Around the world in much less than 80 days

An intrepid traveler from the Five Towns combines business and pleasure in a jaunt across the time zones

By Phyllis Koegel

It was Wednesday morning in Jerusalem and I was standing at the Kotel thinking about the power and beauty of the Wall. Fast forward to Monday and I’m in Shanghai, thinking of another wall – the Great Wall of China. Believe it or not, during that time, from Wednesday to Monday, I left Israel, flew home to Cedarhurst, then flew to China (with a connection in Atlanta) and lived to tell the tale. Very tired, but alive.

In that short time, I spanned 19 time zones, crossed the Mediterranean and two great oceans, went from a land in which just about everyone is Jewish to one in which there is barely a minyan among a billion people, and did so with a two-day stopover at home, just to remind me that I live in the Five Towns. Such is my life.

Around the world in 80 days? Please! That’s so nineteenth century. Try six days. Jules Verne had nothing on me. After all, I was daring enough (or perhaps crazy enough) to schedule a vacation to Israel before a business trip to China.

It’s not that I’m not used to travel. Believe it or not, this was my second trip to China for OU Kosher in two months (and my third in a year, including a vacation last June). And China is not my only destination for the OU. It’s been quite a year. I’ve also traveled to Belgium, Germany and Israel, as well as half a dozen states domestically. Most of my travel involves work, as I attend a multitude of international and domestic food and ingredient shows for the OU in search of new companies and products to become kosher.

Sounds like fun? It is, and I love my job.

Having spent this past year crisscrossing the country and three continents, it was definitely time for a vacation. My destination of choice: Israel, of course! My best friend and I planned an action packed week in Israel that included all the holy places, Shabbos in Jerusalem and a two-day spa getaway in Haifa.

But as I ran myself ragged in Israel there was a little nagging voice in my head: “Save some energy. You will be spending approximately 36 hours on airplanes in the next few days.” Twelve of those hours were on the flight back from Tel Aviv, with two days between trips. Thank goodness one of them was Shabbos so I could rest and recharge.

I left JFK on Sunday morning and arrived at my hotel in Shanghai a very long 24 hours later. The time zone change is exactly 12 hours ahead in China, but I hadn’t quite recovered from my jet lag from my return trip from Israel, so as you can well imagine I was disoriented and sleep deprived. In fact, I set a record achieved by very few travelers in that I was suffering from two sets of jet lag simultaneously: the return trip from Israel and then the much more difficult trip to Shanghai.

As I travel the world, I do my best to demystify the kosher certification process to makes it easy for a corporation to do business with us. I strive to make kosher certification easy, open and transparent, with quality customer service. That’s what I did in Shanghai.

Now I’m back home, and I am beyond exhausted. If you ask me what day of the week it is, I couldn’t tell you; I’ve lost track of time. I do know that it’s been non-stop activity, living out of a suitcase, listening to dozens of languages, meeting people of various cultures and constantly smiling and saying “It was a pleasure to meet you.” I’ve collected enough business cards to wallpaper my bedroom, and all I really want to do is take a long hot bath and sleep in my own bed.

As my plane touched down at JFK, I finally felt myself starting to decompress. As my taxi headed onto the Nassau Expressway I caught myself smiling.

I think I’ll stay home for a while now. I feel like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, “There’s no place like home...there’s no place like home...”

Home — in the Five Towns, of course.

Phyllis Koegel of Cedarhurst is New Business Development/Marketing Associate for OU Kosher.