Egypt Once Again

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;

If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;   

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster;

And treat those two impostors just the same.

- Rudyard Kipling, "If"

On the 6th of July, I had cardiac ablation surgery to mitigate the atrial fibrillation I'd been suffering from.  It was a common operation but still required general anesthesia and was not without risk.  It scared me; I'd not done so many of the things I'd promised myself I'd do.  There were still so many places to go and wonderful experiences to have, to share with my wife and soulmate.

Of all those things, visiting Egypt has always been near if not at the top of the list.  I vowed that, if I awoke from surgery, I'd waste no time booking a new trip for us.

Done and done.

We will be heading to Egypt on the 21st of March, 2024, and staying until the 31st.  The tour is 1 day less than its 2022 version, and we have elected not to take the extension to Jordan.  I have mixed feelings on this, as I dearly wish to see the Petra, but I can also understand Jen's concern that we might be suffering from tour fatigue and wouldn't adequately appreciate the experience.  In the end, Jordan represents another opportunity to travel and experience the ancient world, and that too is exciting!

This trip has come to represent so much to us; not just a fulfillment of a lifelong dream, but a symbol of overcoming trials to health and happiness.  We have endured much these past few years, Jen and I, and it makes me resolved to have this experience even more.  It falls just after my 50th birthday, and just before Jen's 51st.  Our age has really begun to show, and the time to enjoy these experiences becomes more precious.  It's past time to have this one.

Egypt Delayed

So much more has happened since our initial plans for Egypt.  The pandemic continues to impact travel, especially to Africa.  My son has elected to change his degree plan to a Master's in order to leave Lubbock early; the place was not good for or to him.  He is with us now, which has returned our home to a state of bustling, happy chaos.

So Egypt will need to wait for awhile.  A month after our trip was to have happened, I write this and still very much look forward to seeing the land that has so long captivated me.  At this point, we are aiming for 2024, my 50th birthday.  I think the date will not be moved again.

Jen has also expressed that she would like to see Jordan as its own trip instead of as a side journey to this one.  I don't think this is unreasonable, but I do wonder if we'd ever get to it.  I'd rather see it during this trip instead of not at all.

I will confess that the pandemic really has been hard to cope with.  Not just from a travel standpoint, but its interference with all aspects of our lives.  It serves as a symbol of the arrogance and inflexibility of humankind.  We cannot get past it because we refused to properly quarantine, and now it will probably be a fact of life like influenza.

Egypt!

I first wrote about the genesis of plans to visit Egypt about five years ago, after a trip to England rekindled our desire to see the world.  The trip planned for 2019 was not to be, but perhaps 2021 will be the time.

I'm not sure when it was that I first realized I wanted to see Egypt.  Maybe it was watching my childhood hero Indiana Jones hurtling through souqs chasing after ancient treasures and adventure, or seeing models and pictures of pyramids and rock-cut tombs in the museum.  I can't remember ever not wanting to, and the more I learned about the country, the people past and present, the incredible heritage, the more I knew I must see it.  I wanted to drink Arabian coffee in the Khan el-Khalili, shop for rugs and clever things made from brass, experience the remnants of a civilization so ancient it was as old to Julius Caesar as he is now to us.

And now, maybe, I finally can.  It's a journey so long dreamt of, dwelt on in flights of fancy poring over maps or journals, it doesn't seem real that I and my wonderful, infinitely patient love and soulmate Jen, have taken the first real step to make happen.  Today, just a short time ago, I was contacted by National Geographic's Expedition group to be informed that my application for a place in the April 2022 expedition had been accepted.  Cairo (Giza, Dashur, Saqqara), Luxor, Lake Nasser, Aswan, Abu Simbel.  Would 11 days be enough to see all of this?  To process it and make the experience last a lifetime?

We opted to extend the tour to include a trip to Jordan, to see Petra; Dr. Jones again, maybe?  A day at the Dead Sea, too.  It's so much antiquity, history, to see and try to assimilate into our lives in a brief passing.  It's almost overwhelming now; I wonder what it will be like when we are there?

A year to plan, hopefully not think about it so much that it wears a groove in my brain or becomes a set of unrealizable expectations.   Jen is cautious.  It's a big thing, and I think I've overwhelmed her a bit with it all.  I hope she enjoys it, and that it doesn't discourage her from more adventures.  I want to see the world with her!

Two dear friends, Eric and Dominae are along for the ride as well.  The Reader might remember them from the Las Vegas trip 3 years(!) ago.  We've talked about taking another larger trip together, and this would seem to be the one!  I hope they too enjoy this experience and that it enriches all our lives.

Reader, it has been awhile since this blog has been updated.  2020 was a year that, for reasons likely to be well known to you, were not good for travel, or for writing about.  A small, private retreat to the country was all we could justify, and its peacefulness, while good for the soul, is not for these pages.  This journey, if all goes well, shall hopefully be a return to the bigger world and the wonderful culture and history it contains.

A year to wait, and dream.

To Egypt

I'm not sure why I've always been drawn to Egypt, but ever since I can remember, it's held me completely spellbound.  Pyramids floating in a sea of pale, trackless sand.  Wadis concealing the tombs of kings and queens, already ancient when the Greek city-states were first formed.  Cairo and its souks and mosques and brass lamps.

I've never been to Egypt, but I've read voraciously, collected pictures, postcards, and maps, sometimes seven dream about it.  An obsession, I suppose.  I don't really understand why it should be; it simply is.

This might be the wrong log for this entry, but there are travel implications.  They are:  we have, Jen and I, decided to go to Egypt for my 45th birthday in 2019.  It's a long, long ways away, but we want to start putting away money for it now.  The current plan is to take a tour package instead of going it on our own as we did for most of England, owing mainly to concerns of safety as well as the desire to ensure some comfort in such an unfamiliar place.

I really owe Jen for this.  I know Egypt isn't at (or anywhere close to) the top of her list of travel destinations.  She's doing it for me.  It's the journey of a lifetime for me, and I'm so very lucky to have someone who sees how important it is and is willing to do it with me.

I suppose the countdown has now begun.  The current thought is that we might not do much travelling between now and then. I hope we can squeeze a trip or two in, even if they're not on the scale of England.  Jen would love to see the Grand Canyon, or Yellowstone.