This trip was the best ever. I am still basking in the glow of it all. Great group leaders. Wonderful group members. We stayed in really nice hotels that we really enjoyed. Food was amazing at the hotels and all the venues. Didn't hurt that we pretty much had perfect weather and saw the cherry blossoms at their peak. Seb is an amazing leader-kind, funny, organized, and really everything you could ask for in a leader. He may have been stressed on the inside but he was always calm, cool, and collected on the outside. Colleen is an amazing person, as is her husband David. They are really wonderful role models and also very kind. They showed all of us "beginner vegans" what being a long term vegan is really all about. I really enjoyed the days in cities and the days in the country. enjoyed the train rides. We had good guides everywhere we went. A really exceptional trip in every way.

TLDR: World Vegan Travel and Joyful Vegan have spoiled us for traveling any other way but with them. Going to Japan was my husband's lifelong dream and he said our WVT experience was "even better than I had expected from my first Japan trip and I had high expectations." The WVT trip gave us a shiny Whitman's Sampler of many of the bonbons of Japanese culture in a short time and left us more educated on how to possibly come back on our own later for a slower, deeper exploration. But now we're reluctant to do it ourselves because we couldn't do what Seb & Brighde and Joyful Vegan did for us: Plan the perfect variety and whirlwind of activities, scheduled seamlessly and have them come off without an apparent hitch*. We signed up partly because Colleen Patrick-Goudreau would be on the trip and her warm company, sunny hosting, and ability to give context to many culinary aspects elevated the experience. Seb unexpectedly ended up being the sole WVT logistical leader on the ground for this trip and he admirably kept up his high energy and good humor while meticulously managing everything and giving attention to each of us. The many well-organized, thoughtful, informative emails they sent, along with the WhatsApp group and Zoom they set up beforehand minimized the prep and research we had to do ourselves. The accommodations were gorgeous and left us feeling we got more than our money’s worth. Also, we enjoyed the company of the other travelers in the group and appreciated that everyone could keep up quite well. It wasn’t a physical adventure trip but it took a little stamina to keep up with everything. The two days before and after that we spent in Japan on our own impressed on us how much WVT must have had to do to get us so many varied, sumptuous vegan meals across Japan. Managing meal logistics on our own left us cranky and tired and took energy away from other cultural explorations. WVT had left us spoiled. You’ve been warned. ;) *Well, okay, we did have to wait for our bus once for five minutes.

This trip was outstanding in everyway. Every detail was taken care of prior to us arriving. If you are interested in 100% concierge treatment on a trip this is for you. We saw so much in just 10 days. We were on the move most of the time but it was worth seeing all the things we were able to experience. The food, the organizers, the fellow travelers were all wonderful. We left with priceless memories, new friends, and eager to travel with World Vegan Travel again! Until we meet again, Thank You!!