I mentioned a few weeks ago that I had been approved for credentials for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. This will be my first time covering the Summer Olympics, as my past two Olympic experiences were during the winter months.
This past week, I took the next step toward the trip to Japan becoming a reality next summer. I filled out the forms requesting the accommodations for the two-plus weeks for the Games. This isn’t a huge step, since the accommodations aren’t official until I make my first payment, but this was indeed at least a step forward heading toward Tokyo.
Tokyo is different than the first two Olympics that I attended. In Sochi in 2014, my accommodations in media housing were in what was essentially a hotel room. It was a room with a couple of beds and a bathroom. In PyeongChang in 2018, I stayed in what was essentially an apartment, which had three different rooms, a common area, a kitchen and two bathrooms. Both had their advantages and disadvantages, but in both cases, the housing was located in the media village, with all of the media grouped together.
In Tokyo, the accommodation situation is much different. Instead of staying in a media village, we will all be staying in existing hotels throughout the city. The Tokyo Organizing Committee set aside rooms in numerous hotels for media to stay in and when I was approved for credentials, the committee sent along a list of hotels.
I spent a bunch of time last week pouring over the different hotels, looking to find what made the most sense to me. In both Sochi and PyeongChang, my main priority was pricing and Tokyo was no different. Since paying for the trip is probably different on my end (I rely on lots of people helping me out and pay for some of it myself), pricing is a priority for me and I looked around for what was the best option. I found seven or eight hotels with prices less than $100 a night and then narrowed it down from there, looking at how far they are from the Main Press Center (which is where I’ve spent lots of time the last two Olympics), and what kind of amenities are offered at each hotel.
Our media housing includes breakfast but I was also looking for a place that has a laundromat and/or laundry service to make sure doing that simple task was easy. Once I narrowed things down, I had to select three different choices for accommodations and once I did that, I filed the forms online and sent them in to the organizing committee.
I then spent a little more time looking over the manuals that were available, checking out the transportation system (we get transit cards in addition to the normal buses), the media center services and more. I must say, it’s getting a little exciting thinking about what could be a pretty awesome experience.
I am grateful for all those that have helped me make my first two Olympic experiences a reality. It’s through much generous support from many people that I have been able to travel to Russia and South Korea. I still haven’t decided how to make this trip work, but I am expecting that at some point I will set up a GoFundMe page and I’ve kept my Olympic bank account open at TD Bank in Wolfeboro. Moving forward I will keep people advised if they are interested.
This past week, I took the next step toward the trip to Japan becoming a reality next summer. I filled out the forms requesting the accommodations for the two-plus weeks for the Games. This isn’t a huge step, since the accommodations aren’t official until I make my first payment, but this was indeed at least a step forward heading toward Tokyo.
Tokyo is different than the first two Olympics that I attended. In Sochi in 2014, my accommodations in media housing were in what was essentially a hotel room. It was a room with a couple of beds and a bathroom. In PyeongChang in 2018, I stayed in what was essentially an apartment, which had three different rooms, a common area, a kitchen and two bathrooms. Both had their advantages and disadvantages, but in both cases, the housing was located in the media village, with all of the media grouped together.
In Tokyo, the accommodation situation is much different. Instead of staying in a media village, we will all be staying in existing hotels throughout the city. The Tokyo Organizing Committee set aside rooms in numerous hotels for media to stay in and when I was approved for credentials, the committee sent along a list of hotels.
I spent a bunch of time last week pouring over the different hotels, looking to find what made the most sense to me. In both Sochi and PyeongChang, my main priority was pricing and Tokyo was no different. Since paying for the trip is probably different on my end (I rely on lots of people helping me out and pay for some of it myself), pricing is a priority for me and I looked around for what was the best option. I found seven or eight hotels with prices less than $100 a night and then narrowed it down from there, looking at how far they are from the Main Press Center (which is where I’ve spent lots of time the last two Olympics), and what kind of amenities are offered at each hotel.
Our media housing includes breakfast but I was also looking for a place that has a laundromat and/or laundry service to make sure doing that simple task was easy. Once I narrowed things down, I had to select three different choices for accommodations and once I did that, I filed the forms online and sent them in to the organizing committee.
I then spent a little more time looking over the manuals that were available, checking out the transportation system (we get transit cards in addition to the normal buses), the media center services and more. I must say, it’s getting a little exciting thinking about what could be a pretty awesome experience.
I am grateful for all those that have helped me make my first two Olympic experiences a reality. It’s through much generous support from many people that I have been able to travel to Russia and South Korea. I still haven’t decided how to make this trip work, but I am expecting that at some point I will set up a GoFundMe page and I’ve kept my Olympic bank account open at TD Bank in Wolfeboro. Moving forward I will keep people advised if they are interested.
This is the building where the Main Press Center will be located for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
