Preparing for a two week international trip can be very taxing. In addition to making sure you have enough shirts, socks, pants, AND UNDERWEAR, you need to check the weather report for the place you’re traveling to as well as the cities where you will be changing planes. If you are going to some place like Hawaii or west Africa, you can just pack for warm weather and possibly rain. If you’re traveling some place like Iceland, you pack for cold weather. But traveling to places around the Mediterranean rim like Southern Europe , North Africa or the Middle East, you will do well to check the season and the weather reports.
Israel can be deceptive in that way. Even in the winter, you may encounter temperatures from 40 to 60 degrees F, and temps sometimes approaching 70 or 30 depending on the altitude. Their terrain is desert, urban, rural, savannah, mountainous, you name it. One can go from 900 ft above sea level to almost 1500 ft. below sea level at the Dead Sea.
Winter travel in the US can be deceptive. While it may be sunny in New Orleans, there may be rain, sleet or even a blizzard occurring in New York, Boston or Philly. Warning : if the plane taking you to California is coming from an airport that is shut down due to weather, you may be waiting; sometimes hours for the next flight out. (The travel agent in me wants to recommend that you purchase travel insurance to assist you if you’re stuck away from home, luggage is lost, you have to stay overnight somewhere unexpected, you need medical or dental care, hospitalization or other mishaps)
Our flight was delayed by about 20 minutes arriving. We arrived safely in Tel Aviv. I have to remember the exchange rate for shekels against the Dollar. very nice hotel and I’m meeting some really great people on the trip.
Meals in Israel are almost always made with the freshest ingredients. dinner was delicious. Tomorrow promises to be a super day.