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Vacation Showdown:

1 Week in Hawai’i

vs

3 Weeks in Japan

I had so much fun with last week’s vacation showdown, I thought I would do it again, but this time pitting a trip to Hawai’i vs a trip to Japan.

I know—they’re totally different locations with completely different experiences and I know many of you are probably thinking “3 weeks is way more than 1 week, Josh!” Listen…let’s just see. I don’t know if the costs of the two trips will be even close after we add everything up, but I can’t wait for us to find out together.

I remember before my first trip, I saw a ton of videos, blogs, and guidebooks that rank the “MOST EXPENSIVE PLACES TO TRAVEL IN THE WORLD” and most of them place Japan at, or near the very top of that list.

We recently got back from two different trips to Japan, and I have to respectfully disagree. Budget travel there is not only possible, but downright luxurious right now. (Convenient store food isn’t for everyone, but when in Japan—it’s incredible.)

I looked up all of the exact costs for every flight, hotel, car rental, train, piece of sushi - everything that I could find. I brought my receipts.

The first, a 9 night trip to (our beloved home) Honolulu for two overlapping weekends, as is the PTO-starved AVW (American Vacation Way.)

The second, a 22 night trip to Japan for two.

Hawai’i first.

Trip #1 - 9 Nights on Oahu

Let’s assume that we’re flying from Los Angeles in September for both of these trips, and that the intention is to do this trip in a reasonably budget-oriented way. No hostels, but also no 5 star hotels and crazy expensive meals.

Let’s start with the flights.

Getting to and from O’ahu is actually very reasonable in September - $534 for two people, roundtrip.

Hawaiian Airlines is great, and even includes a perk that seems incredibly elusive these days - a free checked bag. (INSERT AUDIBLE GASP HERE)

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s find a place to stay. We’re looking in the Waikiki to Kakaako area, and here’s where things get pricey -

With a single dorm bed going for ~$50, you know you’re in trouble. 

There’s not a single actual hotel with a private room and non-shared bathroom for under $110 here.

Our usual $100 per budget does not seem to not apply here.

Ruh-roh.

After a bit more searching through Airbnb (the tacked on cleaning and various other fees put every vacation rental at, or above $200 per night), VRBO (same problem), Booking.com, and a bunch of other sites, I found one good option that’s mostly reasonable. 

We can save $10 per night by booking direct on the website (found this info via Google Hotels search engine), so let’s see what it adds up to.

Cue Uncle Roger - “HAIYAAAAAAAAAAAA”

Oof.

$1730.63. 

That’s $192 per night after fees. Best I could find in the area.

Let’s move on to… moving around.

You could consider getting a week-long bus pass or a rechargable HOLO card for sightseeing around the island—The Bus is very reliable and super comfortable, (especially with the sweet, sweet AC!) but takes quite a bit of time and doesn’t always go to the popular spots on O’ahu.

Just to show you what I mean - let’s say that you wanted to hike the Makapu’u Lighthouse Trail - a spectacularly beautiful and incredibly accessible hike

Here’s what it looks like driving vs taking the bus. 

Somewhere between 3-4x as long to get there. This is fine if you have all the time in the world, but most people probably don’t want to spend 2-3 hours of time getting back and forth. Also - the buses drop you off a bit away from where you want to go, so you end up hiking to get to your hike.

But what about the super-cool new Light Rail Metro system? Maybe we could take the Skyline to get around!

It’s awesome, and a huge step in the right direction, but right now it just doesn’t go anywhere that incoming tourists would realistically use it. As of today, there are 9 stations open - from Aloha Stadium westbound to Kapolei. It doesn’t service the Airport, or downtown, and won’t for quite some time - 2031 by current estimates.

Neither of these public transport systems were necessarily designed with the tourist in mind - they’re for locals to get to work and back - so it makes sense that it wouldn’t directly cater to what some people visiting are looking for.

The future looks bright, despite it being quite far away.

All of this is to say that the best option to get around any of the Hawaiian Islands is to rent a car. Let’s see what that will run us -

There’s the local Hui Car Share, where you can find lots of easy and affordable options for a car, if you just wanted to pick one up for a day or two, half a day, even a couple of hours. They’re scattered all throughout Honolulu, which is a bonus.

But for the sake of treating this like an all encompassing trip, let’s go down the route of renting a car everyday while we’re here, picking it up from the airport. The cheapest I could find for our 9 days is $350. There were a few cheaper options via Turo, but we need a ride back and forth from the airport, and the costs evened out if we factored that extra cost in.

I’m guess we’ll go through 2 tanks of gas during our stay here, so let’s assume that’s around $100.

Next up - food and drink.

Let’s assume we make our own breakfast with grocery store stuff - it’s an island, so groceries can be quite pricey here, so we’re probably looking at like $10 per day. (That is, unless of course, you sustain only on spam musibis, which we would definitely not judge you for.)

If we each get a cheap sandwich or poke bowl while driving around during the day, that would add up to $25 per day.

It’s the spicy ahi Foodland poke for us.

And let’s say we go out to dinner every night at a mid-range restaurant, like the incredible Side Street Inn, and get a drink with it. That’s about $50 per day.

Now, there’s more than enough free awesome stuff to do in Honolulu for a lifetime - beaches, snorkeling, hikes, all the incredible parks. But, we have to often remind ourselves (here and other incredible places) that just because they’re free and awesome, doesn’t mean that it’s ours for the taking. We gotta give a little (and learn a little) too.

There’s so much more to Hawai’i than what meets the eye—the culture, the food, the people, the remarkable history. So while visiting Hawai’i (and anywhere, really)—let’s make sure we care for the aina/land by cleaning up after ourselves, let’s give that incredibly monstrous and awesome honu/sea turtle its space, let’s respect the people who call this place their home, let’s learn about the real Hawai’i by visiting the Bishop Museum, and oh, let’s take off our shoes before entering anyone’s home. :)

Thanks for reading my little PSA… just has been on my mind.

So let’s say that we do some of the highlights while we’re here - hiking up the ever iconic Diamond Head at $5 per person if you walk in to the park, an additional $10 if you drive and park, learning about the how Hawai’i really went from being a country with its own monarchy to the US’s 50th state at Iolani Palace ($50 for two), learning about the events that occurred at Pearl Harbor Memorial and taking a boat to the U.S.S Arizona Memorial at $1 per ticket, watching an epic sunset via catamaran cruise for an incredible deal of $60 for two, and snorkeling at Hanauma Bay for $50.

I can’t predict what will all be in this category, but let’s say like $300 for seeing and partaking in all the big sights while we’re here.

Time to add it all up: 

Flights: $534

Hotel: $1730.63

Car: $350

Gas: $100

Food and Drinks: $765

Other: $300

Overall Total: $3779.63

Let’s move on to 3 Weeks in Japan - 

Trip #2 - 22 Nights in Japan

A search through old-faithful Google Flights turns up $1702 roundtrip for two people from LAX to Tokyo—not great, not bad. 

Zipair is actually more expensive than just regular-ole American Airlines, showing just how far flight prices have risen over the past few months.

We actually arrive on September 9th, so our 23 day trip just became a 22 day trip. Don’t worry, we get that day back on the flight home.

Let’s quick throw together an itinerary, and price it all out.

We’re thinking one week in Tokyo, one week between Kyoto and Osaka, and one week in Okinawa, just to get some beach time in, because…why not?

Let’s add up how much it costs to get from place to place -

Taking a Shinkansen is without a doubt the best and most luxurious way to get around Japan, but it’s definitely not budget-friendly. Just over $200 for the two of us to get from Tokyo to Kyoto.

We could just fly there for $75 instead. Let’s do that.

Now to Okinawa - $129 for the two of us.

Then back to Tokyo at the end of the trip to catch our flight home - $122.

We also have to factor in getting around the cities we go to - trains, buses, etc. We’ll be using public transportation for all of it - no need to rent a car here.

Throughout our last month traveling all around Japan using trains multiple times each day, including getting to-and-from the airport a hilarious amount of times, we spent an average of $14 per day for both of us.

$308 total.

Fast, cheap, and always an interesting experience.

Now, hotels. 

First up - Tokyo. I think Asakusa is the best area to stay in - it’s right on the red line, has delicious affordable food, and you’re right next to Senso-Ji. Perfection.

Finding something under $75 per day should be easy here, let’s see what we can get for under $50.

What a find! We can stay in a highly rated Ryokan for $49 per night. No extra taxes or fees here, because Japan, so it adds up to $343 for our stay here.

On to Kyoto and Osaka.

Let’s do 4 nights in Osaka, and 3 nights in Kyoto.

Tons of great options - let’s go with this one for $42 per night, adding up to $168 total.

In Kyoto, again, tons of great options, let’s stay here for a mind-boggling $33 per night if we book with Agoda. $99 for 3 nights.

Nice.

Now, off to Okinawa.

Tons of great options for $50 and under, let’s find a good one.

A hotel right on the beach? Yes please!

$41 per night. $287 for 7 nights. Sweet.

Then the hotel for the last night back in Tokyo - let’s just stay near the airport so that it’s easy to catch our early flight back home.

This boring-but-totally fine business hotel right near the airport will do just fine for 1 night.

$45.

Ok, food and drink time.

Kombini (convenience store) breakfast will cost ~$6 per day for both of us. 

A trip to Kura sushi for conveyor-belt-deliciousness, or other budget restaurant will run us about $15 per day.

A nice-ish dinner out at Ichiran Ramen, a BBQ joint, or some other mid-range restaurant will be $25 per day for the two of us.

Then a beer, sake, or wine to enjoy at the end of the day overlooking a nearby river or beautiful viewpoint (drinking in public is allowed in Japan) will be about $5 per day.

Haters are gonna hate—Ichiran Ramen is one of my most favorite ramen experiences

Then let’s add in $300 for doing fun stuff like Mario Karting around Tokyo or Osaka, visiting the epic Team Labs, maybe renting a car for a day or two in Okinawa to see some of the harder-to-get-to-sights, going to Spa World in Osaka 1 or 5 times, or splurging on Kichi Kichi Omurice in Kyoto (take a look at our most recent video— 5 Days in Kyoto and Osaka on a Budget — for more inspo.)

TeamLabs in Tokyo was a dream

Loving life outside of Osaka Castle

Time to add it all up - 

Flight to and from Japan: $1702

Flight to Osaka + Kyoto: $75

Flight to Okinawa: $129

Flight back to Tokyo at end of trip: $122

Hotel in Tokyo: $343

Hotel in Osaka: $168

Hotel in Kyoto: $99

Hotel in Okinawa: $287

Hotel Last Night in Tokyo: $45

Public Transport: $308

Food and Drinks: $1012

Other: $300

Overall Total: $4590

So, in this one, the 3 week trip to Japan ended up being a bit more expensive than the 1 week trip to Hawai’i, but not by a lot. 

$810 more will get you 2 full weeks more of vacation, with a per-day cost of $208 for Japan instead of $419 in Hawai’i.

Lots more bang for your buck heading to Japan, but much of it really does depend on what kind of trip you’re hoping to have.

That was fun! Hope that was useful for you, and that it got your brain churning on different ways to think about spending your travel-bucks-and-days-off.

That’s it for this week, see you in the next one! We hope wherever you are, more spam musibis are in your future.

Today

Editing our next 3 Days In… video. Any hopes or guesses on the location?

The (Near) Future

Australia and New Zealand. It’s time :)

Our Latest Videos

The much requested Kyoto and Osaka video. Come and get it :)

The second of our series—3 Days in Taipei! (Ok…more like 3.75 days.) This one was a special one for us. Still dreaming of the food.

The first of our series—3 Days in Mexico City! We had a blast.

See you next week…ish :)

- josh (and lisa)

Oh, and if you want to learn how we afford to take all these trips after quitting our jobs 3 years ago, you’ll likely be interested in our Skillshare course on Travel Hacking and Frequent Flier Miles.

It’s been really taking off lately, but we still have a few uses of this link left for those of you who want to see the class for free. It comes with a free month of Skillshare, which is more than enough to watch our class and any of the other great courses on there!

Check it out here: https://skl.sh/lisaandjosh02221

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