Mountains Of Flowers In Hokkaido Japan

Shibazakura in Hokkaido Japan

A Surreal Floral Experience In Hokkaido

Babies! I’ve spent the last year bouncing around the globe shooting videos for the site and I’m really excited to finally be able to start sharing them with you!

This first video is from an incredible and surreal adventure I had in Hokkaido, Japan this last May. While researching an upcoming Spring trip to Japan I came across a picture of these mountains covered in flowers and I just couldn’t believe they were real. I had to see it for myself, so I planned a trip to experience Shibazakura in Japan first hand.

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The Best Option For Traveling Around Japan

Temple in Nagano

Why You Should Use Award Tickets To Travel In Japan

The first time I visited Japan back in 2012 (which was also the first time I used miles to fly first class) common wisdom held that the JR pass was by far the best and most cost effective way to travel within Japan and so I shelled out the $600 or so dollars to Shinkansen my posterior all over the country. I went to Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Miyazaki, Arita and Nagano and while I definitely got my money’s worth out of the pass, I have since found a faster and cheaper way to get my Japan fix without spending all my cat cafe money on a JR pass.

AA first class
Where it all began…

I have since learned that award tickets present a much better value than the JR pass.

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In The Air: JAL First Class Chicago to Tokyo, Narita

Flight du jour:

JAL 009

Chicago (ORD) to Tokyo (NRT)

September 6, 2015

Departs: 12:35 PM

Arrives: (Next Day) 3:35 PM

Duration: 13 Hours 15 Minutes

Jal First Class Seat
Jal First Class Seat

I love JAL first class. After the mediocrity that is domestic first class on American Airlines, what a lovely feeling it is to get settled into my JAL first class suite.

When boarding it is common for first class passengers to board through one door while the rest of the plane boards through the other. This time everyone boarded through the same door and first class passengers broke left, everyone else broke right. We were lucky enough to get the window seats on the right hand side of the plane; seats 1K and 2K, and were escorted there by one of the very friendly flight attendants who would be making the next 13+ hours a really wonderful experience.

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Double Decker Planes and Powder Staches!

Have you ever gotten to fly “upstairs” on an airplane before?

Does “reverse coffin” sound like something you’d be into?

I have always wanted to ascend those magical stairs to the fancier cabin perched atop the squalor that is coach, but up until now I had never gotten the chance to do so. Thanks to some US Airways Dividend Miles that I had scored from the US Airways credit card signup bonus, plus a few more miles transferred over from my Starwood Preferred Guest account, I was making it a reality.

All Your Powder Is Belong To us!!!
“All your powder Is belong to us!!!”

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