Dusting off my passport.

I am not a worldly traveler. United States, yes. Mexico, yes. Canada, yes. Even some Central America. When it comes to getting over seas, I have failed miserably. I did get to Germany once (Dresden and Munich) when I spent two weeks over there for work, back in 2005. There were enough social activities scheduled during the conference that I got a decent glimpse of both cities, but I would love to get back and really explore.

I have had other opportunities to travel with friends (London, Paris, Italy), I just never pulled the trigger. This must change going forward. Living with travel regret, sucks.

So when the opportunity came up to travel to Israel for my new gig, I jumped at the chance. Of course, I spent the first five days in meetings (Tel Aviv and Herzliya), but on my last day there – I had the opportunity to play tourist. When asked for recommendations on what I should do with my day – every single person said ‘Jerusalem’. So I booked a tour.

365me

We visited the garden of Getsemane and Mt. Olive. Then we headed into the City of David where we spent most of the trip walking through the Armenian, Jewish and Moslem Quarters then went to the Western wall, Via Dolorosa, and finally the Church of the Holy Sepulchre Via Mt. Zion. The entire set can be found on Flickr.

I am not what some call ‘religious’, but I was moved. It was simply incredible to be surrounded by so many people who ‘believe’. To stand in a place that holds so much history. It was a wonderful opportunity to soak it all in.

I am glad I made it to Israel (hopefully the first of many trips). The people, the food, the culture, the history – truly wonderful. Israel is one to put on your travel list folks.