Arriving in Israel: Twenty-Four Hours Later

Twenty-four hours.

That's about how long we'd been awake by the time our plane began its descent into Tel Aviv.

Somewhere between security lines, overnight flights, layovers, and time zones, we'd lost track of what day it was.

But the moment I looked out the airplane window, none of that mattered anymore.

There it was.

Israel.

We were finally here.

We landed at Ben Gurion Airport, collected our luggage, and waited for what felt like forever for the shuttle that would take us to Netanya.

It was probably only an hour before our driver arrived and loaded us into the van.

When you've been awake for an entire day, though, time moves differently.

Everything feels slower.

Even standing in the airport felt surreal.

I mostly remember staring out the window.

For some reason, I had imagined Israel would be mostly desert.

Instead, I saw modern cities, palm trees, beautiful blue water, and neighborhoods that reminded me more of Southern California than anything I had imagined.

It wasn't what I expected.

Somehow, it was even better.

By the time we reached the hotel, exhaustion had officially caught up with us.

There was just one problem.

Our room wasn't ready.

So instead of rushing out to explore Israel, we found a quiet corner of the hotel lobby, claimed a couple of couches, and fell asleep.

It wasn't glamorous.

It wasn't exactly what you picture when you imagine arriving in the Holy Land.

But honestly...

It makes me laugh now.

We didn't care where we were sleeping.

We just needed a little rest before we could appreciate where we were.

Eventually our room was ready.

I opened the door, walked to the balcony, and stopped.

This was our view.

The Mediterranean stretched farther than I could see.

The water was every shade of blue imaginable.

I'd seen pictures of it my entire life.

No photograph could have prepared me for that moment.

That afternoon I shared a quick update on Facebook.

"After being up and traveling for 24 hours we finally checked into our room overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. We are already in awe of this beautiful country."

Looking back now, I can hear the excitement in those words.

As the day wore on, the exhaustion slowly faded.

The wonder didn't.

A few hours later, after watching the sun disappear into the sea, I posted again. 

"I have goosebumps and we haven't even officially started the tour yet. God's work is majestic. I wonder what the Mediterranean Sea looked like 2,000 years ago?"

The tour hadn't even begun.

Jerusalem.

The Sea of Galilee.

The Dead Sea.

Bethlehem.

Capernaum.

Every place we'd dreamed about was still ahead of us.

But standing on that balcony beside my mom, watching the Mediterranean fade from blue to gold, I realized something.

The journey had already begun.

Not with our first tour stop.

Not with a history lesson.

Not even with the first place we visited.

Sometimes the journey begins long before the itinerary does.

It began the moment we stood there together, grateful simply to have arrived.

Tomorrow we'd begin exploring Israel.

Tonight, we simply watched the sun disappear into the sea.

Coming next: 
Our first full day in Israel before the tour officially began, and why a simple walk along the Mediterranean became one of my favorite memories of the entire trip.

Follow the entire Israel series →