Category: Egypt 2026

“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

The remainder of our Egyptian tour has been cancelled, and Kris and I will be leaving on a charter flight to JFK in a few hours.

The decision affects the 20 people in our tour group, and we’re all disappointed. The strange part is that none of us feel unsafe here. Quite the opposite—our experience in Egypt has been wonderful.

Egypt has been Level 2-Exercise Increased Caution for quite some time. That has not changed.

So why was the tour cancelled?

Because of an X post (tweet).

Someone at the U.S. State Department lumped Egypt together with the rest of the Middle East. That single post changed the liability landscape overnight. Once the advisory went out, tour operators had little choice but to cancel remaining tours. From a legal standpoint, the risk suddenly became too great.

I’ll admit that before visiting Egypt, I also tended to lump it in with the rest of the Middle East.

But I don’t work for the State Department.

Let me share a few realities about Egypt.

Egypt’s last major war was in 1973. That conflict—the Yom Kippur War—ultimately led to the Camp David Accords in 1979. Since then, Egypt and Israel have maintained peace for more than four decades.

Today, Egypt often plays the role of diplomatic middleman in regional conflicts, including the ongoing tensions between Hamas and Israel.

In many ways, Egypt functions as the Switzerland of the Middle East—maintaining relationships with multiple sides and working behind the scenes to keep the region from boiling over.

Geography also works in Egypt’s favor. Nearly 95 percent of the population lives within a few miles of the Nile River. Beyond that narrow green corridor lies mostly natural protection: the Sinai Desert and the Red Sea to the east, the Mediterranean to the north, and the vast Sahara Desert to the west.

After spending time here, one thing has become clear to me: Egypt deserves to be judged on its own merits—not lumped into a regional headline.

Unfortunately, one tweet was enough to end our tour.

Pete

We’re currently in Egypt.

Before leaving, I told a few people I was heading over to bring peace to the Middle East. We landed Friday… so clearly I haven’t had enough time to pull that off yet.

For those who’ve asked — yes, we feel safe. If you didn’t follow the news, you honestly wouldn’t know anything unusual was happening. Life here feels normal. The people we’ve met have been welcoming and gracious, focused on their families and their work — not politics.

We’re heading to Aswan this morning to spend a week floating down the Nile before returning to Cairo. Being out on the river, surrounded by desert and ancient history, feels like a pretty good place to be.

We’re trusting our American-based tour company to monitor things and make any decisions if plans need to change. For now, we’re focused on the experience.

Egypt is extraordinary. The history is overwhelming in the best way, and the scale of what these civilizations built thousands of years ago is hard to comprehend.

I’ll save the full storytelling for when we’re home — or when the world settles down a bit — but for now, here are a few photos from our first three days.

Pete