Travel Diary | What I Learned From Travelling Around Japan

This post is a little later than I planned, but what with us flying over to Las Vegas to plan our wedding and it being so flipping hot in England, everything has been running a little slower. For this travel diary I wanted to take a different angle to what I'd normally do. With Japan being so far away and somewhere that you definitely need to plan for, I want to put together a list of things that we learned in the 10 days we spent traveling around Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, as well as a few of our top tips.

I'd love to hear from anyone who has been to Japan, or if you're thinking about going soon?

Take Recommendations, But Find Your Own Way

Tokyo is massive. With every district comes different interpretations of city guides and things to do, but with an economy which moves so fast it's hard to for guides to keep up. Before we left for Japan Yasumi gave us some sound advice, "Don't worry about following specific guides. Recommendations are great but businesses come and go every single month, so the chances are that you'll be disappointed. Just go explore on your own!". 

Wander Down the Backstreets

We were in Japan on business, but as it was a research project for Dan's furniture brand we constantly on the lookout for inspiration. Having Yasumi's advice in the back of our minds worked out perfectly, and as we weaved in and out of the cities backstreets – especially in Harajuku – we came across all sorts of coffee shops, design studios, independent stores, local makers, intriguing characters.

Take Artless Craft for instance; a beautifully designed coffee + tea shop in central Harajuku. We spent a good hour chatting to the owners about their design business (just behind the coffee shop), football, and how the city is constantly changing...

Explore The Future With MINI

It's not everyday you get a chance to see the future ­ well, not 30 years into the future anyway ­but, at the Roundhouse in London, that's exactly what MINI and BMW are letting you do.

We had a sneak peak; an extensive 'access all areas' introduction to the philosophy behind MINI's vision of the automotive future­ or, the future of mobility, as they were keen to emphasis.

This wasn't about engines, camshafts, valves, and whatever else goes under the bonnet of a car. This was, to some extent, about the aesthetics of a visionary car; but, mostly, it was about what a car of the future can do for you.

MINI have clearly­ thought long and hard about what people will need from a car tomorrow ­and what we’d love from a car today. They weren’t trying to impress us with some new stereo or a fancy colour scheme (in fact, the colour scheme of the car will match you; chosen for each individual by the car itself ­- honestly!).

Nope, they're looking to impress with a car that seamlessly integrates into your life and becomes uniquely personal to you, while ­conversely­ also being shared by the wider community.

As a piece of design, this car looks the part. Long sweeping rear lights, wrapped around that short recognisable body of a MINI, which seems to be a featureless screen of perfectly merged metal and glass. No door handles, the car opens when you tap your foot on the floor and displays your own, personal motif on the door, once you get in. 

Inside, the car is open to the world outside, almost from top­-to-­bottom, with a minimalist dashboard of brass, mesh, a couple of numbers indicating speed and direction, and a round device that is, literally, designed to inspire you.

And, the emphasis there is on 'you'. The MINI of the future will be personal to you, knowing your diary, your driving position, your preferred routes, while tapping into the wider MINI community to learn road conditions, traffic, and even ideas for where you might like to go.

But, at the same time, all this dynamic personalisation means that your MINI can be everyone's MINI, with the car adapting and adjusting to any MINI driver who uses it. That means, in the future we could all share our cars with each other (well, MINIs anyway), moving from one car to another and finding it perfectly set­-up for our requirements.

It’s a strange thought, yet one that you could see working well, especially in the city. With Airbnb, Uber, Santander cycles, DriveNow, and the like, people are used to sharing bikes, workspaces, rooms, apartments, and cars. Now, you’d be sharing a car that arrives as someone else’s, but quickly transforms to become yours, exactly the way you like it.

It’s a neat vision of the future and one that MINI deliver with a shining, sparkling, Minority Report­style of a car, that (for those who visited the Roundhouse) seems a lot closer to today than it does to 2030. To find about more about MINI’s Vision Vehicle, visit MINInext100 or @MINIUK for more information. #MINI #NEXT100

This post is in partnership with MINI. Thank you for taking the time to support the brands + businesses that make this blog happen.

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City Guide | 24 Hours in Nottingham

It’s true that a little local knowledge definitely goes a long way. When we set off to Nottingham a couple of weeks back, we’d done a bit of research, asked a few folks where we should go and what we should do; but, at the end of the first day we were feeling a bit down.

Partly, it was because of the weather (after a sunny start, it rained almost non-stop). Partly, it was because we were struggling with the controls on an old version of FIFA, back at our Airbnb. But, mainly, it was because we hadn’t seen much of the city that really captivated us. Don’t get me wrong, we’d been to a couple of good shops and bars; we just hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary or anything particularly noteworthy.

Realm & Empire – a British brand, with roots in the Midlands, that we’ve known and loved for a long while now – had read through our other city guides and thought we could do something similar in Nottingham. This was a project for our friends and we really didn’t want to let them down!

Thankfully, on that first day, we also spoke to the right people. The guys at Waste Studio, a creative agency with one epic toy collection, and the folks at Ideas on Paper, a really cool magazine shop, stuffed full of every magazine you’ll ever want to read, pointed us in the right direction.

It turns out, Nottingham is a pretty cool place and, not only that, it’s small enough to visit more-or-less everything on foot. Win-win!

Best of Airbnb | Concrete Maisonette + We're Going to Japan

We're booked! In what has been a pretty last minute decision I'm heading over to Japan in May with my furniture designer buddy Dan Marc! The opportunity came up for me to tag along on a business trip he's been planning, and I found it stupidly hard to turn down.

So for 10 days we'll be travelling around Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, heading to meetings (should we rent bikes in each city?), visiting homeware + design stores, getting into those insanely tall ice creams, and soaking up the culture. Too excited!

We're currently looking for a place to stay in Toyko, and my search on Airbnb has thrown up some pretty cool results so far. Look at the inventive use of space in this maisonette apartment, just near Tokyo Bay! Have you been to Japan? If anyone has any advice, recommendations or suggestions of places to go / people to meet, please do share!

Best of Airbnb is a series featuring some of the most exciting, desirable and unique places to rest your head, from around the world.

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Best of Airbnb | Modern Icelandic Apartment with Unexpected Colour

Everyone has a 'must visit' destination list, whether it's actually written down or just floating around inside their head. Mine's definitely the latter and if you ask me to name the top destination, I'll give a different answer every time. There are just too many holidays I want to take.

That said, Iceland appears at the top of my list so often that it's a saved favourite on Skyscanner. Do I really have to say why? Just take a look at the apartments in this Akureyri residence. Or, more to the point, take a look at those views!

While far from being the warmest place on earth, the rugged landscape of Iceland is breathtakingly beautiful and these apartments are designed to take full advantage of the scenery, with perfectly positioned windows framing the landscape, letting the light flood in, and keeping the cold out.

I won't claim Iceland will be my next holiday - there are weekends in Scotland and Germany to come first - but I'll definitely be visiting before long. For now, I'll kick back, stare at those views some more and think of what kit I'll need to order for such an adventure.

Best of Airbnb is a series featuring some of the most exciting, desirable and unique places to rest your head, from around the world.

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Best of Airbnb | The Lilong Coffee Loft, Shanghai

We rattled through a few of these Best of Airbnb recommendations last year, but the great thing about Airbnb is that the awesome properties just keep on coming! At a first glance, there’s not much out of the ordinary going on in this converted coffee loft, in Shanghai. Sure, it has a strong history, which I won’t repeat here (have a read on the listing’s page); however, it’s more-or-less what we’ve all come to expect from Airbnb - a warm, minimalist set-up with the classic bike mounted on the wall.

Hang on though, flick those pictures again...what’s this? A giant cube in the middle of the room, with shelves, TV, and a hidden bed?! They kept that one quiet!

This ‘multi-functional cubic’ - as it’s described in the bumph - is like an indoor treehouse: an angular treasure trove of hidden cupboards, sound systems, and bonsai trees, with a little staircase up to the bed. If that doesn’t get your inner 12-year-old grinning like crazy, then nothing will!

Have you stayed in an interesting Airbnb location or something equally as curious recently?

Best of Airbnb is a series featuring some of the most exciting, desirable and unique places to rest your head, from around the world.

You can find Nik at - Twitter | Instagram | Editions Newsletter

Best of Airbnb | Converted Factory in Shanghai

For our latest Airbnb find we've gone a little further afield, and found the perfect gaff to rest your head, if you ever find yourself booking a trip to Shanghai. This converted factory warehouse apartment is located in the Yangpu district, just 25 minutes away from downtown Shanghai, and receives glowing reviews from people looking for a relaxed and fun place to stay.

The loft has been lovingly kitted out by Jonas & Nina (Furniture Designer & Photographer), with repurposed furniture, old advertising merchandise, antiques and a museum's worth of books and trinkets. Want to hear the even better news? The apartment starts at just £38 per-night!

Have you stayed in an interesting Airbnb location or something equally as curious recently?

Best of Airbnb is a series featuring some of the most exciting, desirable and unique places to rest your head, from around the world.

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