Japan in Their Seventies: The Grewals' Journey Beyond the Obvious
Some travellers come to Japan with a long list of places they want to see.
Others arrive with years of travel behind them, a lifetime of experiences to draw upon, and the curiosity to discover somewhere entirely new.
Mr Bhupinder Grewal and Mrs Gurinder Grewal belong to the latter.
At 75 and 71, they were among the most experienced travellers to join a Beyond Tokyo journey.
They were also our most senior travellers to date.
And when they first contacted us about travelling to Japan, they had a few understandable questions.
Would the journey be too demanding?
Would they be comfortable travelling with a small group?
And could they really enjoy eleven days of exploring Japan, with its trains, stations, walking routes and changing cities?
They weren't looking for a journey that would keep them sitting in a coach.
They wanted to experience Japan.
And that's exactly what they came to do.
A Generation That Has Seen the World Change
There's something particularly special about travelling with people from the Grewals' generation.
India became independent in 1947 and a republic in 1950. Mr and Mrs Grewal were born around those formative years, into a country that was only beginning its journey as an independent nation.
Think about how much the world has changed in their lifetime.
How people travelled.
How countries connected.
How distant places gradually became accessible.
And how Japan, once a country that seemed so far away, became somewhere they could decide to explore together.
For us, meeting travellers from this generation is a privilege.
And having them choose Beyond Tokyo was particularly meaningful.
Many travellers in their seventies understandably prefer the convenience of conventional coach tours, where much of the journey is experienced from the comfort of a bus.
The Grewals chose something different.
An eleven-day journey involving Japan's trains, local transport, historic streets, mountain towns and considerable walking.
Not because it was the easiest way to experience Japan.
But because it offered the kind of Japan they wanted to discover.
They had already travelled extensively.
They weren't looking to prove anything.
They simply weren't finished exploring.
A Journey That Almost Didn't Happen
Our conversations with Mr Grewal began in June 2026.
He was considering Japan in October and wanted to understand how our journeys worked.
One of his first questions was about group size.
Were we really travelling with only ten people?
Yes.
Our journeys are limited to a maximum of ten travellers, and each is personally led by one of our founders.
We recommended Immersive Japan.
Eleven days travelling from Tokyo through Nagano, Takayama and Kanazawa, before continuing to Kyoto and Osaka.
It was an opportunity to experience both the Japan everyone recognises and the smaller towns and landscapes that often remain outside conventional itineraries.
The Grewals decided to join us.
But getting to Japan wasn't entirely straightforward.
Their travel arrangements involved other international travel plans, and unexpected delays with passports and visas began to put the journey in doubt.
At one point, cancellation seemed increasingly likely.
We discussed the situation, extended some flexibility around their reservation, and left the decision with them.
Then came a message from Mr Grewal that stayed with us.
“Japan is our aim.”
They weren't quite ready to give up on the journey.
Eventually, the arrangements came together.
And on 10 October 2026, Mr and Mrs Grewal arrived in Tokyo to begin their Immersive Japan journey.
A Different Kind of Challenge
We knew from the beginning that this journey would require some thought.
Japan is an extraordinary country to explore, but it can also be physically demanding.
Even a thoughtfully paced itinerary involves walking through railway stations, navigating platforms, exploring temple grounds and spending considerable time on your feet.
Our Immersive Japan journeys can involve approximately five to eight kilometres of walking in a day.
We don't hide that.
And while the Grewals were experienced travellers, we also understood that travelling comfortably in your seventies requires different considerations.
For Shivani, who was personally leading this journey, it became an opportunity to think even more carefully about the little details that make travel easier.
Not by changing the character of the journey.
But by making it work better for the people travelling on it.
We reviewed hotel locations and arranged accommodation close to railway stations wherever possible.
At stations, we paid particular attention to routes with lifts and escalators.
We identified places where the group could stop, sit and rest.
We built in additional breaks.
And we took care when choosing places to eat, looking for options that would be comfortable and enjoyable for the Grewals.
None of these decisions sounds particularly dramatic.
But when you're travelling across Japan for eleven days, they can make a meaningful difference.
Sometimes thoughtful travel isn't about adding more to an itinerary. It's about making the journey between experiences work better.
Tokyo Was Only the Beginning
Like most travellers arriving in Japan, the Grewals began in Tokyo.
The city's energy is difficult to describe until you've experienced it.
The crossings, the trains, the neighbourhoods, the extraordinary contrast between old shrines and modern skyscrapers.
There's a great deal to take in.
And even with careful planning, Tokyo can be tiring.
Mrs Grewal acknowledged as much during the journey, describing one of their days as enjoyable, although a little hectic.
We appreciated that observation.
Japan isn't always effortless.
And we don't believe a meaningful journey should be presented as though it is.
But Tokyo was only the beginning.
As the journey continued, the group began travelling away from the capital and into a very different Japan.
Beyond the Japan Everyone Knows
One of the things we most wanted the Grewals to experience was the Japan that lies beyond the familiar Tokyo–Kyoto–Osaka route.
The mountain landscapes of Nagano.
The old streets of Takayama.
The historic neighbourhoods and gardens of Kanazawa.
Places that reveal a quieter, more traditional side of the country.
For many travellers, these become the most memorable parts of Japan.
And the Grewals were no exception.
As the group travelled through the Japanese Alps towards Takayama, Mr Grewal sent a simple message.
“It's a very beautiful drive.”
It was.
Mountain roads, forested valleys and little settlements tucked between the hills.
The sort of scenery that reminds you how much of Japan exists beyond its enormous cities.
For us, sharing these places is one of the greatest pleasures of leading a journey.
And hearing that appreciation from travellers who have already seen so much of the world makes it particularly rewarding.
The Places They Might Never Have Found Alone
In their review after returning home, the Grewals reflected on the variety of places they had experienced.
From Tokyo's excitement to the quieter beauty of Nagano, Takayama and Kanazawa, followed by Kyoto and Osaka.
But one observation stood out.
They felt they had discovered a side of Japan they might never have experienced travelling independently.
That matters to us.
Because Beyond Tokyo was never intended to be simply another way of visiting Japan's famous attractions.
We love Tokyo.
We love Kyoto.
And we believe the country's most celebrated places deserve their reputation.
But Japan becomes a much richer experience when you begin travelling beyond them.
When you discover mountain towns.
When you explore neighbourhoods that don't appear on every itinerary.
When you take a train through a landscape that looks nothing like the Japan you imagined before arriving.
For the Grewals, those quieter places became an important part of the journey.
And for us, that was particularly satisfying.
They hadn't come to Japan simply to see more places. They had come to experience more of Japan.
The Difference a Small Group Makes
There's another part of the Grewals' experience that deserves attention.
The people they travelled with.
Small-group travel isn't simply about having fewer travellers.
It's about creating room for conversation, flexibility and individual experiences.
When a group is limited to ten people, travellers have the opportunity to get to know one another.
There's time to talk.
To share impressions.
To enjoy a meal together.
And to experience the country in good company without feeling lost in a large tour group.
For the Grewals, this became one of the highlights.
They enjoyed the conversations, the company and the opportunity to discover Japan together.
And that's something we hope every Beyond Tokyo traveller takes home.
Not necessarily lifelong friendships.
Not an expectation that everyone must spend every moment together.
Simply the pleasure of sharing a journey with people who are equally curious about the world.
What Travelling in Your Seventies Really Means
We don't believe age should automatically determine where someone can travel.
But neither do we believe that age, fitness and mobility considerations should be ignored.
Japan involves walking.
Its public transport system is exceptionally useful, but stations can be enormous.
Some temples have long approaches.
Some historic neighbourhoods have uneven streets.
And some of the most beautiful places require genuine physical effort to reach.
Those realities don't disappear because someone is travelling with a small group.
What thoughtful planning can do is make the experience more manageable.
Choosing hotels close to stations.
Finding accessible station exits.
Allowing time for breaks.
Knowing where travellers can sit.
Understanding when a route is becoming unnecessarily demanding.
And being willing to adapt the day's practical arrangements without losing sight of what everyone came to experience.
That was an important part of Shivani's approach with the Grewals.
We didn't want them to feel that they had joined the wrong journey.
But we also didn't want to promise a completely effortless experience.
The aim was to help them experience as much of Japan as comfortably as possible.
And their reflections after the journey suggested that those efforts had mattered.
In Their Own Words
After returning home, Mr and Mrs Grewal left Beyond Tokyo a five-star review.
We could describe their experience ourselves.
But we'd rather let them tell you what they thought.
We recently completed an 11-day Immersive Japan journey with Beyond Tokyo and it was a truly memorable experience.
As senior travellers, we initially had some concerns about keeping up with a journey covering so many places. But Shivani made us feel welcome and comfortable throughout.
What we appreciated most was the thought that went into the journey. From the excitement of Tokyo to the quieter beauty of Nagano, Takayama and Kanazawa and the wonderful experiences in Kyoto and Osaka - we saw a side of Japan that we might never have discovered travelling on our own.
Travelling in a small group also made the experience much more personal. We enjoyed the company, the conversations and the opportunity to experience Japan together.
Age should never stop anyone from exploring the world and we're glad we chose to experience Japan with Beyond Tokyo.
Thank you, Abhay and Shivani, for the wonderful memories. We wish Beyond Tokyo every success!
— Mr Bhupinder & Mrs Gurinder Grewal
Immersive Japan · 10–20 October 2026
A Note from Shivani & Abhay
Every journey teaches us something.
Sometimes it's about a place.
Sometimes it's about a route we can improve.
And sometimes it's about the people who choose to travel with us.
Welcoming the Grewals was particularly meaningful because they were our most senior travellers to date.
We knew the journey would require additional thought.
We also knew how much they wanted to experience Japan.
For us, the challenge was never to create a completely different journey around their age.
It was to understand what would make the journey more comfortable while preserving the experiences that had brought them to Beyond Tokyo in the first place.
We learnt from that.
And we will carry those lessons into the journeys we design in the future.
But there's something else we'll remember.
Two experienced travellers, in their seventies, exploring the streets of Tokyo, travelling through the Japanese Alps, discovering the quieter corners of Japan and sharing those experiences with a small group of fellow travellers.
They came with a few understandable concerns.
They left with memories of a country they had long wanted to visit.
They've watched the world change for more than seven decades.
And they're still finding new parts of it to discover.
Thank you, Mr and Mrs Grewal, for trusting us with your Japan.
It was a pleasure having you both along.
— Shivani & Abhay
Founders, Beyond Tokyo