After mulling this over for a while, I've finally gotten around to writing what I consider to be the top ten reasons to  visit Okinawa. Since arriving on this tiny subtropical island, I've fallen quite in love with the wide variety of actives and experiences that Okinawa offers. Whether you're into lazily vacationing on the beach, indulging in fine Japanese cuisine, singing karaoke until the wee hours of the morning, or river trekking to jungle waterfalls-there's an Okinawa trip for you.  If you're my family member or friend: please visit us! If you've just happened to stumble onto this page: definitely put Oki on your travel bucket list! If you're a military family: Okinawa should absolutely be on your PCS wish list! Regardless of who you are, Okinawa is absolutely worth the long haul flight and hopefully these ten reasons will convince you to come and experience this remarkable island. ​

Ben and I recently visited Torii Beach for the first time in nearly six months and let me tell you, October is prime beach weather in Okinawa. After a long and grueling summer, the intense heat, humidity, and sun exposure had finally creeped down a bit. This meant that we could actually enjoy being at the beach without feeling as though we were about to expire from heat exhaustion at any minute.

The beginning fall in Okinawa brought some slightly less humid and cooler temperatures. To mine and Ben's delight, it was finally nice enough to do some outside exploration! On Ben's personal Oki bucket list was the Tomori Stone Lion, the oldest shisa dog in Okinawa built in circa 1600. While that in and of itself is a cool reason to visit it, this particular shisa dog was also used by US troops during WWII in the Battle of Okinawa as an observation point. After visiting the site, it was quite easy to see why this location was used as a lookout spot, it's a very steep hill with views that stretch on for miles.