Opinion: Minor problems in flight on the Jesus route
The hardest part of traveling to an exotic destination is getting someone to get involved. So when my friend Jeff Weill asked me to walk the path of Jesus in Israel, I answered yes. I mean, I’m 63. If not now, when?
I feel like I’m a pretty good traveler. First, I have my suitcase, which I’ve developed over the decades. It has everything you really need in a portable, ready-made bag. Just grab it and go.
I also have a travel checklist that includes other possible preparations picked up from previous trips. I will review the list and edit it for the current trip.
This trip is different because we are hiking and trekking. Everything we need is carried on our backs. I have experienced this for about eight months on backpacking under my belt. The problem is that it was 37 years ago. With a small arrangement, I borrowed my high-tech backpack for a total of £ 15.
Perhaps the most important thing in international travel today is to make sure your cell phone works abroad without going bankrupt. One way to do this is to buy a local SIM (Subscriber Identity Card) with 50 prepaid gigs of data.
I used the internet to buy a lot of Israeli SIM cards with 50 gigs for $ 30. Unfortunately, our plane arrived in Tel Aviv after their airport store closed. But they were able to send it to me from Israel in advance. Warning: Make sure your phone is “unlocked” for your international SIM card to work. If your phone is chargeable, mobile operators are required by law to unlock your phone. They can usually do it remotely.
Because I am constantly testing my websites, I also have an iPhone. I ordered a Google Fi SIM card that works in 200 countries for $ 70 unlimited. It may sound like I went overboard, but full, unlimited mobile data and phone functionality is essential for international travel. Don’t leave home without it.
Of course, covid adds complexity. Israel requires a PCR test 72 hours before departure. To guarantee laboratory results within 24 hours, you must pay $ 165. We took our chance and got a free board test. We sweated about it, but the negative results arrived quickly.
We had to have five documents: a negative covid test, vaccination cards, a passport, a health insurance certificate, and a complex computer-generated Israeli entry form. Instead of buying special Covid travel insurance, Jeff and I both went to the Mississippi Blue Cross / Blue Shield website and printed out the free insurance. (Jeff and I compete over who might be the cheapest, and we thought it would survive.) No one ever asked us for proof of insurance documents.
Both Jeff and I took smaller day packs with enough essentials on the plane so we could continue our journey even if our luggage was lost. Jeff packed and taped our backpacks so we could check them in one bag and save money.
The total cost of the flights was $ 1,160, which is absolutely amazing to travel a third of the world.
All of our documents were checked out in Jackson and we boarded a flight to Dallas. After a complete two-hour stop, we boarded a 10.5-hour flight to Helsinki. Documents re-checked, no problems.
People complain about the horrors of long international flights, but I like that bunk bed. I’ve eaten, I offer the drinks of my choice, and I finally get a chance to watch two movies in a row. If you want to sleep, there is Benadryl, Dramamine or Ambien to suit everyone.
The relatively small size is a huge resource when flying. Five feet by eight, 165 pounds, the seats are ample spacious. I bring a Blow up pillow on my back, one neck, earplugs and professional eye protection. I’m a traveling plane!
As it turns out, the flight to Helsinki was almost completely empty. I think this will happen when the board is your largest shareholder. Each passenger could be seated in three or more seats and even then nine of the 20 rows were empty. I have never seen anything like it. It made me wonder if Russia was the perpetrator of the war in Ukraine.
We had an eight-hour stopover in Helsinki (the airport was rugged, clean and stylish), so we decided to make a quick visit to the center of Helsinki. We asked a friend at a passport check if this was ok, and after reviewing our document, he said “no problem.”
We Google “Helsinki’s most beautiful restaurant”, selected the finalist and arrived in the city by train. We had to walk for about 20 minutes, but it was through the center of Helsinki. The snow was on the ground and we had light coats on.
Helsinki is exactly what you could imagine: a European city with a bit of an Eastern European / Russian vibe. It was developed and prosperous, roughly equal to the United States. That was coming from Ukraine before it fell victim to this terrible war.
As a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Finland, already in the European Union, may soon announce its plans to join NATO together with Sweden. Russia has attacked Finland on several occasions, most recently in 1939, but the fierce resistance of the Finnish people has protected their independence. 25,000 Finnish soldiers and 150,000 Russian soldiers died in the war.
After a delicious lunch, surrounded by scenery, we went to the port of Helsinki in Uber to the magnificent Helsinki Cathedral, where about 100 young people dressed took senior photos. The young girls dressed in fancy dresses and the boys in sophisticated tuxedos. The cold wind didn’t seem to bother the girls ’bare-backed party dresses. The children were friendly and we talked about life in Helsinki.
We Ubered to another site, then time ran out and Ubered back to the airport. We had plenty of time, but we got lost at the airport due to horrible signs and had to leave and go through a security check a second time.
We still had 15 minutes when a beginner at Finnair’s flight counter noticed an error in my Israeli registration form. Israelis use dates day, month, year. My form has a month, a day, a year. In the old days, I could only fix this with a pen, but in computer times it meant the whole form was wrong and I couldn’t get on the plane. The only solution would be to do the form again in the next 10 minutes.
Here computer skills are useful. I did a Google search, found the form, and filled it out with trembling fingers and a heartbeat. I now had a valid Green Pass and got on the plane.
They scanned my inspection card. Oh no! It beeped red and the word “no entry” appeared on the screen. Jeff looked at me nervously. The confused-looking nurse worked on the keyboard at lightning speed. My shoulders went down. I knew I wouldn’t get on this plane. Then, miraculously, I saw the nurse nodding, “Oh, change of seat.” He affixed a new seat sticker to my inspection card and I was on my way.
PS: You can go to the Northside Sun website and click on the Friends menu and follow my journey along the Jesus Trail. My posts are public, so you don’t have to sign up or be a friend to see them.