Packing for Israel

I’m leaving for New York to visit my family on Friday morning (by the time this gets posted, Friday will be today and I’ll be on an airplane). And from New York I leave for Israel on Monday.

To say that I’m getting stressed out about this trip would be the understatement of the century. In all honesty, I’m stressed in a good way. Maybe you could just call it excited? But whatever you call it, it’s making me run around the house like a mad woman.

A couple nights ago, I printed off the suggested packing list from the trip planner’s website. This is an “organized trip” so all of our days are planned out for us already. Our itinerary includes a combination of hiking, visiting religious sites, and exploring the cities. Most of the packing list sounded reasonable (who doesn’t travel with a fanny pack?), except for the fact that realistically, I have to fit everything into one suitcase because I’ll be carrying it all over the place. Ugh.

And seriously, what does one wear to ride a camel?

I adjusted the packing list just a bit to better fit my personal style and my needs (see below). And when I get back from Israel, I’ll let you all know how that worked for me. Maybe this new packing list will serve as a packing list for other women going on Birthright (that’s the name of the trip) in the Winter. Maybe not. Ha.

Oh yeah – and this is my first big trip out of the country as an adult without my family (college Spring Break in Cabo doesn’t count!) So wish me luck!

I’ll be gone until February 10th. I know that sounds like a long time, but it won’t feel so long and you won’t miss me as bad (ha!) knowing that I have lots of blog posts planned for this week and a half when I’m gone. So enjoy!