Well, it’s official. I have bought the airline tickets for my solo trip to Israel in the fall. Planning to spend about ten days with my good blog- and Skype-friend STG who has offered to show me around. I’m looking forward to the visit, though not the trip itself.
Indeed, it brings to mind these lines from The Jade Owl, a good adventure yarn I recently finished: “He viewed the twenty-hour haul to China like a middle passage—voluntary bondage in the hull of a modern metallic slaver.”
Just so. Fortunately, the flight to Israel (counting the in-country one to the East Coast first) is only thirteen hours. But the principal is the same. Meanwhile, I am collecting the necessary documents for my first passport since I was a college student in Germany back in the Dark Ages. Hope to have that done by July.
THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER 
I’m sure you’ll enjoy your trip. Having a personal guide – unbelievable. I think 10 days is going to be way too short. So do a lot of research, as is your nature, before you go. I think you will love it.
Tom
I expect to love it. I’ve been hearing/reading about it forever. Ten days is short, but I can’t leave the homestead for much longer without putting too much strain on Mrs. C. I want to spend most of it in J-lem, anyhow, so there won’t be a need to factor in much travel time.
I’ll be posting about my destinations as departure draws near. Just won’t be including the dates for security reasons. Seems prudent, anyhow. On the other hand, we don’t plan to go anywhere that usually sees trouble. Well… That’s not entirely true. Just mostly.