Rafael listened to us and made changes to our itinerary on the fly. His historical knowledge was greatly appreciated.

A. Based on our experiences with today’s custom private tour, what did Context Travel do right: 1) Provide representatives who are responsive, personable and thorough, all of which we experienced positively with Ashley. Without her, we might not have been as willing to invest in the much higher fees that Context Travel charges compared with others that are more familiar to us and which we have engaged in other countries. 2) Select an outstanding guide who has the capacity and qualities for providing experiences commensurate with Context Travel’s vision for deep learning while traveling. Our guide, Rafael, aligned perfectly with our hopes and expectations of Context, as Rafael was a) deeply knowledgeable about the tour topic, b) willing and able to share expertise and to communicate it effectively, c) and exhibited interest in us, his guests, so he could connect and adjust. Rafael’s guidance offered us more insights into Japan and to Tokyo than in the past 13 days we have been traveling across several cities and towns. Assuming that any interpretation of a country is always going to be somewhat subjective, we felt that Rafael guidance was just the right mix of facts based on years of study and experience along with insights on “HOW to see,” which is empowering for us, as we struggled with challenges on how to understand what appeared to us as “mysteries of Japan.” The result is a sense of our having a “beginner’s mind,” not as a deficiency, but on the contrary, as an invitation to continue traveling as a form of self-education on the wonders and mysteries of the vast world we are privileged to explore. B. What does Context Travel need to improve: Based on our experiences with three different Context Travel guides on four bookings (one each in Osaka and Kyoto and two in Tokyo): 1) Make it easier for your guests like us to share information about specific tours with friends. It’s possible that I just haven’t learned how to navigate well the Context Travel’s website, but it also shouldn’t be too hard to quickly share a link to a particular tour. 2) It would help a lot if I could easily text or call my guide at least on the day of the tour, in case of emergencies or unexpected situations including getting lost or being caught in traffic. Context can set parameters for what and when the guide “hotline” should be used. Perhaps there’s a system for some kind of temporary number that “re-sets” or “disappears” at the end of the day of the tour, if you are fearful of abuses in the use of direct communications. 3) Since Context Travel sets a high standard for “deep learning,” I would have appreciated receiving a short survey that could easily provide the guide relevant information about us, including: -physical challenges if any (such hard of hearing, any accessibility needs, etc), -our own areas of expertise, -how many times, if any, we have already traveled in the country of the tour, -and a rank order checklist of priorities. A sample of items on the list that we could indicate our preferences or order of priorities might include the following: the most popular or iconic tourist attractions, the more the better (vs. the fewer and deeper), more talking and less walking (or the opposite—less talking and more walking/seeing). Thank you to Context Travel for giving us a “deep dive” of Japan in three different cities. We will look for your offerings as we travel to other areas of the world.

Maciej was a fantastic guide. He was so knowledgable about shrines, architecture, gardens... we couldn’t have asked for a more delightful introduction to Japan