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Since I got back, the weather in my city has been gloomy, and next week doesn’t look any better — just clouds and rain, almost like autumn showed up uninvited. I was really hoping to get back into riding my bike around the city, maybe even take a few routes through the forest, but that didn’t happen. Instead, I ended up spending the evening at home in front of my laptop, watching YouTube. It’s ironic, because during my trip I barely had time for screens, and now I’m right back to it. To be honest, that’s the last thing I want — I’d much rather be outside, walking, breathing fresh air, and enjoying warm, sunny days.

My trip to Seoul, South Korea turned out to be surprisingly smooth—maybe even easier than my experience in Japan. From the moment I arrived at the airport to getting into the city, everything just felt convenient and intuitive. Taking the bus was simple, paying with my debit card worked everywhere without any friction, and the metro system was easy to navigate without overthinking anything. I never found myself confused or making mistakes, which made the whole experience feel very comfortable. In some ways, it even reminded me of the best moments I’ve had traveling around Europe, where things just work the way you expect them to.

Today’s trip to Kazan turned out to be one of the most stressful travel days I’ve had in a while—two flights, tight timing, and a bit too much optimism on my part. I flew from Seoul to Tashkent and then onward to Kazan with Qanat Sharq (HH822) and Uzbekistan Airways (HY649). In hindsight, not researching the airlines—especially Qanat Sharq—and giving myself only a two-hour layover in Tashkent was a mistake. I’ve taken similar risks before and gotten away with it, so I guess I trusted the pattern a bit too much. This time, though, it nearly cost me my second flight and added unnecessary stress (and expenses) along the way.

The day started cloudy and kind of cold. The weather wasn’t great — around 22 degrees, with a cold wind hitting from time to time, which made it feel chillier than it actually was. Still, I didn’t cancel my plans to visit the last spots I had in mind from yesterday. Actually, I did the opposite — I started as early as possible and managed to finish everything before 6 PM.

Later, after dinner and on my way back to my accommodation, I kept walking around the streets of the district where I’d been staying all week. Funny enough, I had only properly stepped onto these streets yesterday. But today felt like the final walk — quiet, calm, just me wandering under the streetlights. There was something about the atmosphere that felt really unique, like one of those moments you know you’ll remember later.

It wasn’t the easiest day, though. Nothing unusual really happened, but I felt surprisingly tired almost the entire time. I started late, sometime after noon, after taking my time with sleep and my usual routine. Even so, by around 8 pm I was already heading back to my accommodation because the cold started creeping in and it just didn’t feel comfortable to stay out any longer. What’s interesting is that during the day it actually felt quite hot—I was walking around in just shorts and a t-shirt, and at one point I saw a building display showing 27°C. Still, many locals were dressed in jackets and long pants, while most tourists, like me, were clearly in summer mode. It made me wonder if I misjudged the weather a bit, especially once the temperature dropped in the evening.

Today ended up being a shopping day, so everything felt pretty calm, but also more expensive than I expected. Honestly, I hadn’t planned to spend that much money, but it all happened spontaneously, and I really wanted to keep updating my wardrobe. I ended up buying some essential clothes from brands that left Russia after February 2022, and since I can’t find them back home anymore, it felt like the right decision to get them now. Still, this led to another problem — how I’m going to bring everything back on the plane. I don’t have any checked luggage, and my backpack is already full and overweight, so now I have to figure out where to fit all these new clothes and somehow get them home without issues.

My morning was as usual — I slept until 11 am again and basically skipped the first part of the day. But the weather in the morning was quite cloudy, so I don’t think I really missed anything important. When I finally started the second part of my day, the weather had changed completely — it became much sunnier and more pleasant for a walk. It felt like a positive sign to finally start my day and explore new places in this unfamiliar city. To be honest, the whole day felt very long in a good way. I started my walk at 1 PM and finished it only at 9:30 PM. Even though I didn’t have time for dinner during the walk, I just ate after I returned to my accommodation.

Today started a bit rough though. I woke up around 10 AM after more than nine hours of sleep, which honestly feels catastrophically bad for me. I think the time zone shift is still messing with my rhythm—it’s been hitting me harder than I expected and keeps throwing off my sleep schedule. Even after waking up, I didn’t have the energy to actually get out of bed, so I just stayed there scrolling through news on my phone. I knew time was slipping away, but I couldn’t really push myself to move. By the time I finally got up and went through my morning routine, it was already close to 11, and it felt like I had wasted the entire first part of the day at my accommodation.

I can already say that I don’t see any reason to come back again—even to another city in Japan. My main goal was to visit all the major places I had planned in Tokyo, and I basically achieved that. The only places I didn’t visit were DisneySea and teamLab Planets. To be honest, I didn’t feel 100% motivated to go there anyway, and another reason was that tickets were completely sold out. If I had the chance to buy them, I probably would have gone.

My alarm went off at 4:20 AM and, surprisingly, I actually got up on time. I was in that deep, cozy kind of sleep where your bed feels impossibly warm and you really don’t want to leave it. But the moment I got up, the cold, crisp air coming through the window hit me right away. Not exactly pleasant, but definitely effective—it woke me up fast and got me moving as I packed my backpack. Luckily, everything went according to plan timing-wise. The only hiccup was in Japan’s metro system—I got a bit lost for about fifteen minutes, especially around the airport line. Nothing major though, and in the end I made it to Narita Airport without any real issues. My flight landed in Seoul at 1 PM.

The day started with a small but annoying reality check: I was basically out of cash. When I checked my wallet before heading out, all I had left was a single thousand-yen note and some loose coins, adding up to roughly three hundred yen. Not exactly ideal, especially considering I still needed money for the airport and whatever the day might bring. Technically, I had USD and EUR on me, but I really didn’t want to touch it. Still, I had no choice in the end and reluctantly broke a fifty-euro note just to keep things moving.

The entire day, it just kept pouring—everything was soaked, and walking around wasn’t exactly comfortable. My morning didn’t really start until 10 AM either. I woke up early at first, but the sound of raindrops relentlessly hitting something outside my window convinced me to stay in bed a bit longer. Eventually, I got up closer to lunchtime. Surprisingly, it didn’t bother me at all—by the time I headed out after 12 PM, I actually felt energized and in a great mood. Since these are my last days in Japan, I wanted to make the most of it and turn the day into something memorable.