RK ARCHIVE - 10 Years Ago

Planning for our trip began in the early fall of 1996, as we worked on our federal agencies to let us have "leave without pay" for 8 months. Somehow, we managed to convince them of that. Then, it was a mad scramble to get everything packed up, rented out, and planned for. Believe it or not, that went fairly smoothly, and on January 3, 1997, we were flying off to Guatemala for the first leg of our trip - immersion Spanish study and travel in Central and South America.

Over the next two months, we traveled from the ancient Mayan city of Tikal to the beaches and rainforests of Costa Rica to the breathtaking Andes to Cuzco and Macchu Picchu to Chile and Argentina. Amazing. Then, we flew off to Europe for several weeks checking out Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Switzerland and Luxembourg.

After several weeks back in the United States, meandering our way through the South and down the Mississippi to New Orleans for my brother's wedding, we were backpacking once again, this time in Israel - from the Golan Heights and the border with Lebanon in the north to the Negev Desert and Eilat in the South, and as much as we could see in between. I had studied in Israel back in 1985-1986, so this wasn't totally new to me, but it was to my wife, and it was still amazing.

By this time in 1997, we were winding down our adventure of a lifetime. From July 22 through July 26, we were traveling the Kings Highway in Jordan, checking out the well-preserved Roman ruins at Jerash, the ancient mosaic of the Holy Land at Madaba, the spooky-cool Crusader castle at Kerak, the Nabatean city of Petra that was carved out of reddish pink stone (see my photo of the famous - and gorgeous - "Treasury"), the red desert of Wadi Rum, etc.

From July 28 through August 3, we were hiking with a Bedouin and Israeli guide (plus camels and about a dozen other adventurers) in the Sinai. Camping out on the desert floor, looking up at the shooting stars that you could see clearly because the air was so clear and because there were no artificial lights anywhere nearby - wow, that was amazing. Touring St. Katherine's Monastery at the foot of Mt. Sinai, snorkling at the "Blue Hole" in the Red Sea north of Dahab, diving into a cold pool of water in the middle of the parched Sinai desers...lots of great memories from that trip.

Then, from August 5 to August 9, we took a wonderful cruise down the Nile River, visiting the Valley of the Kings, Queen Hatshepsut's temple, Edfu Temple, Aswan and Luxor. We then departed the cruise to visit Cairo and the pyramids. Totally amazing. Finally, on August 14, we boarded an Air France flight for the trip back to Paris and JFK. On August 18, we were back in Arlington, sleeping on the floor in our condo both because we didn't have our furniture yet and also because we were used to it after all the camping under the stars we had done.

Is a trip like this for everyone? Probably not. But if you can do it, I'd certainly encourage you to do so. In the end, our adventure wasn't super expensive, because we did everything about as cheaply as we could (except for the splurge at the end on the Nile cruise). And we worked it out so that our jobs were waiting for us when we got back. However, we fully intended to do the trip even if our bosses had rejected our requests. You only live once, and we were determined to do this while we were still young.

Speaking of being young, it's important to point out that in our travels, we ran into people ranging from just out of high school to retired. In other words, age is not an obstacle to pursuing an adventure. Also, we realized that an adventure is pretty much what you make it, and that anyone can have one...if they just open their minds a bit and let themselves imagine the possibilities.

Anyway, I just thought I'd share what I was up to almost exactly 10 years ago today. It's bittersweet, and unbelievable in many ways, to realize that a decade has gone by since our trip. We often wonder what happened to some of the amazing people we met along the way, including our teachers, guides, and fellow adventurers. And, we often wonder if we'll have another adventure like that in our lives, especially in this scary post-9/11 world of ours. I sure hope so.

The third holiest site in Islam, the Dome of the Rock/Al Aqsa Mosque, and the holiest site in Judaism, the Western ("Wailing") Wall, part of the ancient Temple, destroyed in 70 CE.

This is the train from Cuzco to Macchu Picchu in the Peruvian Andes (home of the former Inca Empire).

This is inside the passageways of Kerak castle. Any kid's fantasy... pretty spooky!

The red desert of Wadi Rum in southern Jordan, near the ancient Nabatean city of Petra. There's a scene in Lawrence of Arabia that's set in Wadi Rum, as Lawrence gets ready to head to Damascus.

Comments

Fabulous (Teddy - 8/7/2007 9:03:54 AM)

photos from the trip, they need captions. What a great adventure. Is that what changed you from a Republican to a rather more liberal person politically? I suspect such footloose travel down on the local level would do wonders for some of our hidebound ultra-jingoistic conservatives here in America, like the wanderyear the Amish allow their young people before they settle down.

I forget what was going on at that moment in the Near and Middle East; did we not have some embassy bombings, some Arab/Palestinian spats with Israel? What else was going on besides your very interesting trip?

Thanks, I'll add captions. (Lowell - 8/7/2007 9:13:01 AM)

No, I changed from Republican to independent and then Democratic after the "Moral Majority" - Jerry Falwell and crowd - took over the party of Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Gerald Ford.

The pic on the front page... (Lowell - 8/7/2007 9:14:13 AM)

is yours truly walking the ramparts (starting from Jaffa Gate) surrounding the Old City of Jerusalem, and also a shot of the Damascus Gate, the main route from East Jerusalem to the Old City.

Outstanding! (Bubby - 8/7/2007 10:14:44 AM)

What a great way to walk the path of international understanding. And unfortunately these opportunities have been diminished by the foolish management of US foreign policy. But this hillbilly still yearns to walk the high passes and breathe the thin cool air of the Hindu Kush, sharing the view with the mountain tribes.

Take a tranquilizer (norman swingvoter - 8/7/2007 11:34:24 AM)

He went on leave without pay. This means he wasn't paid for 8 months. It is similiar to going on sabbatical outside of government. Many of us are not bashing government, just our 2 corrupt, incompetent leaders who have sold out America and everything it stands for.

Nauseated's comment can be summed up (JPTERP - 8/8/2007 2:56:34 AM)

in three words:

"I am jealous".

You know, I am too, but I don't begrudge you for the experience.

Thanks for sharing the pics and diary -- the diary offered a nice mental escape from the mundane routines in my non-essential, non-bureacratic, non-taxpayer funded Arlington proximate job.

There's also some truth too about travel in the post 9/11 world. Fortunately, news travels a bit slower in the former Eastern bloc where the simple fact that you're an American can still get you a warm reception (catch it while you can!).

The most hilarious part about this guy's (Lowell - 8/7/2007 6:07:04 PM)

comment is that my wife and I took leave WITHOUT PAY, thus saving the government tens of thousands of dollars while we were gone. Also, we were perfectly willing to leave our jobs, but fortunately were able to work something out with our management.

By the way, check out the book Six Months Off, which discusses "How To Plan, Negotiate, & Take The Break You Need Without Burning Bridges Or Going Broke." I can tell you from our travels that LOTS of people, from all walks of life (doctors, lawyers, students, retired people, you name it), are out there pursuing their dreams, adventures, education (e.g., immersion Spanish), or careers by taking a break from their regular jobs. I think it's very healthy, and strongly encourage it.

Yep. (JPTERP - 8/8/2007 3:04:25 AM)

Not to mention that there's a social value to having citizens who've seen the world.

If a couple hundred million Americans had spent time in the Middle East and really met the locals in the 1990s and early 2000s, it would have been a lot harder to sell the "self-financing" reconstruction in Iraq and the "flowers" to the American public. The more narrow a person's point of view, the easy it is to sell them a false bill of goods.

It's also worth pointing out that a lot of folks working for the Feds could be making a lot more in the private sector. If a person is relying on stereotypes, and not first-hand knowledge all bureacratic jobs become a "waste of taxpayers money". It's a convenient excuse that absolves incompetent political managers of responsibility -- but it is an excuse. Not all administration's put the head of a horse racing association in charge of the FEMA.