Travel goals for 2022

I love to travel and explore, and I've been very fortunate to have seen 44 out of 47 prefectures in Japan up until now. Naturally, travel has been on the backburner for the last 18 months or so, but with vaccination numbers looking quite good I'm hoping that will change by 2022. I've had a few travel goals on my mind in recent months, and these are some of the destinations I'm looking forward to visiting.

Universal Studios Japan

I've been here before, but it was when my eldest was just a baby -- it wasn't an easy experience! Both of my children are now old enough to actually appreciate visiting an amusement park, and they're really into both Super Mario and Harry Potter at the moment. They've been begging to visit USJ, and while I wasn't too comfortable with the idea of taking them in 2021, I'm hoping that 2022 will be the year for it. I saw that the Pfizer vaccine was recently approved in the States for children aged 5 to 11 years, so hopefully vaccination options for children in that age bracket will open up here soon enough.

Okinawa

This is another place I've also visited multiple times before, but I'm enthusiastic to go back so I can visit a friend whose husband is currently stationed at Kadena Air Base. I love the tropical atmosphere of Okinawa, and there are some truly gorgeous beaches to enjoy there. I'd like to visit sometime around May, before it gets too sweltering!

Tokyo Islands

The various islands that belong to Tokyo are only new to me - I naively didn't know they existed until relatively recently, but I'd like to see a new side of Japan. For example, the island below is Chichijima, which you can access in about 24 hours by ferry from Tokyo's Takeshiba Port. Hard to believe this is still Japan and not somewhere like French Polynesia!

Chichijima takes 24 hours to reach via ferry from Tokyo, but for views like this I think it would be well worth the trip! Pic Credit here.

The prefectures I haven't visited yet: Kagoshima, Kumamoto, and Miyazaki

Of Japan's 47 prefectures, I only have three left to visit - Kagoshima, Kumamoto, and Miyazaki. They're still on my bucket list, and hopefully 2022 will be the year that I can finally tick them off. Ultimately it all comes down to time and money, but my goal would be trying to see them all in one trip - we'd most likely fly down to Kyushu and hire a car to get around. We've done lots of road trips in Japan already, and find it's the easiest way of exploring - especially with kids in tow. 

Hopefully one trip in each quarter of 2022 is feasible, but I'm already starting the planning process and getting excited for what lies ahead.

Have you visited any of the destinations I've listed? If you have any travel recommendations for those spots, I'd love to hear about them in the comments below.