From Factory to Chic Hotel 

Included the Canopy by Hilton Hotel on a downtown walk with a friend. This lovely building was originally a factory for steam-powered wheat threshers and farming implements. An art-filled atrium has been carved out to bring light and drama to interior spaces.

Japan Plan 2024

Posted Japan 2024: Plan for a Plan. Travel is iterative: each journey is a prototype for the next time I visit an area; there’s no pressure to tick off all the boxes.

Japan 2024: Plan for a Plan

I don’t do bucket lists or trips of a lifetime. Places are not to be consumed like products; the journey is not an inconvenience. Travel is iterative: each trip is a prototype for the next time I visit an area; there’s no pressure to tick off all the boxes.

Boxing Day

Posted Boxing Day: A Day for Selling Vacations. When I was growing up in England, the day after Christmas was a day for relaxing and eating leftovers. Television advertising, finally freed from promoting the excesses of Christmas consumption, switched to hawking packaged vacations.

A Day for Selling Vacations

When I was growing up in England, the day after Christmas was a day for relaxing and eating leftovers. Television advertising, finally freed from promoting the excesses of Christmas consumption, switched to hawking packaged vacations.

Kurisumasu Sushi

Gyaru peace sign (mandatory in Japanese selfies), in front of a boatload of sushi at a family lunch today. I’m wearing a Yokohama soccer team shirt, reminding my brother-in-law and nephew of a fine evening in a Shibuya (Tokyo) bar.

Merry Thursday

It’s Thursday, so we crossed the road to Maxwell’s for dinner. Dwight’s Summit Extra Pale Ale next to my Surly Furious IPA, both local brews.

Skyway Sanctuary

The sun was shining, but the wind was biting, so four miles of my walk found me in the Minneapolis Skyways where I rediscovered gems like the lobby of the 1923 Medical Arts Building.

Avoiding the ER

Icy sidewalks drove me to the skyways, where I walked through interesting spaces, including the Westin in the former Farmers and Mechanics Bank building.

Peeling Back Japan’s Layers

Assembled map layers to help figure out a trip to Japan next March. Layers include a 19th Century journey by explorer Isabella Bird, a 17th Century journey by poet Matsuo Basho, an ancient 88-temple pilgrimage, rural train lines liable to be closed, and OLLE hiking trails on Kyushu. More layers to follow.