In August, 2001, after my husband Rabbi David Horowitz retired from Temple Israel in Akron, Ohio, we went to Surfer’s Paradise, Australia where he’d accepted a temporary position at Temple Shalom. This is an on-going journal that I emailed home to family and friends as we embarked on a round-the-world trip to Asia, Australia, India, Africa, Europe and back home to Akron.
All costs are what we paid in 2001-2002.
Original emails were written without apostrophes and ampersands. They seemed to change the format into gobbledy-gook. These blogs have been edited to be more readable.
Before The Beginning
I should have been wary of what my husband wished for. It became my reality. For a reluctant traveler, our around-the–world jaunt was daunting. I’m hesitantly enthusiastic about most journeys we undertake while my husband David was born clutching the travelogue, Richard Halliburton’s Book of Marvels, between his toothless gums. My pace is a foot- dragging walk with constant glances over my shoulder to enjoy where I’ve been more than where I am. Some have accused me of being the epitome of “the grass is always greener.” Others have said that I have the ability to see the best and the worst at the same time.
How does a rabbi and his wife from Akron, Ohio, get to spend the first nine months of retirement on an around the world tour? On a sweltering afternoon in May of the year 2000, my husband and I went to a garden wedding. The rabbi who performed the wedding didn’t like David, had been on the opposite side of many sensitive issues, and had avoided David in the past. After the ceremony, my husband insisted we seek out that rabbi and be sociable. I was sizzling in the heat. I thought my numerous freckles would slide off my skin in the deluge of perspiration creating a puddle at my feet. My dress was finding new and intimate places to stick to my clammy body and my glass of diet pop was making a good effort to slither out of my sweaty hand. What did I have to lose?
To our dismay at having misjudged a person so inaccurately the man was quite cordial. When we said it had been our dream to take an overseas congregation for six months, he responded with enthusiasm. He had contacts in Australia and wanted to know if that would interest us. Australia had always been on the top of two of our lists. The first list was “places in the world that we absolutely wanted to visit.” The second was “places in the world that we thought we couldn’t afford.” Within a month we had an email from representatives of Temple Shalom in Surfer’s Paradise, Australia.
David finally reached an agreement with the congregation. We’d arrive September 1, 2001, before the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and stay through Passover in April. Since the congregation would pay for our round trip airfare, we decided to check out the cost of an around the world ticket. When the dust settled and the prices were sorted out, we had our itinerary. It read like a fantasy travelogue for obsessive globetrotters. We’d start in Japan, continue to Chiang Mai northern Thailand, tour Viet Nam, and visit Siem Reap, Cambodia, to see Angkor Wat. After our seven-month stay in Australia, we’d head home by way of India, Kenya, Cape Town, and Amsterdam.
As a retirement gift, our children gave David a notebook computer. People asked if I’d email about our adventures. Those emails turned into a journal and the mailing list grew to seventy-three. It was this ephemeral link with home that proved to be a lifeline for me. I’m grateful to all who kept in touch and who responded to my journal. Thanks to those blipping satellites that circle our globe, I was able to stay connected, share my life, and know that my friends and family were still a part of it.
Toby
All costs are what we paid in 2001-2002.
Original emails were written without apostrophes and ampersands. They seemed to change the format into gobbledy-gook. These blogs have been edited to be more readable.
Before The Beginning
I should have been wary of what my husband wished for. It became my reality. For a reluctant traveler, our around-the–world jaunt was daunting. I’m hesitantly enthusiastic about most journeys we undertake while my husband David was born clutching the travelogue, Richard Halliburton’s Book of Marvels, between his toothless gums. My pace is a foot- dragging walk with constant glances over my shoulder to enjoy where I’ve been more than where I am. Some have accused me of being the epitome of “the grass is always greener.” Others have said that I have the ability to see the best and the worst at the same time.
How does a rabbi and his wife from Akron, Ohio, get to spend the first nine months of retirement on an around the world tour? On a sweltering afternoon in May of the year 2000, my husband and I went to a garden wedding. The rabbi who performed the wedding didn’t like David, had been on the opposite side of many sensitive issues, and had avoided David in the past. After the ceremony, my husband insisted we seek out that rabbi and be sociable. I was sizzling in the heat. I thought my numerous freckles would slide off my skin in the deluge of perspiration creating a puddle at my feet. My dress was finding new and intimate places to stick to my clammy body and my glass of diet pop was making a good effort to slither out of my sweaty hand. What did I have to lose?
To our dismay at having misjudged a person so inaccurately the man was quite cordial. When we said it had been our dream to take an overseas congregation for six months, he responded with enthusiasm. He had contacts in Australia and wanted to know if that would interest us. Australia had always been on the top of two of our lists. The first list was “places in the world that we absolutely wanted to visit.” The second was “places in the world that we thought we couldn’t afford.” Within a month we had an email from representatives of Temple Shalom in Surfer’s Paradise, Australia.
David finally reached an agreement with the congregation. We’d arrive September 1, 2001, before the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and stay through Passover in April. Since the congregation would pay for our round trip airfare, we decided to check out the cost of an around the world ticket. When the dust settled and the prices were sorted out, we had our itinerary. It read like a fantasy travelogue for obsessive globetrotters. We’d start in Japan, continue to Chiang Mai northern Thailand, tour Viet Nam, and visit Siem Reap, Cambodia, to see Angkor Wat. After our seven-month stay in Australia, we’d head home by way of India, Kenya, Cape Town, and Amsterdam.
As a retirement gift, our children gave David a notebook computer. People asked if I’d email about our adventures. Those emails turned into a journal and the mailing list grew to seventy-three. It was this ephemeral link with home that proved to be a lifeline for me. I’m grateful to all who kept in touch and who responded to my journal. Thanks to those blipping satellites that circle our globe, I was able to stay connected, share my life, and know that my friends and family were still a part of it.
Toby
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