While my brain screams “Now is the time for adventure!” the rest of me screams “Are you kidding?” Is this, or is this not the carefree time of life? That is the question. While the retirement self-help books espouse embarking on adventures and choosing your next vacation by putting your finger on a map, blindfolded, I think it’s a bunch of hooey. Especially if you have health issues that necessitate being in proximity to a good hospital.
This year, my husband and I will be touring a country that’s known for …hmmm, how shall I put this….its relative instability? The country itself has a solid track record of technical innovation, ridiculously high numbers of college graduates, and one of the best armies in the world. Terrorism, however, tends to be one of the peskier problems they have to deal with. On a semi-regular basis.
That’s where attitude comes in. The residents of this country go about their business regardless of suicide bombers and scud missiles. To them, it’s life as usual. Their very survival is rooted in their knowledge of where the closest bomb shelter is located. Aside from that, the country is spectacular.
So, back to our travel plans. Being a scaredy cat at heart, I’m a teeny tiny bit nervous at the prospect of travelling by bus to areas of the country where the residents routinely encounter terror attacks. My emotional makeup is just not trained for that. But I’m still going.
For the tourist, Plan A entails fancy buses, tour guides and behind-the-scenes meet-and-greets with politicians, soldiers and religious leaders. Plan B looks more like this: armored vehicles with bulletproof glass, armed soldiers alongside tour guides, and re-routing to different parts of the country where the chances of a terror attack are minimized. But never eliminated. My husband, bless his heart, is at his most comfortable when surrounded by gorgeous, Uzi-toting female IDF soldiers.
While I’m not exactly the poster-girl for carefree retirement travel, I have a deep and abiding faith that everything will be okay. That’s my Plan A and my Plan B. In truth, my bigger fear is not knowing where the next bathroom will be.
I feel emotionally small compared to the citizens of this faraway country, who are tough as nails, down to the very last grandmother. You can’t survive there without bravado and swagger. It’s in their DNA. In case you haven’t already guessed, the country is Israel. And this will be my sixth trip there.
Is this upcoming tour out of my comfort zone? You betcha. Am I still going? Absolutely! I wouldn’t miss it for the world. On balance, fear is a lightweight compared to the overwhelming beauty, spirituality and awesomeness that Israel embodies.
And besides, I can always Google “public toilets Israel.”
Shelley Civkin, the retired “face of Richmond,” was a Librarian & Communications Officer at Richmond Public Library for nearly 30 years, and author of a weekly book review column for 17 years.
