Heading East

Catch a flight from Portland to Frankfurt, then Frankfurt to Tel Aviv. Take the highway to Jerusalem and check into our hotel, one chosen by our travel agent, the "American Colony" (not too crazy about his selection). This is how I will spend the next 30 hours or so.

Last minute packing details. Let's see, did I throw in an extra set of guitar strings? Yup. Good thing too since guitar strings, like nearly everything else but sand, are pretty scarce in most of the places I'll be going. An extra battery, no, make it two extra batteries, for my digital camera. Throw in the extra memory chip because I plan to take lots of pictures.

Any point in packing the cell phone? I'm told that service is scarce and the roaming charges will eat you alive. As a habitual last minute packer, the fact that I'm posting a blog at this critical moment tells you a lot about Americana Dan's commitment to posting on a weekly basis (I've been waiting for 21 weeks to refer to myself in the third person---I promise never to to do it again).

So many people ask "Aren't you worried about your safety?" Not really. We were reminded a couple days ago that not all terrorists worship Allah. Some are normal-seeming Americans who root for their local football team, graduate college and just go crazy, leaving this world tragically in bloodshed, violence and death nobody saw coming. When your times up, its up.

I'm not sure whether next week's post will come from Israel or Jordan, but if I can find internet access, I'll be here. I hope to have stories of exotic sites and interesting musical experiences. May we all travel safely, whether home or abroad.