Hi friends! Soon after this post drops, I will board my flight to Tel Aviv, via Newark! Please pray the US government shutdown doesn’t adversely affect the flights of about 15-20 of us flying from the US!

Twenty-five tour guests are arriving from all over the world, so everyone’s journey is different. After flying all day (and losing 9 hours), I will arrive around 9:30am Sunday morning (Israel time)! I will meet our tour guests throughout the day and will work with the staff of One for Israel to host an orientation meeting Sunday evening after dinner. I will then enjoy a full night’s sleep in a real bed!

In total, those of us traveling from America and Canada will travel about 15-20 hours (depending upon origin and length of layover). Those from other parts of the world will generally have shorter flights, but still somewhat lengthy. So, what does one do for that many hours enroute to Israel? Sleep is important, but sleeping at the right time is essential to getting ahead of the jetlag curve! The goal is to sleep when it is nighttime in Israel. We’ll see how that goes!

My favorite thing to do on long flights is to curl up with a few good books! Of course, unless you fly first class, curling up is not really an option. Nonetheless, a window seat allows me a place to lean and an opportunity to plow through a number of books on my Kindle. My favorites are those regarding Israel and/or Bible prophecy. I can lose myself in those!

Meanwhile, airlines have really cool flight trackers in the seatback electronic console. You can actually see where your aircraft is, elevation, speed, distance and time till landing, etc. Of course, only nerds like me pay attention to that, while the “cool kids” watch filthy movies on the seatback screens! No thank you….I’ll watch the plane fly!

Seriously, it seems like a long time in an airplane…and it is. However, excitement, anticipation and adrenaline make is bearable. Passengers are allowed to get up and move around, even congregate in small groups around snacks in the larger-than-normal galley! Interestingly (for security reasons), Israeli law requires everyone to remain seated (no exceptions!) the last 30 minutes of the flight. No funny business when flying into the most highly sophisticated airport security operation in the world! Excitement has reached crescendo level by then, though, so tourists are ready to cut loose with a big cheer (and they usually do!) when wheels touch down at Ben Gurion Airport.

Navigating security at the most secure airport in the world might seem daunting, but it is actually not that bad. There are the normal passport control and customs areas. However, what makes Israeli security superior to others is the fact thousands of unseen cameras are being monitored in a gigantic control room where they watch everyone like a hawk. They also make no bones about profiling, and they do it overtly. If you look like trouble, be prepared to have a nice little conversation with men and women with automatic weapons slung over their shoulders! (Yet, you don’t see them unless/until the situation warrants it, then they are everywhere!) Moral of the story: don’t monkey around with security at Ben Gurion Airport!

I know the travel part may be boring but stick with us. The real excitement begins when our entire group arrives, and we make our way to all the wonderful places we will experience together!

If you have a loved one on the trip with us, I want to give you a special welcome! You’re invited to join the journey with us virtually! Look for at least one post daily! (Assuming internet connection and my very basic technical skills hold up!) If you follow, or if you have just stumbled across this post, you are welcome to follow along as well!

Finally, I’ll apologize ahead of time for any spelling or grammatical errors you might find. It is likely I will post on the go from my phone, so very little proofreading will occur!

Enjoy the journey!

Update: 9 of our tour guests are already on the ground in Israel (praise God for that!) and 3 more do not fly from the US. Thus, we have only 14 guests making their way to Israel today. We did have 2 flight cancellations, but those were rebooked. As of this writing (evening before travel), we believe all flights will occur…it’s just a matter of arriving at our gateway airport in time to catch our international flight. Things are looking good at the moment, but we need your prayers today as we travel!

Thank you!