Using social media options to make sure you catch all the hot spots at their seasonal peak:
Maybe it’s because I’m Australian and we don’t really have defined four seasons but I find Japan particularly fascinating because you can visit the same park, river or winding alleyway every few months and the entire setting is completely different. To me that’s amazing!?!
I save places and restaurants on Pinterest on a daily basis (actually, I pin pretty much my whole life on pinterest but that’s another story for another day /or a therapist .) Pinning cool new spots has been a hobby of mine even when I lived in Australia and South Africa. In a really good way, I just can’t visit all those places at a rate at which I ‘pin.’
I love my social media but I’m definitely not an expert on how it all works. However, I do know how it helps me when I’m sightseeing.
Example: Pinterest shows me an amazing scene in an area of Tokyo (e.g. after I have searched for pins that talk about the best cherry blossom spots in Tokyo etc.) and I think “WOW! I want to go there right now!” but then I arrive (and especially with kiddies if it’s off the beaten path it isn’t always an easy excursion to get there in the first place….) I realize that the autumn leaves have all fallen or the flowers aren’t that beautiful colour that I expected them to be! It can just be so disappointing. Especially if you’re time poor or travelling out and about has max-ed out your budget.
This is about the point where I decided to start making Instagram work for me and why Instagram is amazing!
You can search by the location and see pictures that other people have taken only (literally!) minutes earlier. These photos aren’t necessarily taken by truly talented photographers either so it’s really easy to work out if the area is actually looking beautiful or a clever photographer has just worked well with a single angle. This is particularly useful for me in the koyo (autumn leaves) and sakura (cherry blossom) seasons.
Note: Instagram is constantly changing but, currently, if you search by location, the top 9 images are the most popular images – ignore those- and scroll down to those that are listed in chronological order. That’s where you can see what an area looks like right now.
If you’re able to travel and sightsee on weekdays, the best day to head out is Monday (after checking that parks and museums aren’t closed on Mondays, of course ) because most people in Japan only get weekends off so it is worth seeing the pictures uploaded Sunday evenings, stealing other people’s “secret spots” and going back when there are not even one tenth of the same amount of people there.
An example is : Today I visited Mother Farm in Chiba. I’ve been thinking about visiting for a while but it’s a little over an hour each direction from where I live so I did some research on Pinterest and found pictures like this:
So then I want to see what those fields are looking like now and if flowers are blooming and those ducks are still there so I can look on Instagram and see an image like this (after ignoring the “top posts” that aren’t in order.)
Using social media options to help choose accommodation:
In a similar concept to trip advisor, instagram is a fantastic way to see people’s REAL pictures of their hotels or air bnb apartments and ….if they aren’t paid to advertise a space then there is no way that everyone can make an ordinary place look good or look bigger than it is. It just makes it easier to cancel out the duds.
Using social media options to help with restaurant selection :
If no one is taking pictures of a restaurant you’re keen to try you do have to wonder why. It sounds shallow but it is true right now.
If you’re watching your budget or want to be sure that you’re ordering the most popular menu items, instagram can help you see what the restaurant was serving – even one night earlier.
I think that this suggestion is particularly useful if you don’t speak Japanese as you can see someone else’s amazing over-the-top dessert or ramen with all the bits and bobs that you don’t know how to pronounce – just find the picture and point! Voila! You’ve missed out on nothing!!!
