The making of an Audley country specialist

Meet Tesia, one of Travel + Leisure’s A-List Travel Advisors. Learn how she fell in love with Japan and her suggestions for visitors, whether it’s your first or fifth time.

By Audley Travel

September 17^th, 2018

Our country specialists are what make Audley different. They’re passionate about seeing the world, and specifically the region that they specialize in. Many have lived or worked abroad, and they return regularly to their destination to stay abreast of changes and find new corners to explore.

Using that deep knowledge and personal experience, they can create completely custom itineraries, choosing destinations and hotels best suited to each person’s individual preferences, while suggesting unusual experiences that make a trip memorable.

Two of our specialists, Tesia and Jack, were named Travel + Leisure’s prestigious 2018 A-list of the top 117 travel consultants in the world. We sat down with Tesia, a Japan specialist, to talk about what inspired her love of Japan and her top suggestions for visitors traveling there for the first or fifth time.

How did you first become interested in Japan?

For my high school language requirement, I had the choice between Spanish, French, Latin and Japanese. I chose Japanese because the others seemed less exciting. But, I didn’t really fall in love with the country until I studied there in college.

I lived in a small city between Kyoto and Osaka — I had a host mom and dad, a host brother and sister, and a family black lab named Muffin. After college, I stayed in Japan as part of the JET Program – where the government places about 1,000 recent graduates in remote parts of the country to teach English.

My position was in Aomori, at the northern tip of the main island. It’s the snowiest city in the world, with 9 m (30 ft) of snow a year, so we had to shovel three times a day. It was amazing. During the day, I’d play freeze tag and speak English with the kids. On weekends, it was just a 20-minute drive to the mountains to snowboard or a 5-minute walk to the beach. I thought I’d stay just two or three years, but I was so happy there that I stayed the maximum five years that the program allows.

Since I’ve been back in the States, I’ve returned half a dozen times, mostly with Audley. Whenever I’m near Osaka I try to have dinner with my host family.

What makes Japan different than other destinations?

The people.

Everyone in Japan is incredibly helpful and polite. They’re very invested in their own culture and are so excited that you’ve flown all this way to learn more — they’re just thrilled to share their knowledge.

It’s also the safest, cleanest, most efficient place I’ve ever been. People will leave their wallet on the table at cafes when they go to the bathroom, because it would never dawn on them that someone might steal it. Why would anyone take a wallet? That would inconvenience someone.

And the trains all run on time. In Boston, I learned not to take that for granted.

Imagine that I’m looking to book a trip with you — how would you go about it?

First, I’d determine whether you want a guide with you all the time or if you’d rather explore on your own. We can do either — we have really helpful, informative guides if you want that. Or, if you prefer to explore on your own, we can provide all the support you’ll need: train schedules and tickets, cards with important phrases in Japanese to help you communicate (including how to get back to your hotel), suggestions for where to eat and things to do when you’re at leisure.

We also work with really knowledgeable people on the ground who can help you in the event of an emergency. I mean, they don’t happen often, but Japan is an island nation and there are sometimes earthquakes or typhoons. Our people can help.

Then I’d find out what you’re interested in and plan the trip around that. For example, I usually send families to the Kawaii Monster Cafe –

**Hang on. The what?**

The Kawaii Monster Cafe. It’s hard to describe, it’s sort of like… being in a cartoon. The waitresses dress in these wild ‘monster’ costumes, and each room is themed — dolls, carousels, mushrooms. Your menu is an iPad that comes in a giant cake (a plastic one) and your food might be spaghetti with a monster face made out of meatballs.

That’s different.

When I first landed in Japan, I thought ‘I don’t get Japan.’ After all these years, I begin to think that I finally do. And then I go somewhere like the Kawaii Monster Cafe and I’ll realize that it can still surprise me.

Sorry to interrupt. Go on about ideas for a family trip to Japan

I’d send them to the cafes and then arrange for them to take a taiko drumming class or a ninja class where you learn meditation and silent breathing and how to throw a shuriken (a Japanese throwing star).

If anyone has an interest in history, I’ll suggest visiting the black ‘Crow Castle’ in Matsumoto and then heading to Kanazawa to visit the geisha and samurai districts. You can eat samurai cuisine like jibu-ni, which is this hearty, thick, rich duck stew. The city’s also known for its gold lacquerware and you can eat ice cream with gold leaf on it.

If people are interested in pop culture, I’ll send them to the Kill Bill Experience, where you get a lesson from the movie’s stunt choreographer, or maybe arrange a pop culture tour for them in Tokyo.

But really, I can make the trip fit whatever you’re interested in. I organized one trip for someone who collected fountain pens, so I included visits to pen shops and calligraphy classes.

What do you suggest for a first-time visitor to Japan?

Most people will only get to Japan once because it’s so far away, so you have to start with Tokyo and Kyoto. I know that a lot of people aren’t fond of capital cities — I’m not either — but really, those two cities are completely unique.

Tokyo is like ten New York Cities, all piled on top of one another. Each district has its own personality: high fashion in Ginza, street fashions in Harajuku, tradition in Yanaka. It’s very future forward, with robot shows and the latest in high tech, but you can also find tea ceremonies and ancient shrines.

Kyoto is the cultural heart of the country — it was the capital for centuries — and if you like history, this is where you have to go. You can have a tea ceremony with a geisha, and there are lots of temples, gardens and old tea houses.

Aside from those, I always suggest staying at least one night at a Japanese ryokan (a traditional B&B) and soaking in an onsen (an open-air bath fed by a natural hot spring). Sometimes people are nervous about to the communal baths because it is customary to enter naked; For those people, I arrange a room with an onsen or book them time in a private one. It’s so nice, especially in the cold weather — you just feel warm to the bone.

And, the food at the ryokans is amazing. Guests get a kaiseki meal — this beautifully presented, very traditional, multi-course dinner. You can’t eat like that all the time, but it’s great for one or two nights.

Tesia learning the way of the sword at the Kill Bill Experience

Entrance to Tsuronyu Ryokan located in Nyuto Onsen

WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST FOR SOMEONE TRAVELING TO JAPAN FOR THE SECOND TIME OR MORE?

People think of Japan as a small country, and it is, but there’s so much to it that you can see something different every time you visit, going deeper and deeper into the history, the culture. You could just spend each visit exploring one of the different islands.

Hokkaido is kind of like the last frontier, with caldera lakes and national parks and tons of wilderness, though you have to be comfortable enough to drive yourself. Kyushu has pottery and art and history, plus volcanoes and monkeys. Okinawa is like a whole different country — it’s basically a tropical island with coral reefs and jungles — a lot of the people on the island don’t even speak Japanese.

WHAT DO THEY SPEAK?

Mostly Okinawan, but there are a handful of other languages in that area, too.

WHAT’S THE BEST PART OF SENDING PEOPLE TO JAPAN?

So many people are going to Japan just because they’ve gone everywhere else and it’s the next thing on their list. But once they get there, they usually fall in love with it.

The people, the culture, the history, the landscapes draw them back. Sharing the country that I love with people who learn to love it, too. That’s the best part.