My husband and I got stranded in Japan during the pandemic. It was the most expensive holiday we've ever been on, but we had the best time.

Two years ago, my husband was on a work trip in Tokyo. He was stuck there when all flights home were cancelled due to Covid. It was a terrible time for the world, but a great time for Japan to test out the 'I'm stuck here' tourist.<br><br>Japan opened their borders to visitors who were stuck abroad. The idea was that instead of getting on a plane home, we would quarantine in a hotel for 14 days and then get tested. If we were negative, we could continue our holiday. If we were positive, we'd get to stay in the hotel for free for another 14 days while we recovered. Sounds good right?<br><br>The problem was that no one told us that all the airlines were selling all their future tickets to anyone who was already booked on a flight. So even though we weren't technically stuck, there were no planes to get us home.<br><br>We got our tests and were negative. Japan let us stay in the country for three months. We had no money, no plan, no place to live and no idea what to do. We decided to see as much of Japan as we could, on a tight budget.<br><br>We had a few thousand dollars between us and it was slowly dwindling. But Japan is a cheap country to live in, especially if you get stuck with Airbnb apartments in the suburbs of cities that no one wants to visit. We had to be careful with our money, but we had the best time.<br><br>We saw the cherry blossoms in Tokyo. We hiked in the mountains in Hokkaido. We visited theme parks on weekdays when they were half empty. We went to the best onsen in the country. And we got to experience the pandemic in Japan, from the strict mask laws to the robot restaurants.<br><br>After three months, my husband got a negative test result and a flight home. I had to stay in Japan for another few months before I could get out. But we decided to stick together for as long as possible and spent another six weeks apart only when we had to take tests. In the end, we spent six months in Japan.<br><br>It was the most expensive holiday we've ever been on. We were careful with our money, but we ran out of funds several times and had to ask our families for help. But it was the best time of our lives. We saw Japan like no tourists ever have.