วีดีโอ

No way! Absolutely. They’re also lovely people 👍

Thank you! I couldn’t tell you off the top of my head. The most expensive part was the flight and all the stuff for the bike, and food can be very cheap if you’re frugal. If you gather your bike and equipment and fly with it, that’ll definitely save you money. But at a minimum a few thousand. I’m very frugal, so my estimate is far lower than many others may state. But you can make it a reality with sacrifices. I wish you the best and good luck!

I can’t believe I didn’t research Lawson. I didn’t know that was also founded in the US

@@fartherout Yes it was, they became Dairy Marts, which I do remember existing in my lifetime, but they don't exist anymore. Today in my area, Sheetz is the dominant Convenience store chain, and while the selection of food is very American, rather than Japanese, It pretty much has similar quantity and quality of items. My Japanese friend who lived in Canada and the US always requests some Ketchup chips and American Gum as souvenir snacks from the US, which I buy at Sheetz. When he visits me, I request for Matcha Chocolate and Rice cracker snacks. He gets them for me at Don Quijote or Lawson

That’s a pretty good setup the two of you have! Love the info thanks for sharing

The food is good but isn’t cheap for the locals. Nowadays there are “convenient grocery stores” in the city which are just mini grocery stores.

@ I mean, you can get a whole meal for like 600¥. Is that expensive for locals? (Genuine question)

Thanks and happy thanksgiving to you too. Hopefully I have a more interesting topic next time. Let me know if you ever have any ideas

A good thought. I’d imagine metropolitan places have far more without gas whereas rural places are at gas stations

Thanks! I started in august :)

@@fartherout Thank you for your reply! I’m also planning to start in august when I go next year! :)

Good luck to you :)

Hello there! The only segment I biked in Shikoku was along the northern coast towards the Shininami Kaido. My only input would be that the Shikoku Circuit appears to be hilly all the way through on a main road , but drivers usually give ample space. It’s also a bit remote considering Shikoku isn’t super populated but that shouldn’t be a problem. I’d recommend planning out where you’ll stay/sleep/camp though considering how hilly it is since it’ll be tough to find a place to camp. Have fun!

@@fartherout THANKS! My wife and I are planning on pedaling the Shikoku Circuit ride in November 2028, and we are slowly, painfully learning to read, write, and speak Japanese. We have a two person sleeping bag and tarp tent but plan on staying at hotels, reokans, and other places. The sleeping bag and tarp tent are for the routine emergencies Japan seems to have (earthquake, tsunami, typhoon, volcanic eruption, etc). When we were looking at the basic emergency preparation stuff suggested by the Japanese government, it was basically helmets, crank emergency radio 📻, food, water, medical kit, and a sleeping bag. Our bike packing had everything but a sleeping bag so we added a compact double person sleeping bag and I already had a tarp tent from bike packing in the Arco Desert a lot. Thanks for your help!

Wow you two are very thorough and plan in advance. 2028!!! I hope the language learning is going smoothly. That would really be amazing if you can connect with locals. I wish you the best and it’s going to be worth it!

@@fartherout the Shikoku Circuit ride is our reward for frugality and paying off our home to become debt free. We needed a target to aim for and the Shikoku Circuit ride is our target so we become debt free.

I see well best of luck and persevere!

The cycling in Hokkaido definitely felt more common and natural than the rest of Japan

I bought a bike in the Netherlands and flew it over with me. I had a hard time with the second hand bike market and speaking English only made it even harder without having the ability to google things in Japanese there. Is it possible? Yes, But it’s gonna take some time to find the right bike in the right size especially if you’re tall. I’d recommend making a Japanese friend and having them search for you before you get there. Otherwise, bring one from home by disassembling and putting in a bike box. Remember that you bike must be in a rinko bag if you want to take it on a train, so something to consider if you fly into an airport not close to downtown

@@fartherout Hey thanks for the info. Pretty much as I thought, it would be difficult buying a bike second hand, especially with only speaking English. I don’t have any friends over there to help either. I could take my trusty old steed with me, but I’m planning on spending only about a third of my trip on the bike. So I’ll probably end up renting a bike when I need to. I’ll take my own helmet, spd pedals and shoes though. The plan so far is 6 weeks from the start of Feb 25. Not sure if this will be the best time of year to go cycling though?

@@fartherout Thanks for the heads up on the Rinko Bag, as I wasn’t fully aware of the need. You have save me from getting into an embarrassing situation. I am sure there will be lot’s of other embarrassing situations to come, but I will just have to deal with them as they arrive. Now, I just need to learn to speak Japanese, or find myself a Japanese speaking friend before February!

Glad I could help! I’m sure you’ll get through everything. All part of the adventure!

I’m happy to hear that :) I hope you enjoy your trip and make some great memories.

Much love! ​@@fartherout

Thank you! It was not easy. I got used to it for the most part, but some days it was especially bad. Ah cold weather can be nice, but icy might be too much for me 🥶

Happy you got some info out of it. Sure! I used the GoPro Hero10 Black. I recorded in 2k and personalized the settings

It really was!

Interesting question and it’s absolutely a thought that crossed my mind while there. Although it may not be the way I want to live my life, my hosts are perfectly content. At times I feel lucky with my circumstances when I volunteer, but I’m sure if the roles were swapped, my hosts would also feel lucky at times with theirs. What we value across cultures is different. Now of course everyone desires to have a bit more wealth and comfort-that much is undeniable. But everyone means everyone, including me and everyone in the society I was raised in. It’s never enough. I think it all boils down to a matter of perspective and choosing to be happy. What are your thoughts? I have no idea where I’ll be, but I know that I’ll be living in the western world. That’s a tough question at this point in my life.

I went and checked out Kuala Lumpur and Penang for a bit to catch up with a friend! Well I have some ideas. One about palm oil and another about some history. For now I’ll have to figure it out

I used the website called workaway. There’s another called world packers but I like workaway a bit more. And yes it was so tough!

Had a friend walk through a spider web and a spider the size of my hand was crawling on her back. I would have screamed

Glad you enjoyed it!

Ah! Hope you enjoyed. Indeed the only chance of a shirt would be shearing and knitting one yourself

Glad you liked it! Yep! No issues. I did try to camp in less intrusive spots of course, and left early in the mornings.

I’m glad it did! I hope you enjoy your trip!

Thanks so much and I’m glad you enjoyed:) I agree, part of the fun is not having a full and thorough plan. I hope you can cross it off the bucket list!

I brought a bike with me from the Netherlands as i liked the posture on it. As for the gear, I got it all while in Japan

It certainly wasn’t a technical issue as it had to do with the nature of the love hotel , but I still couldn’t conclude why 🤷‍♂️

Thank you so much! Those are kind words and I’m glad you liked it!

That’s exactly what it was! I didn’t know that. Thanks for sharing. Yep definitely an oversight to not bring a spare tube.

I’m so glad you like it!

Hey there! Thanks for the advice. Cool to see you’ve been those places as well! I guess I’d say the people in Northwestern Europe were more social and approached strangers more often than Japan. That being said people in Japan still struck up conversations here and there and were overwhelmingly friendly. I think part of that can be attributed to culture, and a part attributed to the fact that people in Northwestern Europe commonly are fluent in English, which is not the case in Japan