Stafford North

I hope you are starting you planning for the trip now. Here are some suggestions that will help your trip go better.

1. Have your passport ready to be sent off for visas for Jordan and Egypt at least three months before the trip. Hulin Fowler will give us directions about this when the time comes.
2. Plan carefully for the clothing you take. Walking shorts are recommended for everyone to wear most of the time. Dress for the heat. Comfort is more important than fashion. On the plane and sometimes in the evening, you may wish to have light, long pants and a shirt with sleeves. (The mosque on the temple grounds does not allow sleeveless.) You can wash a few things in your room, especially when we stay in a hotel more than one night. Sometimes things don’t dry in one night. There will also be a laundry service in some hotels. Leave room in your luggage for things you want to purchase to bring home.
3. Travel guides for US travelers almost always suggest that clothing be something inconspicuous, especially for women. Don’t take tee shirts with any messages that might be a problem including something about the US.
4. Right now it appears that the baggage allowance on Lufthansa for our flight will be one checked bag per person weighing no more than 50 pounds plus a standard carry on and a purse, camera bag, or the like. Normally bags will be picked up outside your hotel room door to be put on the bus, but you will have to do some handling of the baggage, especially you will have to transport your luggage about a hundred yards both coming into and leaving Eilat. Rolling bags will be very important for this.
5. Be sure to wear comfortable, broken-in walking shoes. We will do lots of walking and you must have the best possible shoes for that. Walk a mile or two in what you think you might take to see if they are good on your feet.
6. You also need to be in good shape for walking. Start now to improve your physical condition if you need to do that. We will have some strenuous days.
7. Take plenty of sunscreen because we will be outdoors in the heat for several of our sightseeing excursions-some in Israel, in Petra, in Eilat, and in Egypt. Also have available a hat, sunglasses, and insect repellent (DEET).
8. Bring a few first aid supplies such as band aids, antiseptic cream, and ointment for bites and burns. Bring some Immodium AD with you in case you have intestinal disorder.
9. Bring a small flashlight you can carry with you which would be helpful as we go into some darker indoor places, particularly Hezekiah’s tunnel. Extra batteries.
10. Electrical plugs in Egypt, Israel, and Jordan are typically the two pronged European style and are 220 V. Some electrical items such as shavers may work on 220 V but still need an adaptor plug. A converter is needed with many appliances to let a 110 item work on 220. Converter kits change the voltage and are available from travel and specialty stores.
11. Take all your regular medicines in large enough supply to last through the trip plus a couple of days. Put medicine, documents, return tickets, money, and other important items, in your carry-ons so that if your checked luggage is delayed you will not be without them. (Check later to see regulations on the size of the bottles of liquids you can take. Right now it is 3 oz.)
12. It is better to take with you items you know you will need than to plan to buy them overseas: batteries, memory cards, medicines, contact lens fluid, etc.
13. You will want to drink bottled water and lots of it. If you ask for bottled water with your meal, you will have to pay extra for it (and for cokes too) so it is a good idea to carry a few bottles from here and replenish your supply at stores or the hotel store. Fowler says we should drink only bottled water (or soft drinks) in all the countries where we are going rather than water out of the tap.
14. You also should take care in what you eat. Some can eat most anything and not be sick; others have to be very careful. It’s usually better to stay away from things that are not cooked. Fruit is OK if you peel it. If it was washed with their water to cleanse it and it is not cooked, eating that can be as bad as drinking the water.
15. Carry some Purell Hand Sanitizer for cleaning your hands. Clean hands are a key to staying healthy. You also need to take some tissue with you because some restrooms will not provide paper.
16. You may want to carry a “fanny pack” or other small pack in which to place small items you will want handy during the day. I have seen some of these packs that have a place for your water bottle. Some shorts have lots of pockets and that may be all you need.
17. Be sure to protect your money and your passport VERY carefully. Carry a copy of the basic information page in your passport with you in a safe place-not with your passport. If you lose your passport, this copy will facilitate replacing it at an American Embassy. You may want a money belt around your waist under your clothing or have some other safe way to carry money. When I carry my wallet, I put it in a front pocket and walk with my hand in the pocket over it. Leave at home anything you usually carry in your wallet that you will not need on the trip. Most hotels will have a safe in the room and it is good to use it for valuables.
18. Discover Cards are usually not good for overseas. Visa and Mastercard are usually accepted. Sometimes there is an extra charge to use a credit card.
19. Take a large supply of $1 bills and other smaller bills. Many times when you want to purchase a small item, the owner will not give you change in dollars but in the local currency. That may be OK if you are to be in that country for a while, but often you will be buying shortly before you leave and won’t want to pick up local currency.
20. You will want to buy some mementos. Try to think what you will want to do with them and packing them before you purchase: display them in your house, use them as teaching aids, or give them to someone. Then buy accordingly. In most places (not in hotels) you can bargain over the price and such is expected.
21. Before we leave, we will give you updated exchange rates so you can tell what you are being charged in dollars. Right now, for example, it takes about 3.5 New Israeli Shekels (ILS) to make $1. So if something is priced to you at 14 shekels, the cost would be $4.
22. No vaccinations are required for entering Israel, Jordan, or Egypt. It is, however, a good idea to check with your doctor to see that your standard immunizations, like tetanus, are up to date and see what he may recommend.
23. Check out your health insurance coverage for overseas so you will know what to do should you need doctor or hospital care. We always hope this won’t be necessary but it can happen. It just pays to have this information in case you need it.
24. Fowler will offer you some trip insurance when we get further along and you can decide whether you want that coverage.