We're Leaving on a Jet Plane: Introduction

This is part 1 of a 5 part series of blog posts about Sarah and my physical journey to Israel.

1. Introduction
2. Virgin Atlantic from Los Angeles (LAX) to London (LHR)
3. Customs in London & Yotel Hotel Layover
4. El Al from London (LHR) to Tel Aviv (TLV)
5. Conclusion

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On April 4, Sarah and I will make our way to Israel for an incredible 14 month journey. She will be continuing her work at Hebrew University, while I will be starting my studies in Rabbinical school at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.

We are so excited to be making this journey, yet these past few weeks have been pretty ridiculous. Between Sarah piloting her study and scanning for another, my finishing everything up at CBI, getting ready for the April 1 service, and, oh yeah, packing our entire lives into two storage containers and 6 suitcases, we were feeling pretty overwhelmed.

Everything reached an apex, though, on Friday night. I led an incredible service at CBI. I have never been more proud of a service experience I had created. But it was not just wonderful because of what I contributed. What made it special was that the whole community was there, both on the bimah and off, to share in this special moment of transition. In the next week or two, I will be posting videos and some texts from the service. It was really quite special. And boy, was it emotional!

For now, we are in LA, getting ready to go to my Best Man's wedding. Everything is packed. We are locked and loaded and ready to begin this incredible journey.

Since most of you know how much a travel nerd I am, I want you to share our travel experience. Over the next few posts, I will give you an insight into how we got from LA to Israel. Plus, if you come visit us (achem, COME VISIT US!), and you want to try this same travel experience, I would be happy to share how it was all booked (read: very inexpensively.).

There will be five posts total: 1) This introduction. If you're still reading, good job. 2) Our flight from LA to London on Virgin Atlantic. 3) Our layover in London, including going through customs, the airport, and staying at the Yotel. 4) Our flight from London to Tel Aviv. 5) Concluding travel thoughts.

Yes, I'm a nerd. No, I won't be offended if you don't read. But for those that want to join us on the journey, welcome!

Here we go.