Baby boomer travel
Many ryokans — traditional inns — offer public baths. Photo from Japan National Tourism
Sixth in a series
Taking a public bath in Japan can be a wonderfully relaxing experience — as long as you know the rules.
Our introduction to the baths came at Kyoto’s Funaoka Onsen, located on a nondescript street about a half hour’s walk from our Airbnb.
Here one can slip into a variety of hot and even hotter mineral-water pools, both indoors and out, and remain there until you start to boil. There’s also a sauna in case you need some roasting.
The residual effect is incredibly soothing and the perfect way to unwind after a day spent sightseeing or climbing small mountains.
Funaoka onsen is one of Kyoto’s oldest and finest public baths, though the most picturesque and authentic onsen are in the countryside and fueled by Japan’s multitude of hot springs.
But… Continue reading
You’ll see beautiful Norwegian fjords on Grand European Travel’s “Scenic Scandinavia” tour. Photo from Grand European Travel.
Grand European Travel — which offers more than 300 guided vacations, escorted tours, and river cruises around the world — has a catchy quiz up on its website called “What Type of Traveler Are You?”
Just answer a few questions like “How Would You Spend Your Weekend?”, “What Does the Inside of Your Dream House Look Like?”, and “What Is the Perfect Travel Outfit?” — with pictures to guide your way — and find out what type of guided tour might be right for you.
If you’re like me, you may want to take the quiz more than once because some questions have at least two choices (out of six) that seem appealing.
When I took the quiz the first time, I was deemed a “Nature Lover” (which I am) and directed… Continue reading
Hiking with the grandkids sometimes means a hop, skip and jump
With warm weather now upon us, baby boomer grandparents turn to thoughts of how to entertain their grandkids at times over the summer break if the opportunity or need arises.
Today’s guest poster, Gemma Tyler, suggests that taking the grandkids camping — now dubbed “gramping” — can provide a fun-filled and memorable multi-generational outing. Gemma regards camping as a great bonding experience, and I agree.
But if you haven’t camped for a while — maybe since your own kids were young — you may be feeling a little rusty about the basics: especially keeping young children happy and occupied in the outdoors.
So Gemma offers five practical tips to keep in mind before you get to the fun parts like hiking, toasting s’mores over an open fire, and maybe telling a ghost story or two.
By Gemma Tyler
Whether… Continue reading
The bamboo grove at Arashiyama
Fifth in a Series
At first, it wouldn’t seem that heading to some of Kyoto’s most popular attractions during cherry-blossom season would qualify as an escape.
But the key to finding the peace and quiet we were seeking amid the throngs, my wife Catharine and I found, was to just keep walking — and climbing — once we got there.
On the same day we visited the Ryoan-ji Zen rock garden and the Kinkaku-ji temple (Golden Pavilion), we boarded an antique narrow-gauge railway that carried us in romantic style to Arashiyama on the western outskirts of Kyoto. (You can also take more modern trains from Kyoto station, or take a bus or the subway.)
It was obvious when we arrived that however they had gotten to Arashiyama, a good portion of everyone visiting Kyoto had conspired to visit at the same time as… Continue reading
Buddha in the gardens at Ryoan-ji temple, Kyoto, Japan
Fifth in a Series
Kyoto has so many cultural and spiritual treasures that spending just a few days there can be an exercise in frustration.
But once you accept the fact that no matter how long you stay, you’ll probably only scratch the surface of what’s there, you can zone into a sort of Zen state and do and see just what you can. I’m sure most visitors, as we did, vow to return in the future to take in more. Still…
Even coming back
Many times will never be
Enough so chill out
Well, I never was very good at Haiku, but acceptance of the inevitable is key. Pick your battles and go forth and conquer what you can — even in the crush of visiting hordes.
I was impressed with the Zen-like demeanor of a German couple we met… Continue reading
Some cherry trees still held their blossoms.
Fourth in a Series
In most years, we would have landed in Tokyo right at the peak of cherry blossom season.
Alas, my wife, Catharine, and I arrived in the Japanese capital a few days too late in early April this year because the winter there had been unseasonably warm and most of the delicate cherry blossoms had already drifted off the trees in this breezy city.
Nonetheless, some trees remained in full bloom, as did many other types of fruit trees. And as we walked through parks that offer a wonderful respite from Tokyo’s crowded streets, scores of Japanese families were still laying out their traditional picnic blankets and baskets under the cherry trees, blossoms or no. And having a great time of it.
From our little Airbnb-rented apartment in the teeming Shinjuku district, we set out to explore… Continue reading
Yasu furnished us a pictorial guide of the route to his Airbnb
Third in a Series
Arriving in the Shinjuku train station, Tokyo’s busiest, can be a bit intimidating, especially after a trans-Pacific flight with little sleep and in the middle of rush hour.
An unfailingly polite people in every other way, Japanese commuters plow through the station like bullet trains, with little deference to gobsmacked tourists staring in bewilderment at the maze of signs and passageways. These folks appeared to be on a mission, and accomplishing that mission — getting to wherever it is they’re going — wasn’t about to let us stand in their way.
If you don’t like crowds, you might want to avoid Tokyo — the world’s largest metropolitan area at nearly 38,000,000 people — and beat a quick retreat to the Japanese countryside.
Fortunately, our Airbnb host, Yasu, had provided us with a video of… Continue reading
Sunday afternoon in Ueno Park, Tokyo.
Second in a Series
My previous travel experiences in Japan had been very brief before my wife, Catharine, and I flew off to Tokyo in early April, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.
How much of a language barrier would we find? Is Japan as expensive as it’s reputed to be? Would we face greater-than-average logistical problems there?
Those taking an organized tour to Japan can avoid most of these potential problems, of course, but — just as some people enjoy figuring out how cars or watches work — I like figuring out how to get from Point A to Point B while traveling as efficiently and economically as possible.
I also like to follow my own schedule, choose my own lodgings and restaurants, and not have to follow a guide around. (This isn’t to say that I haven’t enjoyed some wonderful… Continue reading
A shrine near Kyoto boasts hundreds of vermillion-colored gates.
First in a Series
My wife, Catharine, and I are just back from two weeks in Japan, with the jet lag to prove it. And while I don’t count jet lag among the reasons to travel to (or from) Japan, it would never be enough to keep me away.
Here are eight great reasons to travel to Japan — 10-hour trans-Pacific flights notwithstanding. (This list is intended to provide an overview — I’ll get into the nitty-gritty of traveling there in future posts.)
- The People. We were continually amazed and impressed by how polite and helpful the Japanese people are. This ranged from our airbnb hosts and attendants in subway stations to cashiers in grocery stores, servers in restaurants, and just about everybody else we came in contact with. We were never made to feel unwelcome or rudely dismissed by… Continue reading
The beach at Rocky Point. Photo from Visit Rocky Point.
Mexican tourism has suffered some blows recently, with tourist favorites Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Cabo San Lucas, and Oaxaca among areas beset by reports of violence, some against foreign travelers.
Six Mexican states are on the U.S. State Department’s “Do Not Travel” list, along with the likes of Syria and Yemen.
On the other hand, our family — my wife, two adult children, their significant others, and one grandchild — enjoyed a very relaxing three days in the Sonoran town of Rocky Point a few weeks ago, renting a beach house, gorging on fresh seafood, tamales, and guacamole, taking long beach walks, and admiring the sunsets over the Sea of Cortez.
One of our most memorable experiences was being greeted as we arrived by a man who introduced himself as the owner of Peter’s Tamales (his business card for Mexicans… Continue reading
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