Joel Thornton

A common sense conservative.

Greece: County That Holds My Heart

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Greece is one of my favorite countries in the world. The people are friendly, generous, and love life. They are welcoming and proud to share their heritage with the world. And what a heritage it is. They gave us functioning democracy. They gave us Plato and Aristotle. Through Aristotle they gave us Alexander the Great and many others.

Greece is also a beautiful country filled with natural marvels. It’s arid climate preserves many of the ancient artifacts from Ancient Greece that are still to be seen today in places like the Parthenon, the Parthenon Museum, the archaeological sites all over the country.

I have spent a good bit of time in Greece. I was first there in 2001. I was there for the Olympics in 2004 and back four or five more times. I lead Steps of Paul tours of Greece now—taking groups to the places where the Apostle Paul travel on his missionary journeys through the country.

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What I Carry With Me When I Travel Internationally

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Often the hardest part of any trip is deciding what to carry. There are a multitude of decisions that have to be made. There are also a multitude of questions that we have to know the answer to before we can make the decisions necessary for the trip to be successful. First, remember that you are not traveling to a third world country—unless of course, you are traveling to a third world country. Even then, there are many things you can buy locally rather than packing.

The most important thing to remember is to pack light. Rick Steves, the budget travel guru, says that he has never heard an experienced traveler say, “I wish I had carried more stuff with me.” Or something like that. I find that the more I travel the less I think I need to take. I have also found it valuable—on the keep things light side—to keep my wife out of the room while I am packing. She wants to add clothes that I know I will not be wearing. I usually humor her and unpack after she moves on to her next task.

I travel heavier than most people. I am an insulin dependent person who has recently had open heart surgery. I do not let those obstacles keep me from traveling, but I do carry more supplies than the average person because of the medicines, needles, etc. that I use on a daily basis.

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HOW TO DECIDE WHERE TO GO.

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There are probably hundred of factors to consider when trying to decide where to travel. We will explore five factors to help you decide where to go.

  • Follow your dreams;
  • Follow your passion;
  • Count the cost;
  • Consider the tensions in the area where you are traveling;
  • Have courage and step out boldly.

Follow your dreams, they can lead you to great places! We all have places we have dreamed of traveling. Think about those moments when you imagine being somewhere else. You lift yourself out of the world that surrounds you and deposit yourself somewhere else. Where is that place? Is it France? Is it England? Is it China? You are the only one who knows.

            I think when you travel you should follow your passions. I was always interested in Germany, from the earliest memories of foreign countries Germany was there. So, naturally when I began to travel that is where I went. I have never regretted being in Germany. Following your passions will mean that you are always somewhere you are excited to be. That opens a whole new world for travel. It helps you get the motivation to get out of the hotel everyday and explore the city where you find yourself.

            I have expertise in European travel and in travel to Israel. I have led two tours to Israel and right now have three more scheduled. I am leading my first tour to Greece and Germany soon. These are all places I love. So, every time I go there I am excited. Even though I have seen many of the sights dozens of times, they always come alive when I am there again. That is what I mean by following your passion when you are choosing where you are going to travel.

            It is important to count the cost for your trip. In addition to following your dreams and your passions you should also consider what your budget is. International travel can be expensive because the airline tickets are much more expensive than domestic airline tickets. There are many ways to save money when traveling, but the airlines are typically not one of them. You can stay in lower rated hotels that are safe and comfortable without being extravagant, make sure you eat with restraint (Have one expensive meal to experience the cuisine of Paris and eat more frugally the rest of the time. This does not mean you do not eat well. It is easy to eat well in France without spending a lot of money, you just have to be more discerning.), use public transportation, walk when you can, or check to see when free museum days are and build your itinerary around that perk (it is easy enough to rotate days to take advantage of free admissions in some cities). There are many ways to take advantage of cities that make a lot of their revenue from tourism. You just have to be prepared.

            Do your research and consider the tensions you might run into. You should never just travel blindly without considering the tension that exist in a country or city where you are planning to travel. There are several ways to check on hot spots, including the State Department’s web site. This site tends to be very cautious, so do not stop with that one check. You should do an Internet search of the area where you are going. See if there have been any terrorist attacks. See if violent crime is a problem there. Use some common sense. Remember, even in American cities where you might feel very safe because it is home there are parts of the city where you would not go at night. There are other places where you would not go during the day. The same is true in every city in the world.

            There are ways to determine if you are in a safe environment. For example, if you see women walking alone that is a good sign that the neighborhood you are in is fairly safe. If you see women with children walking alone, without a male escort, that is a positive sign. Regardless of how safe you feel, it is important to always be vigilant. Often, if I am leaving a hotel to walk about I check with someone at the hotel to get their take on the area where I will be heading. They almost always speak English and they are always willing to help.

            I will talk in depth about safety and tensions in another blog dedicated to the subject. While it is a matter that deserves our attention, it should never keep us from traveling.

Have courage and step out boldly. Plan your trip with courage. There is no reason to let fear keep you from traveling to those locations to which you have always dreamed of traveling. Europe is less violent than the United States. Remember, their cities are the opposite of ours, the safest places in most European cities are the inner cities areas. The troubles typically happen in the suburban areas.

Also, television, especially the news, give us the impression that when there is a riot going on in a country it is dangerous to be there. I have been in Athens, Greece during riots that made it look like the city was being burned down. We barely saw any signs of riots, and we were careful to stay out of harm’s way. I was in Jerusalem the day we announced that we were moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem. The next day was the begin of three days of rage by the Palestinians. On the first day of rage we went into Bethlehem, there was no sign of rage or danger. The next day Bethlehem was closed for security reasons. My point is that there are people locally who are making sure that tourists stay safe. Keep an eye out but never let fear keep from traveling.

The most important thing is that you travel. Travel changes how you view the world. It changes how much you appreciate home. It changes who you are, so I always encourage people to explore other cities and other countries.

Be safe, be smart, but travel.

If you are thinking about traveling and would like some more information, contact me at [email protected]. You can also ask to sign up for our travel newsletter (we are beginning it soon) and to keep up with tours that we are currently planning. We can help you make memories to last a lifetime!

FOR THE LOVE OF TRAVEL

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I will admit that I am a travel nerd. I love to travel. I always have loved to travel. I remember when I first started working for Jay Sekulow we were constantly on the road. We would fly out of town on a day trip and not return for three or four days. Or we would return from a trip and before I could get home I would get a call from the office telling me to come back to the airport for the next trip that had just been moved up.

            Jay used to tease me and say, “Joel, you are the original vagabond. Have bag, will travel.” It was a true statement.

            I am such a travel nerd that I used to plan trips that I was not scheduled to take. I would plan the air travel, the hotels, the trains—including their scheduled departure times, what sites we would see, and even plan where we would eat.

            Now, I am planning trips that people are actually taking. We have already done two trips to Israel and are organizing five more trips, three to Israel, one to Greece, and one to Germany. I want to spread the love of travel to more people. I want to help everyone I know learn to love to travel.

            Why do I love to travel so much? Other than the fact that it is in my blood, I have little to do with that, I love to travel because I am a naturally inquisitive person. I want to know what is over the next hill, what is around the next curve in the road. There is nothing more exciting, and sometimes a little frightening, than going to a new place and seeing something I have never seen. Experiencing a place I have never experienced before.

            The second most exciting thing I can think of is to go back to a place and reexplore its sites or see a new part of a city or a country. I love to climb up onto Mars Hill in Athens, even though I have been on top of the hill numerous times, again and experience Athens from above as if it were a new city I have never seen. I never tire of that view.

            I am not a people person by nature. Don’t get me wrong, I like sitting around and talking to people I know, but I do not like meeting new people. I am a bit of an introvert when it comes to meeting new people. You would not know it because I am also very outgoing if I am in charge or if I am in a room full of people I already know and am comfortable with. Having said that, I love to go to a new place, especially a new country, and meet people from a different culture so that I can learn something about what it means to live in their world.

            I am greatly interested in what it must be like to be a German, or an Israeli, or a Greek. What is it like to wake up every morning in Greece with Greek language running through your mind? What is it like to work in Germany? What is it like to start your day every day in Germany and then take a day trip to Salzburg, Austria?

            The closest I can come to that feeling, to understanding how those thoughts work, is to travel to Munich and take a day trip to Austria. The closest I can come to understanding what it is like to be an Israeli is to travel to Israel and interact with Israelis. Ask them questions about what their days are like. Ask them questions about where they shop for their food, where do they buy their clothes, where do their children go to school. These things help me better understand what life is like for other people and that satisfies some level of curiosity I live under.

            Another reason I love to travel is much like what I have heard that drug addicts deal with everyday. They are always trying to achieve the feeling of that first high. The second high and ever high thereafter is not as good as that first high. This principle is not true with travel. With travel I can experience the same level of high every time I travel. Every time I go to a new place, or revisit an old place, I experience a travel high that cannot be matched by anything else in life. That is what it means to have wanderlust. The lust of wandering.

            I am also someone who enjoys trying new things at the table. I love to eat what the locals eat. One of the best things about traveling is that you get to experience the local food with the locals. There is no replacement for bratwurst in the Hofbräuhaus. You can go to Aldi and buy the German sausages and grill them, use German mustard on them, they are not the same, the experience is not the same. You have to be there to experience the sensation. There is no substitute for being there.

            One of the greatest reasons I love to travel is to meet new people. Traveling abroad erases so much prejudice. It gives us a better understanding of what everyday life is like for others. When we see people living in their own world we can have more compassion for their plight in life. It also helps us to better appreciate how good we have it as Americans. I have found one principle to be true beyond anything else. It is impossible to hate people that you have come to know and share experiences with. That is what helps make the world a better place for all of us to live.

            That is why I love being there, I can only experience the excitement of life abroad by going abroad. I can suck up the fear and the anxiety and experience a piece of this world that God created for our enjoyment.

If you are thinking about traveling and would like some more information, contact me at [email protected]. You can also ask to sign up for our travel newsletter (we are beginning it soon) and to keep up with tours that we are currently planning. We can help you make memories to last a lifetime!