Malia Yoshioka is a freelance Food & Travel Writer and ESL Tutor from Hawaii. She's slowly eating her way around the world, 43 countries and counting so far! Get behind the scenes news, travel tips and the best food stories from around the web in her weekly Savor the Journey newsletter.
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🍜 The trade-off that lets me eat well anywhere
Published 5 months ago • 4 min read
👋 Greetings from Tokyo!
It feels like conversations about cost of living are everywhere right now. Housing is more expensive, travel feels harder to justify, and a lot of people are rethinking what’s actually sustainable.
Ten years ago, I shared country-specific cost breakdowns during a long-term trip in order to be transparent about what life on the road actually cost me compared to staying in Hawaii. I’ve been getting similar questions again lately, so this time around I’ve been keeping notes too. Here’s the short version from the first couple of weeks of this trip. Right now, my day-to-day costs in Tokyo look roughly like this:
Housing + food: about $60/day
Monthly estimate: around $1,850–1,900
It’s not cheap, but it is a reminder that there are still ways to make expensive cities work if you’re intentional about where you spend and where you save. For me, that’s meant capsule hotels, simple meals and public transport, with a few splurges mixed in here and there!
I’ve also been easing into the language and culture through food, of course, including on another fantastic tour with Culinary Backstreets. I came away with four new food-loving friends and a soft spot for the small businesses of the Mozen Nakacho neighborhood.
Scenes from our tour of the Mozen Nakacho neighborhood with Culinary Backstreets
I hope that no matter where you are in the world, you and your loved ones are safe and warm.
Happy holidays,
👉 How will you be celebrating the holidays this year? Do you have any special traditions or dishes that will be on the menu?
✨ New on Shoyu Sugar
🛌 Capsule hotels around the world
In cities where hotels might be pricey, I keep my lodging simple so that I can splurge on food. (Priorities! 😋) Capsule hotels have been one of the easiest ways to make that trade-off work. Would you stay in one?
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Get up to $120 off + bonus accessory with the Memorial Day Sale from Insta360! Lately I’ve had my eye on the Insta360 Go Ultra or 3S Have you tried a pocket cam yet?
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👋 Hi, I'm Malia Yoshioka!
I'm a freelance food and travel writer and guidebook author from Hawaii, slowly eating my way around the world and sharing the flavors with you in these weekly updates and on ShoyuSugar.com
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Malia Yoshioka is a freelance Food & Travel Writer and ESL Tutor from Hawaii. She's slowly eating her way around the world, 43 countries and counting so far! Get behind the scenes news, travel tips and the best food stories from around the web in her weekly Savor the Journey newsletter.
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