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Using Google Maps and your sense of adventure! This article is just as it looks. I’d like to share my experiences about using Google Maps to take a holiday in a little known area to foreign tourists in Japan. Firstly, I will start by saying that travelling to this location was not a random occurrence as I do have friends that live in the area, but my friends were working a lot of the time, so I was left up to my own devices to entertain myself. The area that I travelled to was a town called ‘Okazaki’ which is located in the Aichi Prefecture, which is located about 35 km SE as the crow flies. I’d like to share a few benefits to why using Google Maps is a great way to explore new places using my experiences Easy navigation: Google Maps makes it easy to navigate to a new place, even if you're unfamiliar with the area. It can provide you with directions, estimated travel times, and even real-time traffic updates to help you plan your trip more efficiently. Simply add your to and from locations into the search bar and choose the tab with the mode of transport you require. Here you can see that catching the train and walking is just as fast as riding a bicycle. I went here a couple of times. Once by bicycle and once by walking. You can choose your departure or arrival time to make it easier to plan your day. Detailed information: Google Maps can provide you with a wealth of information about a location, including its address, phone number, website, photos, reviews, and ratings. This information can help you determine if the place is worth visiting and what to expect when you get there. A good point to also keep in mind is to take the reviews lightly, as disgruntled customers with illegitimate reasons can and WILL try to bring down the reputation of a business they are not happy with. Use commonsense and weigh up the pros and cons. As you can see by the picture above, there's a lot of useful information including park hours, address, website etc. If you are using a laptop or PC like I am, you can send all information to your phone by simply clicking the "Send to Phone" tab. Discovering hidden gems: Google Maps can help you discover hidden gems that you may not have known existed. By exploring the map and searching for nearby attractions or restaurants, you may stumble upon a unique and interesting place that you wouldn't have found otherwise. The following are 2 examples of places I found from using Google Maps: Maruya Hatcho Miso I knew that Aichi Prefecture (and Okazaki especially), were the home of Hacho Miso, a form of red Miso, in which I am familiar with from eating Aichi's famous Miso Katsu (Pork Cutlet with Miso Sauce). When I spotted this on the map, I immediately knew I wanted to go. The reviews looked good, and it was quite accessible. The tour I took consisted of a comprehensive historical talk on Hacho Miso, and the chance to try some of the products. Of course I had to buy some to take home, and I had a chance to try Miso Cola! Above: Inside of Maruya Hatcho Miso 2. Iwazu Tenmangu Shrine Once again, good reviews and there were plenty of photos to spark my interest, I'm always curious about local shrines in the non-touristy areas of Japan. Due to the lack of tourists, you won't have to fight for space with the other tourists at such places like Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto. Yes, this shrine is much smaller, but it was so pretty as the blossom had just started blooming, and the small, tranquil cafe was easy to get a seat. Above: At the top of the stairs Above: Torii and Fox statues. Foxes are known as the messengers of Inari, the god or spirit know to be primarily the protector of rice cultivation. Above: Amazake & Dorayaki from the cafe in the shrine. The taste was exceptional! In summation, using Google Maps to discover new places to visit can help you plan your trips more efficiently, provide you with detailed information about the location, personalise your suggestions based on your interests, and help you discover hidden gems in the area. If it were not for Google Maps, my sense of adventure and an open mind, I would not have had the experiences I did in this small country city. Don’t ever be afraid to jump out of your comfort zone and explore. There is no loss in experiencing something new, whether it be boring or great; you’ll only add on to your experiences. I personally cannot say through using this method of travel and exploration that I have ever had a bad experience, and I hope you will have similar experiences to myself. Article written by Tony Devine 19/04/2023

Have you ever sat back and wondered, “Why do I enjoy travelling”? There are many reasons. Some are quite simple, but some are a little more complex. For some people, the reason may be to distance themselves from the mundane, everyday life stresses such as work, study, relationships, general all-round responsibilities. For others, it may be to jump out of their comfort zones and wake up their senses by experiencing new sights, smells, tastes, sounds and sensations that feel foreign to them. For myself, like many others, it is to immerse myself in new cultures and to study the many micro-cultures that exist within another society, other than my own. Micro-cultures? Macro-cultures? Almost every country in the world will usually have at least 1 dominant culture which dictates the way the majority will act when it comes to laws, religion and social behaviour. Some countries have a lot more open rules when it comes to both social behaviour and religion but keep the same laws for all other smaller subsets (micro-cultures) of the dominant culture (macro-culture). Usually in ethnically diverse, or multicultural societies, the laws are there to help guide, protect, and help differing cultures live harmoniously, with minimal issues. However, some countries, such as Japan as an example, who have a mostly ethnically homogenous society will also have laws and rules that protect societies from differences between opposing social and religious beliefs. This is because Japan, although relatively ethnically homogenous, also have small subset cultures within their own society. How does this relate to my reason to travel? It is pure fascination, and one of the main reasons for part of my formal studies in the past. I believe that the more you understand the world around you, the more at peace you will feel, the more acceptance you will have of others, and the better you will be at understanding WHY many people act the way they do. Why should everyone adopt this way of thinking to travel? The world is a massive place with so many rules, religions, and cultures that affect language, health, food, art, architecture, music, and so on. What astounds me is that while so many countries have similarities within many of the aforementioned fields, so many people choose to separate themselves from learning about each other. This simple separation of cultures ultimately is what causes many issues between countries, and even within a single country. Although, in this day and age, land and natural resources are main reasons for conflict, there are still many conflicts being fought over religious ideologies, although some countries will use religion as a mask for their true intentions. One can only wonder, if most people adopted a positive learning attitude, got out and travelled more to interact and celebrate the similarities of differing cultures with their fellow human-beings, we would see significantly less issues, or at least be able to ‘iron out the creases’ of this uncomfortable bed sheet called ‘cultural indifference’, to ultimately tolerate being in the same room. Perhaps this sounds like a really complex way to think about travel, but without getting into the academic complexities of society, just keep an open mind to experiencing new people, places and surroundings. Celebrate your similarities, learn about your differences and your mind WILL transform to see everything not just for the better or worse, but for the truth. Photo: Above the Clouds Article written by Tony Devine 27/03/2023