travel-tips – gobriantravel

Israel 1,

July 4, 2026,

Hi Everyone,

No matter where I want to travel, I always seem to have problems at the airport. This time is no exception.

I am going to Israel to volunteer as a physician/paramedic on a Magan David Adom (ADM) ambulance. This is the 3rd time that I am doing this in 3 years since the start of the Swords of Iron War. 2 years ago MDA accepted 150 volunteers mostly from the US with a few from Canada. Last year, I believe that only 2 were accepted and this year I think that I am the only one. This is probably due to the fact that I know Vicki personally. She is in charge of the volunteers and has been instrumental in finding me a place on an ambulance.

Once again, I will be staying at the Maxim Hotel on Hayarkon St across the street from the sea. Most of the volunteers stay at the hotel while in Tel Aviv. There are large round tables in the dinning room and you are free to sit at any table and introduce yourself. “Hi, my name is Brian, I am from Canada.” It sounds a lot like AA where you introduce yourself by saying: “Hi, my name is Brian, I am an alcoholic.” I think that alcohol and volunteering in Israel both become highly addictive.

I originally had a flight from Montreal to Tel Aviv with a stop over in Paris for 5 hours. The flight was supposed to leave at 5:00 pm but was cancelled. I usually don’t like to fly to Europe late in the afternoon, as it robs you of a night sleep and you arrive early in the morning sleep deprived. The flight was reschedule for 10:30 and then 11:30. I was able to obtain 3 seats in a row so I stretched out to sleep for the trip. Knowing that I would miss the corresponding flight to Tel Aviv, I was rebooked on a plane to Athenes and then to Tel Aviv.

I was woken up 1 hour later for dinner. The food was pretty good and I had a small bottle of red and a sleeping pill. I like to fly with Air France because they offer a glass of champagne as an apero. Unfortunately the glass slid on the table spilling half of the glass. I will be more careful next time.

I arrived in Paris late, just in time to see my corresponding flight to Athens take off. I am now booked on a plane to Vienna with a correspondence to Tel Aviv, arriving at 5:00 am, 14 hours later that my original itinerary. If everything else goes as planned, door to door, I will have travelled for 35 hours.

Oh well, tomorrow is another day. I was hoping to see the Canada – Morocco game in Tel Aviv but will obviously miss it. Perhaps I can catch up with the news in the airport.

Love,

Brian

Australia-New Zealand 6

Oct. 19, 2025,

Hi Everyone,

Today was a travel day, my last day in Australia and my first day in New Zealand. As usual during this trip, my day was filled with adventure. Each day when I wake up, I never know what new experience the day will bring. I packed last night and woke up early to have a buffet breakfast and get on the shuttle to the airport. The breakfast was supposedly included with the room, but it came with a $20 price tag, an $8 reduction in price. I didn’t mind as the buffet was worth while. We piled into a regular size bus that took us to all 3 terminals. Terminal 1, the international terminal was huge and miles away. I arrived 2 hours early and had no time passing through customs.

I had an hour and a half to spare when I realized that I had purchased an ipad and could collect a tax refund. There was a long line up and I didn’t think that I would get through in time. After a half hour, an agent announced that a TMT online form had to be filled out. I had paid $251 in tax, so I figured that I should give it a try. I think that TMT means ‘too much trouble’ as the form was multiple pages long and required all sorts of secret numbers imbedded in the receipt. I must have looked discouraged as the man next to me offered his assistance. He was able to go through the form with me, filling in the blanks and even getting a required emergency email documentation from Apple. We spoke for a while and he explained that he was originally from India and was an IT expert. He had worked in many countries and had visited Canada many times. We exchanged email addresses and I promised to take him to dinner if he ever comes to Canada. I also gave him my blog site of course.

I had a good seat in the plane, just behind first class with extra leg room. I struck up a conversation with the lady in the seat next to me. She was Australian and had worked for many years in Utah. She was a frequent flyer with Qantas Airlines and was offered multiple glasses of ‘Australian bubbly’ for herself and her ‘guest’. That certainly started the day off well for me. Qantas offers a good meal for airline travellers even on 3 hour short time flights. United Airlines could take a lesson from them in service for clients. United, offers water and chips on 6 hour flights and $30 sandwiches. We exchanged emails addresses and she promised to read my blog. I now have over 10,000 visits and 4000 visitors to my blog site.

I am staying at a 4* downtown hotel which is very convenient. Auckland is a lovely city, very clean and a beautiful waterfront. I walked down Queen St. the main shopping avenue and arrived at the waterfront. There are a lot of sailboats, and big motor boats. You can take a boat tour of the port and go out to 1 of the islands which is supposed to be very pleasant. I will probably do that tomorrow.

The waterfront is quite developed with numerous restaurants and bars. Sunday night is rather quiet. I chose a nice Italian restaurant with white table cloths catering to a middle class, middle age cliental. No matter what country you are in, if you choose an Italian restaurant, you will always eat well.

Love,

Brian