Hello from Kyoto, Japan.
This is our final Elliott Confidential podcast. Iden is about to graduate from the University of Florida, and he’s leaving the nest tomorrow to start a new business in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. We can’t imagine doing this program without him.
The newsletter will continue, of course. (I have a blockbuster story on the “sequel” to revenge travel tomorrow, and you won’t want to miss that.) And who knows — we may return to podcasting someday.
There’s no question this week since this is our last episode. But if you’d like to say goodbye, the comments are open.
One of the highlights of the week was taking Taiko lessons in Kyoto. These traditional Japanese drums are so much fun to play, but they are extremely loud. There are two soundproof doors between us and the next room. Here are the three of us after learning our first song, which was surprisingly difficult.
Kyoto is filled with temples like the Higashi Hongan-ji Temple. It was just a short walk from the Royal Park Hotel, where we were staying. We can’t get over how beautiful and clean this city is.
But the best part of our trip to Kyoto so far was meeting Samurai Joe, the legendary tour guide who taught the boys how to wield a katana, a traditional Japanese sword. Joe is 94 years old, which makes him the oldest and longest-serving tour guide in Japan — if not the world.
Joe's final demonstration was placing a large turnip on a volunteer’s stomach and slicing it with a single blow of his katana. I raised my hand for that. Remarkably, he sliced all the way through the turnip without cutting me. (Thanks for not killing me, Joe.)
Well, that’s it from here. The boys and I will really miss sharing our adventures with you every week. And Aren and I will miss Iden more than we could say in this episode.
Thank you so much for listening.
Kyoto Confidential: Farewell to Iden — and to this podcast