On all tours going forward I’ll expect clean bus windows; a bucket of umbrellas for just in case; clean, interesting rest stops (think fish bowl in the bathroom and Shun knives for sale); hotel amenities that include sleepwear and hair ties; to-the-minute train service; and sea kelp on the breakfast buffet. I’ll be the first to admit I’m going to miss the heated seats on the fancy toilets here! Underrated on a global scale.

Dan and I were up at 5:30 AM for our ride to the Hiroshima airport at 7:00. We were offered and jumped at the chance to take an earlier flight to Tokyo which lengthened our four-hour layover to a five-hour layer, but we knew it would feel good to be pre-positioned for our flight home. We browsed the high end shops and relaxed in the ANA lounge until time to board. The lounge offered nothing other than small bags of rice crackers to go along with beer on tap, liquor, juice, sodas, coffee and tea.

Our flight went great. I watched A Man Called Otto, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, the second half of the TV series 1883, and all of season one of The Big Brunch. Throw in a four-hour nap and a couple of meals and it felt like a down day at home.

Because of the magic of the International Dateline we landed on the East Coast at the very same time and on the very same day we left Japan after being in the air for 12.5 straight hours. Immigration, customs, and a cab ride home ended our 26-hour day and our fabulous trip to Hawaii and Japan.