Cousin Connect Adventure 2026 – PLAYWORKEATREPEAT

Hi, friends! I hope you have a great Tuesday. I wanted to stop by and share our exciting itinerary! On Sunday, my traveling cousins ​​and our families got together and booked our flights. After we made the financial commitment, I thought, “Yeah, we’re tied,” and now I can finally share. Our next Cousin Connect adventure will be in April, and we’re off to… Singapore and Japan for 11 days! Eeeek!!

The crew was the same as on our trip to the US—my cousin, her husband, and her two kids, plus our family of three. Hooray!

---

Until our last trip, overseas travel was of little concern to me. I’d been to North and South America when I was young, and that seemed like enough to me at the time. I love living in those pleasant memories. But ever since my travel-loving cousin opened his eyes to overseas adventures, I think we may have caught the travel bug. No one was more surprised about this than I, as I was more than happy to leave the world of flying for birds—they were made for that!

But here’s the thing: post-holiday blues are a real thing. As soon as we landed back in Sydney after our final leg of the trip, the joy of getting home safely lasted about five minutes. Then I started to miss everyone. The adventure was over, life was going back to normal, and I had nothing to look forward to. Very dramatic?

I thought it was just me, but no, we all felt it. Then, not long after, my cousin said, “We need to plan another trip,” and just like that, I was healed.

Our Travel Plan So Far

On the way to and from Japan, we will spend approximately one day in Singapore each way. That would give us enough time to stretch our legs and explore Jewel at Changi Airport, a huge mall with an indoor waterfall, rainforest and lots of shops. It’s all inside the airport, can you believe it? I think we also discussed the possibility of visiting Marina Bay Sands.

And it’s no surprise that this Disney-loving family plans to visit Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea. Universal Studios Japan is also on lockdown. That’s all we have planned so far. It’s still in the early stages, and our mission now is to figure out what we can do while we’re there. Planning is so much fun!

Places On Our List

These are the places we are talking about. Some are locked, some are still possible.

• Singapore
• Tokyo
• Kyoto
• Osaka

Some Places We’re Thinking About

Here’s a mix of places and experiences that have caught our attention so far.

• Tokyo Tower or Skytree (view)
• Shibuya Crossing (famous busy street)
• Ueno Garden/Shinjuku Gyoen (beautiful cherry blossoms)
• Arashiyama Bamboo Forest (tall bamboo)
• Fushimi Inari Shrine (red gate)
• Dotonbori (street food)
• Osaka Castle (fortress)
• Shinkansen (bullet train)

I’m sure we’ll have some planning meetings in the next few weeks, and my cousin J and I have been sending each other some ideas we saw on Instagram Reels.

Apparently, there’s a trend for running alone at busy Shibuya Crossing and posing. Haha, who knows if the seven of us will be brave enough to try it!

---

The YouTube travel videos I watched said that learning a few useful words in Japanese was a good idea. So far, all I know is Good morning (good morning) and Thank you very much (Thank You). Looks like I still have a ways to go!

I also picked up a few cultural tips: crossing the street can apparently result in a $5,000 fine, and eating while walking is considered rude. On the train, everyone keeps things calm, so we have to remember our manners.

It might also be a good idea to know how to use a high-tech toilet, so I think I’ll need to watch a few more YouTube tutorials on that. I know, right? I didn’t expect toilets to have so many options other than just flushing.

And it turns out, there is a drink that can make you more than drunk in a short time called Strong Zero. I’ll try the sake, but I’d better stay away from that one.

T-Shirt Drama

We are all so excited, and I can’t believe we will be visiting another Disneyland so soon! One of the first things we needed to complete was our personalized t-shirt. I think the drama of our last family t-shirt plan has finally passed enough that I can talk about it.

For our trip to the US, we ordered cute personalized T-shirts for Disney and Universal. They had amazing graphics, and we ordered them about six weeks before we left through Printerval. As the journey drew closer, and they had not yet arrived, we began to worry. We sent emails and WhatsApp messages, but nothing. No response. Do you know when they finally arrive? Even though we are already in the second week of our trip. Very good.

Luckily, before we left, my cousin organized a quick plan B and had some T-shirts from Target delivered to our hotel. It wasn’t exactly what we planned, but it all worked out, and we all hit it off. And the original t-shirt? I haven’t even opened the package yet. I just put it in the cupboard, and I still can’t see it.

---

So that’s my exciting news! If you have any tips about Japan, places to see, things to try, or even travel tips, I’d love to hear them. Every little idea helps.

I’m going to watch more YouTube videos about Japan, and yes, I also need to listen to some Lovefly podcasts to get me ready to fly again. If you’re as scared of flying as I am, you might want to check out their website too. My words for 2025 are bold, and for 2026 I add a new word—self-confidence 😬

Thanks so much for stopping by!