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Freshly back and awake after a twelve day stint for my first time there. I knew that I wanted to go in general, and while I didn't have a firm itinerary planned out, there was one main goal that I had in terms of sites within the country. The main video game that I play is Beatmania IIDX, and it has internal trophies which are represented as badges. Your profile allows you to assign up to five of them as visible when you start a new round, and there are badges to earn for playing at least one round in every prefecture in Japan, as well as every subregion. Getting the Kanto badge meant that I needed to play at least one round in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, and Chiba. After five days, I had that complete, and now I have a permanent record of this trip within the game itself. There was also a time-limited event to earn points in IIDX in order to exchange them for goods, such as a hat, or a towel, or a new account card and a poster, and I managed to get that taken care of in somewhat dramatic fashion. I did some other things too.
Primary general points
· Getting Suica set on the phone and using it was generally painless. There were only two times where I needed to summon the help of a resident JR employee to clear up an issue with the gate not reading the card for some reason.
· Most vocal interaction which I had was the opposite of painless, because I continuously kept trying to speak Japanese and failing, and most people would realize that I was completely failing at it and responded with English (some with full on sentences, others with just a few words). There were a few rare times that I was able to express my intent in Japanese, receive a response, understand the response, and reply as necessary, but that was rare. Once English was invoked, I would stay with it, because that's what they were expecting. I've been self-studying the language for more than twenty years in varying degrees of intensity, and while my reading comprehesion seemed sufficient enough for this trip, and while I didn't expect my speaking to be as good because I don't have any opportunity to practice speaking, I came away bitterly disappointed in my vocal and speaking comprehension in terms of my interaction with people there. Even within the trip I could at least overhear common chitchat better, but any time I needed to converse with someone for some reason, I usually needed to have things repeated several times and broken down before I finally realized what was being said.
· You are going to be asked about separately buying a bag with every non-food purchase. Accept or immediately present one that you are carrying to indicate how your purchase shall be bagged.
· I never once had my passport requested for presentation.
· Only once did a person volutnarily reach out to address me, and it was just to ask me where I was from in English. Otherwise, everyone left me alone the entire time.
· Weather through the period was ideal. Mid to upper 70F/25C range and only a few days where it was rainy, and even then it wasn't a downpour. A while ago I personally resolved to only wear suits in public and I purchased a new pair of Mephisto shoes after hearing reports of the extensive walking causing problems for traveller's feet and shoes. My attire help up well; there were only a few times that I needed to avoid sunlight to not get too hot, and I have no issues to report from the shoes.
· I only got X'd out of a restaurant one time, and I think it's only because I wandered into it before it was ready for service. Otherwise, I never once waited in line for food, I never once went to restaurant more than once, and all food was acceptably priced for the portion and excellent for the quality.
For these per-day recounts, I wrote them contemporaneously at the end of each day, so you'll need to forgive me for some writing being in present tense and other writing being in past tense.
Day 1 - Travel, Sugamo, Ikebukuro
Non stop flight from Chicago OHare to Haneda. 12 hours. Good thing I usually don't watch movies, because that just means that all I needed to do was binge a few to make the trip go by.
Pre-trip research led me to choose APA Sugamo as my home base for the visit, and I think that it was a very fortuitious choice. I'll have more to say about it later.
Some awkward encounters happened right away upon checking in here. I was at the nearby Family Mart to buy some things and I didn’t catch that he was making sure I wanted a bag until he repeated it five times. Yes, I’ll take it. Before getting there I was coming down to ground level after checking into my room, and when that person saw that I would have been the only other person going down to the ground, they ducked right back out. I was warned on both of these kinds of things happening, so I guess it’s good to have that immediately out of the way. It would turn out that people deliberately avoiding me was rare throughout the trip.
Despite not sleeping on the trip, I had freshly arrived and had no sense of being tired, so once I had my stuff down, I went off to Ikebukuro right away. No picture or video truly conveys how crowded these areas can get. It can only be experienced in person to be understood.
I soon found Round One Ikebukruo and went right in. So dense and loud. It’s entirely alien to me to see no less than ten IIDX machines in operation and all of them in use. I dumped the money into random tickets, as I foresaw doing, but now I have to wonder if that was the right thing to do, or if it’s tied to that location. I guess I’ll find out.
The forecast is for rain so I need to be in a hurry to figure out where I’m going to go. There might be only one day left for me to get my time limited toys.
Day 2 - Kawasaki, Kanagawa - Utsunomiya, Tochigi - Oomiya, Saitama
My body decided that it only needed four hours of sleep this morning. Without doing more research, I somehow decided to assume that more of the Round One locations were close to 24 hours of operation much like Ikebukuro. Answer: no. I hopped on the train early and went to Shibuya first, but it was very quiet, so I decided to get some of the travels out of the way today and headed south to Kawasaki. I still needed to dawdle for a while until Silk Hat opened at 900AM, and when I finally was able to get inside, I was only able to verify that their store had several allotments of the campaign goods and all allotments were out. Played one round on a monitor that was surprisingly blurry, and I don’t know why that would be the case with a lightning model, but it was, so that was enough.
After doing all of that, I resolved to try to go to Chiba and Ibaraki afterwards. I figured that with Kanagawa and Tokyo likely all out, going to the outskirts would make more sense. However, there was an injury on one of the rails that threw everything off normal, and the train I found myself riding was bound for Utsunomiya instead. Seeing as how I was going to go there eventually, I rolled with it.
It doesn’t take too long to move away from Tokyo metropolitan area before you encounter more forest like areas and rice paddy fields. Halfway through the trip I noticed that two older women suddenly hopped off while the train was waiting to go to the next stop, and I followed them when I realized they found the express line. Utsunomiya has a substantial size to its area and buildings but it was very quiet on the streets there in midday. Walked a mile to Sega GIGO, found that they didn’t even have the goods tracker up. All out. Interesting buliding for it having several neon signs, all vintage and authentic at that. Getting to there from the south meant cutting through Saitama, so I knew I had enough time to make one last attempt there. Research shown two stores being near Oomiya station, so that’s where I ended up. Taito Station was immediately visible upon exit, and they have two IIDX machines specifically with 20 gram springs, which is closer to my home setup and that much lighter than standard 50 gram springs. The final hour drew near and I made one last visit to that city’s Round One. Unlike nearly every other place I went to so far, it only had one IIDX machine. However, and maybe because of that, their goods listing didn’t show everything as out. One painful language exchange later, I was able to discern that what I wanted was available. When you spend more than 3000 yen in a single credit, the game wants to verify if you really want to proceed. It does it again at 6000 and 9000. Yes, I really do. But, having made that money dump I was able to get my hands on the e-amuse card and poster with fifteen minutes left before the deadline. Mission complete. By this point in the day it was exceedingly difficult to even look at the screen so I was ready to come home, but not before getting some goods at the Oomiya Book Off and redeeming what I could for points at Round One Ikebukuro. By the end of the day the only thing that I could tolerate doing was to buy some chicken and nigiri from the nearby train station. Good enough. At that point in the day my body felt like it wants to rock back and forth after all the train riding done today. But, it ended up being worthwhile after all.
One nostalgic feeling I had the most strongly in the day was at the Utsunomiya location where the smell of it triggered past buried memories of yesteryear. I think I want to attribute it to the stronger second hand cigarette smell but I’m not sure - all the same I felt its presence strongly there. Also, I don’t see Oomiya (or really Saitama itself) mentioned as a fun place to go, but it might serve as an acceptable alternative to Ikebukuro, only not as massive in scale of human quantity. Depending on how the trip goes in total I may end up back there for IIDX playing, at least if I don’t find any other place that has 20G springs.
Day 3 - Akihabara
With the travels out of the way, it was time to keep things more regionalized and stick to one area, and there is shopping that needs to be done, so it was off to Akihabara and to see how much of other posted tales hold true. The answer is that it is a lot of it. Kotobukiya can stand to open sooner than noon. Super Potato is indeed priced for a market which wants to snap up anything cheap - I at least found Xi for under 500 and felt that it would have been a bit silly to buy only that, but it didn’t make spending 2000 on one single issue of Arcadia any better. I had no idea that Hey Arcade was right next to both of them; while it was assuredly nice to be there and see the row of Cave shooters among everything else, something got messed up with my registration of my new eamuse card with everything else, so that quickly added to my stress. Having to carry around a few hundred dollars worth of crap with every step didn’t help matters. At least I was able to help a person recover their lost phone by applying a bit of logic to the situation and deducing it to belong to the only person there who looked French, as it was on the Lock Screen. They were relieved, yes. Then, rain came, and it was more than I was anticipating, and I left the umbrella at the room, particularly since I knew I’d be shopping this day. It also turns out to have not mattered much, because I went to visit Bic Camera so that I could get myself a hair trimmer while here, and that turned into me finding a bunch of Kit Kats available, so that meant a second bag. The wind kicked out the rain and my umbrella. In trying to get as many gifts secured as possible, I found some gachapon, but it needed 100Y coins, and I didn’t need paper money in the trip yet. After fighting with maps, I found an ATM to get cash, and got the gachapon. I came home late with feeling rather crushed about the day in that I couldn’t take pictures very well with having to juggle weather and bagging considerations. There were some nice parts of the experience to be sure but between that and more gawking at Super Potato pricing ($135 for PS3 Caladrius? $6000 for Pulstar?) and seeing similar markups on other goods, I don’t think it’s unfair to say that there is a reputation that this area carries and the pricing is there to go with it.
Day 4 - Laundry Day. Shibuya, Harajuku, Shinjuku
I was so drained at the end of Day 3 that I fell asleep on the bed immediately after ending the night call, which meant that I woke up at 0200AM to a room that was fully lit. This meant that I needed to look up how to resolve my eamuse problem or else I wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep. I did both. Awake at 0800AM meant that I had time to do laundry while I figured out what to do with the rest of the day. This meant that I was able to get more of Sugamo in pictures, and it was nice to be able to walk among the actual residences, and do other things like come across a school as it was actually in session. With them being close by and all in succession, I figured to get Shibuya, Harajuku, and Shinjuku visited. It turns out to have been a good day for it, as the temperature was perfectly cool and no rain came, and the sun came out only for a little bit. Shibuya somehow doesn’t seem quite as large in scope in person but the crowds were definitely there, and it is much more hilly than I anticipated as well. After wandering around and not seeing any arcade for a bit, I came across a series of coffee and cookie shops and remained strong to not indulge. It was there while looking at a Disney store (which gets tourists to take pictures of it for some reason) that the song Alone Again came on through the nearby public speakers. What timing. It drove me to finally get a treat for myself, and the frozen latte (black sesame and houji) and croissant (dark chocolate filing) were certainly good, it ended up costing more than the dinner I’d have later this day. I found a seclusion with a garbage can to eat the food and not carry the trash around, then an arcade soon after, and it was time to determine if I could fix the problem. Just like an easy click, it was. New to trash. Old to new. Done. Why did it have to be this way. Harajuku came next, and the environment there was distinct. This one in particular felt like it was an extended carnival atmosphere with the single tight knit market street and emphasis on fashion. A conversation with a freelance artist in the subway actually went well enough that I didn’t feel dumb. The same sensation carried to Shinjuku as well, only it was more spread out. Kabuki street was interesting to see in person, and I didn’t get any unseemly vibes from the place. Maybe it’s different later at night. A return home at a reasonable time allowed me to go down Sugamo’s market street a bit; most of it was closed, but it was interesting to come across the few remaining stores that were open by 0800PM, and more so the one that wasn’t. Coming back to the hotel I found a 24 hour ramen shop with nobody inside. The chef didn’t want to speak and only pointed to the ordering kiosk when I addressed her. The food came through a slot in the obscured window. At least her thank you as I left was a bit more warm, and the food was certainly delicious. To match with the matcha dessert that I bought from Sugamo station, I swung by a 7Eleven to get a drink, and found a milk tea for cheaper than a vending machine. The overhead music in the store was an instrumental version of Alone Again.
Day 5. Ibaraki - Mount Tsukuba, Miraidaira. Kashiwa, Chiba. Akihabara 2.
Awake at 0500AM on my own and knowing the current forecast meant that my envisioned plan for the day was quickly realized. Reaching the Tsukuba Express starting point from Akihabara needs you to get very far down into the ground before getting out into sunlight. I was on the ride early enough to see schoolchildren going about their commute, some of them being no older than ten and going about it unaccompanied. The people of Tsukuba seemed to be particularly helpful and cheerful that day, even despite my Suica issues at the gate. I didn’t ask his name at the counter but the man at the service desk was eager to speak with me about my career and what I was doing there. One asked where I was from on the way up to the summit and another caught my cable car ticket on the way down. There had to have been a few of them who saw my doing this climb in my business attire and thinking me to be a complete idiot if not outright mocking them for doing it that way while they employed the use of dual walking sticks and the like. I know I read some reports of the home stretch being difficult, but it did get pretty close to being an actual rock climb instead of a trail hike for that part of it. A quick stop to Miraidaira on the way back to get the Ibaraki play. The way the town center greets you upon leaving the rail gate struck me as incredible, as well as for how quiet it was. It was like walking onto a movie set. I did find the sweet shop after the play, and that was another painful interaction yet again. Oh well. Two quick stops down Tsukuba Express and one across from Tobu Urban Park line was enough to have a toe in Chiba, and I didn’t even need to leave the physical building of the train station to get to the basement level to find a machine for a play. Thank you, Kashiwa, you were great. Gunma is all that’s left. The descent from Tsukuba did take some earnest exertion, and after doing that the two stops, that put me back in Akihabara about when I anticipated; what I failed to anticipate is how much that place seems to drain on me. I think I just need to eat at an actual dinner time. Once I got back to Sugamo and had food it was a bit better, but while in Akihabara and being around that environment, and not finding things on a shopping list, I found myself just standing still and watching life pass me by. I hemmed and hawed a while for a maid girl’s hour of service for chitchat, but eventually I talked myself out of it because I just didn’t want potential trouble, just like her name. Komaru. I thought about doing this once just to say that I did, but I ultimately decided against it. You cannot go to this place with the expectation that you will find anything unless it is advertised and new. If you are looking for anything used, don’t count on it being there. You also cannot go there without having a strong resolve to not engage with the touts, because it becomes disheartening to see them do their job and blankly stare at the world when they're forced to stand out there and do nothing. Back to Sugamo to find a place that advertised Wagyu but the price they wanted was more than I wanted to spend. The ramen and seaweed & rice servings were fine, but they advertised endless drink and I didn’t receive that. All for $20? No, son. I did better than that elsewhere, I’ll know better now. Long day.
Day 6 - Tokyo Flea Market, Nakano Broadway, Ueno.
The weather couldn’t have been better for this weekend. I’ve read reports that the flea market held near the horse race track will be arbitrarily cancelled regardless of what is reported on the website, but my gut instinct told me that it would occur today, and it did. Turns out that a flea market is a flea market which is a flea market, no matter where it happens. Same allotment of clothes and stuff that few people really want to buy, although I was able to find myself some neckties at least. I probably overpaid based on what I saw later in the route, but that’s fine. They look nice. I settled on some shot glasses for a gift as well, but I’m surprised that I can’t ind something ornate that isn’t part of a sake set. Seated in the shade with a chocolate churro while rap music played in the background - it’s like I never left home. A woman came to sit across from me for the sake of sitting down; she was from Holland and today’s her last day in the country. Her husband came with food eventually. She had three weeks here and went to several places (allegedly, she didn’t list them out) and I asked her about Nakano Broadway. She didn’t make it there. It’s a good thing that I did - this is probably the kind of environment and market that people expect of Akihabara now, and maybe that’s how Aki was years ago, but it’s different from this. What’s more interesting is that Mandarake has a larger presence here than in Akihabara (so it seems to me), and their stores had floor after floor of any and every kind of pop culture product that’s been made in the past sixty years at least. Buttress that with extensive watch and jewelry stores and a slender arcade in the basement, and it’s a very well centralized microcosm of the country’s economy on the whole. I actually made a point to have dinner earlier than usual this time and found a place to serve some deep fried pork cuts served with rice and soup on the side. It was enough, and very well made. The day had not ended and my bag was heavy with several books purchased there, so I reported back to base briefly and decided to try visiting somewhere else, and settled on Ueno. Just as I arrived, a festival was underway where local teams of people made an elaborate show of carrying a home made shrine to a temple. Streets were officially blocked by police to allow the procession. In following the line I came up against makeshift food and amusement stands with the traditional toy gun shooting and goldfish catching. It appears that this is an official “start of summer” festival and I was able to watch it all happen in front of me. That was the good part of the day.
Day 7 - Tachikawa / Kunitachi. Shinjuku 2.
One of the games that I've never played is Beatmania III The Final. I've played some BM3 7th Mix years ago, but not The Final. I found a location that has one - World Game Circus in Tachikawa. In looking around that area before the trip, I saw that there was a nearby shinkansen museum, and not much else, so I figured that going to both places would make that walk worthwhile. Turns out that it wasn’t a museum in the proper sense of a dedicated building. Rather, it was a bullet train engine car on the side of a building that was unrelated, and that was it. A cute interaction happened here - when I approached the car, I heard some children running around inside, so I approached cautiously without knowing if I was encroaching upon someone else's alloted time or something. Once the children saw me, they gave a hearty irrashaimase as I entered, and the boy stamped a paper and presented it to me. Perfect. Despite it not being a typical musem, the card did have some interesting content, and it's good to see some kind of commemoration for their achievements and progression in that industry regardless. They have a lot to be proud about there. Off to WGC. Maps wasn’t lying about the walk taking twenty minutes. It's a good thing that I looked it up on streetview beforehand, because I otherwise would have walked right past it without knowing it was there. Then there it was, and there I confronted a past that I couldn’t visit again. Sure, I got to play BM3 The Final at last, but my timing was off, my hands were off, there wasn’t much I could do. Along with that I can say that I’ve played on a Beatmania II cabinet, and that was better than 5th Style at least. But that was it, that was all I could stand to do. It was right there and I couldn’t bear to put up with it more than a few rounds at best. Dream big, because only disappointment follows if your smaller dreams ever are fulfilled. I don’t know why finding IKEA back in Shinjuku was so difficult, but it took a while. I bought a bag, and then I bought a bag because the other bag was at the end of the register, which makes sense. I did feed myself before getting back to the Taito station to play some songs, but it still wasn’t good enough. All thumbs. Ended the day with laundry since the timing worked. Speaking of making dreams big, it’s time to cross another one off the list tomorrow. I can’t wait.
Day 8 - Takasaki, Gunma. Oomiya, Saitama 2.
It’s a good thing that I only needed to get to Ikebukuro to transfer over to the next stop, because that’s where that particular run ended for some reason. I wonder what was up. Speaking of things getting messed up on trains, I managed to find my way on a train that needed a separate ticket, which I didn't have. The conductor found me right away and had me disembark at Uraja for me to wait for the proper transfer. The weather forecast said there’d be rain, and the travel forecast said it would take two hours to get there, and neither lied. I feel like I had more people staring at me in Gunma than other places. I will say that I found the Takasaki station area to be rather charming, with the stores that it had inside and the emphasis on the music culture there. It’s one thing to offer a piano to the public to play, but it’s another to have a public willing to use it. This location had both. Having what was essentially a Bic Camera built into the facility was a nice touch too. The Leisure Land arcade was sandwiched between other floors that had its own offering of gaming stuff, so that was an unexpected bit of a fun thing to look through. The area was clean and sparsely populated, and it wasn’t picked clean of all matter of things that would normally get snapped up, so that was interesting. Finally, I made it over to the machine. They had separate fans for each location. I got the songs and then the medals came, and that’s that. Kantou Seiou. I would have stayed a bit longer but I wanted to have the medals show up right away, and my internet wasn’t cooperating, so that’s all I could do. I think there was an Internet cafe that I could have used in the facility, but I didn’t want to deal with an awkward conversation. I did get some Lawson on the way out, as well as some trinkets from the local Gunma-chan store as well as some mini croissants and some macademia cookie things. More vocal awkwardness. Omiya was one of the stops on the way back, and I found a place to serve omrice, so that’s another one off the list. No shoes allowed inside. The value wasn’t there but the service was good enough, as was the flavor. The machines with the 20G springs are indeed legit. Back home in time for some McDonalds, and that’s another food-checklist item marked off. Takoyaki mayo dipping sauce - somehow it’s both salty and sweet. While returning to the hotel, I did happen to encounter an argument amongst two teenaged locals where the guy ended up half-heartedly kicking the girl and getting her to cry. I wonder what their argument was about. I didn’t play hero, but someone else did so enough to prevent an escalation and called the police over.
Day 9 - Sugamo, Tokyo Sky Tree, Akihabara 3, Kanda
Up early enough to decide that I should at least visit the Sky Tree while I'm there just to say that I did, and that I should visit the Sugamo street market upon its open since it was right there in front of me. I'm glad to have done so. With everything open, this felt more like what one would think to expect from a flea market environment that's operated and supported by the local populace. Small stores were open both sides of the street that go on for many blocks, and some tents and tables were set up to sell second hand goods as well. I was able to find someone selling a US Morgan dollar and he wanted only 2000Y for it, so that was an easy buy. If I would have known better to anticipate this area, I wouldn't have felt compelled to buy kitchy tourist crap that is expected as gifts elsewhere. If you are looking for a place to idly shop around that doesn't get extremely crowded and has an authentic local feel to it, consider making a point to come here. Off to Sky Tree. Getting the combo ticket for the second deck was worth it just for the lack of crowds on the upper area. If you're going to come here, consider getting a phone selfie stick or something of the kind so that you can take pictures against the windows without the structure scaffolding obstructing your view. On the subject of shopping again, this might be another area to consider visiting just for the sake of the specialty stores to be found here, such as those for chopsticks or hairpins. To close out the day, my wife reminded me to look for something from the Square Enix cafe, so that meant swinging by Akihabara yet again. Since it is within a walkway, it was a bit of a pain to find this place even with using maps, but I eventually found it and got what she wanted to find. Played some IIDX at Game Panic, which was surprisingly small and the one machine that was avaialble to play had some 2P turntable issues, so that didn't last all that long. Dinner was at a nearby place that specalized in tofu, so that was a good ramen serving with that infused. For the evening, I wandered south to Kanda to get night pictures, and found it to feel pretty similar to Ueno.
Day 10 - Ginza, Tokyo, Kanda & Akihabara 4
Launrdry in the morning. I also wanted to say that I went to Ginza in my time here, and I didn't research anywhere to go to keep it a surprise. It was a bit warmer and sunnier than usual that day, and I stuck to the main road for most of the walk, so I can't say that I found too many points of the interest along the path that I walked starting from Yurakucho station and heading out that way. High class store for high class people, and that's too rich for my peasant blood. Similarly for Tokyo proper itself, I suppose I'd have to needed to wander far away from the Yamanote vicinity to find points of interest there, as I didn't encounter anything that was remarkably distinctive here in comparison to other areas that I have previously seen. Continuing north across Nihonbashi brought me to Kanda and eventually to Akihabara yet again, as if it was a magnet that pulled me inside every time. For the sake of trying a different place I chose to play some IIDX at the Leisure Land arcade there, and I'm glad to have done that, as those machines were probably in the best coniditon that I encountered within that area. Dinner was at Tenkaippin, which I didn't realize until after I placed the order was cash only. The clerk didn't request it beforehand but I voluntarily left my passport there to show that I would return, and promptly went to the same ATM that I had found days prior in order to get the cash to pay for the bill.
Day 11 - Haneda T3, Nishi Nippori, Nippori, Uguisuidani, Otsuka, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Ikebukruo, home.
The end. I resolved to take the subway over to Haneda today to get the one luggage over there and stored, and it’s a good thing that I did - there’s no easy solution for getting over there without encountering a crowd. If anything I wonder if Yamanote is actually better. Regardless, I got that much done. With the day left to go, I ventured to Nishi Nippori and I needed to summon the map several times to make sure I found the location, as it was as obscure as it could get. Just a sign on the ground for the third floor, a stairway that led to the back, an elevator that had no decoration, a single room that housed everything. Arcade PCB kits on shelves, joystick panels in exposed boxes, nicotine odor from years past - it was like I was transported to 1995 upon entry, beyond the fact that the games weren’t as old. Most of them, they did have a lot going for SF3 3rd yet. I was able to take care of some game business in a hurry since I was the only one there. It was a very pleasant respite for play in comparison to most of the other sessions. The region itself felt much the same as this arcade - old and well worn, as in well lived. Venturing south to Nippori led me to stumble upon a shrine and cemetery just by following some stairs. Usuigudani was cleaner but mostly had hotels as points of interest. Back home to buy some mochi while mochi was for sale in midday. Then to Otsuka, thinking that I would wander to Ikebukuro, but I ended up wandering back to Sugamo instead. Whoops. Meal at Sugamo, then back out to return to Shibuya and Shinjuku at night to catch evening shots, when I hadn’t done so before at these places. Good thing I did that to get Golden Gai area shots at night. With the night winding down, I decided to have one last IIDX play at Round 1 in Ikebukuro to symbolically end where I started.
Ending arcade comments
· Although the upkeep is generally better and more consistent than the US, some machines will have hardware issues here too. I was surprised by the blurriness with some of the LM IIDX machines.
· Densha De Go on the propert large cabinet is nice but quickly becomes very expensive.
· Bombergirl is OK enough and having the dedicated detonator button that pops up for hitting the base is a cute touch.
· Chase Chase Jokers feels rather clunky and I'm not sure what the game is trying to do. Interesting side screen concept at least.
· Nostalgia is delightful and would probably find a small fanbase worldwide if it had more exposure.
· Favorite IIDX locations are Taito Station in Oomiya for the light keys and Leisure Land Akihabara for the high quality of the LMs there. Honorable mention goes to the Game Versus loctation in Nishi Nihonbashi, but that might not be worth it for a dedicated trip unless you go there first thing in the morning.
Ending overall comments
This was a life altering trip for me, as would be expected. While I'm glad to have made the journey, as to be expected, I will only want to return after making an extensive redoubled effort into speaking and hearing comprehension, because I know that I came across like a blubbering idiot so many times, and it's truly aggravating because I generally know what I want to say and most of the words that are used to say it, but it just doesn't come out of my mouth properly when it needs to be done.
I welcome any questions you may have, as that will help for me to recall the memories and have me write them down.

My wife and I (<30M, American) planned our first visit to Europe in spring 2020. 4 years deferred, the trip evolved from a barebudget experience to something closer to a second honeymoon. I don’t claim any special knowledge, I really just wanted to give back to this sub.
Total Budget: $8,000
Total Spend: $8,100
Day 1-3: Arrival and Beaune
We took the TGV to Dijon and arrived in Beaune via train at 14:00. It’s a fairytale fucking town. You are forced to downshift as you wander a warren of streets. The locals are justifiably proud of their wine and food and were generous in educating us on their culture. Burgundy’s distinctive roof tiles reinforced our sense of place.
-Highlights: Cycling Beaune-Pommard- Volnay-Mersault, Hotel Dieu/Hospices de Beaune, escargots and wine.
Best Food: A grand dinner at the cellar of Le Conty, a quiet table at Le Bistro des Cocottes.
-Additional Comment: We stayed at Hotel des Tonneliers and while the rooms were simple, the staff was so lovely and this was our favorite stay in France. The conti-brekky in the courtyard was pleasant and convenient.
Day 4: Travel, Fontenay Abbey, Guedelon Castle
Our second leg was the Loire Valley so we rented a car and stopped at some remote sites in transit. Fontenay was serene but Guedelon was a surprise highlight of the entire trip. The artisans work openly and the half-finished castle is surrounded by a village of tourist-friendly but not tacky canteens and gift shops. We enjoyed seeing ordinary French families at play.
-Highlights: Guedelon (castle and food on site), driving manual transmission in rural Burgundy.
-Best Food: Seasonal offerings and local hard cider at the Guedelon canteen
-Additional Comments: I’m American and had only driven stickshift for an extended period once before. If you have any previous experience, I recommend eschewing automatic transmission for the fun of it.
Day 5-6: Amboise and Chateaux of the Loire Valley
While Burgundy felt ancient and impressive, the Loire Valley was graceful and romantic. Willows crowd the river and flowers poured from window boxes. The renaissance chateaux are a powerful reminder of the wealth of the aristocracy and the government extends place the estates in their proper historical context. Sites actively engage children with scavenger hunts and augmented reality exhibits.
-Highlights: Hot air ballooning over Chenonceau, the grand chateau at Chambord, drinks on the Ile d’Or facing Amboise castle, crowd of rowdy regulars at Art is Ale Brewery.
-Best Food: Michelin starred lunch at L’Orangerie, intimate but thoughtful tasting menu at the patio of L’Alliance, Le Shaker bar.
-Additional Comments: We stayed at Chateau du Pray, which was grand but a 2km drive from Amboise. In hindsight, we preferred humbler digs closer to town because we were rarely in our room.
Day 7-8: Paris, Rue Cler
Emerging from the metro and onto the streets of Paris is a singular experience. The pedestrian zone on Rue Cler was perfect for an introductory stroll but we quickly branched out using the excellent and cheap public transport system.
-Highlights: L’Orangerie (we were most impressed by the Robert Ryman exposition), Napoleon’s Tomb, Saint-Chapelle in the rain, the metro.
-Best Food: Warm hospitality at Comice, sandwiches from any given boulangerie, apertifs (Lilet Blanc is my fav)
Day 9-10: Paris, Le Marais
This was our favorite neighborhood. Le Marais is near (practically) everything, feels like an authentic community and has excellent restaurants. We cancelled a planned trip to Versailles because we were greedy for more time here.
-Highlights: Picasso Museum, people watching, drinking on the banks of the Seine with college students at sunset
-Best Food: Stunningly generous hospitality at La Bourse et La Vie, oysters with cognac vinegar at Huiterie Régis, random falafel
-Additional Comments: I enjoyed running the neighborhood in the early morning and watching it all come to life.
Day 11: Travel Praise be to Xanax.
General Thoughts
-Stereotypes about the French are so outdated. Everyone, especially in the countryside, was gracious
-DO learn basic phrases in French. The French are gracious hosts and I felt that the respect demonstrated by attempting the language is reciprocated
-DO ask questions. I asked our waiter about “Eau de Vie” and after disappearing, he returned with three bottles, a generous free tasting and stories about his grandfather’s still in the countryside. I left the restaurant educated and happily drunk. In another situation, I asked a vintner if he had any older bottles off-menu following a tasting and he revealed a small but venerable stock that were for sale but too few to advertise
-DO make reservations, especially in small towns. I avoided it from fear of speaking French on the phone and executed a mad scramble to secure our tables at the start of the trip
-DO eat late. The tourists seem to clear out of restaurants by 21:00 and we enjoyed listening to the buzz of French voices when we dined on their schedule
-DO wake up early, at least sometimes. Provincial streets are so dreamy at dawn
-DON’T go to Montmartre. Obviously my opinion but it was aggressively touristy, full of hustlers and I’m no prude but fuck, there were a lot of cheap sex shops
-DO change your plans as you go. You can rebook train tickets for a modest fee or rebook hotels with reasonable notice. Be open to discovery
-DO use public transport whenever possible
-DON’T expect anything from speaking Spanish or Portuguese. This may be different in the Southwest but in the places I visited, neither of these were viable bridge languages when my French failed me
-DO check wine in your bag home

Does anyone have any leads on a hotel you can stay at with zoo passes( besides that Natura place because the rooms are marked way up around the time we’d like to visit)? I know I used to see stuff like that advertised but maybe that was a pandemic thing. I do know the wintergreen hotel by great wolf will have Noah’s ark passes for summer! Thanks

Hi, would like to ask if anyone (non-China citizen) here has used Ctrip app to book local tour in China before? I saw a few local tour package that include private car driver and help to settle hotel & entrance ticket as well.
If you have booked before, can you share your experience - is it reliable, is the tour organized as per advertised, etc.?
Note: if anyone else has suggestions on how to book local tours in other platforms, can also let me know. Thank you in advance!

This one's for the hotel properties which have a number of parking spaces equal to or less than the total number of guest rooms.
My hotel has exactly 80 spaces to 80 rooms, with no alternate parking and nowhere to expand parking, and we advertise this limitation everywhere we can, from our property info on our franchise's site listing to the few OTA sites we have set up and can access and update property info on. We also remind almost every caller of this, and have signage upon pulling up to the property stating that we didn't have the room to accommodate large trucks, tricks with trailers, U-Hauls, boats, campers or RV's.
Yet, still, we always seem to get two to three that either didn't read any disclaimers or signage about it - or just don't care and will try anyway - and we at the desk have to run out, flag those drivers down, and tell them we can not accommodate them, not because their room was unavailable, but because they failed to mention they were piling a 36' deck boat to the reservations or in the special comments/requests part of their online res, failed to read the fine print of their confirmation or even during or before starting the yes in the first place, and that's why only just now, as they're pulling in, are they funding out we can't let them stay because of the trailered boat.
So my question is this: what is your property's solution to the parking limitations problem, and how well is it working? What hangups do your staff or guests have with your solution? Is everyone satisfied with your hotel's solution?

okay we all know abt deja vu and the uneasy feeling it gives.
well lately i’ve been having dreams of situations happening. as im dreaming of the situation i would deny it almost as if im in my dream watching the situation happen and saying noo there’s no way that’s gonna happen.
i would wake up not remembering the dream but a few weeks, months, days, whatever later, the exact situation happens and i get almost a deja vu abt it but it’s different because i remember WATCHING the situation unravel and denying it. recently, this has been happening MULTIPLE times a week.
for example we were going on a trip a were booking a hotel room. the hotel was advertised as this beautiful hotel. we had absolutely no doubts about it. had a dream about it being absolutely awful and dirty. woke up the next morning not remembering anything moved on w life. few weeks later we check into the hotel and it was terrible all the visions hit me and i just remember completely denying it and feeling so awful.
this is happening way too many times to be a coincidence and i can’t jus pass it as deja vu bc it’s way more. today i had 2 of these incidents.
i know the lord speaks thru dreams but i also know they would aline w scripture. could this be him giving me visions? by why so often and why about such little things as dirty hotel rooms. I don’t think theres a spiritual gift around it?
i know w physics and witchcraft there’s a lot of future telling. i pray this is not some type of spiritual whatever, and i pray it is from the lord. I’ve grown up in the church and never ever got involved with any witchcraft so im not sure how that would have happened.
Please let me know if you have any idea what this may be and please pray.

okay we all know abt deja vu and the uneasy feeling it gives.
well lately i’ve been having dreams of situations happening. as im dreaming of the situation i would deny it almost as if im in my dream watching the situation happen and saying noo there’s no way that’s gonna happen.
i would wake up not remembering the dream but a few weeks, months, days, whatever later, the exact situation happens and i get almost a deja vu abt it but it’s different because i remember WATCHING the situation unravel and denying it. recently, this has been happening MULTIPLE times a week.
for example we were going on a trip a were booking a hotel room. the hotel was advertised as this beautiful hotel. we had absolutely no doubts about it. had a dream about it being absolutely awful and dirty. woke up the next morning not remembering anything moved on w life. few weeks later we check into the hotel and it was terrible all the visions hit me and i just remember completely denying it and feeling so awful.
this is happening way too many times to be a coincidence and i can’t jus pass it as deja vu bc it’s way more. today i had 2 of these incidents.
i know the lord speaks thru dreams but i also know they would aline w scripture. could this be him giving me visions? by why so often and why about such little things as dirty hotel rooms. I don’t think theres a spiritual gift around it?
i know w physics and witchcraft there’s a lot of future telling. i pray this is not some type of spiritual whatever, and i pray it is from the lord. I’ve grown up in the church and never ever got involved with any witchcraft so im not sure how that would have happened.
Please let me know if you have any idea what this may be and please pray.

This is the third revision of my 8 full day itenrary. Please let me know if any changes need to be made. Thank you!
Friday: Arrive in Narita at 6:00 PM Transfer to Tokyo Stay at Galois Hotel Shinokubo Shinjuku District
Saturday: Tokyo
Imperial Palace (Opens at 9 am) Ginza Shopping District -Uniqlo Ginza Tsukiji Fish Market Caretta Shiodome centre and its Advertising Museum
Sunday: Tokyo
Meiji Shrine Shinjuku National Garden Harajuku -Takeshita Street Omotesando Street Shibuya/Shibuya Crossing -Second floor of Starbucks to People Watch Roppongi Hills ⁃ Teamlab Borderless (if there is time)
**Shimokitazawa (if there is time)
Monday: Tokyo
Morning and Afternoon: Akihabara Asakusa -Nakamise Dori Street -Senso-Ji Temple -Asahi Tower
Transfer to Takayama in the evening Ascend Hotel Collection
Tuesday: Takayama Hida Folk Village Old District of Takayama Funasaka Sake Experience Try Hide Beef
Wednesday: Takayama Day trip to Shirakawago Visit village and farms Go to the viewpoint
Transfer to Kyoto Sequence Kyoto Gojo
Thursday: Kyoto Sunrise at Adashino Nenbutsuji Temple
Nijo Castle Gion Geisha District Temple of the Golden Pavilion
Friday: Kyoto Day Trip to Nara Bowing Deer Temples of Kofukuji, Todaiji and Kasuga
Saturday: Kyoto Sunrise at Fushimi Inari Shrine
Temples of Sanjusangendo and Kiyomizudera Nishiki Market Temple of Ginkakuji
Sunday Return to Narita

This is getting out of hand, at least in my neighborhood.
A builder is buying vacant lots and homes and turning them into dedicated Airbnbs.
It's basically hotels in a zoned residential area.
I can't run any other business in a residential area but unregulated hotels are perfectly acceptable.
Having new neighbors every weekend is nuts especially when these houses are being advertised for more people than the lot can accomodate.
I can't be the only one fed up by all of this.
And no, I have no problems with my neighbors renting their homes long term, it's the hotels I have a problem with.
I'm going to write my representative but once they banned cities from regulating Airbnbs it's probably a losing battle.
Rant over.

Hello. Long time lurker, first time poster.
I work as an assessment specialist in a mental health/detox crisis center. We temporarily take in people suffering from mental health crises (suicidal, homicidal, actively psychotic, etc) or substance abuse problems. We're basically the "grippy sock hotel" that people stay at before going to a larger, more long-term facility. I have mental illness (schizoaffective disorder) and I have been at rock-bottom before. I acquired my masters degree with this job in mind because I wanted to help people.
I've been here 5 months and I have HUGE problems with how things are run. More specifically, the insincerity of the company. I diagnosed a man with "alcohol induced depressive disorder" due to him having a long history of alcoholism and depression. He's been a client with us since 2008...I looked over his file and found out why. He's homeless, for one. When he gets admitted, he gets sent to detox for three days before being discharged and sent right back out to the streets again. He's never had MAT, proper therapy, or adequate medication.
I gave him this diagnosis and even put a clinical recommendation for treatment...and got fucking eviscerated by the business office over it.
Apparently, the insurance company doesn't like "substance induced" diagnoses and the lady demanded that I completely rewrite the ENTIRE assessment and leave out everything involving his alcoholism. She called me THE VERY MOMENT I was about to clock out and go home...demanding that I "fix" the assessment right then and there. Not wanting to get fired, I begrudgingly did the bare minimum to change the diagnosis to MDD. I did NOT completely erase the details involving his drinking, however.
I thought we were supposed to HELP the clients. Not give them wrong diagnoses all because insurance is fucking tone-deaf. And they wonder why we're getting so many frequent flyers! Fuck all this red tape.
But as much as this angers me, it makes me even more depressed that I let my high school teachers and mother bully me out of following my dreams of being a writer. Writing is the one thing I'm most passionate about. Nothing compares to it. I'd give up my job in a heartbeat if it meant I could make a living writing.
I've been told by a few people that I need to make a career out of my writing so I can get away from the bullshit pulled by large corporations. But how? I'm a very unknown author; I have four books out that I have only sold a few copies of. Freelance work pays pennies...unless it's ghostwriting. But I'm completely appalled by people who hire ghostwriters. I've ghost written one book and I hated every second of it. It lacked soul. It lacked passion. It was just another boring shifter romance story...which there's hundreds of already with the exact same tropes. That book has a high rating on Amazon, according to a friend of mine. So I know I'm decent at it. But it goes against my morals to do someone's else work while they take credit and pretend that THEY are the ones who put their blood, sweat, and tears into this book.
I suppose I could advertise myself as a writing coach while working on my own projects...but goddammit this job helps pay the bills. I'm stuck choosing an insincere crap-shoot over what I love. It's very fucking depressing and disheartening. I guess I'm just at my wits end.
Thank you for hearing me out.

I have finally had both of these to test on alternate nights, and would like to share a little experience comparison. Apologies on misspelling Ozlos, autocorrect keeps changing it.
PACKAGING:
Ozlo- Packaged like an apple product, a lot of effort was taken here. Maybe a bit wasteful on resources but for a premium pricetag I guess It’s appreciated.
Anker- Packaged well, Everything secured and very minimal resources used.
Score- Ozlo
DESIGN/QUALITY:
Ozlo- Out of the box, the case feels hefty, nice quality rubber grip to keep it from sliding and remain stationary on my nightstand. Opening the case has a smooth glide and nice presentation. The case is a bit large but these are meant for sleep, not carrying daily so For purpose reasons it’s acceptable. One flaw, my first night I placed the buds back in the case and went to put them in the following night to find the right bud at 0%. I had to nudge it a hair to get it to lock into the connectors and start charging in the case. I’m guessing the magnet wasn’t strong enough to really pull them onto the charging contacts, and now I have to be precise when returning them to the case. The silicone on the Sleepbuds is very soft and pliable. First attempt at wearing wasn’t comfortable, but I have small ears and went straight to size 0 tips, with a 100% improvement. There’s still a specific amount of pressure laying on side of my head where these become noticeable and also my jaw seems to impede on the earpiece blocking sound at some angles. I’m a stomach/side sleeper. Easy fix, I create a small crater in my pillows (down feathers) where my ear is and problem solved. Comfort score for regular wearing is 10/10, side sleeping 8/10 (still best in market to everything I have tried)
A20- This is where the price difference becomes apparent. The case is smaller, and feels of a much cheaper and thinner plastic. Better portability size and rounded to make taking in and out of pocket better than the Ozlos. Super light weight overall. Greeted by the indicator lights on the outside of the case, so I can see status without needing to open. Taking them out of the case the silicone feels more like rubber, and notable size difference. The device itself has a “hollow” feel to it unlike the Ozlos. The ozlos seem like the voids inside the buds are filled in and insulated, where the a20s seem hollow and don’t insulate sound while touching them (bad for when a blanket or pillow slides and touches it while sleeping). I was greeted with automatic Rain noise the second I put them in my ears, I do like the ear detection and the tap features where I can pause/play, adjust volume, skip, etc by double or triple tapping the earbud. Useful feature absolutely, but i’m guessing adding that tech is the reason behind the girth of the buds themselves, in which case i’d rather go without. In the ear they are very light but don’t quite fit the shape of my ear, they almost resemble the fit of the first generation airpods. comfort normal wear is 8/10, side sleeping 4/10 very distracting bulge and pressure at a specific point despite changing tip sizes. The extra girth to add some features is not welcome for a device meant for sleeping, at least for side sleepers like myself.
Score- Ozlos
FEATURES:
Ozlos- without just listing off the manual what these can do, I can only review the available features, and will only share “after the recent update.” After the update the connection is seamless, but I still feel as though the earbuds might be on even while in the case, and would like an update where the buds and the case disconnect from my phone and turn off when the case is closed with the buds inside. I still find myself putting my buds in the case, closing it, and attempting to listen to music in the other room and finding my iphone is still playing through the buds… The app is intuitive but buggy, nothing a software update can’t fix as long as the hardware is capable enough. I would like an option to just pick up the buds, put them in my ear and it start playing automatically, even though I don’t use the native sounds. Honestly the features that haven’t released yet I can probably live without, but for the price of the sleepbuds I expect everything under the kitchen sink.
A20s- These don’t have nearly the features of the Ozlos, but for less than half the price I don’t expect them to. Plane and simple controls, adjustable tapping settings, and automatic sound playing when placed in the ears is welcome.
Considering I was a kickstarter for both of these, at time of release the A20s feel less buggy and more ready for release than the Ozlos, despite the significant quality of feel of the Ozlos.
Score- A20s
SOUND QUALITY:
Ozlos- Terrific sound for such a small device. I wasn’t impressed by the native sounds, they seem very 2 dimensional, however this lower quality sound is also easier for the device to stream and use less battery so it is expected. I use Odysound for my sleep/focus sounds (Pink noise, Florida Thunderstorm, and indoor seaside) and if anyone hasn’t used this app, you’ll likely be amazed to the dolby atmos sounds and these sounds having depth is greatly emphasized by good sound quality of the Ozlos. Still has a surround sound feel and impressive bass with my thunderstorm. I’m very impressed by the sound quality as long as my jaw and side sleeping doesn’t impede on the sound.
A20s- Initially the built in sounds seem a touch higher fidelity and depth than the Ozlos, but by fractions. The audio quality is both good and bad. the depth is there but lacking due to the hollow device and poor noise insulation. But, this also adds to the effect of the bass which has more rumble to it due to that, it makes heavier low frequency sounds resonate better. overall quality feel like that of stock headphones that come with a phone when you buy it, good enough but nothing to talk about.
SCORE- Ozlos
BATTERY LIFE:
Ozlos- keeping this short, I keep the case plugged in at all times since it stays on my nightstand or the side table of the hotels I stay at, so I won’t vouch for case battery life, but the earbuds have lasted me a 7 hour sleep with 80% volume streaming either pink noise or thunderstorms from odysound, and I put them away with 15% battery remaining, so easily 8hours and that’s all I need. I don’t use phone free mode as I prefer my premium sounds, and I don’t use an alarm or a timer to turn sounds off in the app (I use the built in 8hr timer in odysound). So battery’s been all I need it to be. I tried them on a 3 hour flight but much prefer my airpods with ANR.
A20s, i’m guessing they have a larger battery because a 7 hour night playing pink noise 80% volume had me putting them away with 24% remaining. But I don’t need that 24%, I need smaller earbuds to be more comfortable for my 7-8 hours of sleep.
Score- Even
PRICE:
Ozlos- I was hesitant to send a chunk of change this size for a startup device, but I was kind of expecting Bose quality, and feel like I got it. Overall I’d say these are overpriced, considering they are nearing the price of my airpod pros, but designated only for sleep/rest. Otherwise they just don’t compare with value and should be closer to $150. They seem premium, but they’re not $200 sleepbuds.
A20s- I got these for $90 kickstarter, and can say they belong right at that price, not a dollar more. They’re cheaper feeling and less refined all around, but they do their job and are more in line with their pricetag.
Score- A20s
Overall, both these devices do as they advertise (except unreleased features of the ozlos) and are useable for sleep. The biggest difference is for sidesleepers which is where the Ozlos are the best in the business. If you sleep facing up, the ankers are a better bang for your buck. Since I live in hotels as much as my own home i’ll keep the ozlos for myself and give the ankers to my wife, she is satisfied with them. But overall the Ozlos are superior in every way.

This is mostly a vent. I’m frustrated.
I have not yet received my renewal option for my current apartment. I expect to receive it during the last 1-2 weeks of June, as last year it was received 7 days prior than notice needing to be given.
I started my apartment hunt early, as I don’t want to commit to moving out without having something lined up first. I want at least 10 days of overlap.
I last moved in 2022, and it was a bad time. Most units were renting out the day they were listed. 90% of the showings I scheduled were cancelled as the units would rent out prior. Units I did see were unlisted minutes after seeing them as they were rented. I got very lucky finding something last minute that wasn’t being advertised anywhere, but it wasn’t available until the day after I had to be out of my apartment. I had to move everything into a garage and stay in a hotel (grateful I had this option).
I’ve seen a few units already, and I’ve not been excited about any of them. I learned that multiple companies in my area have stopped covering utilities. I saw units today that include in-unit washer and dryer but charges a fee on top of rent for them? Not optional, either.
Had a showing lined up for tomorrow, a place I didn’t get to see in 2022, was SUPER excited about it, and the showing was cancelled as the available units all had applicants pending.
I’m just worried that the experience I had in 2022 is going to repeat itself, only this time I haven’t put a notice in yet.
My current place is decent. The location is great, and the price is under what most similar sized units would rent for. I have concerns that there is something in the unit or complex that is making me sick, which is part of why I want to move out of it.
I am just struggling with the process. Everything is so much more expensive and there are now all of these additional fees I’ve never had to account for.
Anyone else going through it and frustrated?

This is just a trip report for anyone who wonders what spending a couple of days on Inis Mor is like. To be clear, I'm an able-bodied man who travels solo and would rather hike than ride bikes.
I book a 4PM flight with Aer Arann to the island from Galway, also booking a bus that picks you up from in front of Victoria Hotel, a 5 minute walk from Galway Coach Station. The day was rainy but mostly misty, so when the driver picked us up, he said it wasn't looking good for the flight. In case of cancellation, we would be taken from the Connemara Airport to the ferry port and put on a later ferry for no extra charge. Luckily, 20 minutes after arriving at the tiny airport, the flight was good to go. Me and 5 other passengers were shown a safety video, weighed to determine our spot on the tiny plane and we were off for a 7 minute flight to Inis Mor.
There, a van takes you directly to where you're staying for 7.50 euros. I stayed at Seacrest B&B, with a delightful hostess and an even better breakfast. Lots of travel that day, so I just trudged up to Joe Wally's Pub that was filled with good cheer, good food and good pints.
That night, I emailed Failte Bus Tours for a spot on Gerald's tour the next day. Started that day with a great fry-up breakfast then a trip to Spar to stock up on water and snacks. I have no problem drinking tap water, but I've read online to avoid drinking water from the bathroom, which was my only option in the B&B.
The tour started out badly. Since I was the only one there for the moment, Gerald wanted to wait until the mid-day ferries unloaded so he could recruit more passengers which is how most of these tours start. I waited over an hour so a few more could get in the van, but eventually we were on our way.
The tour ended up being great, Gerald gave his spiel, gave us 2 hours at Dun Aonghasa to hike up to the fort with excellent views of the cliffs and half the island. Nearby, there's a trail to a hidden ruined church with centuries-old carvings. There was even a card commemorating a recent death, so locals still consider this ruin as sacred. The tour also pointed other ruins and stopped at The Seven Churches. The last long stop was at the Wormhole for about 90 minutes, where Gerald pointed us to the trail that eventually led to it. It's pretty meandering but as long as you keep the water to your left, and watch out for the giant deep tidal pools, you'll get there, and it's worth it. Gerald was the perfect combo of informative but unobtrusive, letting us go in our own pace.
Upon return, it was an early dinner at The Bar with excellent seafood chowder and a pint of Guinness. After resting in the B&B, I hiked to the Black Fort, which started south along the main road in front of the B&B. Eventually you turn along paths lined with stone walls until you reach endless fields of flat stones. There are signs that point to the Fort, not to any path, eventually you'll start to hear the thunder of the crashing waves. The Black Fort is dramatically facing the ocean and since this was the evening, there wasn't soul around. If you're solo and that freaks you out, you might want to tell someone your plans.
The next day, after another fine breakfast, it was time to check out. This is my only gripe about this trip: I should've planned better which ferry to take to return to Galway or booked another flight. Instead, I had to spend a few hours before my 3:30 ferry, I ferry I chose because it did a detour along the Cliffs of Moher. I could leave my big bag at the B&B, which meant just leaving it in the common area. It's Inis Mor, nothing will happen to it.
I hiked up to St. Ciaran's Church which afforded excellent views along the way. The way back included walking by a little park by Joe Watty's, a stop at Aran Islands Cafe (excellent scone), walking past the Glamping site...a lot of waiting. The B&B let me hang out in the common area, but they were cleaning the place at the time and I felt intrusive so I only sat around between walks. Eventually, I got my bag and walked to the ferry port. Thirty minutes before departure, you'll see the ferry sitting there with a line already waiting to board. The ferry ride itself was great, some locals were putting the fear of seasickness in me, and while there were a few bumps, most of it was smooth as glass. The view of the Cliffs from the ferry were great and included a nice audio recording explaining what we were seeing.
So a nice couple of days on an amazing island. The weather was as advertised, at times misty, drizzly, some wind and some sun. But it was never miserable, thankfully. Hope this helps anyone thinking of visiting.

I’m aware that this is unconventional. Believe me, I’ve tried conventional – it didn’t end well for anyone. I require a certain open mindedness that I’m hoping I might find here, but more importantly, I need my future husband to know the rules. Meet-cutes are well and good on the screen, but they don’t guarantee a partner’s ability to follow basic instructions. That was my mistake the first time.
So, begging your pardon for my bluntness, I’m going to be clear about my requirements. Please read carefully – if you can’t meet them, there’s no point in going any further.

• Must want children. At least one child, anyway. I’m open to the idea of more, but one is an absolute must.
• Must be in it for the long haul. Until our child turns eighteen, to be precise. I understand that level of commitment is a daunting prospect, particularly when we have not yet met. After our child is born, you are welcome to ignore me, if you please, or take your pleasure elsewhere – though I will warn you that it might be difficult to come by. But you will live under my roof until our child is an adult.
• Homebody preferred. It will make the next two decades easier on you.
• Must have impeccable manners. I will provide a manual outlining the required etiquette, but you must at least have a grasp of basic courtesy to begin with. If you let your tongue run away with you, or don’t bother to wish your neighbours a good morning when you pass them in the street, stop reading – this is not the opportunity for you. Seriously.

This is the part where I should talk about myself, but let’s face it, this is hardly a romantic proposal. I require commitment up-front and there’s no guarantee that, once we do meet, we’ll really even like each other. If we do? Fantastic! It’ll help the years fly by. If we don’t, you’ll still have the main prize – years of rent-free, expenses-free living at The Old Oak Hotel.
A sanctuary has stood in this spot in one form or another since before the ley lines. During its tenure, it has been flooded, put to the flame, and pounded into dust. Time and again, it has been reimagined and rebuilt. Most of the current building dates back to Victoria’s reign, though the oldest parts were constructed in the 13^th century. At the very bottom of the garden, cut into the surrounding hills, there is a cave bearing handprints of red ochre.
There has always been an Edwards at the hotel, though of course we haven’t always gone by that name. You would think a family so tied to one place would do a better job of keeping records, but no one is certain of our origins. Perhaps it was a cosmic bargain, or perhaps mere luck – whether good or bad, I have never been able to decide. Either way, our presence is required. Throughout our spotty past, there’s a story here and there of an Edwards deserting their post, and it always coincides with a particularly brutal period of history.
I inherited the position five years ago. At midnight on my eighteenth birthday, my parents took their already-packed suitcases and left. I don’t blame them for their abandonment; I intend to one day do the same thing to my – or, hopefully, our – child.
They send me postcards and photos from time-to-time, always smiling on sunny beaches. Money isn’t a concern for them. That’s part of whatever mysterious deal our ancestors made – when a caretaker leaves in good-standing, they will never want for anything again. They could travel the world for the rest of their lives, always sleeping in the softest sheets and dining in the finest restaurants, and never find their pockets empty.
Keep this point in mind, for if you can meet my requirements, you will share my good fortune.
And what must we do in return? I can all but hear you scream the question. Why, very little. The presence of an Edwards ensures that the guests can’t stray from the hotel grounds. Most of our guests are live-in residents, though we do get the occasional walk-in. Where they come from, I don’t know, for we are not visible to most people who stumble upon our lonely corner of the world. I’ve come to believe the hotel chooses to reveal itself when its lacking entertainment, or to fill a need.
Jimmy, my first husband, was one such guest.
For the most part, the guests are harmless. They’ll give you a little fright from time-to-time, popping out from a wall or turning your bathwater into blood, but I find it hard to hold it against them. I’ve found twenty-three years here dreary; I can’t imagine how bored I would be after five hundred.
There are a few exceptions you should be aware of:

• Eric. Our resident serial murderer. He claims to have been Jack the Ripper while he still drew breath, but I think he’s just a blowhard. He knows better than to harm an Edwards, but I’m afraid spouses are fair game. Years ago, my grandmother managed to confine him to the fourth floor, so you will be perfectly safe from him as long as you never set foot there. Occasionally, the lift will stop on that floor even though you haven’t pressed the button for it. Do not get out. Even if the lift appears to be on fire or starts filling with murky water. Wait for the doors to close again, then go to another floor. It should only take a few hours.
• The Thing in the Cellar. I don’t know what It is; no one ever has. We only know It eats rats and must be fed once a day. If I’m ever ill or incapacitated, this task will fall to you. Harvest the rats from the traps in the garden, then stand at the cellar door and throw them down the stairs. Do not walk down the stairs and do not forget to feed It. You don’t want to be the first person to see Its’ face.
• Mrs Jones. Old fashioned and a stickler for manners, she’s the reason I’m advertising for a husband rather than a boyfriend. She won’t abide a couple living in sin under the same roof as her. Really, though, she’s a sweet old thing. Full of stories about the war and always ready to help if I get stuck on a recipe. I don’t blame her for what happened with Jimmy at all. I’d warned him enough times.

Guests aside, there are other rules you will need to follow to ensure a safe, satisfactory stay at The Old Oak Hotel. They are listed in a book that has been re-penned many times over the centuries. If you choose to accept this opportunity, I will insist that you read it until you can recite the pages word-for-word.
However, there are some rules so critical for your survival that I feel compelled to list them here:

• With the exception of the fourth floor, you are welcome to roam the hotel and its grounds as you please. But you must never set foot outside of our land – not until our child is old enough to fulfil their duties. If I were to do so, it would unleash pandemonium – plague, peril, perhaps another world war. I’m afraid you would be less crucial to the fate of the world, but it would certainly be a personal disaster.
• Never look in the mirrors in room 33.
• I’ve touched this point already, but it bears repeating: never be rude to Mrs Jones.

Failure to observe that last rule is what got Jimmy.
She doted on him. I think he reminded her of her long-dead son, for she pampered him as if he were one of her own. Each morning, she had breakfast ready for him before I had so much as opened my eyes, and she developed a habit of trailing along after him, complimenting his skill as he oiled rusted hinges or set a crooked picture straight.
At first, Jimmy basked in the attention. But by the end of his second month, he was growing bored of Mrs Jones, me, and the hotel itself. We pride ourselves on our facilities. If you need more activity than a turn around the garden, we have a lovely indoor pool – it freezes over every now and then, but most of the time it’s perfectly usable. Our library is unmatched. Although the room is cramped, it has every book imaginable; you only need to think of a particular title, and it will appear on one of the shelves. And now that I’ve dragged us kicking and screaming into the 21^st century, we have a wide array of streaming services.
It wasn’t enough for Jimmy. He wanted to go out – eat in a restaurant, watch a film in the cinema, see any faces other than the ones he was surrounded by every day. He began having a drink each evening. One drink turned into several, and after a few weeks, the bar became his permanent residence between dusk and midnight.
He wasn’t the only one getting bored. I had been thrilled when he first arrived; ecstatic when he agreed to stay. How marvellous to feel real flesh beneath my fingers after five years of only the dead for company. What a relief to have some assistance in the many tasks required to keep the hotel running as it should.
The more he drank, the less inclined he was to help – or even spend time in my company. He no longer visited my bed, choosing a room for himself on the opposite end of the floor. When our paths did cross, at best he would ignore me. At worst, he would nitpick or outright rail against me, blaming me for his captivity.
Still, I made an effort to be present whenever he frequented the bar. As lovely as Mrs Jones can be, she does have a tendency to nag. Before and after her death, she was close to teetotal, only consenting to take a single sherry at Christmas, and drinking outside of special occasions is something of a bugbear of hers.
“Think of your health, dear,” she would tell Jimmy brusquely. “You’ll miss it when it’s gone.”
Or, “How about we switch to a nice apple juice now? You’ve had quite enough to drink for one night.”
Most of the time, Jimmy managed to pull himself together enough to flash a charming smile and distract her with a compliment about her latest meal. But after one drink too many, I’d noticed him gritting his teeth and just barely managing to hold his tongue.
It was better if I was present. Playing the doting wife, I insisted on pouring his drinks, watering them down out of his sight. When Mrs Jones’s nagging bordered on relentless, I could always distract her with a game of gin rummy.
On his final day, I was running behind. The ghoul on the second floor – usually the least demanding of our guests – had come down with some dreadful illness, or else decided he wanted to inconvenience me. Either way, I had woken that morning to the foulest stench I had ever experienced. I followed it to his room and found every surface covered in putrid green-blank gunge, its consistency somewhere between mucus and vomit.
All day I scrubbed, taking only brief breaks to step outside before I fainted. By the time the room was restored to a passable state, and I had filled several bin bags to bursting with filthy rags, it was already deep into the night. Mindful of the time, I paused only long enough to wash the streaks of muck from my arms and face before racing to the bar.
I arrived just in time to hear Jimmy’s last words. After he spat them at Mrs Jones, she only stared for a small eternity, her mouth frozen in the motherly smile she wore whenever she scolded him.
Then, like melted wax, her face began to shift.
I shouted at Jimmy to run, but he didn’t need to be told. Before the words left my mouth, he leapt from his barstool and streaked through the door. Mrs Jones followed him seconds later. Her lips were already peeling back to reveal rows upon rows of long, wickedly sharp fangs, while claws sprouted from beneath her lace-edged cuffs.
I sprinted after them, but Jimmy was fuelled by fear and Mrs Jones by whatever force propels the Mrs Joneses of the world. I followed the screeching to the lobby. Breathless, I arrived to see he had arrived within mere feet of the entrance before Mrs Jones grabbed him.
Claws wrapped around his throat, she lifted him into the air. As I watched, her jaw unhinged, the lower part dropping so that it was nearly level with her chest.
That sight drove all the sense out of my head. Forgetting every rule my parents had ever drilled into me, I lunged at her.
She batted me away as though I weighed no more than a fly.
I crashed into the reception desk, the breath bursting from my lungs in a great woosh. I was certain that I would die, for no amount of effort seemed to force air back into my aching chest. At last, as my vision began to dim, I managed to take a small gulp – then another, and another, until I was able to draw myself together enough to regain my feet.
By that time, Mrs Jones had nearly finished her dinner. Jimmy’s chest was splayed open, muscle and shattered ribs protruding every which way from his flesh, and she was devouring the last few bites of his heart.
His head was angled towards me. The light had winked out from his eyes, but they still held his final terror – and an accusation which, I was quite certain, was directed at me. I would like to say I felt only horror, but I couldn’t help my sudden jolt of irritation. How may times had I told him to mind his manners?
Mrs Jones gulped, the sound thick and wet in her gullet, and dropped what remained of Jimmy to the floor.
Then she turned to me.
Here’s another rule for you, one which I hope you never have cause to use: never interfere with a kill.
The Mrs Jones who used to kiss my grazed knees, who argued with my mother for the right to read me bedtime stories, was no longer at the wheel. No amount of pleading or reasoning would move her.
I could only run.
Spinning around, I vaulted over the reception desk and raced for the office behind it. If Jimmy had not been out of his mind with fear and booze, he might have remembered the rules and survived; it was one of several staff-only rooms throughout the hotel warded to keep out unwanted guests.
Just ten steps from desk to door, yet it was the longest journey of my life. My hard-won breath burned my throat; my heart pounded in my ears, deafening me to all other sounds than Mrs Jones’s heavy, pounding footsteps.
Grasping the handle, her hot, copper-tanged breath was on my neck. Fire exploded in my flesh as she raked her claws down my back. A step further away, and I wouldn’t have made it; the pain would have been too great. But I managed to throw myself into the office and slam the door before crumpling to the ground.
Before I passed out, I heard her grunting and shrieking outside, furious that she couldn’t get in.
Three days I spent in the office, emerging only to feed The Thing in the Cellar before scurrying back to my hiding place. Whenever I left, I tried not to look at the mangled heap that used to be Jimmy. There was no avoiding the smell, though.
With no small difficulty, and the help of a first aid kit, I managed to treat and bandage the wounds on my back. They bled sluggishly all throughout the first day, but thankfully didn’t fester.
On the morning of the fourth day, there was a tentative knock on the door followed by the sound of rapidly retreating footsteps. I waited until they had disappeared down the corridor before cracking the door open. On the floor was a freshly baked Victoria sponge and a beautifully written note of apology.
It took every ounce of courage I possessed, but that evening I forced myself to go to the dining room. Mrs Jones was waiting for me, her eyes red-rimmed, a steaming cottage pie on the table. I tried not to flinch as she took my hand, re-iterating the apology she had already delivered in writing.
The next morning, she helped me clean Jimmy up.
We treated each other cautiously for a while, but eventually we got back to playing gin rummy again. When the scars on my back twinge, as they sometimes do, she helps me rub a soothing ointment into them. Even though I’ve told her it’s not necessary, she apologises every time.
So, you’ve heard my story and you have my proposal. If you think you could be the man for me, I invite you to visit. You will need to drink a cup of ram’s blood (a pinch of nutmeg makes it a little more tolerable) and light a black candle before bedtime. When you next wake, you will find yourself at our gates. As travel arrangements go, it’s hardly the Orient Express, but it beats the airfare.
If you have read this without flinching, if you can stomach the journey to get here, if you walk up to our door and find the nerve to open it, I have one more instruction for you.
Just as you enter, look to your right. You will see a deep brown stain on the lobby carpet. I’ve scrubbed and scrubbed but it just won’t come out. Perhaps that’s for the best. It’s a good reminder of what will happen to you should you call Mrs Jones a “nosy old bat”.
And when you run into Jimmy – as you will, for he still likes hanging around the bar in the evening, his silvery wounds glistening as though they had just been inflicted – don’t let him convince you he was some sort of victim.
He knew the rules.

I'll be on a business trip in Norway in a few weeks and need to rent a car. I understand that EVs are big in Norway, and it's actually cheaper to rent an EV than a gasoline car.
However, I will need to drive 130 km north of Oslo in a rather small town, and then a 30 km commute for 3 days before going back to Oslo. Charging will be necessary at some point and I'm not sure if my work place there has a charger.
As a foreigner, should I go ahead and rent an EV? I know there are lots of pros/cons, but I'd like your advice! Here's what I came up with on my end:
Pros

• Cheaper to rent, cheaper tolls, cheaper to charge than to fill up
• Environmentally friendly!
• Cool -- I've only driven an EV once before, this would be the occasion for me to experience that for a whole week.
• Silent-ish
• There seems to be chargers at several locations at / close to my hotel
• Rentals are advertised with 400+ km autonomy, so range should not be an issue in late Spring

Cons

• I will need to charge at least once
• I am not familiar with the different charging technologies available, how much time to plan for that with those technologies, ethics of charging stations and such
• I've heard that each charging station brand has its own app, and some might not be available on non-Norwegian phones
• I understand the place I'll be is at best semi-rural and that charging stations location might be scarcer than in a typical city
• Maybe I should just stick to what I know!

What Is Travel Agency CRM?

A travel agency CRM is customer relationship management software that helps travel companies or tour operators improve their lead management and conversion processes, increase sales efficiency, streamline follow-ups, and rapidly expand their customer base. Software is particularly designed for both TMCs and DMCS.

Travel Agency CRM is an all-in-one CRM solution for travel agencies and tour operators built on award-winning travel CRM. Created specifically for the needs of travel agencies using award-winning travel CRM, Travel Agency CRM delivers outstanding value with an astounding array of features for a fraction of the cost of any comparable industry system.

In fact, CRMs can be used for and customized to a number of different industries! When it comes to the travel industry, a CRM can help guide prospective clients through the sales process and give them access to important, relevant data.

What Is the Purpose Of A CRM For Travel Agencies?

Travel agency CRM platforms help agencies manage their online presence, schedule meetings, and even automate their usual tasks. They offer a comprehensive view of sales pipelines and customer relationships, making them an invaluable tool for any travel agency.

Teams can use travel agency CRMs to assign leads to agents, track performance, and manage transaction processes. Features such as drip campaigns and marketing automation tools enable agencies to maintain a consistent client experience and build stronger relationships.

A travel CRM will assist you in:

· Track travel inquiries from start to finish, ensuring a flawless sales process.

· Auto-send WhatsApp, email, and SMS to the client on each status change.


· Deliver exceptional, tailored service according to each traveler's requirements.

· Gain a comprehensive view of customer interactions, packages, and sales from analytics.

· Automate repetitive tasks to increase productivity, boost sales, and generate revenue.

Why Is Travel Agency CRM Important in The Travel Industry?

To run sales and stay competitive, businesses in the travel industry must meet and manage their customers' needs across the entire inquiry, booking and follow-up journey. Because a travel agency CRM lets you focus on traveler profiles and expectations more accurately, it helps you deliver an exceptional user experience that's more likely to bring in repeat bookings.

Customer Information: Travel agents deal with various customers, each with unique preferences and travel histories. A CRM system helps agents keep track of all this profitable data.

They can record details such as travel dates, destinations, preferred airlines, and hotel choices. This enables agents to provide an extremely personalized service, recommending suitable options and making the booking process smoother for customers.

Organization and Efficiency: Travel agents juggle a multitude of tasks, from booking flights and hotels to arranging tours and transfers. A travel CRM solution acts as a digital assistant, helping agents stay organized. It can handle bookings, set reminders for essential tasks, and even automate routine processes. This efficiency means agents can serve more customers beneficially without compromising on service quality.

Communication: Good communication is the backbone of the travel industry. A CRM system helps travel agents keep customers informed. It can send automatic email confirmations, flight updates, and travel tips. This not only ensures that customers have all the essential information but also reassures them, building trust and enhancing their travel experience.

Customer Loyalty: Establishing long-term relationships with customers is crucial. Best Travel CRM helps agents create and manage loyalty programs. It can track user points, offer rewards, and send personalized discounts or special offers. This inspires customers to return for future bookings and refer friends and family, which is vital for a travel agent's success.

Competitive Edge: In today's digital age, travelers have access to a huge amount of information online. To compete effectively, travel agents must come up with added value and exceptional service. A well-implemented CRM system enables agents to stand out by delivering personalized, efficient, and convenient services that customers appreciate. This can be the difference between travelers selecting a travel agent's services over booking independently online.

Who Can Use Travel Agency CRM?

Travelopro is the best travel CRM software specifically designed for travel agents, tour operators, and DMCs, which can easily streamline and automate your travel business. It caters to individuals at various levels within the organization, including business owners, operational staff, transfer drivers, tour guides, and the sales team.

· Hospitality businesses are striving to boost guest engagement, drive direct bookings, and generate loyalty.

· Tour operators focus on optimizing itineraries, automating tasks, and providing personalized recommendations to travelers.

· Travel agencies seeking to simplify bookings, manage customer relationships, and enhance the overall travel experience.

· Travel startups seeking to gain a competitive edge by leveraging technology to boost the travel experience.

· Travel management companies: help corporate customers with travel arrangements and expense management.

· DMCS (Destination Management Companies): DMCs benefit from advanced destination management systems that help them coordinate every part of a visitor's vacation.

· Corporate travel managers seeking to optimize travel spend, handle compliance, and improve traveler safety.

How Travel Agency CRM Can Transform Your Travel Business?

In the travel and tourism industry, CRMs are used to track customer bookings, itineraries, and preferences. This data can be used to upsell customers on extra travel products and services or to simply provide better customer service.

A CRM becomes useful when it is completely integrated operationally and strategically into the travel business. Once integrated, the CRM can help save time, increase the team's efficiency, establish better customer relationships, enhance team collaboration, and boost overall business performance.

Whether you need to manage multiple bookings, track customer preferences, or communicate with your partners, this CRM offers a comprehensive solution tailored to the unique needs of travel agencies. By using this CRM, you can streamline your operations and improve the overall efficiency of your travel agency business while also providing a better experience for your customers.

The best travel agency CRM systems have additional features necessary for running a travel agency smoothly and effectively. Besides, this is also useful in examining all the vital information, such as company performance, sales, and stock, and makes the whole process easier.

It enables you to serve your customers better with a simple user interface and hassle-free management. Maintain coordination among your team and avoid repetition of work. It empowers you to have a better lead management system. It is designed so that all your leads land in CRM from your website or social media ads.

Travel agency CRM helps in focusing your services, business processes, and employees on the acquisition and retention of faithful customers by answering their personal needs and values in the travel and hospitality business.

Companies may be effectively streamlined through the automated processes of activities like marketing, advertising, and customer support. The program assists in managing B2C and corporate clients with individualized trip schedules and fee sheets.

Currently, this software provides an advantage for the travel industry and also leads to a better customer experience. It also enables you to analyze customers more accurately, convert more leads, and produce references from happy customers.

In fact, Travel CRM authorizes you to keep an eye on booking management, user management, payment collection, alerts and notifications, email management, and so on. Thus, make sure to select the robust Travel CRM software that matches and fulfils your business requirements.

Want to Take Your Travel Business to Next Big Level? If Yes Then Travelopro Is Here

In a competitive industry, travel agents want to get travel software that manages each and every aspect of a project, streamlines workflow, and improves business efficiency. There are numerous travel CRM software programs available, each with several features, so it is important to choose the right software that is the perfect match for your business.

Choose the right cloud-based CRM for your business that is able to satisfy your needs. Here at Travelopro Travel CRM software, we provide the best travel CRM, which comes with incredible features and functionalities that enhance your work productivity and also help in the growth of your business.

We are the best travel CRM provider that helps various travel companies cope with challenges including inquiries, itineraries, payment schedules, and lead management. Our travel agency CRM solution enables simple connection and communication with branch visitors, customers, agents, and suppliers with both automated and account-specific communication.

Our CRM solution is designed to simplify your operations, automate processes, and enhance customer satisfaction. From managing itineraries to tracking user preferences, our CRM system provides a comprehensive platform to centralize your data and optimize your workflows.

Our CRM provides you with up-to-the-minute data on bookings, customer preferences, and market trends, allowing you to make informed decisions and seize opportunities in the dynamic online travel landscape.

We develop travel agency client management software so you can maintain information about your customers, their preferences, purchase capabilities, and buying behavior. This makes it easier for your agents to present the best deal to your customers and complete the sales easily.

Travelopro's smart software spells impeccable business benefits through its CRM for travel agencies. With a comprehensive package, Travelopro easily boosts operations for tour companies of all sizes, from lead management to customer relationships and massive calculations to time management.

Travelopro's Travel CRM Software also equips businesses with robust features to build a high-performing sales funnel. Owners and managers could track the status of each sale in real-time, map the customer journey, and visualize sales performance based on several metrics.

We contain powerful features such as itinerary management, quotes, proposals, forms, tasks, lead management, etc., which can help travel advisors expand their business and provide extensive experience to their customers. It is an all-in-one solution for the travel business to manage qualified customers, quotes, and itineraries through simple CRM and forms.

We developed a travel website, and for the travel agency, we provide travel agency software that is sophisticated and automated for the travel work. By using the travel CRM tool, travel agents can collect all data regarding other travel agents, staff members, and travel itineraries.

We have a dedicated team of the best travel agency CRM software providers that offers you the best and most reasonable travel CRM software, which is exclusively made for small businesses to handle their workflow.

At Travelopro, we offer a ready-made CRM solution designed exclusively for tour operators and travel agencies. Our CRM comes equipped with features, capabilities, metrics, and reporting that are specifically customized to meet your unique needs and completely customized for your branding.

Travelopro is an expert in this field, having helped many travel agencies and tour operators find the right travel CRM solutions to meet their needs and budget. We understand this and have over 10 years' experience in helping travel businesses find the right solution.

When Selecting A Travel Agency CRM, Which Factors Should We Consider?

· Features: Make sure that the CRM has features suitable to your travel business, such as booking management, lead tracking, communication tools, and reporting.

· Scalability: Choose a CRM that can amplify with your business as it expands.

· Integration: Check if the CRM integrates with other software you use, such as booking engines, marketing tools, and accounting systems.

· User Interface: The CRM should be user-friendly and smooth for your team to learn and use.

· Support: Look for a CRM provider that offers superior customer support and resources for training and troubleshooting.

· Cost: Consider your budget and whether the CRM's pricing structure corresponds with your financial plans.

Why Should You Choose Travelopro Travel Agency CRM?

· Travelopro is the leading provider of CRM for travel agencies and tour operators to let them work efficiently.

· Our travel agency CRM provides tailored solutions such as travel CRM software, holiday CRM, etc.

· Our cloud-based travel agency CRM tool offers apps that make the services one step away from the customers.

· Our travel agency CRM software helps businesses build robust customer relationships, generate revenue, and increase conversion rates.

· Our travel agency CRM helps travel businesses focus on their core tasks and any specific strategy.

· Our travel agency CRM helps retain existing customers by automating the travel process and employees in the organization. Further, it ensures flawless business administration.

· Through our years of expertise, we are in the best position to deliver the travel agency CRM solution that matches your business.

· We understand the market and, correspondingly, develop travel agency CRM software for the travel industry. It supports our clients in serving their customers better.

What Kind of Benefits Can A CRM Built Specifically for The Travel Agency Give to Your Business?

Improved Customer Retention: Retaining customers is vital to your business. Using a CRM allows you to better track your customers and instantly address their questions and concerns.

Centralized Database of Information: A CRM creates a centralized database of your customers' data, so anyone who may need it can access it. Travel agents can then see what types of trips customers may be interested in based on their past interactions with your company. As a result, your customers will have a more positive experience, and your employees will save time.

Increased Sales: By using a CRM program, you can design a particular sales plan, automate key parts of your sales process, and help you analyze the data being collected about your sales. All of this can help you improve both your sales and productivity. Furthermore, you can create a process for your employees that is easy to follow and can be effortlessly adjusted when necessary.

Higher Productivity: CRM systems use automation technology, which speeds up non-priority work. It also authorizes employees to focus on work that cannot be automated, such as creating content. This automation also ensures that no work is missed, and it even helps you enhance your workflow.

Better Customer Service: CRMs store information such as demographics, purchase history, and past communications in a single location. Storing all necessary data in a single place makes it easy for anyone in your company to find it. Observing customer information becomes much easier with all of your data in a single location.

Personalized Traveler Experience: Every person who travels is different, with their own preferences and interests. Some people prefer to go to the beach, while others stick to the mountains. Some people want to visit a big city, while others would rather go to a secluded cabin in the wilderness. With travelers who are so diverse, the way you interact with them should be as well. You can better understand the preferences of your audience with a CRM. You and your travel agents better tailor the experience you are offering them.

What Major Features Does CRM For Travel Agencies Have?

Travel agencies can utilize the CRM to manage their contact information, log communications via multiple channels, and automate endless tasks

· Attract and convert leads into recurring travelers.

· With custom fields, create traveler characters.

· Book your appointment at any channel or touchpoint.

· Securely store valuable data in the cloud.

· Get detailed analytics for sales reports.

· Monitor conversion rates and track lead conversations.

· Reporting data can help you make the necessary decisions.

· Personalized messaging sent to users based on their segments

· Automate invoicing and accounting with seamless workflows.

· Build pipelines to support all your communications, outreach, and workflow efforts.

Wrapping Up:

In the evolving landscape of the travel industry, travel agency CRM is a game-changer. It empowers travel agencies to harness the power of data for efficient retailing and personalization for success in the modern travel market.

Convert your travel agency into an easy-to-use and cost-effective CRM solution. Contact us today to schedule a demo and unlock the complete potential of CRM for your travel agency.

For more details, Pls visit our Website:
https://www.travelopro.com/travel-agency-crm.php

I worked my ass off doing research and selling a bunch of my stuff to get the plane tickets because I'm pretty broke. I was excited for this trip because I was accepted into a German university for graduate school and figured I'd get a good introduction to living in Germany, and to be honest, Berlin itself has been great, all the locals I've met have been very nice to me, but my professors and everyone working from my university have been really unprofessional and tricky and now I'm in an unsafe position.** EDIT to add that when I say Friday I mean tomorrow, so I have about 1 day until getting kicked out of the hotel. I also didn't need a visa to get here, though I will be getting one for my graduate program in September, but this current program was less than a month long so it was counted as group tourism basically.
Long explanation, skip to the bottom for the TLDR:
Before I even got on a single plane, I found out customer service for my phone carrier and I had a misunderstanding a month ago when I bought my international plan and found out about 3 days in advance that my phone would be a brick here. I told the professor immediately and she said worse case scenario she would help me get a working phone when I landed, since it's kind of needed for basic safety. Just half a day before the first flight, I got bitten by a few deer ticks and said I might also need help scheduling a doctors appointment when I land, because our travel insurance required a working phone number and it was too late for me to make an appointment before my flight. The professor said that was fine and I would be helped with that as well, so I got on the first plane in full confidence.
When I landed, a day passed without either thing being handled, and that was fine by me, but then multiple days passed and the professor kind of just waved it off. I'd started to feel a little unwell and asked the professor to help me find a doctor and she said it was just jetlag.
One of the first days of the program we went to a restaurant, and the seating was a very small reserved room with our entire 20+ cohort in it. I have CPTSD and am claustrophobic and knew immediately that I did not want to sit there, so I asked the professor if she could help me ask the staff request a seat for me in the outside dining area, or, if one wasn't available, that I could just sit outside on a nearby bench and skip dinner. She told me the room was reserved for us and this was on the itinerary so I HAD to sit there, and when I again said I didn't think I could, she demanded I sit there again and condescendingly asked me if I really couldn't or just didn't want to. I started to cry as quietly as possible and then that suddenly made her understand, so we went outside and I explained that, in my opinion, trying to force any adult to do something they're uncomfortable with and have said "No" to is bad enough to me normally, but since I have a disability, it's also ableist. I tried to frame that sentiment in a "I'm sure you didn't mean it this way" kind of way but she still took offence to the criticism and I think that led to the rest of this.
After that happened I was feeling more ill and the professor said, "Oh, do you think it's lyme? Because if it was lyme you'd have a rash. It's probably still jetlag". At this point I said again that I needed some help getting a working phone number and medical advice from a doctor and she told me to take responsibility for myself. I'd bought myself a SIM card but it needed some unexpected trouble shooting and everything was in German (I know some German but only around A2 level and absolutely none is required for this program), so I'd already tried to help myself, and again could not schedule myself an appointment without a working phone.
I asked the professor if she could put her phone number in just to let the appointment scheduling process complete and she said no. I asked if she had any other ideas and she again told me to figure it out. I wound up walking 20 minutes through Berlin alone with no working phone to a doctor's office unannounced, barely able to fill half the sign in sheet and navigate the language barrier, and successfully got the antibiotics I needed and a lyme diagnosis. The nurse even asked why I came alone. Thankfully for me everyone in the doctors office including the doctor was very very nice to me despite the curveball I through them.
Not long after all that the professor sent an email with me cc'd in to the office of international affairs at the university, and the email said, in effect, "This student said they have a disability and can't stick to the itinerary and therefore I think they're not a good fit for this program and should go home." I immediately responded that that wasn't accurate, that I just could not sit inside a restaurant or other very cramped space, etc. Then I figured while I was at it I'd tell them about the total lack of care for my safety or wellbeing here. After sending that email the professor confronted me and tried to pretty much intimidate me into admitting everything was all my fault or something, I honestly have no clue, I think she was just upset and trying to make me feel better somehow. I think my criticism really got to her and made her kind of just hate me and that she wanted to make me make her feelings make sense. No clue honestly.
Anyway, after that the office of international affairs reached back out to me and were acting way nicer than they were when I first enrolled in this program, which felt sus, but I was haggard and miserable and wanted to be able to trust them so I did. They told me if I was considering coming home early for my own health and safety, that I could unenroll that night to make sure the alum who gave me a scholarship would at least be refunded, but that I had to do it that night since it was the last day to drop for a refund. I said I wasn't sure if I wanted to leave the program, and they said if you're considering it unenroll and if you want to stay after further discussion then we can probably just go ahead and re enroll you.
So I did it. The next day I'm scheduled to meet with someone who told me the day or so before that she would be my advocate and that she was there to listen to and represent me, and when I join the zoom meeting, it's her, but also two other people from the international affairs office. They're telling me my return flight has already been scheduled and everything and that they were sending out a person to chaperone me on the flight, because, though it was totally ignored on my flights here, I'd mentioned at the very start of the application process that I'd been a human trafficking victim before and ideally wanted to fly with someone instead of alone. All of this had less than a 24 hour turnaround from me unenrolling.
I realized hours after unenrolling that I don't want to leave the program, I just want to actually be allowed to engage in the program as it was advertised and as it was promised, and that leaving the program, to me, feels like capitulating to the professor being an asshole to me and like removing liability from the university. In short I think I pretty much got tricked into unenrolling. I told them I didn't want to leave early and they told me they already scheduled everything and got a refund for my hotel room, so if I don't take the flight back Friday, I will be homeless on the streets for 2 weeks until the flight that I personally purchased for the 31st, and that since I hit the unenroll button, my housing, health, or safety will no longer be the universities problem after Friday.
So, the fuck do I do with this, ya'll got any life advice? Or know any cheap hostels or something? Or even just some moral support haha.
TLDR: Got tricked into hitting unenroll button after damaging professors ego, most likely purposely tricked to absolve the university of responsibility because how the profs were treating me and everything I described probably did make me a liability even if not my fault, but I'm mad and I'm enjoying Berlin and don't want to leave early or let the university get away with risking my health and safety multiple times with no apologies.
Sidenote: The professor also said a lot of things insinuating that, because she didn't like me, neither would any of my professors in my grad school program will, and as much as I think she said it in a vindictive way, I will admit it has me second guessing if I want to actually pursue that in September. After all this I just feel like running from academia in general.

I'm currently in Berlin, Germany, and about to be homeless for 2 weeks on the streets. I signed up for a study abroad program from my university, which I just graduated from last semester. I paid the application fee, got picked, paid for my own flight here and back, and then got a scholarship from an alumni couple in the department I got my degree in, and that scholarship paid for the rest of the trip.
I worked my ass off doing research and selling a bunch of my stuff to get the plane tickets because I'm pretty broke. I was excited for this trip because I was accepted into a German university for graduate school and figured I'd get a good introduction to living in Germany, and to be honest, Berlin itself has been great, all the locals I've met have been very nice to me, but my professors and everyone working from my university have been really unprofessional and tricky and now I'm in an unsafe position. **EDIT TO ADD, when I say they're trying to make me go home Friday I mean tomorrow, so I have like 1 day until I'm kicked out of the hotel.
Long explanation, skip to the bottom for a TLDR:
Before I even got on a single plane, I found out customer service for my phone carrier and I had a misunderstanding a month ago when I bought my international plan and found out about 3 days in advance that my phone would be a brick here. I told the professor immediately and she said worse case scenario she would help me get a working phone when I landed, since it's kind of needed for basic safety. Just half a day before the first flight, I got bitten by a few deer ticks and said I might also need help scheduling a doctors appointment when I land, because our travel insurance required a working phone number and it was too late for me to make an appointment before my flight. The professor said that was fine and I would be helped with that as well, so I got on the first plane in full confidence.
When I landed, a day passed without either thing being handled, and that was fine by me, but then multiple days passed and the professor kind of just waved it off. I'd started to feel a little unwell and asked the professor to help me find a doctor and she said it was just jetlag.
One of the first days of the program we went to a restaurant, and the seating was a very small reserved room with our entire 20+ cohort in it. I have CPTSD and am claustrophobic and knew immediately that I did not want to sit there, so I asked the professor if she could help me ask the staff request a seat for me in the outside dining area, or, if one wasn't available, that I could just sit outside on a nearby bench and skip dinner. She told me the room was reserved for us and this was on the itinerary so I HAD to sit there, and when I again said I didn't think I could, she demanded I sit there again and condescendingly asked me if I really couldn't or just didn't want to. I started to cry as quietly as possible and then that suddenly made her understand, so we went outside and I explained that, in my opinion, trying to force any adult to do something they're uncomfortable with and have said "No" to is bad enough to me normally, but since I have a disability, it's also ableist. I tried to frame that sentiment in a "I'm sure you didn't mean it this way" kind of way but she still took offence to the criticism and I think that led to the rest of this.
After that happened I was feeling more ill and the professor said, "Oh, do you think it's lyme? Because if it was lyme you'd have a rash. It's probably still jetlag". At this point I said again that I needed some help getting a working phone number and medical advice from a doctor and she told me to take responsibility for myself. I'd bought myself a SIM card but it needed some unexpected trouble shooting and everything was in German (I know some German but only around A2 level and absolutely none is required for this program), so I'd already tried to help myself, and again could not schedule myself an appointment without a working phone.
I asked the professor if she could put her phone number in just to let the appointment scheduling process complete and she said no. I asked if she had any other ideas and she again told me to figure it out. I wound up walking 20 minutes through Berlin alone with no working phone to a doctor's office unannounced, barely able to fill half the sign in sheet and navigate the language barrier, and successfully got the antibiotics I needed and a lyme diagnosis. The nurse even asked why I came alone. Thankfully for me everyone in the doctors office including the doctor was very very nice to me despite the curveball I through them.
Not long after all that the professor sent an email with me cc'd in to the office of international affairs at the university, and the email said, in effect, "This student said they have a disability and can't stick to the itinerary and therefore I think they're not a good fit for this program and should go home." I immediately responded that that wasn't accurate, that I just could not sit inside a restaurant or other very cramped space, etc. Then I figured while I was at it I'd tell them about the total lack of care for my safety or wellbeing here. After sending that email the professor confronted me and tried to pretty much intimidate me into admitting everything was all my fault or something, I honestly have no clue, I think she was just upset and trying to make me feel better somehow. I think my criticism really got to her and made her kind of just hate me and that she wanted to make me make her feelings make sense. No clue honestly.
Anyway, after that the office of international affairs reached back out to me and were acting way nicer than they were when I first enrolled in this program, which felt sus, but I was haggard and miserable and wanted to be able to trust them so I did. They told me if I was considering coming home early for my own health and safety, that I could unenroll that night to make sure the alum who gave me a scholarship would at least be refunded, but that I had to do it that night since it was the last day to drop for a refund. I said I wasn't sure if I wanted to leave the program, and they said if you're considering it unenroll and if you want to stay after further discussion then we can probably just go ahead and re enroll you.
So I did it. The next day I'm scheduled to meet with someone who told me the day or so before that she would be my advocate and that she was there to listen to and represent me, and when I join the zoom meeting, it's her, but also two other people from the international affairs office. They're telling me my return flight has already been scheduled and everything and that they were sending out a person to chaperone me on the flight, because, though it was totally ignored on my flights here, I'd mentioned at the very start of the application process that I'd been a human trafficking victim before and ideally wanted to fly with someone instead of alone. All of this had less than a 24 hour turnaround from me unenrolling.
I realized hours after unenrolling that I don't want to leave the program, I just want to actually be allowed to engage in the program as it was advertised and as it was promised, and that leaving the program, to me, feels like capitulating to the professor being an asshole to me and like removing liability from the university. In short I think I pretty much got tricked into unenrolling. I told them I didn't want to leave early and they told me they already scheduled everything and got a refund for my hotel room, so if I don't take the flight back Friday, I will be homeless on the streets for 2 weeks until the flight that I personally purchased for the 31st, and that since I hit the unenroll button, my housing, health, or safety will no longer be the universities problem after Friday.
So, the fuck do I do with this, ya'll got any advice? I could really use some. Or even just some support haha.
TLDR: Got tricked into hitting unenroll button after damaging professors ego, most likely purposely tricked to absolve the university of responsibility because how the profs were treating me and everything I described probably did make me a liability even if not my fault, but I'm mad and I'm enjoying Berlin and don't want to leave or let the university get away with risking my health and safety multiple times with no apologies. Currently will probably be homeless in Berlin for 2 weeks.