Westerners typically take a vacation to relieve stress. We might go to the Caribbean, lie on the beach, read trashy novels and sip cocktails. Not so the Japanese.

In Japan, relieving stress requires being so busy doing something else, you haven't time to think about your stress. Japanese might book a six-day package tour to Los Angeles, with two of those days taken up flying. The four remaining days would be spent on tours of Hollywood and Universal Studios, an afternoon at Disneyland and a one-day, one-night jaunt to Las Vegas by air. The last day would be spent shopping. Of course, they take their cell phones. No wonder the Japanese are always exhausted on returning from vacation.

There is no reason to deprive yourself of attending an event if the only thing separating you and the event is a many-hour bus ride. I once took a six-hour bus ride to Shikoku to see the Awa Festival. As we got off the bus, the driver said, "Be sure to be back in three hours for the ride back!" If you prefer to enjoy more time at your destination, on a winter Sunday you can board a charter bus to go skiing at 3 a.m. and arrive at the slopes by 9 a.m., ski until 4 p.m. and take a six-hour ride home. I once took a trip with the women's club on my island who organized a bus trip to a winery. We were treated to a 20-minute tour of the winery and two hours of "free time" in the gift shop.