Trip to the Middle East
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008 
As I began preparing my international book, I quickly realized that I had no images from the Middle East. I thought, “How could I complete this concept without something from this significant part of the world?”. Days later, the seven wonders of the world were released in the newspaper and the internet. There before me was Petra, the ancient rock cut city in Jordan. This was it. The destination I needed to complete my quest.
My wife Teresa, and my travelling assistant of many trips, John, were unable to accompany me for different reasons. I called my 23 year old son, Chris, and asked him if he would like to join me on an eight day trip to Jordan. He was both excited and a little apprehensive, but responded with a big “yes.” So within days I booked the plane reservations for March 27th, 2008, returning on April 4th. We would fly into Amman, Jordan (after a 7 hour layover in Chicago). I surfed the internet and found a great touring company, Jordan Tours and a guy named Ramzi, who was very helpful and willing to help me customize an itinerary that was designed for my needs. It took a little explaining but before long he and I were on the same page.
A good personal friend of mine, Gary, said to me “Andy, you’re so close to Jerusalem, you’ve got to try and get there”. I thought about it and agreed. But with only 6 days in the field, after taking away two days of travel, there was little time. I contacted Ramzi, and he soon worked out a plan for me. I would have 24 hours in Israel to come up with a shot to represent this historical country. The challenge was mine to take. Within days the itinearary was set. After arriving in Amman at 5 PM on the 28th, here’s what we set up.
Day 1: Amman to the Israel border. Cross. Transfer to Israel guide. Travel to the Church of the Nativity in Palestine. Later that day, check in at the hotel in Jerusalem.
Day 2: Explore Jerusalem in the morning. Transfer back to the Jordan border. Four hour drive to Petra, the town of Wadi Musa.
Day 3/4: Explore and photograph Petra.
Day 5: Leave Petra and head to the Wadi Rum Desert where we would overnight and camp.
Day 6: Leave the desert for the Dead Sea and a sunset over Israel from the Jordan side.
I can’t begin to tell you how exciting this was. On June 11th, we are premiering the results at the gallery in Cherry Creek North. The show is entitled “Here In The Holy Land.” In the next blog, I’ll talk about the actual trip.
Andy
