. . . after her son had been rescued under great effort and expenses by the Israeli embassy during a climbing trip abroad, called the Israeli embassy and gave them hell they should send the helicopter out again as her son’s rucksack was still lying somewhere on the mountain? [As reported by Jüdische Allgemeine a little while ago.]
I’ve meant to blog this for a while:
Israel and its embassies find themselves struggling with the expenses, logistics and staff needed to more often than would be tolerable bail Israeli tourists out of problematic situations those tourists have trapped themselves in somewhere abroad. Those problematic situations range from anywhere between running low on cash, needing medical treatments or being rescued during mountaineering trips. Now Israel is considering charging their wanderlustig shlemazls for the expenses they’ve caused (which can easily add up to tens of thousands).
To get this straight, a state should look out for its citizens. If you get into trouble abroad, you should be able to seek help from your embassy. Your embassy = your state = your tax-paying fellow citizens cannot be held responsible though for each and any wet-behind-the-ears traveller who hasn’t sufficiently planned out their trip to a country that promises to provide them with the once-in-a-lifetime experience of doing something cool, hip, indie, alternative and oh-so-mind-altering abroad.
I love traveling. I really do. (New Year’s in NYC. I’ll kiss anybody who brings mistletoe. Brush your teeth. Please.) But there are certain precautions a traveler should take before hopping on a plane abroad:
1) Check back with your doctor in time and get all the vaccinations needed;
2) Make sure you’ve got the fundings needed for your trip including transfers, extra possible expenses, food & beverages, security deposits, local taxes applicable to hotels or memberships at youth hostels etc);
3) Book your accommodation ahead. As little spontaneous as that may seem, the advantages are obvious: you’ll know where to sleep the following nights, your kin will know where to contact you should anything happen, you won’t have to suffer from travelling somewhere just to find out that every place is fully booked. If you enjoy staying at youth hostels or a hotel chain, reception staff will gladly assist you with making or altering your reservations for subsequent stays in different locales;
4) Obtain travel insurance that’ll cover your bills for medical treatment, replacement of lost or stolen luggage, cancellation fees / re-booking fees in case a medical issue makes changes to your itinerary necessary, and the expenses of anything that might befall you in a shlemazl moment. (My travel insurance provider even has got its own flying hospitals and will cover funeral expenses should I kick the bucket abroad. All that for neat and fully tax-deductible 43 Euros per year.);
5) Pack all medications you may need on your trip. And some extra. Just because there are people in, let’s say, Bolivia that have also got asthma doesn’t mean they’ve got the meds there you need. Plus there might not be a pharmacy on every other corner. Keep notes among your documents about pre-existing ailments, allergies and sensitivities in English and the language of the country you’re travelling to. Make sure your travel companions know what illnesses might befall you. Get a medical bracelet;
6) If you plan on going mountaineering, practise. There’s a reason why there are mountaineering camps for professionals that want to climb high mountains. Watching ‘Cliffhanger’ et.al. won’t properly prepare you for crawling around steep rocks like mountain goats;
7) Call mum daily, or she’ll track you down. Trust me on that.
If you’ll kiss anyone with mistletoe, you won’t have to worry about booking accommodations.
Wouldn’t that depend on the body parts I kiss?
You know that joke…
Mrs Goldberg, old jewish lady shows up in Tibet, by Dalai Lamas convent, and demands to see Dalai Lama. They won’t let her see him
“He is a very busy man, he can’t see everyone who knocks on his door…”
“No, no. Just tell him that Mrs Goldberg wants to see him.”
In the end, Dalai Lama agrees to see Mrs Goldber. She walks into his office holding her basket, and he says
“No, no mother… not blintzes… not here…”
Hah! Good one!
I do not believe that story. That is soooooo close to an old Jewish joke in which the boy is drowning in the ocean, and the mother prays to god for intervention, and WHOOOSH… a wind comes, lifts the boy from the water and plops him on the beach safe and sound. he has not drowned or died. the mother looks up to heaven and instead of thanking god, she says, “he had a hat!”
are you sure that this is not parshat chayeh sarah. sarah hears that Abraham has taken the son to sacrifice him on the mountain. thankfully he is saved by an angel and a ram is sacrificed instead. but when sarah hears that her son’s bag was left on the mountain, she is overcome with grief
It was in Jüdische Allgemeine, which afterall is a quality newspaper, plus they quoted Israeli government officials. Suppose we could say that there are Jewish mothers out there who are incredibly stereotypical. 🙂
That’s a funny story. Anybody with mistletoe? Muffti can only assume it will look a little like this:
Anybody with mistletoe; I’m not enough of a politician to retrospectively try to re-interpret my announcements.
It’s almost exactly like that, except with full frontal nudity.
I’m usually dressed in public and around strangers, so there would have to be nudists with mistletoes passing my way.
In that case, get thee to South Beach, froylein.
Nah, Tom, I’m not actively seeking people leaving body fluids on my clothes; NYC serves me just fine. 🙂
Oh, well. I just checked, and the number for Plato’s Retreat is out of service.
…I mean, doesn’t this seem perfect?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX_YJP0YaGs
Looks a bit like a bad basement disco in a senior citizens’ home with broken water pipes. 🙂
Middle will tell you that was some of the worst music ever.
Plato’s Retreat was a classic. A historical icon. Granted, it probably represents the very worst of the Disco Era excess, but still – it’s in the history books now.
And on the interwebs!
Those things you guys know… Tsk, tsk, tsk… And I was only offering kisses to people with mistletoe!
That story doesn’t sound real to me either. Too much like a joke or an urban legend. Said as a Jewish, albeit Israeli, mother.
I agree with what you said though – more people are calling for the government to sue those travelers who get into trouble so that will have to pay for the rescue expenses.