What Happened Before I Even Made It to Israel

Hello!! I made it to Israel!! But it was a long journey to get here from Los Angeles. Let’s back track a bit so I can share my travel day…

I drove myself (and my cat) to my parents’ house and my mom gave me a ride to the airport. I was definitely very excited.

Getting through security at LAX was easy breezy. I waved good bye to my home state and got on a plane headed for New York for a quick layover.

My plan was to work as much as possible on the first flight and sleep on the second flight from NYC to Tel Aviv.

I was super productive. Bonus: Jet Blue has FREE wifi called ‘Fly Fi’. That totally made my day!!

But which one of you wrote to Women’s Running about me??!

My feet stink.

Anyway.

Part one of the trip was over quickly because I worked the whole time and was able to catch up on some TV. Jet Blue FTW.

In New York I had to go through security again, which took a long time.

I made it to the gate and handed my ticket to the gate agent when they directed me to talk to another security agent. I was informed this might happen because El Al security is very thorough. Something like ‘They might ask you a lot of questions, questions that seem irrelevant or odd but just answer and it’s no big deal.’ Got it.

Yep.

The agent took me aside, asked me questions and then they took my bags to a backroom to inspect them. It was very thorough! The agents talking to me thought it was interesting I was running a marathon and asked me how many kilometers it is – um, I don’t know. Damn metric system. Ha! I was just worried they weren’t going to let me bring my gels (as in marathon fuel, not hair gel).

Finally I was cleared to take off, literally. This was a new experience to me but not really a big deal.

I got on the plane and was one of the last ones to get onboard. When I walked up to my seat I saw a man sitting in it. I had an aisle seat so I figured he just wanted my good seat. I said, “Hi, I think I’m right here.” He moved over to the middle seat and I put my bag down on it and then went to find a place for my carry-on suitcase.

When I got back the two men in my row were standing up uncomfortably in the aisle. I guess one of them really wanted my seat.

Two teenage boys in front of me said the men were uncomfortable sitting by a girl. The guy in the seat in front of me said he would switch with me and sit by the men and the problem was solved. No big. I just didn’t understand why they were so uncomfortable (I’m glad it wasn’t because of my stinky feet).

One of the boys came up to me later in the flight and asked if I was offended. I wasn’t at all. But it’s super sweet that he wanted to make sure it wasn’t a big deal. He just explained that they are very religious and try to avoid unnecessary contact with the opposite sex. It was totally not a big deal to me. I told him it takes a lot more than that to offend me!

Plus, traveling to new places means new experiences. Just because it’s not how you do things doesn’t mean it’s wrong. It’s part of the fun and adventure!!

Also part of the adventure, trying new food. Here is the meal they served on the plane. I chose the chicken option. I love that it came with hummus. I’m going to eat all the hummus I can while I’m there!!

Then, the lights went out and I tried to sleep. I actually did fall asleep okay for a little bit. It wasn’t super comfortable but that’s to be expected.

Breakfast time! Is it weird that I love airplane food? I went to a school where there wasn’t a cafeteria so this is special.

The options were blitzes or eggs. I always go eggs.

Finally after a flight to NYC and then across the ocean and over the hills and through the woods… I made it!

Welcome to Tel Aviv!!!

Now I am ready for a shower and dinner. Hopefully I can ease into the time difference okay. We have a big schedule packed full of sightseeing. Plus I have to run 26 miles in a few days…

Question: Would you order the blitzes or the eggs?

The post What Happened Before I Even Made It to Israel appeared first on Run Eat Repeat.