6,000 km Across Japan – Our Final Day | Japan Road Trip 35 🎌

6,000 km Across Japan – Our Final Day | Japan Road Trip 35 🎌

So, our very last day in Bubbles Michelle and uh yeah, we’re just entering into the outskirts of Osaka from the mountains. So, I thought I’d put the camera on for one last look around. I said to Michelle, I always feel a little bit pensive or sad when we’re getting to the end of a journey. It’s actually more to do with the start of a new journey, I think, than the end of the old. The car bubbles goes back tomorrow and a new adventure will start. Actually, it’s a little bit like going back to school after the summer holidays, you know. I feel like this sort of melancholy of the end of this um this journey and trepidation of the start of a new journey. But day one of the new journey that will all have gone. So 29° so the weather’s starting to cool. I did think to myself, wouldn’t this have been a good time to start the journey? Yeah, it would have been probably the perfect time to start. But then again, it is also the perfect perfect time to start our next journey. Absolutely. So, you know, you can’t have everything. And we weren’t to know that this was going to be the hottest summer on record. Um, and we haven’t let it spoil it for us, to be honest. We’ve still had a wonderful time. You enjoyed Japan, Michelle? I have. Yeah, it’s been good. It’s um got to see a lot of the rural outside of the big city centers, which is what I wanted to see. It’s good. If you wanted to play a game, count the mama cherries. And see, there’s a mammacher. Well, sort of almost a mammachary. I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve said, “Put your seat up. the Japanese culture or the Japanese, they’re one of the most bicycled nations I’ve ever come across. I mean, so many bicycles in Japan. Um, and yet almost nobody extends their seat so they get full. They’ve got the most the most um energy inefficient cycling method. Their cycling style, isn’t it? Yeah. You’ll often see an old guy or an old lady going by in a momentary and their knees are virtually hitting their chins as they as they cycle. I mean, you’ve commented on the fact that they’re really the seat is in the position. It’s lowest position as though that’s the position it was bought at. Yeah, it looks like it was bought at the shop like that and they just nobody adjusted it. It’s a train. But we’re not here to judge because clearly it doesn’t stop people cycling and this is a cycling nation and people here look fit and healthy. Uh they eat great food and they love their bikes. Green. Thank you, sweetheart. my little green announcement there for Michelle as I’m sort of staring around at all the amazing things I see on the roads in Japan. It’s a it’s a very different culture to what we’re used to. So you your eyes are always drawn to the little restaurants and the shops and the norin and the flags hanging up and it’s an exciting place. So let’s reflect a little bit on the the journey. with the audience and see if anyone can uh recall the their favorite moments. And bear in mind the first day of driving was the tsunami warning. So there was a massive earthquake in um eastern Russia which set off the tsunami warnings which which came to not that much in the end but did have us worried for day one. And I was looking today. It’s about uh our journey’s been close to 6,000 km and we haven’t been on a paid road apart from the crossing to Fukuoka which was the only way you could get across to Fukuoka. Um, we haven’t been on the paid road and and deliberately so because we wanted to see if it was doable and of course we would have changed our minds if it if it turned out to be inconvenient but actually it just turned out to be a joy. Um, was much better, wasn’t it? For us was much better. Yeah. So, here you can see the tollgate etc. Now, when you rent a car in Japan, they will offer you or ask if you want to pay for an etc card. And uh while our company was really good in many respects, they wanted a lot of money for an etc card. It was a daily charge I think of I don’t know. And that wasn’t the actual fee to go on to. Oh, no. Just for the card. That was just to rent the card. Empty card. So we would have paid I don’t know it was say it was $5 a day but then you know every 10 days was $50 and every and we were 60 days so it would have been a few hundred just to have a small plastic card and on top of that you will pay for the toll roads as well which are going up and down Japan even with an etc card very expensive I mean super expensive many hundreds of dollars uh just to drive across the country. Uh we chose through the knowledge that we have driving around the world in different countries and not using the toll roads. Um of which it almost always and actually no not even almost always it absolutely always turns out to be the better thing to do. Sure. Um, we said no, we’ll we’ll wing it. And what we’ll do is is if we end up using toll road, we’ll just pay the cash price cuz you can you don’t need the card. You can just pay cash. Here we are in beautiful Isaka. Got to be one of the the better cities. I think Fukuoka is still my favorite, but only central Fukuoka. Yeah. Particularly if you’re coming to Japan just for a short time and you have got transport or you want to stay in one city, Aaka is a quite a good one to come to. Yeah, I probably recommend Osaka over Fukuoka for that matter. Keep and I have to say we have still not been to Tokyo. and we had the chance on this journey to go through Tokyo, but cities don’t do it for Michelle and I as a rule. Um, I’ve got no desire to go to Tokyo. Um, and that’s then it’s hard if you’ve got no interest or desire to go to Tokyo. It’s very hard to sort of turn that steering wheel and drive towards it. I’ve seen so many pretty small towns and places that I know fill me with joy. And I think Tokyo would also do that, but it just doesn’t. It It means no more to me than any other large city in Japan. It’s It’s But it’s the tourist place and it’s where everybody wants to go. So maybe I think we’re just a little peculiar. [Music] Another thing I’ve noticed, Michelle, what’s that? Is that when we’re filming and I’m talking, it’s more tiring than when we just drive. Because I think you you’re thinking of things to say to fill the gaps. Whereas sometimes, I mean, we talk, but you don’t always have to be thinking, “Oh, it’s quiet. I must say something.” and we can just shoot the breeze when there’s not we’re not filming. Yeah. And Japan, sorry, not Japan. Um, travel and YouTube in general has that effect on me. The the filming side of it is so much more exhausting than the traveling side. So, we do quite a lot when we’re not I mean, you see sometimes people say, “Oh, you’re always eating noodles.” And um we film when we’re eating food that maybe we want to share with you. We don’t always do that every day. Um, so you sort you’ll see a sort of condensed version and actually that we we couldn’t do it every day. I see some people that daily vlog and I wonder mentally how they cope with that because we’ve got some friends, I won’t say who they are, that have been doing this for for many years. And I just see a a degradation in their their health and lifestyle that is just not healthy. Combinis, Michelle, what do you think of cominis? You’re never far from a comini. There’s one to the left here. 7-Eleven. I just saw a family mart, I think. Or Lawson’s above in front of us. Oh, yeah. Lawson’s to the right, just ahead of us. You are never far from a convenience store. um you fancy a drink or you need a bathroom break, you know, you’re not going to wait long. And a lot of people I can’t think of another country in the world where I I’m quite picity about bathrooms. Always have been. You know, if you’re that sort, if you’re like me and you’re not a big fan of public toilets, Japan will change your mind because the bathrooms in these places are amazing, spotless, like hotel bathrooms. I think I once said we were at uh the ferry terminal and about 300 people or more went through the terminal using the bathroom. There was only probably two bathrooms in the whole of the building. By the time they’d all gone through, it was still as clean as it was still as clean as you would expect your hotel bathroom to be if you just rocked up. So, I can report the car’s been an absolute gem. We’ve we’ve highly recommend uh this little Suzuki. Solio that we’ve affectionately named Bubbles. We’ve driven from Fukuoka all the way up to um Osaka on about a tank of fuel. Y I mean I got an extra 2,000 just to to make sure last night, but um he had some fuel. I had enough to get here to be honest. It might have been close, but so we could have driven all the way from Fukuoka to Osaka, literally over half the length of the country on on one tank of fuel, which is quite amazing. Country lanes that going up and down hills. Yeah. Up and down mountains and hills. Yeah. It’s not like we’re on a freeway whizzing along. And over 3 days, uh, a little over, so closer to 4 days of driving on one tank of fuel. Quite amazing. What are the costs? Most of the hotels we’ve stayed in have been somewhere around about 6 to7,000 yen a night. Most of the love hotels that we’ve stayed in, some a little bit. You just got to be aware Saturday night, sometimes Friday night, but Saturday night is always double double double. Yeah. At least in the regular hotels and in the love hotels. So, um yeah. So, we’ve tended to not stay in hotels over the weekends. So, Friday night and Saturday night, Sunday night it drops back down. Um, so yeah, I mean, call it 50, 60, 60 Australian dollars a night for when we’ve needed to stop in a hotel. Occasionally higher. Yeah. And occasionally lower. We made a little video of the Ryoken that we stayed in, which was uh we did three nights. So, that was quite a lot more expensive, probably um several times that price. I say that was worth doing, but I wouldn’t do it again. Um, I I feel like one night, two nights is enough um for one of those experiences because um if I were to be honest, if I compared the Love Hotel we stayed in the night before, the quality of almost everything from the accommodation to the food to the location was and the bed was multiple times better. Absolutely. Um, and it was probably I’m going to say 1/8 of the cost for the Love Hotel compared to the Ryoken. But I I I enjoyed doing the Rioen. I would highly recommend, but I would say one or two nights, get that out of your system. Um, it’s something you have to do, but I certainly I couldn’t have done four nights. I would have gone stir crazy each and I don’t have the the want or the need to do it anymore. No. 2 km. You can tell we’re getting near to our love hotel. It’s getting all a bit industrious. And yes, we’re not too worried about the location. We don’t need to be central. But this one’s a little bit special. Yeah, it is. I’ve forgotten about that. As you will see, maybe. I’m not sure. I mean, if the pictures never quite sure, never sure. You’re never sure what you might expect. Can you guess? Go on. Right now, before we get there, write down in the comments why you think this one’s a bit special. Now, look at this car going ahead of us here. Oh, wow. Sakura Circus. Sakura Circus. Indeed, they are a bit of a circus. Those cars they they go around the towns just shouting. I think uh I think we can stay here. I think we can. Yeah, I think people are using this as a little slipway. Now we blur out all the number plates cuz they’re probably all going to the same sort of hotel as us. This is obviously the birds of a feather flock together. These hotels are often in the same location. Oh, they could. Oh, lordy. Criy. This is a an interesting little neighborhood. Got your McDonald’s and all your little shops. So, no. No. People are not going to the same hotel. This is actually a big neighborhood. Did you see? Did anyone spot the hotel? Now, we’ve got a a few days in this hotel uh while we organize getting the car back to its rightful owners and then we have a flight to an exciting place. I don’t think I’ve said in this video, so I probably won’t say just now. You have to go back and see whether we’ve mentioned it before in other videos. It’s going to be an absolute blast. And it’s it’s that going back to school feeling. I’m I’m sad, melancholic because of the end of this journey. I’m feeling really quite it’s it’s hard for me and then at the same time quite excited with um I find this left turning. It’s not a clear one, is it? Oh, there is a little set of lights here. So, I’m quite excited about the new adventure that’s coming up. So, in here, did you notice that the hotel was correctly spelled on the hotel? So, it’s actually in a god. It’s incorrectly spelled. Ah, right. I noticed the car with the speakers is behind us. The one that I just pointed out. Ah, Blancc Chapel. White Chapel. Okay. This is a fine hotel. So, I’m just going to pull in here. Let this car go by. Look who’s walking us. Cuz he Oh, he’s going in there. Yeah. Don’t you take our space. Secure circus. Can you believe? Is that even credible? Okay. Did you see Santa Claus? We’re in the Merry Christmas Hotel. A white Christmas. All right, everybody. We might make a video from this hotel, but forgive us if we don’t. All right, take care. Yeah. See you. Bye. All we need is a place to be and a few good friends for some company. If you’d like to stay, you don’t have to leave. We’ll leave the lights on and the door unlocked. If you drop on by, you don’t have to knock. We’re happy to share whatever we’ve got. [Music]

And it’s here …..Our very last video from our Road trip around Japan with Bubbles the Suzuki Solio as we roll out of the mountains and into Osaka. It’s that strange mix of melancholy and excitement — the end of one journey and the start of a brand-new adventure.

Join Michele and I for one final drive in Japan as we chat about:
* cycling culture and “mama-chari spotting,”
* travelling 6,000 km without touching a toll road,
* love hotels vs ryokan life,
* roadside quirks, convenience stores, and spotless bathrooms,
* and the bittersweet feeling of handing back our trusty little car.

We also discover a very unusual love hotel (yes… Christmas is involved), wrap up our Japan road trip, and look ahead to what’s coming next.
Thanks for sharing this journey with us — you make it all worthwhile. 🎌❤️

00:00 Final day with Bubbles
01:12 End-of-journey wobbles
03:00 Mama-chari spotting game
05:20 6,000 km… no tolls!
07:45 Why Tokyo didn’t tempt us
09:35 Combini praise hour
11:10 Bubbles the fuel legend
12:40 Ryokan vs Love Hotel showdown
14:55 Hunting for our “special” hotel
16:50 The Merry Christmas surprise
17:18 Signing off from Japan

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