Kansai. Evening. In love (again).

We are now down to the very last hours of this phenomenal Japan trip – an adventure that Charlotte has researched, planned and arranged from beginning to end.

It’s Charlotte who managed the tickets for every leg by plane, train, ferry, tram, taxi, and bus. She booked all seven great hotels we’ve stayed in and kept track of every interesting place included in our shorter and longer excursions that needed to fit into various projects we’re working on.

We were actually supposed to make this Japan trip last year, but my three-month sciatica ordeal in the autumn put an abrupt stop to that.

It has followed us this autumn too – the sciatica, that is – but mostly as a quiet fellow traveller. Thankfully. I haven’t needed to take a single morphine pill on this trip.

A year later, I now realize that I simply need to learn to live with the damaged nerve and file that crap somewhere on the list of age-related ailments.

Back to Charlotte.

My wife is an exceptionally skilled travel organizer, a calm and steady guide and an irreplaceable travel companion who truly deserves to be celebrated.

Not only because of this trip, but for all the long ones we’ve been on together for almost 30 years.

When Charlotte sets her mind on a destination, she plans everything meticulously with equal parts enthusiasm and precision. You can’t pay for the kind of dedication she has.

Just this year she has arranged trips to Athens (February), Nice (April), Riga (June), Rhodes (August) and now Japan (September–December). Plus all the shorter trips to Stockholm and Gothenburg.

Had I even tried to mange all these logistics myself, I probably wouldn’t have made it farther than Borås or possibly Vänersborg. Lovely places in their own right – and two cities I actually visited on my own this year – in addition to Osaka and Hiroshima, which I headed to (with planning help from Charlotte) in January, just as soon as the aforementioned  sciatica eased a little.

I sincerely hope it’s been clear just how inspired we’ve been during these six weeks in Japan. We’ve truly tried to enjoy everything we love about this country.

Sure, there have been a few squeaks along the way. The tiny Japanese hotel rooms can sometimes feel a bit claustrophobic, but after so many trips together we know the squeaks pass quickly.

The moments when we’ve laughed loud and long have been far more frequent. Having humor in a relationship gets you through just about anything and makes the relationship last longer than anything else.

Our very first trip to Asia (1997) was to India, where we, as a fairly new couple, got to experience what a few days of serious “Delhi Belly” really means. It wasn’t overly romantic, but somehow still valuable.

And now here we are, in a hotel next to Kansai International Airport (KIX) outside Osaka. Planes take off and land constantly. New travelers arrive full of expectation. Others, like us, leave filled with joy and great memories.

We’re more content than satisfied with this trip. Every time we visit Japan, we just want more. More of the great food, the beautiful design, the kindness, the nature, the architecture, all the small everyday details, the impressive logistics, the exemplary communication and the unique blend of ancient traditions and the hyper-modern.

It´s been incredibly fun to share everything that fascinated and inspired us here. Japan is truly a country you experience with all your senses.

And thanks to my partner – my tireless comrade-in-arms and skilled travel specialist Charlotte – who put together such an outstanding itinerary and arranged this tour with such finesse, I leave here with luggage full of memories that should last until our next visit to the Land of the Rising Sun.

Thank you, my love! You’re the best travel agent ever! Next time we’ll bring Elle-san.