3 flights, all delayed, and a missed connection put me in Tel Aviv 25+ hours after leaving Houston and the Lone Star State. It was one of the longer and more exhausting trips I’ve had overseas with a bumpy flight across the pond. I was originally supposed to fly Houston > Dallas > Newark > Tel Aviv but my plane out of Houston departed 2 hours late. Instead I flew Houston > Dallas > London > Tel Aviv. I arrived in Israel via EL AL airlines. It seemed appropriate to do so.
I always try and avoid late night arrivals in foreign countries but Tel Aviv proved to be a breeze. Immigration went surprisingly quick. It was getting on the EL AL flight in London through Israeli securtiy that took a long time. Luckily, my pack made it all the way and popped out of baggage claim fast. I had a room booked at a hostel and no other choice but a taxi. An honest taxi driver with a well regulated system insured I paid the fair fare. There’s a kiosk at the taxi stand that tells you how much to expect to pay.
I pre booked
a cheap single room in a hostel at a great location just steps from the beach.
Online reviews were very mixed. I wasn't too sure what I'd get. The room I originally shown to was very small with
no windows and a strong moldy smell. The woman working late night check in was
very nice and put me in a much better room at no extra charge when I asked if
there were another option. In the morning the manager said I could stay in the
room I was changed to for my three nights in Tel Aviv at no extra expense.
Needless to
say I was wired and tired with an 8 hour time change as I settled in well past
midnight. Sleep wasn’t very good but in the morning I started to take care of Jet Lag. I began the day with a run along the Tel
Aviv water front followed by a healthy lunch, swim in the sea, and a lounge on
the beach. The army guys with interesting looking guns, that I passed during my
run, and the occasional military aircraft flying overhead assured me all is
well in Israel. I feel perfectly comfortable here. Problem? What problem? I get
the impression that’s the spirit of hip and cosmopolitan Tel Aviv.
So, here I
am on another journey. The blog has been sparse but now I feel like I’m picking
up where I left off. It’s a feeling I get every time I return to traveling
internationally. My life at home and at work is so completely different from
when I’m out abroad.
Since the
last post I’ve spent my time in a self-imposed exile of extreme busyness. I
embraced an over focused mindset in full pursuit of the American dollar until I
reached a point of burnout. Asking myself, “What have I done, what have I been
doing, who what that is?” Kind of like an old Talking Heads Song.
The end
result is that I was able to save quite a few Shekels, relatively speaking of
course. I’ve accrued enough to allow me to follow my folly for awhile.
First stop
Tel Aviv, Israel. The Holy Land. 
No comments:
Post a Comment