 |
| "live" map on the back of airline seat |
So…we are back. My goal in this blog to is to share all, but before I can share all about the most amazing trip in the world, I feel like I would be remiss not to share some of the "gear" we took with us that helped make the trip even more spectacular than it already was.
Prior to going, I read a few articles on traveling abroad and some items to take with you to Israel-some of the items mentioned were washrags, toilet paper, and a hat. Many things mentioned did not come with much explanation, and when someone mentions "bring your own toilet paper", my eyebrow goes up. Had I less responsibility in my life, I could have made a micro blog called "toilets across the Holy Land", as the toilet areas were so varied and so different from one stop to the next, that the rest areas could have had their own documentary section. That being said, bring your own toilet paper. In my case, I just brought several "travel tissues". Every stop, the guide will talk about the toilet areas, which is what makes this topic so funny. MANY of the areas do not have a hand drier or way to dry your hands-and just a few did not have toilet paper. A few of them also charged to use the toilet (50 cents a pop-mainly at the Catholic sites) and although I tried to wrangle a second toilet visit after having paid once, the nun insisted I pay a second time, so no two-for-one deals on the toilets.
-travel kleenex
Many of the holy sites recommend that you wear a head covering, as well as cover your knees and shoulders. The tour would let us know if it was a "modesty" day. For some reason, I was nervous about this requirement, and I should not have been. First of all, the one item I took but did not wear were my tank tops. It is so sunny and the sun is so penetrating, that you tend to want to cover your skin for protection. Our guide wore long sleeves and long pants every day-even when it was in the nineties, and he recommended that we do the same. Mark and I bought some wash and wear clothing prior to going, and that included some really lightweight hiking pants as well as lightweight skirts. I truly could have taken those hiking pants in three colors, one skirt, and that would have been IT for my bottoms. The pants were fabulous as they protected my legs from the sun, let the wind through, and I could roll them up and make them capri pants when we waded in a few water areas. At night, I washed them in the sink and hung them on the clothesline (there was one in all three hotels we stayed). Although the skirts are comfy, I wore leggings under them when I wore them just for an extra layer of protection, and one black skirt would have sufficed.
-wash and wear clothing
For the head covering, I took a few Buffs. If you have seen the "Survivor" show, you are familiar with the head Buff. I bumped into one on sale here in San Antonio at Whole Earth Provision-a fabulous outdoor store in the Quarry. It was Merino wool, and I wore its every day from the day I bought it until the day we left. One of the kids finally asked if I was ever taking it off, but the temperature has been unusually cool, and having a small layer of merino wool on my head was just enough to keep me warm. I wore it as a headband, around my neck as a scarf, dew rag, and handkerchief. After purchasing that one, I bought a few more of the UV Buffs in cute colors, and they made my outfits look a little different, as well as protected my head, as well as kept me a little warmer in the mornings, as well as made a great head covering at the modesty sites. Also, I brought visors, but you may want to look into a hat that covers your neck as well, because your neck will get burned and blister the first day of the trip if you do not use sunscreen and cover.
-BUFF (optional)
-Hat a MUST MUST MUST
-Sunglasses MUST
-Sunscreen MUST
-swimsuit for Dead Sea and Hezekiah's tunnel-
We were so glad we did not pack our suitcases full. There were several women who bought suitcases and brought them back with them full of souvenirs. I had heard that it's best to try and pack half your suitcase, and leave space for when you come back. I packed a bag full of snacks-which was VERY helpful. You get hungry throughout the day (and thirsty), and having granola bars, power bars, nuts, and snacks is very helpful. I also packed a few pieces of peppermint gum and lollipops. Those items we consumed, so they did not come back with us. We actually DID wash our clothes, so the wash and wear items helped tremendously because they were dry in hours.
-pack light, take snacks
-we took tiny bears of honey for "energy shots", helped tremendously
Another item we took (Mark packed his, I took mine as my carry-on) was a CamelBak hydration pack. Every morning, I haunted the hotel kitchen and filled our CamelBaks with ice and 100 ounces of water. The CamelBak comes in many shapes and sizes, so it's smart to go to a local store first so you can check them out. Some of the styles look smaller online, and when you get them, they are too big. I ended up with the L.U.X.E. and Mark got the M.U.L.E. We loved the size of the pack itself and wanted the full three liters of water. Many many people on the trip got/felt sick from dehydration. The tour did NOT provide free bottles of water, they charged $1 a bottle and 6 bottles minimum per day was the suggestion (per person), which they sold on the bus. Every tour is different, but this was how ours was set up, and I felt I drank MUCH more with my CamelBak than I would have with bottles. Every time the guide announced that a good bathroom was coming up, I would drink and drink and drink before that stop. The area is actually a desert, and you are not sweating, so you don't realize you are getting dehydrated, while all the time you are losing water.
-CamelBak-a VERY nice piece of equipment for this particular trip
Helpful hints for the airplane ride.
We actually got to fly first class which was a huge blessing, but there are still things that made the airplane ride in general more tolerable. One woman I met went an extra day early. This helped her tremendously in adjusting to the time change, etc. Great idea. WE have kids and that was not really an option for us….we DID however, book our flights through a travel agent, paying for the tour at a lower adjusted cost. This may have been a really good idea, hearing some of the others' nightmare flight schedules, as we got to talk about our times, etc. and know exactly what layovers we had ahead of us.
Our main leg (the 13 hour flight), going and coming back started at 11PM. This was tremendous, as both times we were so tired, that it did not matter what the local time was, we were ready to sleep. If we were not flying first class, and could not lie down, I may have planned differently, but for us, this was a great flight schedule. Your own travel pillow-VERY helpful. Even the kind from Target that wrap around your neck are better than an airplane pillow. Bring a tiny bag of toothpaste, etc. to be able to brush your teeth. ALWAYS bring washrags. Target has a 6 pack of the thinnest terry cloth are the very thin washrag from Target in the baby section. They dry quickly, and are perfect for wiping stickiness off of something that spilled in the bag, running under hot water for a hot towel, to use at the hotel when there are no washrags…etc. Put up to three in separate "snack" ziploc bags for the many uses, and you will be happy you did. In first class, they gave us a hot towel, but I was ready if they had not. BTW, I carry these little rags all the time. Sunday morning, I would not be caught without a little wet rag in a baggy for those times that one of the kids snuck chocolate and its' on them, the car, the dress…etc.
Another blessing that we got was some Bose Noise canceling headphones. O.K. So, I did not see the big deal with these until I put them in my ears and turned them on in the airplane. LOVED. Wanted to his the person who gave these to us. They completely blocked out all noise around us, further enabling us to get a full 8 hours sleep. When our hotel room was next to the elevator, we used them again. We did not love having something in our ears, but the noise canceling part was well worth the slight discomfort of sleeping with something in your ears. Those are expensive, so at the least, bring earplugs and an eye mask. I kept my eye mask in my pillow and both were highly useful.
-headphones, noise cancelling or otherwise
-eyemask to block light (the BUFF works great for this)
-earplugs
-washrags or wipes
-pillow (neck pillow is good)
One last thing that we took and used every day, was a light jacket. You have spent a lot of money, so if you don't have one of these, go to TJ MAXX or somewhere and get a lightweight rain jacket. It never did rain, but in extra sunny places, where we sat to listen to messages, or in the colder mornings, we wore our jackets.
-lightweight jacket
Hopefully, these tips on gear are helpful. I could not find a compilation of tips like this before we went, but it would have helped a lot. If anyone from the trip can think of anything else, email me and I will add to the list.
No comments:
Post a Comment