Teahouse Trails

ABOUT THE TOUR:
This is an affordable shomer shabbat and kashrut backpacking tour geared for adults 20 years old to their mid-30s. We will live out of large backpacks and sleep in youth hostels/capsule hotels. 

FOOD: 
As a kosher tour, I prepare all the food to the standard of the local Chabad. We get fresh bread shipped to us daily from the Chabad in Kobe or Tokyo and all the ingredients I cook with are Kosher to a high standard. Vegetables are washed, packaged ingredients have kosher certification, and any restaurant food that we eat is from Chabad. I am personally preparing the food each morning and evening, ensuring that there is no contamination. 

SHABBAT:
This tour includes two shabbats in Japan. This tour holds by Rav Yechiel Michel Tukatzinsky, who maintains that the halachic dateline falls on the 144.8W meridian, through the eastern portion of Alaska. During Shabbat, we stay at local youth hostels within a 30-minute walk from the Chabad where we daven and eat the meals. 

Lodging: 
This is the list of all the places we are staying at: 9-hours Hamamatsucho, R-star Kyoto, Guesthouse Kobe Yamato, Santiago Guesthouse Hiroshima, J-ship Osaka Namba, and Tokyo Azabu Guesthouse.
The floors or rooms are separated by gender. For couples interested in this tour, I can organize a shared room as a slight increase to the overall price of the tour. 

Flights:
While the tour does not include flights, I am happy to help you book flights. I request that everyone lands in HND (Haneda Airport) between 2:00pm and 6:00pm on the first Monday. Flying out of Japan is up to you which airport and what time. I suggest HND as it is 20 minutes via monorail from the city center rather than 2 hours if you were flying from NRT (Narita Airport). 

Riggor: 
We are walking on average between 10 and 12 miles per day. However, we only walk with our big backpacks for up to 20 minutes at a time. This is because we lock up our bags in train stations while we are traveling between cities. 

WHAT'S INCLUDED:
This tour covers everything within Japan from accommodations to food. I've taken care of all the details so you can relax and immerse yourself in the experience. The idea is that you should not need to take out cash or a credit card unless you want to buy yourself a souvenir. The tour price covers hotels/hostels, rail passes, subway cards, admissions, Chabad meals, regular meals, various snacks, and my tour guiding fee. 
Cell phone plans, medical insurance, international drivers permits, and travel between Tokyo and Narita Airport are not included in this cost, however, I am very happy to help you get a sim card, organize your travel, and even pick you up from Narita Airport, and recommend an insurance plan.

DON'T MISS OUT:
Make sure to pack comfortable walking shoes use a 75L backpacking to hold everything you bring with you. Bring a phrase book and try to memorize a few helpful phrases before coming. While you don't need to know any Japanese before coming on my tour, you are more than welcome to practice and learn during the tour.