Running to catch my flight 🏃‍♀️, speaking in a conference, exploring new places, going through security checks 😨

Hello beautiful people, in this article I’ll describe my last 4-5 days traveling in Israel and attending as a speaker Angular-Up, a tech conference focusing on Angular. While we progress I'll share what I did (tech and non-tech wise) as well as some new experiences.

Let the journey begin...

Content

✔Day 0 - Saturday 🏡

✔Day 1 - Greece to Israel ✈

✔Day 2: Tel Aviv, Conference: Angular Up 💻🎤

✔Day 3: Excursion to Jerusalem 🕍

✔Day 4: Returning flight, Tel Aviv to Greece 🛄

✔Conclusion and future plans 🔮

P.S. If you are not feeling like reading, watch the vlog 😉.

Day 0 - Saturday 🏡

On Saturday I was in my hometown preparing for the upcoming trip. The previous day I had done a PCR test (although I'm double vaccinated 💉 it was required by Israel's regulations), so I was simply waiting for the negative results. That morning I went to exchange some money from Euro to Shekel as it would be easier for my transactions... and by night, I had the negative results from the PCR test and my suitcase done.

Day 1 - Greece to Israel ✈

The next day my flight was at 7.30AM, guess what time I went to the airport?! 5.30AM. I had a feeling that I was missing something from my papers. To give you some context, there is a lot of bureaucracy to flight to Israel. A lot of papers need to be done. Thankfully, for these papers, I had the help of the organizers.

Anyway, I went for the check-in, and they told me I was missing a paper, I said to them "that's impossible I have double-checked everything", they insisted that I was missing one of the papers...so they wouldn't allow me to check-in. A local resident (from Israel), came to help me as I started to panic. She told me that a paper should have been sent to me automatically but in my case, it hadn't. After that, I was trying to find the paper or to re-do the procedure to take it. I literally needed more than 90min to find it... so it was time for the airplane to depart and I hadn't even gone through the security check...

I was panicking... I was about to quit.

I run with my laptop open to the check-in to present the paper as I didn't even have the time to shut it down and pass the paper on my phone... They accepted the paper and I started running! 🏃‍♀️

I finally caught my flight. I was now relieved and even sitting in business class for the first time!

As soon as I reached Tel Aviv's airport I had to do another PCR test inside the airport. Although there were many passengers the procedure was quick.

After the test, I took a cab and arrived at the hotel. Now, this is another story, a story I'm not proud off 😅, I couldn't find the entrance of the hotel... It was a block of buildings and all them had the same address, so I had no idea how I was supposed to find the entrance of my hotel... Long story short, after 30min walking with my suitcase up and down, I found it.

The receptionist was very friendly and answered all my questions. That afternoon I visited the mall to buy a SIM card, I walked a bit in the city, arrived back at the hotel, worked for a couple of hours, refreshed myself and went to sleep.

Day 2: Tel Aviv, Conference: Angular Up 💻🎤

The next morning I woke up early, before going to the conference I worked for a couple of hours, eat breakfast and hit the Tel Aviv streets! 😎

I reached the conference venue at 9.30AM. Everything was very well organized. I met the main organizers, Nur and Assaph from the EventHandler and many awesome speakers from Israel or abroad. I had lovely chats with them, we shared experiences about tech and life. During the lunch break, I took the opportunity to walk around the city, see a few sightseeing and return back to the venue. In the afternoon, there was a closing ceremony with gifts for the participants of the conference. As soon as the ceremony finished, one of the organizers accompanied me to the hospital as I had to make another PCR test (for my returning flight). During the evening the organizers and the speakers had a lovely dinner and cocktails at a beautiful outdoor space.

Day 3: Excursion to Jerusalem 🕍

The next day one of the organizers and a few of the speakers (including myself!) went on a private tour in Jerusalem. I don't want to write to much about it as I simply would like to encourage you all to visit that place. It doesn't matter where you're coming from, your culture, or your religion; there is something for everyone. Just wear comfortable shoes and prepare your camera!

Day 4: Returning flight, Tel Aviv to Greece 🛄

That was my last day in Tel Aviv. My flight was at 10.30AM, I arrived at the airport at 7.30AM, yes, 3h earlier and trust me, I needed the whole 3h even if I had a fast-track ticket (the advantages of business class, thank you Eventhandler 🥰). The security check lasted hours... they searched everything in an incredibly detailed way... and they were asking weird questions in the passport check... 🙄

Usually, I like to stroll around the duty-free shops, but this time I didn't have time for that.

I boarded the plane, I had a nice flight. I returned back home, rested for a bit and then worked until late evening.

Conclusion and future plans 🔮

I had a lovely time at the conference, meeting new people and exchanging ideas! I'm looking forward to traveling more and gaining new knowledge on a technical and personal level. I believe these two are connected. When we grow in one area it's easier to grow in the other one too.

If everything goes according to the plan, you'll see more vlogs and similar articles in the upcoming weeks!

Where would you like to travel? At which conference would you love to go?

The Vlog ⬇

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👋Hello, I'm Eleftheria, Community Manager at Hashnode, developer, public speaker, and chocolate lover.

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