![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thisnormallife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/impossible-whopper-1.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n1. Wearing a mask for the duration of a 12-hour flight wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t as bad as I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d feared. And my fellow passengers were surprisingly compliant. The truth is, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d already gotten comfortable with masking up indoors (even when it was no longer required) during a pre-flight visit to my optometrist. One of the employees was coughing. I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to get sick \u00e2\u20ac\u201c not even with a head cold let alone Covid. Keeping a mask on is a good way to not ruin a long-planned vacation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Anti vaxxers are everywhere. The best response I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve settled on is to simply not engage. You really can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t convince anyone anymore. Like Brandon, the sweet young man I met in Florida. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m 23 and healthy. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see any reason to get vaccinated,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he told me as I bit my tongue. I wanted to warn him about Natan and Noga, who I wrote about in my previous column, about the dangers of the Delta variant, but nah. At least he wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t denying the pandemic outright. (I met a few of those too.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. The Impossible Whopper at Burger King tastes just like a regular Whopper. The Beyond Meat Burrito at Del Taco is nearly identical to its beef version. Which is fine if you like Whoppers and tacos, but if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re looking for a more transcendent vegan experience, fast food will fast disappoint. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
4. As bad as the political vitriol between Bibi and Bennett got these past weeks in Israel, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s even worse in America. One sign in particular that shocked me: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153F*** you and F*** you for voting for Biden.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5. Pancakes are overrated. When I first envisioned this trip, I dreamed of going to the nearest IHOP every morning and eating a stack of fresh blueberry buttermilk pancakes for breakfast. I was disabused of this notion after my first syrup-drenched meal: Portions are enormous and any attempt to clean my plate was met with a fullness bordering on nausea. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
6. Uber is awesome. This will come as no surprise to anyone who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a ride hailing addict anywhere but Israel, where the Transportation Ministry refuses to allow Uber, Lyft and the rest to operate. The ease with which you can order an Uber, the low prices, the interactive map that shows you exactly where your driver is, not needing to pull out cash, have all convinced me that driving your own car is no longer an absolute necessity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7. You need a reservation to buy something at an Apple Store \u00e2\u20ac\u201c at least at the one I went to. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m here to make your day,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I said to Nevada (yes, that was her name) as I entered the store in Coconut Point, Florida. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I know exactly what I want, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m ready to buy it right away.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sure,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Nevada replied. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I have a salesperson available in three hours to help you.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153But I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to wait three hours.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well, you could go outside, order what you want on our app and then we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll get it ready for you right away.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Which is what I did, but still\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n\n\n\n
8. All across America, Covid restrictions are being lifted as if the pandemic is over. (In Florida, where I started my trip, it never happened at all, of course.) Look, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m all for removing indoor mask mandates when the case numbers drop to the low two digits, as they did in Israel. But there are still 10,000 cases a day in the U.S. And as we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen with the Delta variant wreaking havoc with our post-pandemic plans in Israel, we are far from being out of the woods. I was feeling relatively safe when I left home three weeks ago; in America, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m masking indoors everywhere, even if the signs say you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
9. One-hour weed delivery. My biggest health-related concern about traveling to America (other than catching Covid) was that I wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t comfortable bringing the medical cannabis I use nightly for my chronic insomnia on the plane. Well, actually, the Israeli security guard said as long as I have my medical cannabis license with me I could take it through Ben-Gurion Airport. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153But I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t tell you what will happen when you get to New York.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nFortunately, recreational cannabis is legal in California, the second stop on our trip. Order online and you can have your high within an hour \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the Amazonification of marijuana. But the strains in California are not the same as what I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ascertained, after months of painstaking trial and error, work for me in Israel. As a result, I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get more than two to three hours a night of sleep for the first two weeks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n