The Konbini Run

Landing in Japan for the first time has a specific kind of chaos. Not loud. Just dense. Signs you can't read, queues that move without anyone saying anything, and the immediate, pressing question of how you're going to get from Narita to anywhere without internet.

The good news — all major airports in Japan have free Wi-Fi. Use the queue at customs to visit gomobly.com and activate your eSIM. By the time you're through, you're connected and ready to navigate Japan's metro network straight to your hotel.

Once that's sorted, find a konbini. In the city stumbling upon one is unavoidable — 56,000 across the country. Corners, train stations, below office buildings. At the airports, you need to know where to look. Narita has a 24-hour Lawson on T1 B1F and a 7-Eleven on T2 4th floor open 6am to 11pm, with further options at T3. At Haneda, head to the 7-Eleven in the Terminal 3 departure area, open 6am to 11pm.

Start with the tamago sando — egg salad on milk bread. Anthony Bourdain called it "unnatural, inexplicable, and delicious." Pocari Sweat for the dehydration. Melon pan, which contains no melon and somehow works anyway. Open at 3am, hot food ready, ATM that takes your card, zero judgment.

One of the great systems of modern civilisation. But you need signal to find it first.

Go Mobly — activate before you land.