Israel: Part 2 -Traveling Tidbits

 Lessons learned during traveling:

Assume something unfortunate will keep you from your luggage at some point. This has happened to me before and it’s miserable when you’ve worn the same clothes for over 24 hours and have the grime of airplane travel on your skin. I learned long ago to bring absolute necessities in my carry on. For me that includes: clean underwear, toothpaste and toothbrush, deodorant, phone charger, my minimal makeup bag of powder and lipstick and a hair pick (comb or brush). Between my carry on and Wayne’s (because the two have become one in marriage as do our carry ons) we had those absolute necessities when American Airlines kicked us off the plane in the middle of the night in New York City. 

We already had a just before midnight flight from JFK so I was ready for a nap going into it. Everything was normal and we boarded the flight on schedule. Because it was cold, miserable weather for the end of February (sure don’t miss that!), they had to de-ice the plane which can take awhile. I didn’t care. I was ready to sit back, relax, eat the meal they promised they’d feed us, and sleep. Until then I plugged into their entertainment system and watched myself a movie, not even realizing we hadn’t gone anywhere for an hour and a half. They announced something about a part of the plane being a problem that they were looking into. Blah blah blah later…. and we were told to get off the plane and get in line for some hotel, taxi, and food vouchers and we’d try this all again at 3pm. 

Long story short, it never occurred to me to stick a coat in my carry on because it was warm in Texas when we left and it was going to be warm in Israel when we got there so what did I need a coat for? Well, Rachel, you’ll need one when you’re standing outside of JFK at 2am in the snow and freezing temperatures while Wayne tries to convince a taxi driver to take you to the hotel that you’re pretty certain is not going to be the Hilton. Thankfully I have a husband who did pack a jacket and gave it to me to wear while he stood there in a t-shirt. #blessed

While I was super grateful to have all the above mentioned necessities, I did not wash my hair (no dryer or hairspray so why bother) and I still had on the same clothes I started in. It wasn’t pretty but could have been worse. Once we arrived in Tel Aviv,  I did my best to hide in the back when someone wanted to take a group picture once we arrived at the airport. No way would I be caught dead in a photo. 

Amazon items that rocked my world: I hemmed and hawed about whether to bring my DSLR with and lug it all over the country but in the end I did and I couldn’t have done it without the camera sling backpack (item linked is similar)  I had gotten for Christmas a few years ago. It not only kept my camera safe but had plenty of room for all my other bits and pieces I needed. I loved it! 

I finally jumped on the packing cube train and ordered a 6 piece set. It’s now and forever my travel love language. I have a bag for pants, one for tops, one for pj’s, one for underwear/socks, one for swim suits. I roll everything up nice and neat, I can see what I have instead of digging down to the bottom. What have I done without it all these years? Never again. 

Toiletry Skins are made to fit tightly over your toiletries (duh) and keep them from leaking. What took me so long? How did I not know about these? When I recall all the times my stupid shampoo leaked all over the place … Sure, they look like toiletry prophylactics but they get the job done. 

Something to read or listen to: The Orphan Collector by Ellen Marie Wiseman - ya’ll. So. Good. Historical fiction set in Philadelphia during the Spanish Flu. The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth - very apropos while on holiday with my mother-in-law - haha. Also very interesting. A bit of a mystery! Listened to the audio of this one. 

Sleep when you can. I really didn’t have horrible jet lag and I’m pretty sure it’s because I slept when I could and didn’t wear a watch. I always wear a watch so this was a big deal for me. But who cares what time it is back in Texas if I’m in Israel? It also helps that I’m a pretty awesome sleeper. So I slept both ways on the airplane. We also went to bed at a decent time every evening since we’re old now and know that getting up early in the morning will only be harder if we stay up to late. Even with all that sleep though, every time I got in that dang comfortable bus, even if it was for 15 minutes down the road, I would inevitably start to doze off. Honestly, I was starting to feel like I had bus narcolepsy. I wanted to stay awake and look out the window but before I knew it my head was bobbing up and down and I may have started drooling. But hey, some of these days we were walking 6 miles or more so if I was inspecting the back of my eyelids now and then, who could blame me? Sleep when you can. 

So that’s my travel wisdom to share with you. You’re welcome. Happy travels!