Striding…well, limping…off to Israel

Each trip I take presents unique challenges. Sometimes I’m stymied by logistics – like transfers that don’t go well, leaving us to haul our luggage while I stare at the GPS. Sometimes the issue is drivers that bring extra passengers along on private rides to try to sell us jewelry or my failure to rent an apartment with air conditioning in the 100 degree heat in France, leaving Grace and I to sleep on a tile floor in an effort to get some relief. Last time, in Japan, I felt that my biggest challenge was keeping a diverse group happy, although perhaps the actual challenge was getting me to accept that I cannot keep a group of 6 happily fed, rested and entertained in Japan.

Now, as I’m packed and ready to go for our Monday departure for Israel and Jordan, I worry about the challenge of my limited mobility. Sure, I’ve noticed increasing issues with walking and standing over the past two years, but now, the pain from my “eccentric” spine (medical word, not mine, although I concur) permeates every minute of every day.

Some days I fear that my travel days are over and some days I just get angry and, from that anger, flows resolution that I should never stop. I think the range of emotions that I share with/inflict upon Ron might be exhausting for him, but, ever the trooper, he never complains.

This trip was booked on a whim as I clicked around on the Gate 1 website last January. In my hours of randomly entering tour dates and airfare options (as far as I can tell, there is no limit to how long I will spend doing this), a $1600 round trip business class fare showed up in my basket and I could not resist. I didn’t even check with Ron as I was worried that it was surely some sort of mistake and the offer would disappear.

Seeing as how this is just a package tour, I’ve had very little to do in preparation and I feel a bit like Ron must feel whenever we travel – the joy of just showing up at the airport and looking for snacks in the Delta Lounge. Instead, over the past few weeks, I’ve been using my travel-planning skills to work on a 3 week Eastern Europe trip for September. And so Ron, instead of getting peppered with questions about Israel and Jordan, is having to field my questions about airports in Romania, castles in Transylvania and tour guides in Warsaw. That trip is shaping up to be a logistical nightmare – Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania – and I’m super excited.

But back to Israel and Jordan. We’re expecting fantastic Mediterranean food, warm weather and nice hotels. We’re seeing Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jerusalem, the Dead Sea, Petra and Amman. Ron has started reading through my Israel tour book with a focus on the history and I skipped over all of those pages so I could jot down the name of the market nearest our hotel and research whether or not CBD is legal/available in Israel. I expect to be as overwhelmed about the history of Israel/Palestine/Jordan as I was about Egypt and Turkey. My historical ignorance flows freely amongst all eras and all countries.

We’ve gotten a lot of questions, as always, about our travel location choices – especially Israel. There’s nothing political or globally symbolic about our travels. There’s just a lot of world out there and I like to see it.

I’ll talk to you all from Tel Aviv.