A Supertraveler's Guide to a Last-Minute Holiday Escape

Colin Nagy, head of strategy at Fred & Farid, a global advertising agency, writes this opinion column for Skift on hospitality, innovation, and business travel. “On Experience” dissects customer-centric experiences and innovation across hospitality, aviation, and beyond.  If you haven't booked something for the holiday break yet, here's a provocative idea. My ritual for the past six or seven years has been to fly into Japan for the week between Christmas and New Years armed with not much more than a JR rail pass and a few hotels booked, spend a few days in Tokyo seeing friends, shopping and eating, and then winging it a bit with the best train and transport infrastructure around. Despite being a peak travel time on the rails, it is still very easy to get around, into the mountains, or along the length of the country. It is a soft, calming time to be in Japan and the perfect place to re-set yourself for the New Year. The agonizing heat of the summer has long passed and you avoid the tourist crowds enticed by cherry blossoms in the Springtime. The pressure of a busy city is considerably lo