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Got the chance to cross this one off my bucket list last year! Snorkeling inside the Silfra Fissure in Iceland, 2019.

For more photos like this check out my Instagram @backwardmaptravels

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But that's the glory of foreign travel, as far as I am concerned. I don't want to know what people are talking about. I can't think of anything that excites a greater sense of childlike wonder than to be in a country where you are ignorant of almost everything. Suddenly you are five years old again. You can't read anything, you have only the most rudimentary sense of how things work, you can't even reliably cross a street without endangering your life. Your whole existence becomes a series of interesting guesses.

Bill Bryson

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Planning an International Trip? Here’s my planning check list!

This is my own personal checklist I go through when I have a year to plan out a trip to another country. If you guys have anything else to add to list you are welcome to comment at the bottom!

12 months (Initial planning phase)

Choose country(s)/city(s) you want to visit

Determine how long you want to visit

8-6 months 

Buy plane tickets (I watch my flights on google flights. You can select the flight you want and have google track the price. when the price drops google send you an email to let you know! Never miss a good deal ever again!)

Come up with a general idea of what you want to do in each location

Book Hotels (some places give you an early-bird discount if you book them at least 6 months in advance)

Book car rentals (same with hotels some rental places give early bird discounts)

Check your passport validity (Some countries require that your passport is active for 6 months BEFORE you arrive and for 6 moths AFTER you leave)

2-1 months

Book any excursions or tours

Book any mobile WiFi rentals

Order foreign currency (avoid getting scammed at currency exchange booths and order money at your bank before you leave)

Solidify your itinerary

Book travel insurance

Check with your doctor for any medication needed for the trip (sometimes this needs to be done three months out as some vaccines require multiple dosages) 

Check Visa Requirements (While most countries have you fill out a form upon arrival some countries do require you to pay for a visa before you arrive)

1 week

Register your trip with STEP (US citizens only)

Double check your flights to ensure nothing has changed

Print off a copy of your passport and travel itinerary to give to a friend or family member that is not traveling with you

1 day

Finalize packing (this includes your phone, wallet, chargers, contacts, etc.)

Call your bank and let them know of your travel plans

Pre-check in for your flight

Charge all your electronics

Get Excited!!!

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Arashiyama in Kyoto, Japan 2019 (OC)

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Why I Choose The Backpacker Travel Style

It’s no secret (I mean just read the opening statement on my blog and it’ll tell you) I am pretty new to the travel game and even more so when it comes to the backpacker way of traveling. When I made this life changing decision to visit at least 10 countries in 10 years I knew that some sacrifices would have to be made. 

When I started out I had two part time jobs that barely paid for my car loan every month and no idea how to even do the most basic travel bookings. Believe me I started into this idea of traveling by myself with the intention to use a travel agency and have them make all the bookings and itineraries. However, I quickly came to realize that not only was the packages they were offering to me expensive they were not exactly what I was looking for. Now they said I could customize my trip, but what I wanted was to basically start from the ground up and build my own trip and trust me that option was stupid expensive. So there went that plan.....

Plan B! Okay...so since I’m too poor to pay someone I’ll just plan it all myself!

Oh, optimistic Kimberly you have no idea what you’re in for....

Saying that figuring out how to plan, book, and then take an international vacation when you have never even left your side of your country before would be easy is an understatement. Seriously! I’ll be honest and say that I would probably still be lost in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport right now if I hadn’t made friends with a local that showed me how to navigate an airport. I had no clue what I was doing and I made more than a couple mistakes on that first trip to be sure. (Some I have admitted and some I shall take to my grave **face palm**)

Backpacking, as difficult as it was to get my head around, was a choice I made out of necessity. Limited funds meant that I would have to exchange my 3+ star hotels for hostels, my large checked luggage for a carry on, and my fine-dining for street food. 

Now over two years later a few things have changed. I have graduated and was able to get a full time job that pays me well along with helping fund my schooling as I pursue to further my education. My car is paid off and I am able to save more extensively that I was able to in the past. If I really wanted to I could stay in nice hotels and travel through a tour company but I don’t. Why? Well the truth is that I fell in love with backpacking!

Whenever I traveled with friends and family in the past I felt as if we always went to the tourist hot spots, stayed in secluded hotels located in the tourist end of the city, and ate at places that seemed familiar. When I went to New Zealand alone and on a budget I stayed in a hostel and meet some super cool people that I would have never talked to if we had been in a traditional hotel. I have ate in the basements of run down buildings in Japan and got some of the best food from them. I have hiked hours to see the most beautiful secluded waterfall in Iceland. 

I have meet so many interesting people while backpacking because backpacking forces you out of your comfort zone. To me it makes me feel more like a traveler than just a tourist. 

When most people think of traveling like a backpacker they think that it means having “less” of a vacation when compared to traveling with a more generous budget - but it doesn’t; it simply means that you travel differently. Backpacking can be done with or without a guide book and it is just simply done with a no holds bar attitude. 

So long story short “Why do I choose the backpacking travel style?”, because it works for me and it makes my travels feel like so much more than a vacation. It makes them feel like an life experience.

As always happy travels (no matter your travel style)!

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5 People You’ll Meet In A Hostel

The more I stay in shared accommodations during my travels the more I am realizing that the same type of people keep showing up. Maybe not at every place I’ve been but enough that I am starting to identify groups of people who seem to always be present in some form or fashion. In honor of these people I have decided to share with you my 5 most commonly identified travelers I’ve met while staying in hostels....

1) The Bull : This is that person that either doesn’t know or doesn't care about how obnoxious they are after everyone else has gone to bed. This person tends to come back to the dorm well after midnight and turn on all the lights as to better see what they are doing. What is it they’re doing the requires all the lights on? For some it might be rustling every plastic bag they can find until you are on the verge of a mental break down while others choose to reorganize their luggage till 2am! 

2) The Over-packer: This traveler has a tendency to have luggage that weighs more than they do. They have a corner of the room that they have claimed for the largest suitcases you have ever seen. Every night when they came back they have yet more bags of souvenirs that they must now figure out how to fit in the already overfilled luggage. I’m confident some of them are Tetris champions...

3) The Veteran: The super chill person you meet in the hostel lounge. They have been all over the world and are generous enough to spread their wisdom onto you. They have been to every place on your bucket list and they add a few more places to it that you’ve never heard of before. 

4) The Party Animal: This is the person who has a bottle of liquor stored somewhere in their bunk or has a six-pack of beer labeled with their name in the kitchen. Every night they will ask everyone in the dorm if they want to go to the local bars and then return after they close down only to open the alcohol in the hostel.

5) The Nomad: The person who you find out has been traveling non-stop for months. Somehow you are both envious and in awe of this person; envious that they are able to travel so much and in awe that they travel so much without missing home. Every nomad I’ve met has told me how hard it can be to be away from home and at the same time how amazing it is. All I can say is you go girl/man!

If you’ve stayed in a hostel before have you noticed or met people like this? If so I’d love to read about in the comment section! Maybe you have identified a group I have yet to discover...

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Architectural Detailing in Osaka, Japan 2019 (OC)

(This blog’s not dead I’m just busy)

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6 Things to Consider When Renting A Pocket WiFi Device For Your Trip to Japan

Some people have asked me about my blog’s name and why I chose it. Well long story short as a child I traveled a lot with my mother who was horrible with directions...honestly you would tell her to turn right and she’d go left. Sometimes it just felt like she was following a map that was printed backwards. Now I like to think that I’m not as bad as she is but I do; like most, have my moments. So with my first trip to a country where the language barrier was going to be an issue I knew that getting lost and/or turned around was going to be a big issue.

Usually I like to travel without the internet or just mooch off of McDonald’s free WiFi but after reading a few blogs and tourism website turns out that free WiFi isn’t as easy to come by as it is in so many countries. This left me with four options: 1) go without internet and try to explore the numerous unnamed streets of Japan with sheer determination alone 2) sign up with an international Passport plan through my cell phone provider 3) purchase a SIM card upon arrival and jailbreak my phone 4) rent a pocket WiFi device that I could pick up once in Japan. Assuming you’re reading this post because of the title you already know what option I went for.

So what do you need to look for when it comes to renting a personal hot spot for your Japan adventure? Here is a quick guide of my top 6 things that you should consider:

PRICES: Pricier isn’t always better when it comes to portable hot-spots. As with most other things its best to compare companies and see what the average price for renting a device will be. Don’t get over charged and avoid getting the cheapest option for the sake of save a few extra dollars. 

PICK UP/DROP OFF OPTIONS: Depending on what company you go through you may have a few different options for picking up and returning your rental. For example I was looking into two different companies for my trip and they both had unique ways to gather and return their devices. Company A required that the device was to be returned and picked up at the airport. The problem with this was that not all airports had an area in which I could return the device; more specifically the airport I was departing from. Company B however only required that I placed my device in the provided prepaid envelope and place in any mailbox in the country. Almost all airports (even the smaller ones) have a mail box in them so this allowed me to return the device when I was leaving. Pick up for this company meant that i had to also pick up my package from the post office of my choosing or have it delivered to my hotel. I decided to pick up at the airport post office and found the process to be easy and fast; just present your passport and tracking email to the clerk and receive your package. 

DATA LIMITS: When choosing you data plan please look at the data limits and if possible get a plan the has no limits! I ended up using my phone almost the entire trip! Navigating streets and subways. Translating menus and signs. updating my family and friends back home. This device was a literal life saver on more than one occasion. Some plans have a limit set on them, others will tell you that your data will slow down after you reach a certain usage, but my recommendation would be to get a plan that allows unlimited usage without slowing down. I ending up using a whopping total of 12GB of data during my two weeks and was ever so grateful to have fast reliable data during my stay. 

INSURANCE: Some people tend to skip this part when renting or buying anything (I usually take my chances) but for some reason when it comes to this I always opt for the insurance. Most places charge you for insurance by the day which means that every day you use the device you are not only paying for renting the device but and extra $3 or so to ensure that your dumb ass doesn’t destroy it. It might seem like a waste of money but to me a waste of money would mean losing or braking this device and then paying a few hundred dollar to replace it...

INCLUDED EXTRAS: Not too important but it’s always a good idea to see what else will be coming with your device. Charging cables, power banks, prepaid return envelope, sometimes even translating devices can be included in you package plan. Make sure to check out to see what will be included with yours!

LAST MINUTE ORDERING: What if this trip is last minute? No need to worry some companies offer options to get your wifi device ready within 24-hours! Just let them know that your order is a rushed request and you will be ready for your trip!

I ended up using Japan Wireless on my trip and had a real pain free trip because of it. Talking to the company was always fast and professional and set up of the device itself was quick. I used the promo code: JWWMAUG19 to get $10 off my rental courtesy of this website. 

As always Happy Travels!!

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Dad captured this moment of Mom and I capturing the moment at Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon, Iceland 2019 ;)

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The 3 Worst Places I Visited in Japan

I previously wrote a post entitled ‘The 3 Best Places I Visited in Japan’ and said that a contrasting post would be published as well and this it it. Now every moment of a trip cannot possibly exceed our expectations no matter how hard we try; and while in Japan I definitely had some moments where I found myself wondering why I was there... 

So without any further adieu here is my list of the three worst places I visited while in Japan:

1) Bamboo Forest: Kyoto

Why is this on my list you ask? Was it the fact that I had to wake up at 4 am to get here before this area was crowded with tourists or the fact the I had to ride a sketchy bus for an hour to reach this “forest”? No, I think my disappointment hit when I realized that this bamboo forest street was in fact a minute long walk through a patch of bamboo. Yeah...what I thought would be a nice walk on the outskirts of Kyoto was in fact a major tourist trap that I stumbled into. If it wasn’t for me waking up so early and getting in a few photos it would not have been worth my time at all. I was told that any later and I wouldn’t have been able to move freely along the walkway due to the influx of people that arrive to walk the path. 

2) Akihabara: Tokyo

(I tried to find a photo but I must have been so unimpressed by this area that I didn’t snap a single one....)

Two words: Sensory Overload! The lights, the sounds, the people, the smell it was too much for me. I found myself cherishing every moment I was in the silence of an elevator or staircase until my senses were bombard again with the flashing lights and explosion of music of Akiba once I reached my floor. Don’t get me wrong it was interesting to see this side of Japan and I did spend a few hours wondering some stores and trying my luck in the arcades, but I think if I was to go back to visit Tokyo I would not put this place on my itinerary again.

3) Kuromon Market: Osaka

It was towards the end of my trip when I decided to visit this little market in Osaka. I had already been to a few other similar markets during my trip and I think that that is the reason why I found this particular one to be a tad lack luster. Just a few days before I had been eating my was through the Nishiki Market in Kyoto and a week prior the Tsukiji Market in Tokyo and I had enjoyed both; but when I arrived here something seemed off. The people seemed less friendly, the options seemed less diverse, and the location felt dirty stuffed in a random alley in downtown Osaka. Perhaps I was a bit spoiled from the other markets I had went to in Japan but this market felt like a cheaper boot leg version of the others that I had thoroughly enjoyed. 

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Nomad - Jeremy Renner

Songs to Inspire Wanderlust

Whole Wide World - Cage the Elephant

Take the World by Storm - Lukas Graham

Sleep on the Floor - Lumineers

Hobo Rocket - Barnes Courtney

Hopeless Wanderer - Mumford and Sons

No Roots - Alice Merton

Automobile - Kaleo

Something Wild - Lindsey Sterling Ft. Andrew McMaho

Below My Feet - Mumford and Sons

Links are provided for each song just click and enjoy!

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Do you love to travel?

Do you love square photos?

Do you love to double tap?

Well I have great news for you because I have just started a Backward Map Travels Instagram page! All photos are my own OC and I would love to share my shots with all of you! Feel free to check out my content through the link below and if you like what you see don’t forget to click that follow button!

@backwardmaptravels

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Osaka-jo Castle, Japan 2019 (OC)

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Traveling Japan Without A Rail Pass

If you are planning a trip to Japan and are wanting to stop at more than one city you have probably heard of the Japan Rail Pass (JR Pass). JR passes are great for those who wish to transit between many cities in a short amount of time just exchange you receipt for the ticket when you arrive and BOOM unlimited access onto all JR lines. The only problem with this is some itineraries (like mine was) aren’t worth the price of the pass and instead purchasing individual tickets throughout the trip would be more price conscientious. (To see if the JR Pass will save you money enter your trip plans into the website here.)

If this is the case for you then you might be wondering, “What are my options to get around Japan?” Well, my first piece of advice would be to get an IC card when you arrive. Each region has its own version of this card (Tokyo: SUICA/PASSMO, Osaka: ICOCA), but they all work the same way. IC cards are just prepaid cards that you tap to the gate when you enter and exit the subway platforms. These are a must when traveling within large cities! No fare calculating, no restrictions on subways lines, and no keeping track of individual tickets when transferring! These cards can be purchased in most large stations and can be refilled at all of them. Purchasing/refilling cards is a simple process with the machines all having an English option; just choose how much you want to put on the card and insert the money. When in Tokyo I purchased a Suica card and was able to not only use it within Tokyo but also in Kyoto, Nara, and Osaka. These cards are not limited to just subways and trains either. I was also able to use it to purchase goods from convenience stores, vending machines, and ride the city/airport buses.

At some point you may be finding yourself needing to riding a bullet train to transfer between long distances and this for me was the biggest worry. Every blog and website I read only told me how to purchase and use a JR Pass when riding bullet trains. It wasn’t until I found this video did some of my questions get answered. I bought my tickets the day before my departure at Tokyo Station. There were two different types of vending machines in Tokyo Station to purchase tickets for the bullet train (Shinkansen), both were the same except one was cash only while the other accepted credit cards. (That’s right finally something in Japan that will accept credit cards!!!!) 

To figure out what train to take I recommend two options. The first would be to look up directions using google maps. I used this to do my smaller, same-day transits. Google maps (or your phone’s pre-downloaded map app) work great and are extremely reliable! The other option is using Hyperdia this website is good for looking up train times for bullet trains. Just type where you want to go and what day/time and the app gives you the best options. Both of these options will give you a fare cost and details on any transfers that will need to be made. 

All in all Japan’s train system is fast, reliable, and over all user friendly! If you are planning on traveling to anywhere in Japan know that train travel is a cheap and easy way to transfer between locations. Have any other questions on how trains work in Japan? Feel free to submit a question here!

Happy Travels!

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I travel because seeing photos in books and brochures wasn't good enough for me. To be there that was everything.

Wiremu Ratcliffe

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It’s a little late but here it is, part 3 of my solo in Japan series has been posted on my YouTube channel! Once again all footage was recorded by me and includes some shots from all my destinations in Japan (Tokyo, Nara, Kyoto, and Osaka). I hope you all enjoy!!

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TBT: When you don’t even remember taking a photo and it turns into your favorite. Niagara Falls 2016 (OC)