As a person on the autism spectrum, and also suffering with anxiety, I had a dream of visiting Japan. But I never in my life imagined I would get the chance to go, since I don’t know Japanese, and never been outside the country before. Being outside the country just seemed so scary to me, between navigating gargantuan cities, and labyrinthian airports. So it was just something that kinda sat on the bucket list, and didn’t really do anything with it.
Then I got an email by chance one day from Danny and his team advertising Wanderrock and a trip to Japan. It seemed interesting so I wanted more info. It was advertised as a trip for “disabled individuals ages 18-30” and I was 32 at the time. I didn’t think I’d make the cut. And the price was overwhelmingly high at first glance. $10000 seemed awfully high for what was essentially a 2 week vacation. So I was essentially thinking “this has gotta be a scam”. Then I did a bit more research into the program, and everything that it offered. And that’s when it started to make sense.
IS IT A SCAM?
Short answer, no. Yes, the price tag is obviously seemingly insurmountable for your average person. But Wanderrock is more than just a “vacation” for its travelers. It’s a complete experience. And one tailored to those who struggle with mental illness, which for people like myself that have these problems, traveling can seem all but impossible or inconceivable. Wanderrock takes those issues and addresses them with a program run by experienced and well-traveled guides, most of whom have experienced some form of mental illness. People like us need an extra level of care and that’s exactly what Wanderrock was able to provide. They also treat each traveler like a responsible adult, and teach accountability effectively. All while exercising a level of care necessary for dealing with neurodivergent individuals. So, after talking it over with my mom as well as my therapist, and getting their blessing, I decided to give Wanderrock a try.
BEFORE THE TRIP
I paid my deposit in November (about 6k) and I was put on the list of travelers for the January 2023 trip. (Despite being 2 years older than the cutoff). December came, and we had an orientation over Zoom. On the Orientation was Danny, Shane, and Eileen, all whom would be our guides on this trip. This was meant to be a short presentation on dos and donts in Japan, and a Q and A for travelers who still had questions. All of my questions were answered, and despite my growing anxiety, I was ready to have this experience.
THE DAY OF THE TRIP
We all met at a hotel in Los Angeles, to prepare for our departure the following day. That’s the first time I met all the guides, Shane Danny and Eileen were all there. We had to do our customs declarations and fill out the Covid paperwork (this was at the tail end of the pandemic where there were still some restrictions.) Once that was done, we got our hotel rooms, met later for dinner, and prepared for the departure the following day.
We flew out of LAX, on United airlines. It was all in all a pretty comfortable flight despite being 11 hours. After getting off the plane and landing in Tokyo, the guides kept everyone together while we scrambled through customs, got our money exchanged, and were issued our Suica cards and JR passes. We were all pretty discombobulated from the long flight and still adjusting to the new time zone. We took a short ride on the Narita express, and not long after we were at the hotel, the Shinagawa Prince hotel.
2 WEEKS, SUMMARIZED
Instead of recapping each part of the trip day by day, I’ll do my best to summarize.
Tokyo:
We spent the first few days in Tokyo, exploring the city, going to anime game store, seeing famous areas like Akihabara, Shinjuku, Shibuya and Ikebukuro. The guides led us around various hotspots in the city as well as got us acclimated to using the JR pass, where to go for each train line, and just helped explain things so we wouldn’t get lost. The following day we were treated to a short detour to Odaiba to visit TeamLabs planets, take a peek at the giant Gundam statue, and then a short boat ride to Asakusa, and visited the Buddha temple. Once we all had our short time in Tokyo, we made our way to our next destination, Kinosaki.
Kinosaki:
Kinosaki is a small town in the Hyougo region, north of Kyoto. We spent a few days here, staying in a very traditional ryokan, two which there were 3 people to a room. We were all given futons to sleep on which were all very comfortable. The night we arrived, we were treated to a kaiseki, a multi course meal with about 9 courses. The following days we spent exploring Kinosaki at our leisure, going to the 7 different onsens and taking the tramway to the top of the nearby mountain. It was very calm and peaceful here since it was away from any bustling cities and very few foreigners. (edited)
Kyoto:
Kyoto was next. We stayed at a business hotel near the station. This was probably the place we saw the most unique things. We took a hike to Arashiyama, to visit Tenryu-ji, a practicing Buddhist temple. Nearby, there was a huge bamboo forest with a remarkable view at the top. After hiking back down, some of us went back to the hotel, the rest of us went to visit the famous Monkey Park. It was another hike up the mountain to get to the top, but once we got there, there were monkeys everywhere, up really close. The following day, we saw another famous spot, Fushimi Inari, the 10,000 tori gate mountain. This was another difficult hike, with lots of steps. But it was awesome to see all of the scenery steeped in rich culture. The following day we would be treated to one of the most unique experiences I’ve ever had: samurai training. We were asked to put on traditional samurai garb (happi and hakama). We were also given practice swords ( they weren’t sharp but they were still made of metal), and were taught different forms and stances, how to draw and put away your sword, proper meditation, and finally the act of actually slashing with the sword. After all of our efforts, we were all treated to a live demonstration of a katana master slicing through a bamboo training post
Osaka:
Osaka was the semi-final stop. This time our hotel was the Hen-na hotel in the Namba district. And we were surprised to see our receptionists were from the Jurassic era. Two animatronic raptors were the receptionists at this hotel, making it a fun tourist location. Our first day in Osaka was spent going to USJ, where I got to see Nintendo World, something I’ve been wanting to see for years. It was awesome just getting to experience everything for myself, and pointing out all the references from games I’ve played. The next day we made a short trip to Nara to see the famed Tennoji temple, and the great Buddha, which was truly an awesome sight to behold. Eileen in particular was a wellspring of knowledge about this place, able to recite various facts about it with no effort. After some time in Nara and hanging out with the deer, we headed back to the hotel for the day.
Re: Tokyo
Finally, our route took us back to where we started. We checked back in to the Shinagawa Prince, and spent one final day in Tokyo doing whatever we chose to do. There was no guiding or supervision, as by now we had been traveling for a while as a group, and should know how do get to where we want to go. Most of us made plans to go places in groups so we wouldn’t get lost.
CONCLUSION
My two weeks in Japan with Wanderrock were absolutely some of the best I’ve ever had, and I strongly urge anyone who has not considered this program or wrote it off because of the price tag to give it a serious look. The trip is substantial and full of things to do. The guides helped keep me and everyone else grounded, and they knew just what to do in case of emergency. (I lost my JR pass the 2nd week, and had to get new tickets, they told me exactly what I needed to do). All the transportation, food, activities and travel expenses are covered, only thing you pay for is alcohol, souvenirs, and your flight to LA. If you open your mind, this program is such a blessing, and I’m eternally thankful for it. Because of Wanderrock, I am now in Japan traveling again on my own, and so far I have been able to use what I learned from the Wanderrock trip in my own travel experience. I never would have had that confidence if not for Danny and his team.
Do not pass this up.
chibi could always join the community of creepy middle age white expats in SEA.
