damn. I didn't know about all of this. Ali spent 6 years locked away with some of the most violent criminals in Texas. This is a great episode and really fun and interesting.

216: Tenement (Nick Mullen):

"Nick Mullen met me at my in New York to talk about his illegal living situation. Nick is a funny young comic who literally lives in tenement housing. We talked all about it and got into some existential stuff about comedy. And we took a fun walk around the Bowery to see his garbage neighborhood full of chuds."

219: Khob Khun Krap with Pete C:

"Pete Cornacchione and I sat down outside the airport in Chiang Mai, Thailand to talk about all the things we saw out there. We did so much that we couldn't even fit it into one episode. So we just talked about mainland Thailand. Phuket, Bangkok, and Chiang Mai. Man, did we do a crapload of stuff. Join us on our podcast..."

223: Palsy with Davey Wester:

Davey Wester trekked his way across Manhattan to my apartment to talk to me about his cerebral palsy. Davey is a Comedy Store comic from way back. We've had a couple CP comics there over the years and this is actually the first time I really talked to any of them about the condition. Surprisingly fun discussion based on the topic. And some good Gallagher stuff. Ian Edwards and Zara Mizrahi join me from Bonnaroo for the introduction.

224: Take Me Out To The Ball Game (@PaulMorrissey):

Paul Morrissey and I went to a Yankee game to talk about baseball. We got seats right behind the visitor's bullpen and we did a podcast from right there. We started on the walk to the subway, continued on the train a little, got lost some, got inside, met some Jews, had a dog, met some more people, and watched some more baseball. It was a great day.

227: The Herp (@JoeListComedy):

"Joe List met me in Central Park on a beautiful summer day to have a wonderful talk about herpes. Joe's got it. He's open about it. And he answered everything you wanted to know abou tit. If you already have it, you'll relate. If you are going to get it soon, this will help you when you get unlucky. If you never get it. Congrats. Let's bone."

235: First Responder; A 9/11 Story (Cris Italia):

9/11 was a terrible day in American history. This is one story of the many stories of that day. Cris Italia was a volunteer EMT and was around the corner when the first plane hit. By the time the second plane hit, he was already at ground zero, helping. It's a heartbreaking story of what happened to one man the day America stopped being invincible.

256: Take a Hike (@TheoVon):

Theo Von met me at a secret hike in LA to do a walking podcast about hiking. Theo's a hilarious comic but he's also hiked Mount Kilimanjaro. I climb hills, bro. Hills. He climbed a giant mountain. It was a fun talk and it really puts you in the place where we were. I love these "on-location" podcasts.

257: Money For Nothing (2 anonymous defense contractors):

"Two US Army defense contractors met me in a secret location in America to discuss what it's like to go work for the government on foreign soils. They both work as contractors in stations all over the world and they gave a first hand account of how much waste goes into our imperialism. It was an interesting look into the life of a hired grunt in the middle of a war zone."

262 Cleavage Day @Gary Vider:

"Gary Vider met me in Central Park to walk around and gawk at women for Cleavage Day. Cleavage Day is the first weekend day over 70 degrees in New York. It takes place in every city that has a real winter. It's that magical day when all the skin comes out of hiding. Women are showing cleavage and legs and stomach left and right. It's just a magical time to be a heterosexual man or a homosexual woman. So come join us on our bosomy adventure in New York."

265: Knife Hits in Alaska (@DanSoder):

"Dan Soder came over to my place to tell me all about the summer he spent working in a cannery in Alaska. The people he worked with were straight deigns without even realizing it. This might be the best summer job of all time."

270: NY Pizza Party (@NotAlexis):

Alexis Guerreros took me on a pizza tour of New York. He's a standup comic but he runs these tours for extra cash and he took me on one, showing me his favorite of 3 different styles of pizza. Pizza and New York have a storied connection and Alexis explained how that all came up, the deal with 1 dollar slices, and even where pizza originated. It's an on location style podcast through the streets of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Join us for a delicious slice. "

276: "Running" Of The Bulls (@KaiHumphries, @MiloComedy, @Daniel_Sloss):

Kai Humphries, Milo McCabe, and Daniel Sloss met me at the Abattoir comedian's bar in Edinburgh, Scotland to tell me their harrowing tale of cheating death at the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain. This was a super fun story! You gotta go to arithegreat.com for this one to look at the pictures. They're CRAZY. Guest appearances by random comedy people trying to distract us with booze."

277: Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost (@HenryRollins):

Henry Rollins met me in a hotel cafe in Edinburgh, Scotland to talk about travel. Henry goes all over the globe. He really likes to get off the beaten path and explore new places. I thought I liked seeing things, but Rollins takes it to a whole new level. He goes places I've never even heard of, met people I didn't know existed, done things I'd be too scared to do. It was such a fun conversation and it filled me with wanderlust.

281: The Reyk (@AriEldjarn):

Ari Eldjarn and I drove around in Iceland and did a podcast about that beautiful country while we did. Ari is a comedian in Reykjavik. One of the first comedians, to be more precise. He and I hung out for 3 days while I was there and so we got on the mics in his car and I just asked him questions about his country for a while. It's one of those road trip episodes I do sometimes. So, come sit in the back, don't interrupt us, and eavesdrop on our conversation.

282: Aunt Flo (@Aiapalucci, @Stollemcache, @AmberSmelson):

Amber Nelson, Sarah Tollemache, and Adrian Iapalucci came to my apartment to tell me about periods. And I mean all about it. About the blood flow, about PMS, about cramps, about period diarrhea, all of it. It's for sure gonna make some dudes feel uncomfortable, but it was really interesting to me. But I eat my own boogers, so maybe I'm not the best judge of what's too much. Either way, it was a really funny conversation with three comics on the subject of menses.

284: #BertIsFat (@BertKreischer):

Bert Kreischer came to my apartment while he was in New York and we talked about who was fatter; him or Tom Segura. Bert made some solid cases for his side of things but most of those cases were made with a full chicken wing in between his two front teeth, so grain of salt I guess.

288: Death of a Salesman (@TimJDillon):

Tim Dillon came to my apartment to tell me about his former life in sales. He's sold everything. From mortgages to office equipment to a history of New York. Tim has hilarious stories about all of it. Fun, fun, fun podcast.

289 Tales of a Teenage Bedwetter w Mark Normand:

Mark Normand invited me to his brand new apartment to do a podcast about bedwetting. Mark and I were both very late bedwetters. So we got together and talked about what it's like to be 14 and still pissing on yourself every night. All the plastic sheets, the fear of sleepovers, what our moms had to go through. God, it was embarrassing.

290 Cave Man with John Spies:

John Spies sat down with me on the deck of the Cave Lodge in Soppong to tell me all about cave exploration and the unique life that he's built in northern Thailand. The man has lived an amazing life. And this pit stop on his way from Australia to Europe has now lasted over a quarter century.

292: Cleavage Day 2017 with Legion of Skanks:

The entire Legion of Skanks came with me on an ogling walk around Manhattan during my 2nd favorite* holiday of the year, Cleavange Day. Dave Smith, Luis J Gomez, Big Jay Oakerson and I walked as a group around the city, enjoying the rewards of the first warm day of the year. It was such a fun day! So join us on a wonderful adventure.

294 Je Zu Tin Ba De w Ryan Nanni and William Childress:

"William Childress (skip to 53:30) had me over to his homestay in Siem Reap, Cambodia to talk about Myanmar. He lived there for years. And it was the first place I went on my travels this year. So I finished seeing a temple near Angkor Wat and went to visit him so we could talk about one of my favorite countries in the world. Myanmar is amazing. See it before it gets ruined by globalism. Also, I went kind of nuts on the intro and outro. And then stay tuned after the outro because I also included a conversation I had with a 17 year old Burmese girl I met out there at a restaurant outside Inle Lake. This might be my fullest podcast ever."

298 Vagabonder w Rolf Potts:

Rolf Potts met me in Tompkins Square Park to talk to me about travel. Rolf wrote one of my favorite books of all time called Vagabonding. It's all about long term travel. It influenced the hell out of me. And I was so stoked to be able to talk about getting out there in the world with such a well worn traveler like him.

320: Take My Wife Please - Aubrey Marcus:

"Aubrey Marcus came over to my apartment and we had a really in depth discussion about open relationships. Aubrey is the most honest person I've ever met on the subject. He has truly looked inwards and examined all the angles. It's a really great discussion on the topic."

321: Let My People Go:

"Ari Shaffir comes to my apartment to tell you about Passover. All of it. Not just what you're supposed to do, but also where the holiday comes from, all the laws, the seder, what matzah tastes like. Everything. It's probably the best I've ever been in terms of not interrupting the guest. I still managed to do it a few times, but way less than normal."

323: Mitzi:

Mitzi Shore came into my life in my first 3 months of standup. I spent the next 10 years getting close with the owner of the Comedy Store. She passed away earlier this month. And I took the opportunity to share, but really to relive all the things I learned from her and all the times we had, good and terrible. She was a massive part of my development as a comedian. The most important part, really. So it's really unsettling having her gone for good. Join me as I come to terms with what Mitzi meant to me.

347: Hot tub time machine (@BertKreischer, @SteveRannazzisi, @DanishAndOneill, @MarkNorm):

Bert Kreischer, Steve Rannazzisi, Ryan O'Neill and I sat in a hot tub in Park City and talked about the past. It was the first night of a week of skiing and storytelling shows and oh what fun it was. Mark Normand joined us a couple days later and after we all got home, he and I did the intro from the Comedy Cellar in NY. It was a fun podcast and probably the least clothed 4 way podcast I've ever done. Just sitting in a jacuzzi in Utah, talking shit.

353: Modern Hippie (@Tim Ferriss):

"Tim Ferriss met me in Austin to talk about travel and art and nature and love. He's a hippie. He's what the new version of a hippie is."

361: Spange (Tall Boy):

A homeless non-binary person let me sit with her and talk about what it's like to live on the street and beg for change. Spange is a homeless term that means spare change. I think it's a verb. Anyway, that's what Tall Boy does. Spange for food money. It was interesting to hear some actual humanity from people we often see as invisible.

365: The Revolution w Adbuster Editor in Chief Kalle Lasn:

"Adbusters Editor in Chief, Kalle Lasn met me in his office at the magazine to talk to me about the revolution. I see it going down only with violence but he is far more hopeful about the ways in which we're going to change the systems in place. He's a brilliant man and it was such a treat to get to sit down with him and hear him say out loud some of the ideas he's been putting forth in Adbusters."

369: The Podfather - Brian Redban:

Brian Redban took me into his new podcast studio to talk about the early days of the podcast scene in Los Angeles. When everything was guerrilla. When it was fresh and new and nobody knew what it was gonna turn into. It was such a crazy time and Redban was right there helping form the scene. From the Joe Rogan podcast, to mine, to Segura's, and lots more, he helped build the scene from the ground up. We talked about what it was like, what podcasts have turned into, and where it's going now...

370: Troll (Milo Yiannopoulos):

Milo Yiannopoulos came over to my apartment to have one of my favorite talks ever on this podcast. It's a talk about trolling. Milo is one of the best in the world at it. This is gonna take you a week to listen to. The intro goes for 57 minutes alone. You can skip it if you want, but it's 53 minutes of content that you'll be missing about my own start in trolling. Trolls are the most maligned and misunderstood of all the world's artist. And I don't use the term "artist" lightly. Trolling is an art form. I've been looking forward to this episode for months now. And you're going to love it or ABSOLUTELY HATE IT. I hope you're the former. But if you're the latter, then we got you. You've been trolled. pWn3d.

372: ‘Roid Range (Mike Cannon):

Mike Cannon met me at Gas Digital to tell me about his old days as a total meathead who legit took steroids. I'm not even kidding. You can't believe how much of an idiot this guy was. He's normal now, but he was a juice head moron back in the day. We also talked a lot about our mutual love for underground back room poker games

405: War Stories (Jake Hanrahan):

Jake Hanrahan talked to me about conflict reporting. He goes to war zones and tries to bring back word of what's actually going on in these areas. It's crazy. He brings back tons of footage. Look at PopularFront.co and you'll see what I'm talking about. He's not even welcome in a lot of these places. Once they put him in a Turkish prison! Really interesting stuff in this one. You gotta excuse the sound a little...

407: Obsessive compulsive with Eli Sears:

Eli Sairs came over to talk to me about his OCD. He's got it bad. And it's all wrapped up with Jesus, too, which makes it even harder to deal with. The levels this guy has to go through just to make through basic life stuff is astounding. I bet he eats box really thoroughly, though. Didn't ask him about that. I wish I had.

408: The Lady With A Giant Hog (Margo Reiss @Margo_A_GoGo):

Margo Reiss came over and let me ask her all about transsexuality. I mean, super cool about it. Let me just ask anything I didn't understand and she explained what it was like to me. We got into why to chop it off or not, the bar scene, Katelyn Jenner, how hard we like to fuck, some history, and a bunch more. God, I wish you could talk to people in real life this way. We'd be so much better off as a society.

415: Baby Skeletons w/ Adrienne Iapalucci:

"We’re trying something different this week. I, Ari Shaffir, am bringing you an entire album of one of my favorite comedians in the world. For free."

438: Six Months Of Hating Men with Annie Lederman:

Annie Lederman tells me about her time as a man-hater. Annie has come out of it since then but she recounts the way she got caught up in a world of despising an entire gender and how she was able to extricate herself from that way of thinking.

and he includes the final episode

519: Talk Talk with Ron Bennington

"Ron Bennington joins me on today's episode to talk about interview style and his series Unmasked. Ron is someone whose style of interviewing I've always admired, it seemed fitting to have him on this episode."

Here are some meetups that are on the radar, both physical and virtual:

• Last Week, June 3

online

• Sunday, June 11, 9:00a MDT: Thrive, casual discussion on zoom verify
  
• Sunday, June 11, 11:00a MDT: "The Good Book Club," virtual meetup for Ex/Post/Nuanced mormons to read and discuss other good books. For details contact HoldOnLucy1. Upcoming book: "Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone" by Brene Brown.
  

Arizona

• Monday, June 12, 7:00p MST: Phoenix, casual meetup at Coffee Rush at 1555 N Gilbert Rd #107 in Gilbert. Check link for notes.

California

• Sunday, June 11, noon PDT: Sacramento, casual meetup at Urban Roots at 1322 V Street.

Idaho

• Sunday, June 11, 11:00a MDT: Pocatello, casual meetup, location dependent on weather

Utah

• Saturday, June 10, 9:00a MDT: Salt Lake Valley, hike at Big Cottonwood Canyon. Meet at Park and Ride to decide which trail. Check link for notes.
  
• Sunday, June 11, 10:00a MDT: Davis County, casual meetup at Harmons at 200 Station Pkwy in Farmington. Meet in the cafe upstairs. verify
  
• Sunday, June 11, 10:00a MDT: North Utah County, casual meetup at Harmons at 1750 W Traverse Pkwy in Lehi. Combining AF/Saratoga Springs/Lehi meetups at new location; check link for notes.
  
• Sunday, June 11, 10:00a MDT: Provo, casual meetup near the Starbucks inside of the Marriott Hotel at 101 West 100 North verify
  
• Sunday, June 11, 10:00a MDT: Utah Valley, casual meetup at Vineyard Grove Park 350 N 100 E. in Vineyard. Check link for notes.
  
• Sunday, June 11, 12:40p MDT: Salt Lake Valley/Cottonwood Heights, a group meeting for discussing transitioning away from Mormonism at the Salt Lake City Unitarian Universalists church at 6876 South Highland Drive
  
• Sunday, June 11, 1:00p MDT: St. George, casual meetup of Southern Utah Post-Mormon Support Group at Switchpoint Community Resource Center located at 948 N. 1300 W. verify
  

Wyoming

• Saturday, June 10, 10:00a MDT: Rock Springs, casual meetup at Starbucks at 118 Westland Way verify

Upcoming week and Advance Notice:

• Idaho Falls ...first Sunday
  
• Las Vegas
  
• Salt Lake Valley Religious Transition Group
  
• Salt Lake Valley postmos
  
• Seattle
  

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Beginnings of a FAQ about meetups:

• rules for publicizing a meetup on reddit platform
• what happens at these meetups?
• solidified50 gave some general advice for starting a meetup and keeping it going.