Michael S. Liberman

Israel Day 3: Haifa to Galilee

I’m rusty. I haven’t done this for a while. And by this, I mean getting into travel mode – taking photos, shooting video, making notes, and working on the daily updates. After two days of travel, today we are out seeing locations in the northern part of Israel, and I’m starting to get my travel rhythm back.

We’re up early with a 5:30 AM wake up call. Of course being 7 hours ahead of east coast time, I’ve been up since 3:15 AM. But I slept well, I’m feeling rested, and looking forward to a day being a tourist.

Israel Day 2: Haifa

The overnight flight was smooth. When I landed at Ben Gurion International Airport I didn’t have to worry about finding the group in the terminal. They arrived at the next gate over. As I got off my flight, the rest of the group was getting off their flight. They were literally 50’ away.

And I’m glad that I quickly met the rest of the group. Our travel company – Explorica – arranged for a guide to help get us through the airport. It was complicated. First step, a biometric machine that scans your face and passport and issues a visa. Next passport control – very quick with the assistance of the guide! Then we picked up our baggage before heading to the temporary building constructed for COVID testing. Again having a guide was handy to direct us exactly where we needed to go. Without this assistance the entire process would have taken hours longer.

Israel Day 1: DC to Tel Aviv

Onboard United flight 72 enroute to Tel Aviv.

Double security check, biometric screening, a wait in one of the less interesting gates at Dulles, and we are on the way!

It’s been two and a half years since my last overseas trip … with Donna, John, and Julianna to visit John and Lori in Brazil. A week or so after we returned the first reports of a virus began to emerge from China. And you know the rest. Two years of lockdowns, telework, social distancing, Zoom, masking, vaccinations and what seems like gallons of hand sanitizer. I’m definitely ready to return to traveling, but, as expected, travel now is a little different with COVID testing and vaccination requirements for air travel and this trip’s destination … Israel.

Cuba 2017 Video

I remember traveling. I also remember thinking at the beginning of the pandemic that more time at home might mean more time to catch up on editing the travel videos. It didn’t exactly work out that way in 2020 … but I did finally find some time in 2021 to finish the Cuba video.

This was definitely a bucket list trip. Our trip in 2017 came about a year or so after the country was reopened for travel to US citizens. Arranged by Dr. Craven through the Explorica educational travel company, this was a people-to-people trip. An opportunity to meet artists, performers, dancers, farmers, and the people of Cuba. You can read more about the Cuba trip here and take a look at these highlights of our trip to Havana, Viñales Valley, and Las Terrazas.

For those of you interested in the technical details …

… Or read my Cuba Photo and Video Workflow post.

Current Gear 2021 Update

Every so often – as I acquire and/or sell equipment – I do an update to the Gear page so that it’s accurate and up to date. The previous version of the Gear page was published in 2017. Over the intervening four years I’ve made some significant changes to my photo gear. I published an update to the Gear page last week that reflects Moving to Mirrorless and the addition of flash equipment. The page is now reordered so that current photo equipment is at the top of the page, followed by a brief history of the photo equipment I’ve owned and used over the years. I’ve also included a timeline showing the acquisition dates of cameras, lenses, video camcorders, and drones. And the page features a new flat lay and other new photos.