Hitting the Road

Well, it has been a little bit of time 'living the korol dream,' with things being very busy over the last couple of weeks. In fact, I write this from the red eye from London to Tel Aviv, with the meat of our travels started just this morning. We are enjoying our flight, as I read up on where and what we are doing over the next week or so in Israel and Jordan while Mu is watches a movie.


Our apologies on the delay in posting, we promise to do better going forward. Mu and I have been having a wonderful time seeing many, many friends and family over the last several weeks, which has been truly amazing. I am pretty certain these last weeks have brought more time with more loved ones than any period i can recall, and that includes our wedding 5 years ago. It has been incredibly touching to see how excited everyone is about this adventure and the choices that have led us to be on the plane heading into Tel Aviv tonight

Words, at least ones i write, can not express my gratitude for these fun times and how much i have appreciated all of the love from Maine to California, and many places in between. We love you all. For example, all of the weddings (5 in 6 weeks) have led to spending time with tons of friends from many parts of our life; childhood, Peace Corps, grad school, Tahoe. Beyond these special events, many people have changed their plans to fit in a visit.

One thing that has been interesting is assessing how I feel heading into what has always constituted the start of 'the trip'. For some reason, in my mind travel really starts when the passport comes out and gets the first stamp. I treasure the grand ol' US of A, having traversed it more than a handful of times over the last dozen years and lived all over, but hitting the road has always meant getting the passport out, filling out some immigration cards and getting a little lost in the great big world. My mind spins thinking about how many decisions, actions and anticipation has been leading towards this moment. Hard, yet so natural, to believe it is now upon us.

My last set of thoughts centre on the city we just left, the global cross roads of London. That city is looking great, with the Olympics and Paralympics giving off palpable glow. My buddy lives pretty close to the Olympic Stadium and he took us to a spot with a great view of the stadium and many other venues. Looking across the venues and thinking about the global audience and connection that comes from the Games brought back great memories from Vancouver two years ago. The Paralympics are going on right now, with all events sold out. The energy from the Olympics carrys forward and is alive and well.

Secondly, I had forgotten how multicultural London is, with innumerable languages on the street and Tube. Everywhere, really. All cities have issues, but setting those aside for the moment, the way that so many cultures mingle in the city is pretty amazing. A model for globalization, in my mind. We look forward to returning for an extended stay at the end of Oct.

Our plan is to arrive in Tel Aviv and enjoy the start of the weekend before heading up north for a blend of hiking and site seeing before heading back to Jerusalem. We will keep you posted.