I’m absolutely buzzing physically at the moment. Just hopped my last Shinkansen bullet train of the trip, from Okayama to Tokyo for my last night, cold Asahi in hand and John Mayer cranking on the headphones. Yeah; Waaaaaaaaah; Sayonara….

The end of these long trips is always bittersweet. I’ve had my head around the fact that I’d be on the road for two months, so as the clock has been ticking on and on I’ve known that the end was nearing, but invariably I’m never ready to split and go home after the winds of the open road have propelled me for weeks or longer on end. Oh, well, totally psyched to get back to the states to see all my family and friends. There really is no place like home….

I feel so grateful and so blessed for this journey. It has gone so incredibly smoothly that it’s kind of hard to believe. Innumerable flights, car, boat and train rides and drives and no snafus. None, zip. That’s crazy, as Murphy’s Law invariably kicks in, especially the longer you’re truckin’.

Some photos of the past several days:

Kagoshima sunrise at the southern tip of the Japanese archipelago, looking at Mount Sakurajima, a very active volcano.

My fave, the Shinkansen bullet train. I will miss these dudes. They are the bomb.

Not even breaking a sweat….

The island of Naoshima. Wow…..a dream. Beyond cool and different. Super artsy and zen. I came here because Julie said I could not miss it. She visited last summer and was mesmerized. Thank you, Julie. I’d likely never have stumbled upon Naoshima without your urging, and it was one of the highlights of my visit to Japan.

Naoshima is an artists’ colony reachable by ferry from Uno. A number of art galleries have been built in old industrial spaces and they all flow beautifully and organically together, with inside and outside art around every corner.

A brief digression – Japan exudes quality in everything it does and makes. It’s rather ironic, as I’m old enough to remember when the words “Made in Japan” signified that the toy, tool or referenced item was a piece of junk – cheaply and poorly designed and made. My, how things have changed. These guys are world beaters in the quality design and build department today. They’re second to absolutely no one. Everything that you touch or see here is bejeweled and perfectly conceived and built. Yes, everything is quite expensive, but as they say, you get what you pay for in life. I’ll gladly pay the premium for this kind of joy.

The restaurant at my hotel last night. Perfection inside and out. 

I biked around the island today. I don’t ride an e-bike, but this was all they had. Beautifully conceived and built. Zoom……..

Cruising around the island. Naoshima reminded me in some ways of Dugi Otok, the Croatian island where my Dad was born. Small fishing outposts everywhere, vistas of deep blue and green water and islands looming everywhere in the distance. The entire island – everywhere – is protected by sea walls (I can’t even imagine the cost), This is Tsunami land, so these can make the difference between getting hammered and shrugging off a big one. Again, fantastic design and execution.

I ordered a sake (there were no size options on the menu) last night and today at the best noodle restaurant I’ve ever visited and they brought me this, warm and delicious. It looked more like a pitcher than a glass, but how could I say no? It was the bomb….

The Naoshima pumpkin, a world famous art icon (not really sure why, but it is….)

Yikes – Don’t touch the art!….

Waiting for the ferry back to Uno. Art everywhere….

Snoddy asked me to include a map of my Japan vapor trails. Here they are – the first a Japan Rail Shinkansen map and the second a Google map that I couldn’t really dial in precisely. Oh, well…. I’ve basically been all over the archipelago the past eight days. I’m kind of nuts that way – I love to move around when I travel – and the combination of that love and the Shinkansen bullet trains was a match made in heaven. 1,900 miles north to south and 50 to 250 miles wide, Japan is big. It’s extremely mountainous too, as it is a volcanic island chain. So, I went from Tokyo to Sapporo to Nagano to the southwest coast, to Kyoto, Hiroshima, Kagoshima, Naoshima and back to Tokyo (I may have left a place or two out). A total blast – I’ve been in low flying planes every day and have totally dug every minute of it.

So that’s it, it’s a wrap. A killer trip, great company with Jes joining for two weeks in Cambodia, Vietnam and Tokyo and too many incredible and memorable experiences, people, landscapes, vistas and meals to count. I’m just soaking it in now, and the vibe is terrific. Gratitude is vibrating powerfully through me and I feel like a tuning fork.

A wonderful journey to a part of the world very different from everywhere else I’ve been and to places I’ve long wanted to see. So glad I came. Time to start planning the next adventure……