Flawless communication and coordination
Japan
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Aug 15 - Aug 23, 2026
My best friend and I planned a 'boys trip' to Japan with our teenage sons to celebrate both of our 50th birthdays. We have traveled together in the past are accustomed to 'do it yourself' itineraries, however we understood that planning a successful Japan adventure would require professional expertise along with a substantial measure of self-guided research.
We reached out to KimKim and began working with Olivia approximately nine months prior to our travel date, which was needed as we continuously revised and refined the itinerary to ensure that scheduled activities and excursions would not conflict with our own self-guided and planned events. The KimKim text-chat portal was an ideal asynchronous platform for us to communicate as it allowed us to do our research in order to provide Olivia with helpful responses to her questions and recommendations. The messaging system delivers by both text message-notification and email so we never missed Olivia's updates.
Olivia understood our requirement to pack an aggressive itinerary into a relatively short timeline and the results were flawless, and to say we made the most special of lifelong memories would be a gross understatement. One of many highlights of our trip was the excursion to Mt Hiei and Lake Biwa; for which we were surprised when our guide Taku told us that for his many years as a guide he had only done that tour three times in the past. The tour required of participants to capable and enthusiastic of a moderately-exerting day and I think Olivia understood that it was a good fit for our adventure-hungry group. Thank you to Taku for guiding us on that memorable day, and to Moto for memorable and educational days touring the Senso-Ji temple, the Imperial Gardens, Mt Fuji, and the Fujiyoshida Sengen Shrine. Also to all our drivers who were exemplary in their communications; special mention to Mi who took us out from Kyoto to Awaji Island for a self-guided day at the Godzilla museum and Yumebutai gardens and green house - note that the trip to Yumebutai was an add-on by Olivia to ensure that we made the most out of our day since it was a long drive to Awaji Island.
Every single day of our trip was packed with singular highlights and we have Olivia to thank for putting it all together. We relied on her expertise and we were well rewarded for that trust. There was not one communication or logistical issue and Olivia was messaging us daily on our trip with relevant scheduling notes and updates. We can't thank nor recommend her enough to others, and hope to work with her again in the future.
Hotel Reviews
Great location with access to mass transportation and two 7-11s across the street. A Don Quixote is less than a five minute walk away. Nice to start the day in more quiet area of Tokyo. Rooms were small (as expected) but completely functional. Highly recommended hotel breakfast before starting the day.
Great centralized location next to Kyoto station. Amazing highly recommended breakfast buffet.
Activity Reviews
Fantastic show. We learned as much as we laughed.
A fun and unique glimpse into car culture in Japan, however we thought the experience would be actually riding in "Fast and the Furious" type cars, but instead we were in a van visiting multiple car meet-up sites -- which actually was still very fun and interesting.
A full picturesque view of Mt Fuji is only available consistent during winter months. For most of the rest of the year views of the mountain and peak are obscured by cloud cover. We were extremely lucky to see the peak for only a few moments during a brief clearing - and this wasn't even on the 20 minute boat-cruise part of the day. Our guide Moto saved the day with a tour of the spectacular Fujiyoshida Sengen Shrine
We got sword training from a 5th generation Samurai. I don't think you can do better than that with anything.
A great introduction to Shintoism and Buddhism in Japan
A great day visiting a UNESCO World Heritage site followed up by paddle boarding in magical Lake Biwa. The only day we didn't arrive home at the hotel not covered and exhausted by sweat from touring all day.
