A Man Agreed To Let A Friend Join Him On A Trip To Japan, But Now He Wants To Spend Most Of The Vacation Doing Things On His Own
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As someone who likes to travel alone, I feel this story….
Deep in my soul!
Because, at some point, a lot of folks (including me), realize that solo vacations are the way to go!
And the guy who wrote this story is clearly on the same page as me.
He sounded off about why his trip to Japan has now hit some serious roadblocks…because he’s not on his own anymore!
Read on and see what you think.
AITA for telling my friend that I want to spend most of our Japan trip exploring alone after he asked to come with me?
“I originally planned a roughly 15-day solo trip to Japan after graduating. I wanted to explore the cities at my own pace, wander around and decide each day what I felt like doing.
Oh, boy…
About 2 weeks before the trip, my friend of 17 years asked if he could come. I didn’t really want him to at first, but eventually agreed because we’ve known each other for so long and I thought having someone with me might be more fun.
My family also encouraged it because they were worried about me traveling so far away alone. We then changed some plans and organized the trip together.
Now that we’re here, I’ve realized we imagined the trip very differently. He mostly wants to visit sights he found on TikTok and take pictures, while I want to wander around, explore neighborhoods and see where the day takes me.
This sucks!
The bigger issue is that I’ve realized we basically have nothing in common and zero chemistry. I often have no idea what to talk to him about, and even when I try to start a conversation, it usually goes nowhere.
We’ve known each other for 17 years, but whenever we hung out before, it was usually with other friends around. I never really knew what we’d be like spending this much time together one-on-one. Now he honestly feels more like someone I barely know.
There was also something about a year ago that I probably should have taken more seriously. He shared something personal about me with a bunch of people at school.
And he sounds a bit sketchy…
When I confronted him, he initially denied it, then tried to downplay what happened, and never apologized.
I brushed it off at the time, but looking back, I don’t think his general attitude has changed much, which makes it even more unbearable to be around him
After the first few days in Tokyo, I realized I really wanted to experience the cities alone.
I told him I’d like to spend more of the daytime exploring by myself, while still doing things together like eating out, Shibuya Sky, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and Universal Studios.
He got pretty angry and said that we’re traveling together and that I have nothing better to do than hang up and say I want to explore the city alone.
Awkward!
He said he can keep himself occupied, but that you don’t go on vacation together just to spend most of the time apart.
I understand why he’s upset. I agreed to let him come, so from his perspective he expected us to actually travel together. I also didn’t realize until we got here how strongly I’d prefer being alone.
I’ve considered getting separate rooms in the same hotels for Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima, but I haven’t booked anything because he’s already upset and I feel like doing that right now would just make things worse.
I don’t want to ditch him or ruin his trip. I just want to experience Japan mostly on my own while still doing some things together.
AITA?”
And here’s what folks had to say on Reddit.
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This person said they both SUCK.
This Reddit user didn’t hold back.
Another person spoke up.
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a sister who feels badly about unknowingly encouraging her younger brother to play with bullies.
And this individual weighed in.
I’m getting secondhand anxiety reading this!
I’d never allow someone to join in on a trip like this!
Well…this is kind of his fault for agreeing to this in the first place…
This trip to Japan turned into a nightmare!
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