100%. I learnt the numbers 0-9 in Mandarin Chinese and I know how to cuss in Chinese to Chinese robocall scammers.

I also have a social sciences research background so I have no disincentive or misguided desire to respond with wrong data to polls either.

The great firewall situation was always interesting, because if you would use a roaming Sim, then you will be able to access anything

Roaming SIMs work because the APN sets a network routing path outside of China.

Cool writeup. I remember implementing BBR many years ago when I was trying to bypass the Great Firewall for an extended stay. Helped deal greatly with the huge congestion on Chinanet backbone at the time, but it’s less of an issue these days now that foreigners can use CN2.

My guilty pleasure is watching those YouTube videos of people vacationing at absurdly cheap caravan parks, and the general vibe I get is that these places are pretty run down but are surprisingly adequate if all you’re looking to do is get away from town. Low-cost European carriers have definitely done a number on a lot of domestic UK resorts though - they simply aren’t competitive for the reasons you’ve stated.

I tend to run pretty hot. Right before I visited Japan in January, I was in Southeast Asia and dying from the heat. The locals told me it was the coolest time of the year yet I was struggling to survive… I am partial to a mild winter I guess.

I liked getting the Sendai Area Pass and just taking the Loopie bus. It was a pretty good value and in many of the smaller attractions, I was the only tourist there that day (like the Sankyozawa 100-Year Electric History Center).

It made it pretty easy to see Sendai in two days. The only thing that was closed in the winter that I would’ve liked to see were the University of Tohoku’s botanical gardens (not that there aren’t other botanical gardens I couldn’t have gone to).

I really enjoyed Gyutan too (beef tongue) too. I don’t know if I got to try high-quality beef but I definitely enjoyed the food.

This is a great find. I remember about a year ago, people were speculating that Air Greenland was going to become a partner of Air Canada - my hopes were dashed when that didn’t materialize.

None of these sources point to tourism promotion in Mogadishu.

I think I’m going to need a source for that…

On top of that, there’s little tourism infrastructure in Mogadishu so I doubt that. There’s basically Omar and Ali’s Visit Mogadishu outfit and his guest house, and that’s really about it.

I’m surprised I guess, BRQ airport has seasonal connections across Europe…

Not sure that counts - there’s like 4 hotels in the whole area.

Any advice you might have for wandering off the beaten path into some of these villages?

I think this kind of thing is mostly viable because of the strength of Japan’s land transit system.

I’d say it counts so long as they aren’t basically closing for the off-season.

Highly recommend it, especially between the edges of off-season and shoulder season. I went to Fukushima and was basically one of two tourists in town (the other being a Rwandan artist-in-residence). When I was in Sendai in January, the most touristed attraction (Sendai Castle ruins) couldn’t have had more than 40 visitors, and I remember taking a $10 airport limo bus to the hotel meant for 55 travelers, and I was the only one on it. I’ve made it a goal to visit Akita and Aomori in the future.