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My favorite part of proton docs is what it can't do, today's nyt connections hints and answer for july 11 (#396), quick links, how to view old street view images, some areas are better served than others, do more with google maps.

Google Street View is a great way to see a map from a first-person perspective. You can use this to help find an address, do a bit of virtual sightseeing, or use historic Street View data to travel back in time.

Google will refresh its Street View data every few years in many areas, and you can see older Street View imagery using the desktop version of Google Maps. To do this, head to maps.google.com in a web browser on a computer (This won't work on a smartphone.).

Now, bring up Street View by clicking and dragging the Street View icon (pictured below) and then releasing it while hovering over a street or road. You can also click on a location and then click again on the Street View thumbnail that appears at the bottom of the screen.

To view historic Street View imagery, look at the top-right corner of Google Maps. If older Street View imagery is available, you'll see a clock icon with a downward arrow in this box.

Click on the arrow to see images taken by Street View teams in the past. You can click and drag the slider to move backward and forward through time. You can move around and change perspective and the view will update in real-time. Click on a captured image to see it in full-screen.

To get back to present-day Street View, drag the slider all the way to the right and click on the image again.

Google Maps as a service has some of the best (if not the best) coverage in the world, with an ever-expanding cache of Street View data. Where you live ultimately decides how much historical Street View data you'll have available to you.

The streets around Mountain View in California, where Google is based, have Street View data dating back to 2007 when the service first launched. Many cities and routes were added in the following years, although much of the imagery from the late 2000s is low resolution compared to modern Street View data.

If you don't see the clock icon with a drop-down arrow while in Street View, it means that you're looking at the only pass that the Street View team has made.

Google Maps is an amazing resource, whether you're planning a trip or bored on your lunch break. You can use it to create your own custom maps  or plan a road trip with multiple destinations,  and you can access it all on your smartphone.

You can even use it to keep track of your friends and family .

Related: How to Find Your Family and Friends Using Google Maps

With Google Maps, It’s Now Possible To Travel Through Time

We can all be Marty McFly thanks to a new tool in Google Street View that offers seven years of views from street corners around the globe

Helen Thompson

A lot can change in seven years: buildings rise and landscapes change. Whether you’re standing near the ocean in Japan or in the middle of Times Square, your view will likely be quite different in less than a decade.

That’s the premise behind Google Maps’ newest time-lapse tool, launched today. Since it was released in 2007,  Google Street View  has allowed users to explore a given area from the perspective of walking along a sidewalk, but with the new tool, they’ll actually be able to see how the street and its surroundings have changed.

“Our mission in maps is to build a map that’s accurate, useful and comprehensive, and I think that being able to expose historic images that we’ve collected in the past helps us be able to meet this comprehensiveness aspect,” says Vinay Shet, the product manager of Google Street View. 

The new time-travel function draws on image data captured by a fleet of  Google Street View SUVs, snowmobiles, tricycles, and even a backpack, which for seven years have trekked across the globe with video cameras and GPS units to capture busy intersections and rolling hillsides across   all seven continents. By selecting "street view" and clicking on a clock icon at the top of the screen, users can explore an area’s evolution as far back   as Google’s photo-documentation can reach. The project pulls together years of Google Street View imagery, some of it previously unreleased, and took several months to complete. It marks the latest in a recent string of expansions in what users can see in street view, from the ruins of Angkor Wat to the Colorado River .

Users can travel back in time wherever street view is available around the world, and the project will continue to add to   its collection of image data as years pass.

“In two years time 2007 will be vintage, so we hope that as time goes by this tool becomes more and more valuable to our users,” Shet says.

On some level the tool is similar to time-lapse videos, but it's not the same. The tool serves as an interactive visual archive that to date has only been available manually by sifting through old digital images, film strips and negatives. 

Before releasing the tool, Shet and his team did some exploring of their own with what the technology could offer. Some of the most common scenes to be viewed with the tool are ever-changing urban skylines around the world, including the rise of landmark buildings like the World Cup stadium in Rio de Janiero, the World Trade Center’s Freedom Tower in New York City, and the Marina Bay Sands hotel in Singapore. 

Users can also see changes in nature as the world shifts   between seasons, a natural phenomenon that’s made time-lapse videos across the Internet forever popular. In Norway, for example, a mountain road goes from an idyllic summer scene to one blanketed with snow.

“It’s the same place but it looks dramatically different,” Shet says.

The tool also highlights areas hit by natural disasters in the last seven years, from the fallout and reconstruction of land along coastal Japan—ravaged by both an earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011—to the earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand that same year.

Interestingly, in Japan, the viewer gets the impression of physically moving horizontally when clicking between past and present. At first, developers thought they had taken footage from the wrong coordinates. “In reality, the ground had shifted by around 5 meters,” Shet says. “But you see that effect when you go across time, so I think that this a really powerful imaging tool that you have there.”

Beyond imagery highlighting the beauty and destruction of nature, the Google Street view imagery shows social change. Changing advertisements in Time Square reveal shifts in technology from flip phones to smart phones, while a street view of an urban building might show the artistic evolution of its graffiti. 

Google's decision to make the images public opens them up to a wide array of possibilities. One could envision urban scientists looking at how a neighborhood has changed over the years, or criminal investigators reconstructing the appearance of an old crime scene. Whether those fields find the tool useful remains to be seen, but Shet is optimistic it will have applications beyond the initial wow-factor. 

“Obviously, people can use it in whatever way they want. People are going to look at how things have changed in an interesting way and how humanity has kind of moved forward in different ways,” Shet says. “It’s going to be exciting to see what people find.”

So, go forth and virtually explore your neighborhood’s evolution over the last seven years—who knows what you might discover.

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Helen Thompson | | READ MORE

Helen Thompson writes about science and culture for Smithsonian . She's previously written for NPR, National Geographic News , Nature and others.

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How to Time Travel in Google Maps Street View

The Google Street View feature in Google Maps allows you see the current street view of a location. Did you also know that you can time travel using Google Maps Street View and view a location as it was back in the day? Let’s see how you can use Google Maps Street View to travel back in time.

How to View Old Street View Images

Google refreshes Street View data in a set time for many areas. This way, it allows you to view older images of places. However, do note that you can only use this time travel feature on Google Maps Street View on the desktop version.

1. Open any web browser and head over to maps.google.com .

2. Enter a location that you wish to see how it looked in the past. For this example, we are searching “85 West Street, New York, NY, USA.”

3. You need to select the Street View icon for the location. For more precision, you can first click on the location, then click on the Street View icon. Both work the same.

4. You will see a circular arrow-shaped icon with clock-hands in between. Notably, you won’t be able to see older images of every location. If it is available for that particular location, this icon will show up.

5. Tapping on it will reveal a timeline you can slide to go back in time and view older images of the same place. Moreover, you can change your perspective and view the updates as they happened.

6. To view the image in full-screen mode, simply tap on the “Magnifying Glass” icon.

7. That’s it!

As mentioned above, this feature is not applicable for every location. When it is available, you will see the time travel icon. For more tips on Google Maps, you can learn how to show the speed limit on Google Maps and save a route on Google Maps .

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How to time travel with Google Maps

Google added a time machine feature to Street View, which lets you take a virtual trip down memory lane to see how locations have changed over the years.

Google last month introduced a time machine feature to Street View on Google Maps for the desktop, letting you choose a past date for locations where Google's Street View van has passed by more than once.

For a location where there is only a single set of Street View imagery, you'll see the month and year the image was taken beneath the address. For my small city in New Hampshire, for example, I now know that the Street View van came through in August 2011.

If I head south to Boston, however, I'll encounter the new Street View time machine. I plugged in Fenway Park, and next to the banner with the date of when the current image was captured, there is a small clock icon with "New" written in red text. Clicking on this banner opens a small window with a slider of dates that stretch back to 2007. As I select different dates, I can preview the image for each date in this small window, and by clicking on the preview window, I can open a past date in Street View. I can then walk the streets in Street View in the past.

While I was able to see Fenway in September 2007 -- just before the Red Sox's second World Series championship -- I was unable to go back any further to the dark days of The Curse and chants of 1918. If you'd like to see how your house or favorite landmarks have changed over the past seven years or so, however, Google Maps provides a fun way to take a trip down memory lane.

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In the coming months, the Location History setting name will change to Timeline. If Location History is turned on for your account, you may find Timeline in your app and account settings. Learn more .

Google Maps Timeline

Manage your Timeline

Google Maps Timeline is a personal map that helps you remember routes and trips you've taken and places you've been based on your Location History. You can edit your Timeline at any time and delete your Location History in Timeline.

If you have settings like Web & App Activity turned on and you turn off Location History or delete location data from Location History, you may still have location data saved in your Google Account as part of your use of other Google Sites, apps, and services. This activity can include info about your location from your device’s general area and IP address. For example, location data may be saved as part of activity on Search and Google Maps when your Web & App Activity setting is on, and included in your photos, depending on your camera app settings.

Find your travels

You can find how far you've traveled and the way that you traveled, such as walking, biking, driving, or on public transport. Timeline measures distances in miles or kilometers is based on your country or region.

• On your computer, open Google Maps .
• Sign in with the same Google Account that you use on your mobile device.

• To find another date, at the top, choose a day, month, and year.

Find your home & work on Timeline

If you've saved your home and work addresses, they show up on Timeline. In addition to Timeline, this information may also be used in other Google products and services.

Learn how to set your home and work addresses .

Edit Timeline

If a place is wrong on Timeline, you can edit the location and when you were there. 

• On your computer, go to Timeline .

• Choose the correct place or search for a place in the search box.
• To edit when you were there, click the time.
• Click the day that you want to delete.

• Click Delete day .

To delete Location History:

• Click Delete Location History .

Automatically delete your Location History

You can automatically delete Location History that’s older than 3 months, 18 months, or 36 months.

• Follow the on-screen instructions.

Turn Location History on or off

When you turn on Location History, your precise device location is regularly saved — to your devices and Google’s servers, even when Google apps aren’t being used, and creates your Timeline.

Learn more about how to manage your Location History .

You’re in control

You can always review your data, and any choices you make here, at activity.google.com or your Timeline .

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Data retention with time travel and fail-safe

This document describes time travel and fail-safe data retention for datasets. During the time travel and fail-safe periods, data that you have changed or deleted in any table in the dataset continues to be stored in case you need to recover it.

Time travel

You can access data from any point within the time travel window, which covers the past seven days by default. Time travel lets you query data that was updated or deleted, restore a table or dataset that was deleted, or restore a table that expired.

Configure the time travel window

You can set the duration of the time travel window, from a minimum of two days to a maximum of seven days. Seven days is the default. You set the time travel window at the dataset level, which then applies to all of the tables within the dataset.

You can configure the time travel window to be longer in cases where it is important to have a longer time to recover updated or deleted data, and to be shorter where it isn't required. Using a shorter time travel window lets you save on storage costs when using the physical storage billing model . These savings don't apply when using the logical storage billing model.

For more information on how the storage billing model affects cost, see Billing .

How the time travel window affects table and dataset recovery

A deleted table or dataset uses the time travel window duration that was in effect at the time of deletion.

For example, if you have a time travel window duration of two days and then increase the duration to seven days, tables deleted before that change are still only recoverable for two days. Similarly, if you have a time travel window duration of five days and you reduce that duration to three days, any tables that were deleted before the change are still recoverable for five days.

Because time travel windows are set at the dataset level, you can't change the time travel window of a deleted dataset until it is undeleted.

If you reduce the time travel window duration, delete a table, and then realize that you need a longer period of recoverability for that data, you can create a snapshot of the table from a point in time prior to the table deletion. You must do this while the deleted table is still recoverable. For more information, see Create a table snapshot using time travel .

Specify a time travel window

You can use the Google Cloud console, the bq command-line tool, or the BigQuery API to specify the time travel window for a dataset.

For instructions on how to specify the time travel window for a new dataset, see Create datasets .

For instructions on how to update the time travel window for an existing dataset, see Update time travel windows .

If the timestamp specifies a time outside time travel window, or from before the table was created, then the query fails and returns an error like the following:

Time travel and row-level access

If a table has, or has had, row-level access policies , then only a table administrator can access historical data for the table.

The following Identity and Access Management (IAM) permission is required:

The following BigQuery role provides the required permission:

The bigquery.rowAccessPolicies.overrideTimeTravelRestrictions permission can't be added to a custom role .

Run the following command to get the equivalent Unix epoch time:

Replace the UNIX epoch time 1691164834000 received from the previous command in the bq command-line tool. Run the following command to restore a copy of the deleted table deletedTableID in another table restoredTable , within the same dataset myDatasetID :

BigQuery provides a fail-safe period. During the fail-safe period, deleted data is automatically retained for an additional seven days after the time travel window, so that the data is available for emergency recovery. Data is recoverable at the table level. Data is recovered for a table from the point in time represented by the timestamp of when that table was deleted. The fail-safe period is not configurable.

You can't query or directly recover data in fail-safe storage. To recover data from fail-safe storage, contact Cloud Customer Care .

If you set your storage billing model to use physical bytes, the total storage costs you are billed for include the bytes used for time travel and fail-safe storage. Time travel and fail-safe storage are charged at the active physical storage rate. You can configure the time travel window to balance storage costs with your data retention needs.

If you set your storage billing model to use logical bytes, the total storage costs you are billed for don't include the bytes used for time travel or fail-safe storage.

The following table show a comparison of physical and logical storage costs:

If you use physical storage, you can see the bytes used by time travel and fail-safe by looking at the TIME_TRAVEL_PHYSICAL_BYTES and FAIL_SAFE_PHYSICAL_BYTES columns in the TABLE_STORAGE and TABLE_STORAGE_BY_ORGANIZATION views. For an example of how to use one of these views to estimate your costs, see Forecast storage billing .

Physical storage example

The following table shows how deleted data is billed when you are using physical storage. This example shows a situation where the total active physical storage is 200 GiB and then 50 GiB is deleted, and the time travel window is seven days:

Deleting data from long-term physical storage works in the same way.

Limitations

• Time travel only provides access to historical data for the duration of the time travel window. To preserve table data for non-emergency purposes for longer than the time travel window, use table snapshots .
• If a table has, or has previously had, row-level access policies, then time travel can only be used by table administrators. For more information, see Time travel and row-level access .
• Time travel does not restore table metadata.

What's next

• Learn how to query and recover time travel data .
• Learn more about table snapshots .

Except as otherwise noted, the content of this page is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License , and code samples are licensed under the Apache 2.0 License . For details, see the Google Developers Site Policies . Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.

Last updated 2024-07-09 UTC.

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Go Back in Time on Google Maps: See Historical Location Pictures

Last Updated: November 27, 2023 Fact Checked

Google Earth Pro

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Nicole Levine, MFA . Nicole Levine is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. She has more than 20 years of experience creating technical documentation and leading support teams at major web hosting and software companies. Nicole also holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Portland State University and teaches composition, fiction-writing, and zine-making at various institutions. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 386,683 times. Learn more...

This wikiHow article will show you how to change the date on a location on Google Maps so you can go back in time. If you're using Google Maps, you can view Street View images from previous dates easily in your web browser. If you want to see historical maps and satellite images, you can download Google Earth Pro, which is free for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Things You Should Know

• View old Street View photos in Google Maps, and historical maps and terrain in Google Earth Pro.
• In Google Maps, drag the orange person icon to a location, then click "See more dates" to view past images.
• In Google Earth, search for a location, go to View > Historical Imagery, and drag the slider left to go back in time.

• Going back in time is only available for Street View images. If you want to see historical satellite images and maps, use this method instead.

• You may not be able to go back in time for some Street View images.

• Once you download the installer, double-click it, then follow the on-screen instructions to install.
• Open Google Earth Pro after installing it by clicking its icon in your application list.

• You can control which elements are visible on the map (such as weather, roads, and 3D buildings) using the "Layers" panel at the bottom-left corner.
• Use the zoom bar on the left side of the map to zoom in or out .

• You can also toggle this option quickly by clicking the clock icon in the toolbar. [6] X Research source

• At the top of the slider, you'll see two magnifying glass icons. You can use these icons to change the start and end times available on your slider.

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• ↑ https://support.google.com/maps/answer/3093484?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop
• ↑ https://support.google.com/earth/answer/148081
• ↑ https://support.google.com/earth/answer/148094?hl=en

About This Article

1. Go to https://maps.google.com/ in a web browser. 2. Drag and drop the orange human icon to a location on the map. 3. Click the clock icon. 4. Drag and slide the slider to the year you want to see. 5. Click the preview image to select it. Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Where are the fires in Greece? What wildfires in Kos mean for your trip

After Greece experienced its earliest ever heatwave last month, continued extreme temperatures have caused wildfires in Kos, Chios and Crete

Greece is only set to get busier over the next few weeks, with tourists from all over flocking to the country’s islands to enjoy its glorious sandy beaches and guaranteed sun. However, Greece’s  earliest-ever heatwave  in June marked the start of another summer of extremely high temperatures and wildfires . 

Only a couple of weeks after the  Paphos wildfires,  tourists have described ‘apocalyptic’ scenes of smoke after more wildfires broke out on Monday July 1 on the islands of Kos, Chios and Crete. Understandably,  this is worrying news if you’ve got an upcoming trip to Greece. Here is everything you need to know about the wildfires in Greece and how they might affect your holiday. 

Where are the wildfires in Greece? 

The islands of Kos , Chios and Crete  saw wildfires spread from Monday July 1, for the following couple of days. In eastern Kos, a wildfire broke out in Antimachia early Monday afternoon and spread towards the tourist resort of Kardamaina. 10,000 people were evacuated and took shelter in schools, sports stadiums and hotels in Antimachia, Mastichari and Marmari, according to Ekathimerini.com .  It’s thought that at least 3,300 acres of land on the island have burned at the time of writing.

On the island of Chios, the northwest town of Sidirounda saw a blaze break out, but was diverted away from residential areas this morning thanks to additional firefighting forces dispatched from Lesvos and Athens.  Vianos on the southern coast of Crete also saw a wildfire break out, and the village of Katofygi was evacuated as a precaution – this fire has also now been contained to a ravine. 

The island of Serifos and the Attica region around Athens also saw fires break out over the weekend (June 29 and 30) but these had been controlled and subsided by Monday morning. 

Is it safe to travel? 

News of wildfires is of course a concern if you have a trip booked to Greece, but there is currently no official advice against travelling to the country. Instead, you should follow local advice on how to stay safe in the heat and check if there is a risk of wildfires in the area you’re staying. 

Those travelling to Kos, Chios and Crete might face difficulties as the islands have carried out evacuations. 

The good news is that Greece has amped up its prep for the summer ahead. More staff have been hired and trained, and the use of drones and early warning systems have proved useful in tracking potential wildfires so far.  

What started the fires in Greece? 

The prolonged drought and dry weather that Greece has experienced has led to what  Sky News describes as ‘tinderbox-like’ conditions. Paired with unusually strong winds, conditions have been prime for the outbreak of wildfires. 

Can I get a refund if I choose not to travel because of wildfires? 

To see what can be done, it’s best to contact your accommodation, flight or trip provider directly – the likelihood of a full refund can be unclear when travelling to Greece has not been advised against.

Under the Package Travel Regulations, travellers who have been evacuated can likely seek reasonable compensation for their trip if the holiday company they booked with fails to proactively offer a refund or vouchers. 

If you are already in Greece and want to return home early, it’s possible (depending on your trip provider) that you’ll be able to do so at no extra charge. Whether  you’ll be refunded for the rest of your holiday all depends on your trip provider and insurance policy.

What’s the latest UK Foreign Office advice? 

The UK Foreign Office has not yet issued any advice against travelling to any parts of Greece, but its section on forest fires and wildfires says: ‘There is a high risk of wildfires during the summer season from April to October. Wildfires are highly dangerous and unpredictable. The situation can change quickly. To avoid starting wildfires: leave no litter, especially not glass which is known to start fires; make sure cigarettes are properly extinguished; do not light barbecues. Causing a wildfire or a forest fire is a criminal offence in Greece – even if unintentional. If you see a fire, call the emergency services on 112.’

It also encourages you to follow @112Greece for official updates on X (fka Twitter), and to follow guidance issued by the local emergency services. 

What started the fires in Greece in 2023? 

Last summer, Europe experienced extremely hot and dry weather conditions which, combined with strong winds, put plenty of areas at high risk of wildfires.

However,  a senior climate crisis official said the majority of fires were started by ‘human hand’. As of late August 163 arrests have been made on fire-related charges. 

Where else in Europe has been affected by wildfires?

Wildfires have also broken out in Türkiye  as the temperature reached between eight and 12C higher than seasonal norms. Following fires in Antalya’s Kumluca in June, blazes have broken out  in the Selçuk and Menderes districts of İzmir, and in Susurluk, Balıkesir, in the last week. H undreds of hectares of land have been destroyed.

Greece’s extreme temperatures led to  Athens closing schools and tourist attractions , including the Acropolis, last month. Paphos in Cyprus also experienced wildfires .

Elsewhere in Europe, areas of southern Switzerland, northeast France and northern Italy have been battered by torrential rain and storms , and seven people have reportedly died. 

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New theory suggests time is an illusion created by quantum entanglement

If you buy through a BGR link, we may earn an affiliate commission, helping support our expert product labs.

A new definition of time suggests that what we once thought was a fundamental element of our physical reality could actually just be an illusion created by quantum entanglement. That’s a very bold statement and one that certainly requires a little digging into to fully understand. So, let’s dig in.

General relativity says that time is baked into our universe, that our physical reality is set in space-time, and that time can warp and dilate in the presence of gravity; scientists believe we have seen the Milky Way’s black hole warp space-time around it. However, quantum theory says that time isn’t bendable in any way. It does not change. Many physicists believe that the definition of time across both theories should be consistent. To prove this, Alessandro Coppo and other researchers went hunting for a new way to define time.

The suggestion here, at its core, seems to point to time being purely a consequence of entanglement. It states that the only reason that an object appears to change over time is because it is entangled with a clock. As such, anyone observing the universe externally would see it as completely static and unchanging.

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It’s certainly an interesting new way to try to define time. While many physicists believe that the new definition of time is promising, there are still some details that need to be ironed out to really fully understand exactly what time is and whether or not it is truly a consequence of quantum entanglement. There’s also the matter of whether or not we can even test any of these ideas.

The researchers published their findings in a paper featured in Physical Review A .

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Josh Hawkins has been writing for over a decade, covering science, gaming, and tech culture. He also is a top-rated product reviewer with experience in extensively researched product comparisons, headphones, and gaming devices.

Whenever he isn’t busy writing about tech or gadgets, he can usually be found enjoying a new world in a video game, or tinkering with something on his computer.

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Go back in time with Street View

Apr 23, 2014

[[read-time]] min read

If you’ve ever dreamt of being a time traveler like  Doc Brown , now’s your chance. Starting today, you can travel to the past to see how a place has changed over the years by exploring Street View imagery in  Google Maps  for desktop. We've gathered historical imagery from past Street View collections dating back to 2007 to create this digital time capsule of the world.

Now with Street View, you can see a landmark's growth from the ground up, like the  Freedom Tower  in New York City or the  2014 World Cup Stadium  in Fortaleza, Brazil. This new feature can also serve as a digital timeline of recent history, like the reconstruction after the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Onagawa, Japan . You can even experience different seasons and see what it would be like to cruise  Italian roadways  in both summer and winter.

Forget going 88 mph in a  DeLorean —you can stay where you are and use Google Maps to virtually explore the world as it is—and as it was. Happy (time) traveling!

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3 big mistakes people traveling to Japan make, according to someone who's visited 11 times

• Grace Cheng, a 22-year-old travel blogger based in NYC, has visited Japan 11 times.
• She said travelers going to Japan for the first time consistently make a few mistakes.
• Travelers focus on Tokyo, Cheng added, but don't leave enough time for other cities.  

Out of the 34 countries travel blogger Grace Cheng has visited, none has left such a lasting impression than Japan . From visiting historical temples during cherry blossom season to the diverse and delicious food scene , Japan stole her heart.

"It's so different than what you see here in the States, and it's so different from any other country," she said.

Cheng, who is 22 and based in NYC, has noticed the country becoming a "hot spot" for tourists.

The International Trade Administration shows that the number of US travelers flying to Japan was already over 900,000 from January to May, a 17.4% increase from the same time period in 2023. One factor driving the surge in tourists from the US is the strongest dollar-to-yen exchange rate in recent history. As of July 8, $1 buys 160.74 yen.

Cheng first visited Japan in 2017, and she's gone 11 times since then. Here, she shares three of the biggest mistakes to avoid when planning a trip to Japan to better your chances of immersing yourself in the culture and exploring off the beaten path.

Mistake 1: They overfill their itineraries

There is so much to explore in Japan, from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo's famous Shibuya crossing (one of the busiest in the world) to the serene tranquility of the gardens and shrines in Kyoto.

But as excited as tourists can be to get a taste of everything, Cheng advises them to make sure their itineraries aren't jam-packed every day.

"The ideal time I would give Japan is probably seven to 10 days," Cheng says, adding that it is a sufficient time to explore a few regions without feeling rushed.

A shorter trip, especially for first-time visitors, could mean that "every day is just back-to-back attractions or moving," which ultimately results in high stress.

"You don't really get to experience Japan for what it's worth because you're just always on the go," she added.

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If you are truly pressed for time and only have a few days to spare in Japan, Cheng recommends prioritizing Tokyo, given it is a "major destination everyone has to go to" at least once in their life if they can.

Mistake 2: They don't set foot outside Tokyo

The issue with just visiting Tokyo, according to Cheng, is it doesn't fully represent how broad and versatile Japan or Japanese culture is.

If visitors want to get a real feel for the country's history, cuisine, and local charms, they should venture south and north of Tokyo.

"Tokyo is not Japan," Cheng said. "And you need to explore the other cities to actually have a sense of what Japan is like."

Outside Tokyo, one of her favorite cities is Sapporo, in the Hokkaido prefecture in the north of Japan. Cheng said she found cheaper prices and more friendly locals there.

"They just go out of their way, and you can definitely tell if someone is from Tokyo or the north," she said.

The food scene is also completely different depending on where you visit — Sapporo, for example, is renowned for soup curry, she said.

Osaka is a city near Kyoto so well-known for food that it's sometimes referred to as "Japan's kitchen." There, Cheng said she ate amazing tonkatsu, or fried pork cutlet, made to "perfection" with a side of all-you-can-eat shredded cabbage.

Mistake 3: They never turn off Google Maps

Being told to knowingly lose your way in a foreign country might sound scary, but Cheng insists it's one of the best strategies for discovering a new place.

"The best way to experience the streets and just get to know the country itself is just to get lost," Cheng said. "Don't use your phone. Don't use Google Maps."

She said some of her best interactions with locals and restaurants have come from walks around Japanese cities when she's avoided using her phone.

"If you go to Google and you search 'best restaurants in Tokyo,' for example, you're going to come up with all these restaurants that cater toward tourists," she said. "You're not going to actually experience the local dishes or a local atmosphere," and leave with a false "impression" of Japan.

"The best restaurants that I've found have come from stumbling upon them just walking the streets," she said.

Watch: How the Tokyo Metro is deep cleaned

• Main content

What is Project 2025? The Presidential Transition Project explained.

The detailed plan to dismantle and reconstruct the government laid out by  conservative groups  known as the 2025 Presidential Transition Project has critics up in arms over its " apocalyptic " and " authoritarian " nature.

The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C., led an effort to create the more than 900-page  "Mandate for Leadership,"  published in April 2023, reimagining the executive branch and presented a plan to overhaul several federal government agencies, including the FBI, for the country's next conservative president to follow.

More: Project 2025 head says 'second American Revolution' will be 'bloodless if the left allows'

According to the Project's website, the playbook provides a governing agenda and a lineup of people ready to implement it to "rescue the country from the grip of the radical Left." It includes a domestic and  foreign policy  agenda, a list of personnel, training, and a 180-day playbook.

"It is not enough for conservatives to win elections," Project 2025  said on its website . "With the right conservative policy recommendations and properly vetted and trained personnel to implement them, we will take back our government."

Project 2025's Director is  Paul Dans , who served as the U.S. Office of Personnel Management chief of staff in former President Donald Trump's administration. Although it mentions Trump by name, the handbook does not directly assume the Republican party's presumptive nominee will be the one to carry out its agenda.

What is in Project 2025?

The mandate attacks several policies that former President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden instituted, including  student loan forgiveness  and  Obamacare . It simultaneously calls for expanded executive power for the commander-in-chief while criticizing what Project 2025 members perceive as overreaches by the Biden administration.

"Presidents should not issue mask or vaccine mandates, arbitrarily transfer student loan debt, or issue monarchical mandates of any sort," the plan reads. "Legislatures make the laws in a republic, not executives."

The playbook calls for the reinstatement of a  Trump executive order  augmenting a president's power to hire and fire federal officials by replacing civil servants with political appointees throughout government.

It also seeks to repeal aspects of the  Affordable Care Act , urge the Food and Drug Administration to reverse the  approval of abortion pills , and further empower Immigration and Customs Enforcement to  deport undocumented immigrants .

The plan also specifically addresses LGBTQ+ issues and attacks "radical gender ideology." In addition to calling for an end to the Department of Education, it suggests legislation that would forbid educators from using transgender students' names or pronouns without written permission from their guardians. It also appears to oppose same-sex marriage and gay couples adopting children by seeking to "maintain a biblically based, social science-reinforced definition of marriage and family."

Project 2025 generates concern

Project 2025 has received substantial criticism from Democrats, including  Representative Jasmine Crockett , D-Texas, who called out the controversial plan during a congressional hearing last month.

"I don't know why or how anybody can support Project 2025," Crockett said. "In the United States of America, dictatorships are never funny, and Project 2025 is giving the playbook for authoritarianism as well as the next dictator to come in."

Progressive Democrat U.S. Representative Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts called it a "far-right manifesto" in a  post on TikTok . The Biden campaign captioned a video detailing Project 2025, stating it "needs more attention."

Rachel Barber is a 2024 election fellow at USA TODAY, focusing on politics and education. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, as @rachelbarber_