I ended my time in Israel like a lot of tourists, in the airport men’s room taking a trip to Tinkle Town.

The only difference was that a cleaning person was in there hovering around behind me.

I didn’t think much of it until I turned to leave, caught a glimpse of the person in the mirror, and realized that it was a woman.

That was odd.

But then again, that’s what makes touring outside of the U.S. so great (not being lingered over by a female restroom attendant, but being immersed in different cultures).

For all I know, females in the men’s room are no big deal in some other countries.

Now that I think about it, one of those countries is America, because way back in the day when Alice In Chains was playing clubs in Seattle, they would play at a place called the Vogue, and on those nights, it was a common occurrence to see females in the men’s room.

Several books have been written about the Seattle scene, but somehow the sordid story of the men’s room at the Vogue on an Alice In Chains headline night has been overlooked. 

(I promise to write it if the PTSD ever subsides)

Anyway, back to 2018.

We’ve been here over five weeks, visited numerous cities throughout 14 countries, seen a million faces, rocked them all, eaten a bunch of curious food, and survived intact.

Inevitably, especially if it’s a great show, someone up on stage will say something along the lines of, “We’ll see you again soon!” at the end of the show.

This is an unintentional lie, because we never come back soon.

Jerry said something like that after the show in Zagreb in 2010 and it took us 8 years to come back.

On average, since the band reemerged in 2006, we’ve come here every four years.

I know this because the tours have always times up with the World Cup, and this year was no different.

It feels like ages since we’ve done a proper European tour, and I wish we could come back every year.

The crowds are great, the people are nice, the food is different, and eventually the lack of proper rest catches up to you and you spend the final three weeks in a perpetual sleep-deprived daze. It’s kind of like being drunk, but without all the unnecessary hugging and telling people how much you love them. It’s fun!

But the daze is over for now. We’re all off to sleep in our own beds for a few weeks before hitting the States again.

It’s been an amazing summer, and it’s about to get better, because the album will finally be released by the time the next leg gets rolling, and we can all celebrate some new music after 5 long years.

See ya soon!…