“You’re home. Welcome back to the United States.”

Our pilot’s voice echoed through the cabin as our charter flight from Egypt touched down at JFK on Friday afternoon.

And then…

Nothing.

Dead silence.

Not a clap. Not a cheer. Not even a cough.

I’ve been on flights where touching down after a little turbulence brings cheers and applause. This landing brought something very different—an eerie quiet.

I’ve heard louder reactions when Costco opens a new checkout lane.

Relieved?
Thankful?
Disappointed?
Embarrassed?
All of the above?

After canceling the remainder of their Egypt tours, our tour company arranged a charter flight for roughly 250 tourists. Just a few days earlier, we had expected to be sailing down the Nile.

Instead, we were flying home.

Before leaving for Egypt, Kris and I had moved out of our house of ten years. I had mentioned in a Facebook post that when we returned to Florida we would technically be homeless. We had a condo rented in Jacksonville Beach starting March 17, but now we were back ten days early.

This homeless couple needed a place to stay.

The response was incredible.

We received offers from friends in Pennsylvania, Virginia, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Kansas, Idaho, Washington, South Dakota, Maryland, Florida, North Carolina, and California.

Pretty amazing, huh?

Fortunately, we were able to check into our rental unit early, so we won’t be doing a barn-storming tour across the country. But it’s nice to know we could if we wanted to. One advantage of having moved around as much as we have is that we’ve built friendships in a lot of places.

While our Egyptian adventure didn’t end the way we expected, we still had a fantastic experience.

We saw everything we hoped to see in Cairo. The Great Pyramid was great, and the new Grand Egyptian Museum was truly grand.

What we missed was the Nile portion of the trip—sailing south through Luxor and the Valley of the Kings. Will we go back to Egypt someday to see those sights?

Quite possibly.

But for now, there are still a few places higher on our list.

After all, we’ve never been to South America… or Antarctica.

Over the next few days I’ll share some photos and stories from the incredible historic sites we visited in Cairo.

Our next adventure will be a little less glamorous. Kris is scheduled for her second hip replacement on April 2.

After that recovery, we’re planning to head to Europe for about six weeks starting in May. We don’t have the entire itinerary nailed down yet, but I’ll keep you posted—both on the hip and the travel plans.

Thank you to everyone who reached out with concern for our safety. It means more than you know.

We’re lucky to have friends like you.

Just Pete