Volcano Mess

I've gotten a lot of e-mails asking me if the Iceland volcano has affected my travel plans. It's hasn't really, and that is mostly due to the fact that my flight goes from Detroit to Philadelphia then directly to Tel Aviv. I had the option of taking flights that were a couple hundred dollars cheaper than this one, but they flew through either London, Frankfort or Warsaw. I didn't anticipate most of Europe's major airports being closed down, but the travel time on a Detroit-Chicago-Warsaw-Tel Aviv flight was 36 hours including layovers, and my flights travel time was just under 18 hours. That was worth the extra money for me. Now that said, US Airways did add Tel Aviv to the list of cities directly affected by the chaos. Their policy is that if cancellations start happening, a customer could book another flight to another destination without having to pay the change fee (usually upwards of $250). All the customer has to do is pay the difference if the flight is more expensive. What this means for me is that if the volcano mess does start to make flying to Israel not possible (or unpredictable), I would have to find another destination, since this change without fee is only allowed if the departing flight is within 7 days of the original flight departure. My bosses were already counting on not paying my salary for the three weeks I'm going to be gone- so I have to take a trip.
So that would leave me finding an alternative destination, somewhere US Airways flies. My best guess would be New Zealand. I'd also consider Australia. I had also thought about Southeast Asia, but US Airways doesn't fly there. Alaska is another consideration, but the flight would be less expensive than my Israel one, Alaska is prohibitively expensive and May is probably still a little cold (and snowbound).
The biggest issue for me would be that all of my research for the Israel trip would be useless, as by the time I got to go in a couple of years, much of the hotel and restaurant information would have changed. It would leave me a really short time to prepare for the alternative destination. That's more of a problem because it would deny me the fun of planning the trip, not because I couldn't get the planning done in a short amount of time.
I hope to be able to go to Israel, and would say that barring another huge eruption, that's going to happen. I do want to visit New Zealand someday, and hopefully that day is a few years from now on my next big international foray.

More News & the Security Question

Those of you who are Facebook friends with me might have seen my link to an article on Israel warning it's citizens to get out of the Sinai Peninsula immediately. This warning was based on credible evidence that Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, was planning on trying to kidnap Israeli citizens and take them to Gaza. There has been some trouble in the Sinai, but not since April 2006, when three bombs went off in Dahab, killing 23 and wounding 80, including some foreign nationals. Egypt has since cracked down, and from all the information I've read, and e-mail contact I've had with people in the Sinai, the situation appears to be pretty calm. That's good, because I would be really disappointed to have to abandon my plans to hike Mount Sinai. I was also looking forward to a couple of sunrises over the Red Sea while staying in Dahab, too. The Egypt part of the itinerary is right at the end of the trip, so if something happens I can always cancel it.
I've gotten a lot of questions and comments about security is Israel. The most common one is "That's not real safe, is it?" Most of the books and blogs I read, as well as the travelers who's opinion I trust, state with no reservations that traveling to Israel is safe. The fact is, and many Americans are in denial about this, we live in one of the most violent societies in the civilized world. I don't wish to underplay the security situation in Israel. They have the tightest security situation for good reason- most of their neighbors don't want them to exist at all. I'm nervous about the security situation only so far as it effects me, meaning the long delay at the airport going through security and at the border when I return from my excursion to Egypt. I readily accept that I will have my bags searched not just at these times, but also when entering shopping malls, market places, tourist sites, and some restaurants. I'm sure when driving in my rental car I'll have to stop at numerous roadblocks. This is just a fact in dealing with traveling to Israel. I accept that it is a possibility that my laptop maybe confiscated upon entering the country. I hope not, but it has been known to happen. While these things may be a hassle to some, knowing the measures are in place make me feel secure as well.
Now, as far as the crime situation, Israel's statistics are right on par with European standards, meaning pickpocketing in crowded areas, theft from cars, and theft at beaches. Knowing this, I'll be extra vigilant at these places. I also carry two PacSafes- a steel mesh netting that unfolds from a pouch about the size of a softball and covers my bags and locks to something stationary while they are in my hotel rooms or rental car. I don't have to worry about my bags at other times, since they will be with me- you don't leave bags unattended in Israel, EVER, or they might get blown up by Israeli security forces. Again, this might seem extreme, but one only needs to look at their situation and this becomes perfectly reasonable. Violent crime in Israel seems to be very isolated, as it is in Europe.
The final thing, security related, that I'm worried about is all the stories of Israeli driving habits. Some of the articles I've read make it sound horrifying- behaviors so extreme that it would be funny if I wasn't in a rental car for 12 days. I guess I'll just be really careful- I won't drive in cities, I'll practice defensive driving and generally won't put myself in uncomfortable situations- like driving in big cities. I do have to drive into Haifa, Tel Aviv, and Jerusalem, but I intend to park my car at the hotel and move around by foot and public transportation instead of driving all around as we tend to do in this country. I wanted a sense of adventure from this trip, and it sounds like I'm going to get it from my driving experiences.
It's a little under three weeks away. Most of the things I have to get done are done. I'm sure it's only going to get harder to focus on my daily life as the time approaches....

New Camera

Ok- I caved and bought a Canon 550D for the Israel trip. I'm excited about using it, and am going to make sure I use it a lot before I go so I am as comfortable with it as possible.

Here's a photo the Janeen really likes.

Here's a great portrait....

It's very different from my point and shoot cameras, and a little intimidating, I'll be honest.

Sea of Galilee & The Golan Heights

After spending the last couple of days reading about the Sea of Galilee area and the Golan Heights, I'm really disappointed to have left myself only two days in this region. It's a dilemma I run into often with trips, and it's usually the product of reading too many different guidebooks. I have a limited number of days and there are a seemingly unlimited number of sights that I want to see. I could cut a day from Haifa or Tel Aviv (which to be honest I would skip if I didn't realize I would be missing a real important piece of modern Israel), but instead I have to pick the sights I want to see, get up at the crack of dawn both mornings, and stay out until sunset each night.
The Sea of Galilee is heavy in sights that revolve around Jesus' ministry. A visit to The Church of the Primacy of St. Peter, The Church of the Multiplication of the Fishes and the Loaves, The Mount of the Beatitudes and it's chapel, and Capernaum (Jesus' Galilee home base) are all a must. I also hope to visit the ruins of Kursi, an ancient village on the east side of the lake where Jesus performed the Miracle of the Swine, where he sent demons from a man into a group of pigs who subsequently drown themselves in the lake. I also want to visit two elevated viewpoints, one at Mount Arbel, just north of Tiberius, and the other is Mitzpe Ofir Viewpoint, which reportedly gives the best overview of the lake. I'm planning on sunset from here.
My day in the Golan is probably (along with Caeserea) the biggest reason I got a rental car, as public transport would have made it impossible to even attempt to visit all of these sights in one day. I'm getting up real early to make the drive all the way up to near the Lebanon border to take in the Banyas Nature Reserve, which is loaded with both natural beauty and historical significance. From there it's on to Nimrod's Castle, a crusader-era fort perched picturesquely on a hilltop. After that hike I have about an hour's drive south to Gamla, called the Masada of the North for it's famous battle between the Jews and the Romans in 66 AD. The result was the same, with hundreds of Jews throwing themselves off the cliff face to the deaths rather than being taken by the Romans. With what remains of the day, I'll travel to Tzfat (Safed), the home to the ancient mystical tradition of Kaballa. Besides having an outstanding artist's colony and historical significance in Israel's founding, Tzfat has an ancient citadel park on a hill overlooking the old city, which sounds like a great place to catch sunset.
The next day takes me to Mount Tabor (the site of Jesus' Transfiguration), Nazareth, the town he grew up in, and Tel Meggido, which translated means "Armageddon", now ruins of another ancient town. In the evening I'll be in Haifa, and that city will be covered in another post.
Those are three really packed days. It's exactly the type of travel I love.