On the way to SFO

I am 6 hours in on a 13 hour flight in Economy Plus on United Airlines on my way to Jerusalem. My body still hasn’t fully recovered from my trip to Japan, so this should be an interesting trip. I did want to push myself to see if I could do two international trips back to back, and also to see how I can handle a long-haul flight in Economy. I’ve been very lucky the past few years to do nearly all my long-haul flights in Business Class thanks to a combination of upgrades and cheap business class fares (yes, yes, I do see those tiny violins you are playing for me…I’ve just been lucky and the luck has run out). The business class fare for this direct San Francisco to Tel Aviv flight was quite expensive ($8,000) and upgrades were just not happening (even as a 1K; evidently lots of full fare and Global Service and 1Ks flying from Silicon Valley to Silicon Wadi) so here I am.

I’ll have a full review of the flight later, lets just say I’m on a Dreamliner which is a pretty plane, but whoever made the decision to shove 9 seats across on this 787-8 should be tortured throughout eternity for the torture of all the passengers having to sit in these seats for long flights. My goodness, I’m a small person and I fill the seat completely; no wiggle-room in this 17.3″ across seat. And as for sleep, well the seats sort of slide and don’t recline and even with a neck pillow I keep pitching forward. So I’m writing instead.

I’m on my way to Jerusalem. The Holy Land! This is exciting. I’m actually going to a Travel Blogging conference called TBEX, but also spending a couple of days as a tourist with Mr. Travelholic and my niece Claire who is flying in from

SFO as seen from the United Club

London. We’re staying right outside the walls of the Old City, so of course all the usual tourist and pilgrim sites are on the menu. I’m Christian, so definitely going to see the Church of the Holy Seplecure and the Via Dolorosa; then as a student of theology, I want to also see the Wailing Wall and the Temple Mount. We also hope to see Bethlehem. I’m also excited about all the archeological sites and museums! I love archeology; everything is so new in the United States compared to this part of the world (in the United States we’re like: This historic site is 250 years old–from before our founding. In this part of the world they’re like: 250 year old site–big yawn!). I am also planning to see the markets, and I’m interested in what makes Israel and Jerusalem tick.

If you’re in Jerusalem this week for TBEX, and you see a short gal with tons of curly red hair, hobbling about with a “monopod” (cleverly disguised walking stick which doubles as a camera stabilizer) that’s me! Stop me and say hi; I’m super excited to meet all the brilliant travel bloggers and travel professionals. I’m pretty new at this, so you talk and I’ll listen; I have no bounds to my enthusiasm but still lots to learn.