[kiddo]

There are so many amazing places in the USA. I'm astounded that you're saying most places are unremarkable. I'm not sure where to begin with suggestions. Slot canyons of Utah? Rain forests of the Pac NW? Appalachians? Small old coal towns in the NE PA? Snowy peaks of CO? Thousand Islands? Lancaster County, PA? There are big and awe inspiring places that I love and there are small and curious places that I enjoy too. There is so much here. Such a big country! I live in NYC now, and almost every neighborhood is remarkable in some way. You just have to open your eyes.

I'm curious why you thought Japan was cool. Could you explain?

Where in Rhode Island were you? What did you do there? Who were you with? Did you meet anyone?

[sliverstorm]

If we are talking about nature, I agree. I love nature, and I love visiting cool environmental features. I was speaking mostly of cities, which is what most people I know want to visit when they talk about traveling.

Visiting Japan (suburbs, not city) was like visiting a sort of parallel universe. Everything was fundamentally similar, but totally different. Additionally, I was learning Japanese at the time, so it was rather exciting just trying to converse with native speakers. It was quite a while ago so I can't think of much in the way of specific examples of the 'bests', but they have a number of cultural aspects and traditions I preferred over their western equivalents, such as sleeping accommodations and choice in breakfast foods. (always found most western breakfasts beyond cereal/oatmeal and toast despicable)

Providence. Spent the week with a girl, roaming around the city a bit.

[kiddo]

How are sleeping accom different in Japan from the US? What do Japanese people usually eat for breakfast?

I imagined Prov to be somewhat different from SV. Isn't SV composed of some smallish towns (PA, etc) and then vast modern suburbs? Isn't Prov an oldish city by US stds? Multi-story buildings with shopfronts, apts above, more pedestrians, less cars, narrower streets, different building materials, a harbor, more mom & pop shops, than SV? Granted, it's not Japan, but what did you expect?

[sliverstorm]

Well, they use a futon (they are different from the Western futon, looks something like this: http://futonmattressinfo.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/futo... ) which I found very comfortable. I don't know all the details, but while they still have a 'comforter' and a 'mattress', they were markedly different. The pillows were made of something similar to buckwheat hulls, and kicked the ass of every fluffy pillow I'd used to date. I have since acquired a buckwheat pillow, although it's not quite as good as whatever mystery filler it was. Not quite as cool and fluid. For breakfast, my favorite was hot rice mixed with small bits of meat and a raw egg cracked over it.

edit: I forgot about onigiri, that stuff was amazing too

Providence is most definitely different from SV. I wasn't disappointed or let down either- I expected pretty much what I got. I guess you could say besides the weather (rain) I felt I could have had pretty much the same experience in any of the US cities I've been to. Japan was different, because I was discovering the place rather than living in it. So, perhaps my lack of fascination with Providence stems from the fact that I am not enamored of m&p shops and old buildings. It was nice, but nothing to write home about.

[ramidarigaz]

The hostels I stayed in gave me a futon with a nice blanket. Most futons in Japan are thin (~4 inches thick), but quite comfortable. Several of the hostels had quite luxurious baths. In a town called Beppu, I stayed in a hostel that had natural hotspring pools available for guests. For $20 a night, that place was luxurious.

I stayed with a family in Japan. The dad was American, the Mom was Japanese, and they ate cereal and toast every morning. The dad said that's pretty much what all the kids eat. Another popular snacky thing is onigiri. It's a rice ball with a mystery filling (usually tasty), wrapped with dried seaweed. I ate them quite often for breakfast when I was on the road.

EDIT: Silverstorm's link is exactly the type of futon I slept on.