I am always amazed with the aviation technology of planes in general and especially the Boeing 777, lifting 283 passengers, the crew and luggage while traveling at an average speed of 550 mph from one side of the world to another.

After 9.5 hours in the air, we touched down at the Tel-Aviv airport and were greeted by my daughter and son-in-law who are studying this year in Jerusalem. They arranged for a private taxi driver to take us to Jerusalem. Since one of our suitcases was too large to fit in the trunk, the driver started to mount it on the roof of his newly purchased Mercedes. “Here, catch the rope on the other side” he yelled. I immediately realized, that I was just volunteered to help and suddenly recognized the great responsibility placed on me to correctly secure my own suitcase. What if it flew off the roof? What would I be able to even say to him? I believe my rope tying technique sucked out all the remaining oxygen from that poor suitcase. It was a beautiful day in Israel, great scenery and we were finally on our way. “Do you like my new car?” asked the driver. “It’s great” I replied, while my hand is reaching out of the window to check that the luggage is still perched securely on the roof of the car.

We made it safely to my kids’ apartment in the beautiful Rechavia neighborhood of Jerusalem. After a brief siesta we were on our way, the four of us, to explore the streets of this beautiful city, the work of great artists while experiencing the savory, culinary delights.

(Click on images to enlarge)

Homes in Rechavia neighborhood

Homes in Rechavia neighborhood

Jerusalem homes overlooking the old city

Jerusalem homes overlooking the old city

Jerusalem across from the old city

Artist work on Ben Yehuda Street

It is 3PM on Saturday, December 8, and my wife and I are getting ready to board the plane from Newark to Tel-Aviv to take us to our vacation. Standing right next to me is Walt Mossberg, the great technology columnist for the Wall Street Journal and his wife. I introduced myself, told him I am a big fan and we started to chat for about 15 minutes.

Walt tells me that he is on his way to deliver a speech in Tel-Aviv. I ask him about his interview of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, what must it have been like and how he was able to get the two of them in the same room and so well behaved? He talked about that special moment and said that the excitement in the room was unbelievable that many of the people in the audience had tears in their eyes.

I gave him some pointers about traveling in Israel, the four of us started to board business first while Walt and I are now discussing the iPhone. My wife (jokingly) asks us if we wish to sit together? I was just about getting ready to answer as both wives look at each other, smiled and got to override our decision.

Be back soon reporting from Israel,

Chad

p.s. the entire interview of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs is available on iTune

It has been 29 years since I moved to the U.S. and made it my home and the journey has been simply unbelievable. I’ve been fortunate to create and live a great life and as this Thanksgiving holiday weekend comes to a close, I wish to thank you all:
My dear wife Laurel, daughter Sharon, son Yoni, son-in-law Hillel and my entire family. My dear mentors, friends, colleagues, clients and of course YOU, the reader of this blog.

I would not be the person I am without all your great support.

Click here for a special holiday message from us (may take a couple of minutes to load)

Thank You!

I just spent an awesome weekend with my son traveling the Bryce Canyon area. Great bonding experience, terrific conversations, learned some new rap music and beautiful surrounding nature. Life is good!

Below are some pictures I took (click on images to enlarge):

At Snow Canyon St. George

Snow Canyon – St. George

Sunset – St. George

Bryce Canyon

Bryce Canyon

Sunset – Bryce Canyon

In a recent article in the wsj by Benjamin Netanyahoo, previous Prime Minister of Israel and currently the leader for the Opposition in the Knesset, he wrote about the potential of peace and the importance of prosperity based on the current successes in Dubai and the gulf states:

“With the right incentives and economic freedoms, you see this explosive growth that I frankly admire … We always said that if we have peace, then we’ll have prosperity. It may be the other way around.”

Well, I slightly changed the words of the song just to make my point. It is history, this record had an immense influence on Rock & Roll and since you asked, I was 11 years old back then and I love this album. I guess time does fly when you are having fun.

As another Memorial Day comes to a close, my thoughts and prayers are with all the families whose loved ones are serving for peace and freedom and for making this world a better and safer place. And for all the brave souls who gave their lives so we may live a better one, I salute you.

While in Naples, Florida last week, I took some pictures of the beautiful sunset. Click on each picture to enlarge:

While attending the Million Dollar Consulting™ Graduate School we learned and discussed many topics. One of my favorites was best practices of how to work smarter not harder. Click on  the link below to read the full article.

Key Elements to Success. How to Work Smarter not Harder.

Several years ago I came up with the idea to implement and launch www.AlansForums.com which is an online community attracting great business minds from all over the world and is branded around international consultant, speaker and author Alan Weiss.
This month this great community came together and together collaborated and developed this great article called “Travel Tips from Alan’s Forums.” Click on this hyperlink, learn and explore what great minds are able to develop in an online team work effort.