Planning a vacation

As a hagwon teacher, I don't get very many days off. Ten days to be exact, five of which are already assigned. So I've been working on a plan for my other days off, which I hope to take and go to Japan.

I'll be flying into Osaka mid-July for fives days. Rather than spend my time in the city, I decided I am going to see the much more scenic and highly appraised Kyoto. Just so happens to be the peak of Gion Matsuri while I'm there:

The Gion Festival (祇園祭 Gion Matsuri) takes place annually in Kyoto and is one of the most famous festivals in Japan. It spans the entire month of July and is crowned by a parade, the Yamaboko Junkō (山鉾巡行) on July 17.

Kyoto's downtown area is reserved for pedestrian traffic on the three nights leading up to the massive parade. These nights are known as yoiyama (宵山) on July 16th, yoiyoiyama (宵々山) on July 15th, and yoiyoiyoiyama (宵々々山) on July 14th...many girls dressed in yukata (summer kimono) walk around the area, carrying with them traditional purses and paper fans.

To plan for this vacation, I've been using as many online resources as possible. There was a really good article published by Mashable that goes through all the details of planning a vacation using social media.

The article lists many valuable resources such as Tripadvisor and Nextstop, as well as many others which I've found useful.

Another website I've turned my attention to is Hostelworld. It gives you all the available hotels, hostels, guest houses, or any other accommodations in the area with a listing of availability and room rates. For those working on a budget and looking for the best place for their money, it should be the first site you check.

Working in tandem with other social media sites, you'll find whatever you're looking for very quickly.