In Search of Travel Magic

There’s a legend among travelers about something called “travel magic.” It’s that perfect, serendipitous moment when the stars align — the weather clears, the timing works, the place feels electric — and you know you’re exactly where you’re meant to be. Some trips find it right away. Others make you chase it.

Yesterday, Holden met us at the hotel and we set out to explore Tokyo. First stop: the Imperial Palace. Or rather, the gates of the Imperial Palace. Turns out it was closed — a shame, really, because I’m sure the Emperor would have loved to see us.

Plan B was the Tokyo Skytree, where we rode an elevator 450 meters up for a panoramic view of Tokyo and beyond. Unfortunately, haze and an approaching thunderstorm muted the scenery. On the plus side, watching lightning dance across the skyline was like having front-row seats to nature’s own fireworks show.

Back at ground level, we stumbled into a beer festival — which could have been a glorious plot twist… except the selection was underwhelming. As Jimmy Buffett would say, “Some of it’s magic, some of it’s tragic,” and yesterday’s beer tent definitely leaned tragic.

From there, it was back on the Pasmo for a cross-city trip to Shibuya. Shibuya Crossing is essentially Times Square without the Broadway shows — a lot of people crossing a street in organized chaos. Holden swears there are scammers who take your picture mid-crossing and try to sell it back to you. If I end up in a street-crossing calendar, now you know why.

My real mission was Shibuya Sky at sunset, hoping to capture the sun setting over the Land of the Rising Sun. Sadly, tickets were sold out. Apparently, so was my dream.

That left dinner. Holden wanted pizza. Jen did not. I didn’t care. In the end, Holden got his pizza, Jen didn’t eat, and I’m still not sure what happened there. For context, this particular pizza place has apparently been Holden’s main source of sustenance for the past eight weeks — think internship cafeteria, only with more mozzarella.

We’re all still waiting for that elusive “travel magic” moment to hit — the one where everything clicks and you know you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be. Maybe today’s the day.

Next stop: Shinjuku. New neighborhood, new adventures, and maybe a little magic. If not… well, that’s how the best travel stories usually start.