Father & Son Celebrate College Graduation with OAT Adventure: Japan's Cultural Treasures- June 2024

This was the most special and outstanding Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) trip I have taken to date! The trip itself had been planned for a few years with my son who always wished to travel to this amazing country. The trip was originally to be a pre-graduation trip but then covid and a busy school schedule got in the way. My son finally graduated from college this past May and we would soon be on our way. I can think of no other better way to show my appreciation for his hard work in completing college than traveling to this magnificent land.
OAT truly helped to make this a trip full of many memories that will surely last both our lifetimes! The trip is "Enhanced! Japan's Cultural Treasures" with some personal modifications to the beginning of the trip as well as a post trip experience to Osaka and Hiroshima. Our trip began 3 days early in Tokyo where we shared several great outings. We spent an entire day at Disney Sea and on subsequent days we visited Tokyo Skytree, Tokyo Aquarium, Ninja and Samurai Museum, Team LabPlanet, and ventured on several shopping trips to include the Pokemon Center and anime store as well as other shops off Shibuya Scramble Square. OAT does offer an extended pre-trip in Tokyo, but we really liked setting our own pace here with so many amazing things to do.
Our main trip was truly incredible as we further explored Tokyo before traveling to Hakone. We then hoped a bullet train to Kanazawa and also took a day optional trip to a UNESCO World Heritage mountain village, Gokayama. The final days of the main trip were visiting Kyoto. Our final part of this amazing trip was a post-trip to both Osaka and Hiroshima! Every location provided excellent hands on activities and you were constantly stimulated by the beauty and uniqueness of this grand country. Both my son and I were deeply touched to hear the personal story of a 80+ year old woman who survived the bombing of HIroshima.
Sayuri, our trip leader was another in a long line of truly exceptional guides I have found in traveling with OAT! Her enthusiasm and energy levels were off the chart as we often watched with amazement while she ran to places to retrieve our tickets for trains, museums,and other activities. I have never seen a guide dedicate so much of her personal time to assisting and making sure we were able to enjoy as much as we wanted on the trip. We often wondered if she even slept at night as she did such an amazing job, especially even finding activities for us to participate in during our free time. I have had many exceptional OAT guides, but Sayuri was the best ambassador's I have ever had in my traveling abroad.
I was a little concerned prior to the start of the trip about the age difference between my son and most people who travel with OAT. However, our group was wonderful and my son really enjoyed meeting and having a good time with everyone. Sayuri also did a great job checking on him and finding places for him to venture during his free time, which included lots of markets and vintage clothing stores. He also greatly enjoyed meeting a college professor from Duke University and getting to chat about various sports teams and individuals.
I cannot convey in words what a special time my son and I had on this trip. As I told Sayuri, Japan is now my #1 country after visiting all 7 continents! I am so glad that I was able to kick my son's first foreign country experience off in such a wonderful country as Japan and with OAT! The people and culture are truly rich in history which is woven into a modernness that's unmatched anywhere else in the world! I would rate this trip a A++ so don't hesitate in traveling there!
Finally, my son, many, many congratulations to you and your accomplishments! It has been such an honor and rewarding life for me with you in it! I truly wish you a life of many blessings as you travel new roads in exploring different destinations. DBM this is dedicated to you! Congrats Buddy!