Japan

I was just about to book 3 weeks in Japan with my favorite Asian travel agency, EXO Travel, when it was suddenly clear that COVID-19 was not messing around. It will be the first Asian trip I organize once old people can feel less like sacrificial lambs and more like Wagyu cattle on those long haul flights. The photos here are from several business trips. I love to be able to book my return flight as late as possible on the travel day and backtime my photo walk to jump in a cab at the last minute. One visit to Tokyo was part of an around the world trip: SF > NYC > London > Tokyo > SF. I do not recommend this. The brain flu (some might call jet lag) will fog your brain for two weeks.

I’ve spent most of my 6 trips to Japan in Tokyo and on my first trip I randomly ran in to 2 people I knew. Complete coincidence and a little freaky — one was a Japanese student of mine from a workshop in Maine many years earlier and another was just hanging in a local bar. On my last trip I wrangled a day in the beautiful coastal town of Kamakura. That day is still razor sharp in my mind — a quiet place full of spirituality.