Read some comments from people who have worked with me in the past:
Hi Maria,
As of Monday, I will have been back from Japan for 4 weeks! Hard to believe how quickly time flies. I cannot tell you in strong enough words how much I loved Japan! It was incredible!
Melissa and I absolutely loved our Shikoku Island itinerary. I wanted to provide you feedback in case you find yourself booking other travellers there. First and foremost, the ryokan, although remote, was such a treasure. The owners (Nori-san and his wife) were incredibly nice and helpful. They also employ one or two people for a one-month residency to be trained on operating an inn, cooking food, etc. The two women who were there for training ate dinner with us every night. I feel like we made friends for life! The other guests, mostly Japanese, were fun, too. Even though we didn’t speak Japanese, and they didn’t speak English, we were able to have conversations and use translation apps – which ended up providing such fun and funny translations, we were all laughing, sometimes so hard we were crying. Melissa and I agreed that our three nights there were some of our favourite of the entire trip! I can’t even begin to describe the food beyond this: it was some of the most amazing food I’ve ever eaten! (and I eat pretty well) Each morning, we had a full set for breakfast, and each night, a full set, plus dessert for supper. I ate every bite, every time, because it felt wrong to leave anything behind and because it was so delicious. Getting to and from the ryokan wasn’t that difficult, because we could go places by train and Nori-san was willing to provide transport to/from the station.
The taxi service you booked was amazing! Our driver, Yuki, was such a sweetheart. She even stopped at her house to get us some fruit (persimmon/kaki) and boiled peanuts. She was extra-careful and took great care of us, including stopping at places she thought we would like. She was a joy to spend the day with.
The other plans and suggestions you made for us were great! We took advantage of as much of the itinerary as possible.
The accommodation in Matsuyama was also lovely. It was clean and convenient to shopping, where we both bought a ton of gifts for relatives.
Both of us were incredibly grateful for the work you did with our itinerary, the follow-up itinerary in case we were impacted by the weather, and the added information included in the itinerary (how to onsen, etc.), but also for the answers to all of our questions prior to our trip and during our trip there!
I will continue to keep your contact info in case we return to Japan and need help planning some other remote get-away (or not remote). I can’t thank you enough for all you did to make our trip memorable.
Hope you are having a great November!
– Jennifer and Melissa
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Hey Maria!
I’m writing this to thank you, I came back a few days ago from our trip to Japan, which we followed as you proposed and everything was excellent, I’m still in shock, so to speak, it was like a different world.
I loved the festival that you recommended, I thought it was a bit odd that many people we met in Kyoto didn’t know about it. When we arrived to the temple we got lost and we passed through what must’ve been a back entrance to the complex, we arrived and didn’t see anyone, everything was very quiet. We kept walking and, as if it were a dream, we reached the end of a small alleyway and saw the crowd, food stalls, sweets, souvenir shops, etc… Overall many tourists and the geishas, the tea, the sweet they give you with the tea, everything was a great experience, I liked it very much. I won’t take up more of your time, I just wanted to really thank you for your advice… my friends also ended up with a great impression and happy with the tour.
Thank you.
– José Luis R. (Guadalajara, Mexico)
We’ve just returned home from our almost three month long trip! Your help has been incredible, in the end we managed to make the changes you said and only buy the JR Pass for 21 days and we also ended up catching the flight as recommended. Many thanks again, we were looking for just those small optimizations that have saved us a lot of money. If we return to Japan someday we will ask for your help again!
– Nathan (California, United States)
I am blown away by your kindness in helping me out on this, I’d like to thank you so very much again for taking the time to give such helpful and detailed advice.
I’ve been able to craft a rough itinerary and it’s been so fun and exciting doing it!
Your advice on this was very helpful. I love Japan with all my heart and this was my first time venturing out of the typically touristy places so I’m really thrilled! I’ll definitely be recommending you because of how kind and helpful you’ve been 🙂
Thank you!
– Amy (London, England)
If you’ve just returned from Japan, I’d love to hear how your trip went! You can contact me directly by email (anecdotasjapon@gmail.com) or fill in the form:
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