In the Land of the Rising Sun, old sanctuaries sit nearby neon wonderlands and Shinto shrines places offer pockets of harmony amid cities. Include tea functions, snow monkeys, sushi, kimonos, and karaoke to the blend, and you have one of the world’s most entrancing nations.

With attractions like Mount Fuji, Kinkaku-Ji, Tokyo Skytree, and many other iconic locations and structures, there is no wonder that Japan ranks as one of the most visited locations.

Here are five of the most visited tourist attractions in Japan:

1. Mount Fuji- Without an uncertainty Japan’s most unmistakable milestone, superb Mount (Fuji-san) is additionally the nation’s most elevated mountain top, transcending 3,776 meters over a generally to a great extent level scene toward the south and east, and tall enough to be seen from Tokyo more than 100 kilometers away.
2. Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park- While little need be said here of the revulsions of the nuclear shelling of Hiroshima in August 1945, much can be said of the mind-blowing endeavors this lively city has made to remember the numerous casualties of the world’s first atomic assault, and maybe considerably more critically, the image of enduring harmony Hiroshima has since moved toward becoming.
3. Osaka Castle- Built in the year 1586 by celebrated Japanese warrior and legislator Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Osaka Castle (Ōsaka-jō) was at the time the biggest and most significant post in the nation. Albeit crushed and revamped various occasions since, the present structure, worked in 1931, stays consistent with the first.
4. Sapporo, Hokkaido- Located on Japan’s northernmost island, Hokkaido, the city of Sapporo offers numerous things to see and accomplish for sightseers. As the island’s biggest city, it’s a center of a social movement, facilitating numerous magnificent occasions and celebrations; an unmistakable culinary style; a rich showy history; and a lot of exhibition halls, displays, and stops. The point of convergence here is particularly the city’s alluring midtown zone, the focal point of which is Odori Park, an enormous swath of green that is exceptionally charming to investigate.
5. Chūbu-Sangaku National Park And The Japanese Alps- Japan brags several extraordinary zones of regular excellence, a large number of them assigned as national parks or, sometimes, UNESCO World Heritage Sites. One of the nation’s most staggering parks is Chūbu-Sangaku National Park in the focal point of Honshu, joining in its northern and focal areas the gathering of mountains all things considered alluded to as the Hida Mountains, or the Japanese Alps.

Phoenix welcomes the rain. The Valley is built on the desert and has been experiencing years of drought.

However, residents might be seeing more rain than they wish, according to recent studies. National Weather Service data shows that early 2023 has seen more rain in a few days than in six months of 2022. The rain is continuing into March and doesn’t seem to be slowing down.

Here in the Valley, residents can experience flash flooding and have little experience or knowledge of how to react. C2 Tactical hosts a series of classes in Disaster Preparedness, as well as the C2 Overland website for camping and trail safety.

These tips are from experts to help you prepare in case you catch yourself driving in a flash flood zone.

Be mindful of the weather

Once water arrives, it can act quicker than most assume. Water floods can travel from 25 mph to 75 mph. Residents should be cautious driving during a heavy storm. There are plenty of dips, as we live in a valley, so be mindful of your area and streets that would flood first.

You might assume your car, truck or big camper can drive through heavy rain. This is not a good assumption to make. Many vehicles, including large vehicles, become trapped in heavy water.

Whatever you do, do not drive through restricted areas! They are restricted by officials for a reason. Do not even try to drive around these restricted areas as you can still end up in a flooded area.

Remember that it only takes six inches of rain water to knock you down and a foot of moving water to sweep your vehicle away.

Subscribe to weather alerts

One way to be prepared is by subscribing to weather alerts on your phone or computer. Android or iPhones have access to updated weather forecasts.

You can set your notifications to receive weather alerts as well. These actions are dependent on your phone but, it’s wise to turn these alerts on when there’s constant rain like we are experiencing recently.

Campers should know their area

Every resident and traveler should know their area, however, especially if you are new to town. Research can help save lives. Certain areas of the Valley are more prone to flooding so, if you’re a trailer or camping vehicle, it’s wise to pull over and see where you’re headed when it’s raining.

The desert also means that we have less trees and foliage to stop water from traveling. Areas of Arizona are different in this way. Up north, travelers might see more trees and a different terrain than they would in the mountains of Sedona or the valleys of Phoenix.

Certain areas are susceptible to groundwater rise. Please look at maps available to you online to check your area, and avoid areas with streams, rivers or creeks during rainfall as they can flood extremely quickly.

Have a plan

In the case that your car is stuck in flooding and you cannot drive out, it’s important to prepare first with a plan. All vehicles are different and will require different actions. However, you should keep a tool handy for if it’s necessary to break a window open or saw a seatbelt free.

Be sure that if you’re traveling with family in another car that you have a regroup plan. Where will you meet if something occurs? Do you have a working cell phone to call for help? Is there cell service in this area?

Flash flooding can happen at any time during a severe storm. If you’re caught in a flash flood while driving, do not panic. If flood water rises around your car but isn’t moving, leave your car and get to higher ground. Don’t leave your car if the water is rushing around you.

After spending just under 3 weeks in Fethiye this summer, an area in Turkey popular with British, Turkish and European families, something really stood out to me: I was the only single parent in sight.

Everywhere I looked, all I could see were married couples with their children.

I’d naively thought it would be the same as the UK, where I see single-parent families everywhere. But it felt as though I was living in a parallel universe where single parents didn’t exist.

I asked my single-parent friends and followers what held them back from travelling abroad with their children. Whilst some feedback highlighted issues such as lack of consent from the other parent, or lack of financial means; the overarching theme was that it was daunting and overwhelming to travel alone.

This last point inspired me to put together some tips to help those who would love to travel abroad with their children, but aren’t sure they can manage it without losing their mind in the process.

1. Check-in on your expectations

Try not to have a fixed idea of what a holiday should look like, based on the experiences of your married friends and family. Some types of holidays may not work for you as a single parent. As single parents, it may be hard to try and have the exact same type of holiday that married couples have with their children. By managing our expectations around what a holiday ‘should’ look like, we can instead turn our focus to making sure we have a great time with our children.

2. Get to know where you’re going

Websites like TripAdvisor may feel dated, but the wealth of information available on the forums is enough to transform you into a tour guide.

In its simplest form, spending time reading the posts in your destination’s forum will give you a good feel for the place. My first stop is to read a little about the destination, and then bookmark helpful tips that cover everything from where to fly into, who to book your airport transfers with, recommended excursions, tips for getting around, and a multitude of other travel-related gems.

Ultimately, what all this pre-planning can give you (apart from the excitement of researching and planning a holiday), is a quiet mind when you’re out there. You won’t need to figure much out once you’re there, because you’ll already feel familiar with the place, even though it might be your first visit. This makes it easier for you to be present with your children, and therefore enjoy the little moments that could otherwise pass you by.

3. Ignore well-meaning advice

This may sound ironic, but what I mean specifically, is to ignore advice from friends and family who are not single parents. Although they mean well, they probably don’t know how hard it is to walk in your shoes. Any advice they give you will come from their own experience, so it’s already skewed.

Suggestions to rent a car or book the cheap 2am flight like they did, may make perfect sense to them, because they had another adult to help out. But if the thought of driving in a foreign country feels like a nightmare, or you’re wondering how you’d cope with two tired children on an early morning flight, then give yourself permission to ignore that advice.

You know best what will add unnecessary stress and hassle to a trip and what will make it more convenient for you. As single parents, we need to value convenience over everything else if we want to not just survive a holiday but have a good time too.

4. Know when not to scrimp and save

Budgeting is hugely important when planning a holiday. As single parents however, we need to be clear about which areas we can happily make savings in, and which are no-go areas. Convenience is the key filter to use here. Any money spent on relieving the burden on yourself is money well spent and one of the best forms of self-care.

For example:

Flights:
As tempting as the price tag on that 2am flight is, think about the practicalities of getting yourselves on that flight, compared with spending a little extra and arriving well-rested at the airport and then arriving at your destination at a decent time. Airport hotels can make things a little easier when it comes to early flights, but also come with their own hassle. Weigh things up sensibly and ask yourself, is this going to make things easier, or harder for me?

Airport parking:
If you can fly from a local airport, then they usually have much cheaper rates for their airport parking, which is ideal because I advise parking as close to the terminal as possible. Many will see this as a luxury, and at airports like Heathrow the prices for parking that close can be extortionate (more money-saving tips on that later). However, the closer you park to the airport, the less you have to struggle with getting children and baggage on and off buses, as well as keeping an eye on them during the 20-minute journey (which always feels longer with children in tow). Instead, you can quickly walk to the terminal, and have a much nicer and easier experience of arriving at the airport.

You can still make savings here however. By signing up to the airport’s newsletter, you can receive discounts on parking, which combined with booking as far in advance as possible, means you’ll find the rates pretty fair. Do check for online voucher codes as well, in case you find something that beats their official offer.

With larger airports like Heathrow, you’ll be hard-pressed to find discounts and you may need to explore other options. ‘Just Park’ for example, finds you safe and sometimes gated driveways to rent, minutes from Heathrow. Depending on the owner, you can also arrange lifts to and from the terminal for a small extra fee. Hiring a driveway near the larger airports can cost the same as booking premium parking at your local airport, making it easy to continue with the strategy of keeping things convenient, without having to spend your life savings.

5. To excursion or not to excursion

When researching, it’s easy to end up with an ever-growing list of must-see places to visit. Whilst some of these places may look incredible, it’s advisable to choose your excursions wisely, especially if some of them entail a full day out, with two hot and tired children and hundreds of other tourists all crammed into the same spot.

Before committing to any excursion, check in with yourself first on why you’re considering it. Is it because you feel like you ‘should’ see it? That you’ll ‘waste’ an opportunity if you don’t? That it’s a ‘must-see’ so you must see it? Or is it because you genuinely feel like you and your children would have a fun and relaxing time?

As single parents, it’s helpful to not expect what could be an easy day out for families with two adults, to be the same for us too. Whilst I did go on a few excursions, they allowed for plenty of rest (boat trips for example), and weren’t too much for me to handle on my own.

Ultimately however, some of my best holiday memories are of takeaway-dinners in our villa garden, in our pyjamas. And these are the special memories I remember often. So, you really don’t have to do any excursions at all if you feel it’s too much, in order to experience special moments with your children.

6. Take a break

It can be daunting to think about how tiring it will be to have the children 24/7 with no relief or respite, especially if you’re used to having help back home. On holiday it’s just you and them, and everything falls on you.

Try not to put pressure on yourself to provide an action-packed itinerary that ‘guarantees’ you’ll all have a great time. Take some time out, whether that’s having a lazy morning and not being in a rush to go anywhere, or balancing out activity days with go-slow days by the pool.

You may not feel like you have the luxury to do this if you’re only away for one week, but remember that it’s not about how much you get done. By slowing down, you’ll find beautiful moments right there in the everyday things you do with your kids, but you’re usually too busy to notice.

7. Choose your location wisely

We may not have the luxury of choosing the same destinations as families with two parents, especially as women who have other safety concerns to keep in mind. Will it be safe for you and your children to wander around in the evening for example? I chose Turkey because whenever I’ve visited, I always felt safe and didn’t get hassled.

As a mum of two pretty picky children when it comes to food, knowing that almost everything was halal in Turkey also made a huge difference. They ate a lot better compared to a previous trip we made to Lisbon, which was a fantastic city, however they were limited in food options.

Turkey also had an abundance of villas with completely private swimming pools (a must for me as a hijabi who still wants a suntan). When compared with my native country of Morocco for example, I realised that a lot of the villas with private pools weren’t geared towards smaller families, and were often in the middle of nowhere where you needed to hire a car to get around. Unfortunately, you’ll also find that a lot of hotels in areas such as Marrakech discriminate against women in modest swimwear, so these are often out of the question if you want to cover up.

8. Don’t pack light

You may no longer need a suitcase full of nappies and wipes, but if you’re going away for more than a week, then pack those extra clothes. Whilst it’s to be expected that at some point you’ll need to do some laundry, especially if you’re self-catering, try to minimise it as much as possible. Remember, you’re on holiday too. If you’re travelling in the summer holidays, look out for the summer sales in July and stock up on extra swimming gear and summer clothes. H&M do a great range of summer clothes that start from as little as £2.99.

9. What if something happens?

I did feel anxious during the build-up to going away, especially the first time post-covid. The thought of having so much responsibility on my shoulders was overwhelming at times. However, there are ways to overcome any concerns you may have.

Create a document that you can share with family or friends which details everything relating to your trip. This way if anything unfortunate does happen, it’s easy for your loved ones to get hold of you and help out in any way they can. We can’t protect ourselves against every eventuality, but we can prepare as much as possible.

Booking travel insurance is a must, and it’s wise to book more than the standard cover so that you’re covered against most circumstances. Having premium travel insurance made a cancelled flight home from Lisbon a much easier situation for me to deal with. When faced with the single option from our airline of staying another four days before they could fly us home, I was able to book our own flights home the next day instead, knowing the full cost would be reimbursed. It also meant the children didn’t miss any time off school. But premium cover doesn’t have to mean premium prices. Using sites such as moneysavingexpert.com can find you great cover at very reasonable prices.

10. The most important insurance to take out

When taking precautions to protect against the what ifs, there are some things which are just out of our control. When you’ve done everything logistically that is within your control, it’s time to leave the rest with Allah. Tie your camel, take a deep breath, and trust in Allah. Make copious amounts of dua that He will return you and your children home safely, and put barakah in your trip together as a family.

If the thought of travelling abroad with your children still feels too much, consider taking a break in your home country instead, keeping with the mantra of ease and convenience over all else.

When you feel you might be ready to travel abroad, consider an all-inclusive hotel. They have the benefits of having staff on hand in case of emergencies, they can provide airport transportation and activities for the children, and you don’t have to worry about where to eat as you’ll have plenty of options within the resort. It can be a great way to ease yourself into holidaying abroad as a single parent.

One of my favorite things to do as I’m packing for vacay is plan my outfits. Let’s be honest: I want to look and feel my best as I head to the beach, but I also want to look good in all the pictures I plan to take. Vacation tends to supply plenty of beautiful backdrops, like sandy beaches, lush hotel lobbies, and cute cafés, so photogenic ‘fits are a must. Not only do well-taken travel photos look good on Instagram, but they’re also memories to treasure forever. And if you have an iPhone, that means you also have an incredible camera.

I’m all about having aesthetically pleasing vacay photos I can share and display throughout my home, so I chatted with a few experts to get their tips. Below, lifestyle and travel blogger Katie Urban of A Touch of Teal and travel photographer Karina Ramos Salas of Hopeful Outsiders spill the tea on the iPhone travel photo hacks that will take your pics to the next level.

1. Plan Ahead

I’m not one to keep a strict schedule when I’m on vacation, but I always have a tentative plan. And for Ramos Salas, her plan always includes researching the perfect photo op. If you know ahead of time you want to take photos, why not do some scouting from home before you leave?

“I love looking for aesthetic places on Instagram and Pinterest,” Ramos Salas shared. “That way, I already know where I want to shoot, and I also have an idea of what type of photo I want to create beforehand.” She recommended looking for colorful walls, cute storefronts, and clean, open spaces. “Be sure to keep your eyes open,” she said. “The most random places tend to be the best backdrops ever!”

2. Work With Natural Light

Nothing beats natural light, and both Urban and Ramas Salas recommended taking photos during golden hour. It’s that magical time within an hour of sunrise or the hour before sunset when sunlight is soft and, yes, golden. Ramos Salas said she likes shooting early in the morning not only for the light but also because of the minimal crowds. “If there’s a place that is normally crowded, I’ll be sure to put that first on my list of places to photograph and then enjoy my day,” Ramas Salas said.

But don’t let non-golden-hour light stop you from taking photos. “Sometimes, when you’re traveling, you have to snap the picture when you can and just roll with it!” Urban said. Even in the middle of the day when light is the harshest, you can still make it work. “I love shadows, so I tend to shoot under direct sunlight so I can get beautiful shadows in my photos,” Ramos Salas shared. Look out for blank walls that create interesting shadows when people walk in front of it, for example. If the light is still too harsh, find a shady spot or wait closer to sunset for that golden-hour light.

3. Start With a Clean Lens

As far as iPhone travel photo hacks go, this might seem like a no-brainer, but it’s actually a key step. Before you start shooting, Ramos Salas recommended cleaning your camera lens. “It makes a world of a difference, believe me!” she said. Keep a microfiber cloth in your bag so you can quickly wipe the lens. That way, your photos won’t turn out smudged or unclear.

4. Try Shooting at 0.5x Zoom

iPhone cameras can do a lot of cool things, but I’ve never really played around with some of the features because I’m not sure where to start. Urban shared a really simple tip, and all it takes is one tap. “I discovered on a recent trip to Hawaii that shooting pictures of people at 0.5x zoom, especially when there’s a beautiful backdrop, makes for stunning imagery!” she said.

The 0.5x zoom feature expands the frame, showing off more of whatever is in front of the camera. This is perfect for capturing beautiful architecture, natural features, and other scenery, so if you spot a picturesque backdrop, be sure to try it out! When you open your camera, look for a small button toward the bottom of the frame that says “0.5x.” Simply tap that and it’ll zoom out to a wider angle.

5. Get Help From Passersby

How many times have you lined up a shot on your phone, asked someone to take a photo, and then the result was not at all like you set it up? Urban has the solution. “Don’t be afraid to take a test shot that demonstrates your desired framing for the person taking your photo,” she shared. “I always find the more prescriptive I am about my vision, the better the end result turns out.” Once the person taking your photo has the shot, tell them to go wild. “I tell them to just snap away while I continually move around so I get that perfectly candid shot.”

6. Set Your Camera to “Live” Mode

Urban suggested switching your iPhone camera to “Live” mode so you have more content to work with. Live photos are actually tiny videos. Your iPhone camera records the 1.5 seconds before and after you take a photo, and the key photo is a still of the best shot. But if you’re not happy with the selected key photo, you can change it. Simply open up the photo, tap edit, then hit the live button on the bottom left (it looks like a bullseye). Move the slider to select a new frame.

7. Invest in a Tripod

If you’re a solo traveler or if no one is around to help you, an iPhone tripod is a great investment. Most are equipped with a wireless remote so you can take photos with the press of a button. Or you can try one of Ramos Salas’ favorite iPhone travel photo hacks. “Set up your iPhone on a tripod and open up the camera app on your Apple Watch!” she said. “You can control your phone camera and make sure your angle and composition are right. You can also control your timer, take photos, and take videos all from your watch.” She also recommended taking lots of different types of photos, like close-ups, various angles, and even videos. This is especially helpful if you’re creating content for social media. “This way, you can create more than five different pieces of content in just one look or location.”

8. Edit and Filter Your Photos

Editing is the final touch that makes your photos pop. And don’t worry, you don’t need any fancy apps or editing skills to update your photos like a pro. Urban prefers Lightroom, and the mobile app is free to use. “If you’re intimidated by using it, don’t be. Unlike other Adobe products, it’s very user-friendly,” Urban shared. “I always say if you can edit in the Instagram app, you can edit in Lightroom. And with Lightroom, you can really home in on editing your photo, down to the ability to fix specific colors.”

Many photographers also offer Lightroom presets (basically like Instagram filters) for purchase, so you don’t have to do the editing yourself. Lou and Marks Presets is one option with lots of travel-specific presets to choose from. Made specifically to suit all skin tones, they can instantly brighten up your photos or make the colors even more vivid.