September 2024

Today I checked out of the hostel in Jerusalem and headed to Tel Aviv. I drank a nice fruit smoothie on Ben Yehuda street. I thought about the importance of being outside early with sunlight and its benefits for the mental, emotional and physical. Seeing everyone do their own thing hustling and bustling around makes you zoom out and see how small you really are. I made it to Tel Aviv at 1600. Zach and I went to the beach for sunset. At night I met up and had a great dinner with my friend Marissa from Dallas. We caught up and talked about life and our adventurous experiences so far. She quit her job and is working as an English teacher in Israel so we have similar emotions and experiences we can talk through. It was really great to see her and I really value her friendship. Wow I love the beach and the weather was so incredible today. Tel Aviv is a great city too. **One thing stuck with me greatly. Israelis really know how to relax and have fun.** On a Monday afternoon there were hundreds of young people playing soccer on the beach, running and just hanging out. This is one aspect of Israeli society I really value and think America is extremely lacking in. Nobody here takes work or life too seriously and everyone is just having a great time hanging with friends and playing around. Also I noticed how male to male friendships are so much more loving than in the US. It seems that guy friendships really care about each other and they express that verbally and physically. **In the US People work too hard and forget how to relax and have fun.** We need that culture and energy more. America tricks you in to being hyper productive to make the industrial complex cog keep spinning. The only problem is you lose your freedom and soul in the process. I urge young Americans to take their freedom back and have more fun and to be more care free. Even at 10 pm on a Monday afternoon I saw people sitting in the grass with friends just talking, riding bicycles and going out on the town. I'm pretty exhausted from being in the sun all day but I want to continue this idea and develop it more tomorrow. Spending all day on the beach tomorrow working out, relaxing and having fun since I don't have a job or any work to do or anywhere to be!

Today the volunteering trip ended and marked one week since I left for my travels. There have been so many thoughts and emotions in such a short period of time. Firstly I want to discuss my thoughts about the United States of America. In the trip there were people from France, Australia, Colombia, Canada, and Israel. I have met people from around the world before but to connect with Jews from these countries was a first and hearing about their politics and views was interesting. Also a key aspect of adventure capitalism is exploring international economies and governments and I have become more aware of the corruption and troubles the majority of the world struggles with today. In the past I spoke very pessimistically about the US, how it is a dying regime and culture. That being said, there are still many problems that need to be figured out but comparing to the world it is still the best and most free country on earth. I talked with an Australian guy today and he told me how if you talk bad about aboriginals in Australia a government agency will come throw you in jail. When I explained to him you can say whatever you want in the US he was in shock. He was blown away by the amount of freedoms I take for granted. **Why is a dollar valuable?** It's not pegged to gold or silver or anything materially tangible. It's valuable because of our military. The USD is backed by the shear fire power of the US military. In most countries a lot of problems come from lack of belief and support in the country's military. Overall the US military is a very respectable and non-corrupt establishment. Overall America still has extreme social problems to work through and lots of sickness to be weeded out, but comparing to the rest of the world it is still the most free. I will make a different post outlying the problems I see and how we can face them but for now I want to express my gratitude for being American. I am excited for tomorrow to start the trip where I have the whole time to plan and do as I wish. I have really enjoyed making working out at the calisthenics park a pillar of my routine and think this will help drive stability throughout the adventure.

Waking up early was brutal again. I haven't had a full night of sleep since getting here. We drove 2 hours south to the north of the Gaza border. This time we picked weeds for like three hours at a dill and cilantro farm! I picked for about 30 minutes then sat in the shade. People really loved picking that stuff! The farm gave us lunch which was nice. After we went to Sderot and the nova site. I already went to both these places a couple months ago so it was not that exciting. I still am feeling a whole mixture of emotions about the adventure and trip as a whole it is hard to explain. I am looking forward to rosh Hashanah next week to use as an inflection point to start a new year, reflect, and make goals to achieve on the journey. **A major part of this trip is to understand the life I want to cultivate long term.** This means where to live, how to live and with whom to live it with. Some of these big questions are already shedding some light in interesting ways. **One thing for sure I know is it's important to live connected with nature.** For me I thrive either near the beach or in mountains or lush forestry. Just being able to walk outside and connect with nature and good weather can totally change your mental state. Your place reflects your inner dimensions. In a spiritual sense, there really is no boundary between yourself and your environment since everything is one so you need to choose this wisely. Your entire being is shaped by your environment which then affects the inner workings of the mind and spirit. Overall I'm looking for the volunteering trip to be over to be able to think about these big questions more and devote more time to things that will make me grow. I also need to get over this jet lag asap. Much love.

Today I woke up at 6:30 and we took the bus south to Moshav Shekef. There we tended to the eggplants. What we did was cut the leaves of the plants. Leaves take a lot of nutrients so when the leaves are cut the eggplant grows a lot faster. It was a pretty good experience but after an hour of leaf pulling I was done. After the volunteering in the morning I took a nap because I was still jet lagged and woke up early. After the needed nap, Zach and I went to the Etrog man and drank EtroGat, a mixture of etrog, grapefruit and gat. **Supposedly Gat or khat is illegal in the United States and the Somali pirates use it to get energized.** I need to do more research on this. After drinking a liter of the drink we walked to the old city. We went into a cool jewelry store which sells remnants of the second temple. After wandering the old city I got my first shawarma pita and it was really good. The etrogat drink made me tired again so I took another nap. When I woke up there was a geopolitical talk which was hosted by the program. It was interesting but I did not learn that much. Finally Zach and I went to Gan Sacher, the park in Jerusalem and went on a run and did push up and pull ups. It was good to get the first work out of the trip done even though I am still not full energy. **It does not feel like the adventure has officially started yet since I am on this volunteering program.** I have to be a certain places at certain times which takes away some of the freedom. I will be patient because it is almost done and they are paying for my flight basically. The volunteering feels like busy work but whatever. Once Monday comes and i will have to fill my own days doing things I want I think I will feel more invigorated. Tomorrow we wake up again at 6:30 am to volunteer at another agricultural site.

I had a middle seat on the flight to Tel Aviv. I slept some and it was an easy flight. I landed in Israel at 4:30 am and was able to take the 5 am train to Jerusalem. I obviously got an iced aroma coffee from the airport before the train. The train took 30 minutes to get to Jerusalem and then I had to take the lite rail to the hostel. I finally arrived around 5:45 to the hostel. Zach was asleep when I arrived and there was another roommate in the room. This first week in Israel I am doing a volunteer program. I woke up around 11 am and Zach and I got ginger shots from the etrog man and walked to Gan Sacher park. We sat and caught up in the grass and oriented ourselves together for the journey ahead. Around 13:00 we headed to our first volunteering experience, the food pantry. I began to meet some people in our 40 person volunteering group. **It was funny because people began to ask me "where do you live" and "what do you do for work".** I knew these questions would inevitably come but it still was funny to think how to answer it for the first time. The truth is I do not live anywhere, only here in the present moment! I had to explain that I was traveling and adventuring around the world and just quit my job. It's always fun to have that conversation but usually people think it is really cool. At the food pantry I had the special role of boxing and taping the food. It was 1.5 hours and went by pretty fast and I did not mind it. After i crashed and took a nap. Then Zach and I walked to the shuk and ate dinner. I had veal kabob. **Overall I love Jerusalem, it's a special place.** The weather is great and people are living here with real purpose and connection and community. This is what America is lacking. Also you are able to immediately tell the quality of the food and produce is so much superior. This is due to how well Israel is with agriculture and how the majority of the soil in America is over stressed and lacking the proper nutrients. It's really sad. It was a great first day but I still need to get some sleep and get over jet lag. Tomorrow we wake up early to help rehabilitate a kibbutz near the Gaza border.

I slept a good amount on the plane. I did have a middle seat but there was nobody to my left so I got to scoot over! I think sitting in a plane for that long takes years off your life span. My spine was so compressed and I woke up in pain in my neck and back and legs. I'm happy with the amount I slept but unhappy with how much pain it causes. **My favorite part of all long haul flights is mid flight stretchies.** This is when you stand up walk to an open area and do a full yoga flow. It usually draws eyes but who's laughing now? The people with scoliosis or being yoga limber and increasing your life span? I realized I had a 7 hour layover in Rome and rushed to the train. I caught the train at 15:08 and took it to the coliseum I had to get off the train and transfer to the metro. As I got off the bustling train a thought occurred to me. **Taking the public transport in a foreign country and foreign language really helps develop neural plasticity and problem solving skills.** In the ten minutes since getting off the train I had to take in vast amount of information and quickly figure out my way while also watching out. This mental exercise I believe is very beneficial for young minds. It's a Monday and I "should be" working in an office. However it's funny I've used my brain 10x more in the past ten minutes adapting and problem solving than I had as an electrical engineer for two years. I got to the coliseum and it was pretty cool. Walking through such old history really puts the timeline of human existence into perspective. Rome is cool in the sense that it's a modern city just scattered with ancient ruins. It kinda reminds me of the old city of Jerusalem. Next I wandered the streets more and made it to the famous fountain. This was probably my favorite site. It was really beautiful and in pristine condition. There were so many tourists though. Next I walked to the pantheon took a pic and was ready to eat. I had a beer and water and chips at a restaurant in a nice plaza. At this time when I just sat back and relaxed I realized that this is awesome! I then got amazing kinder and Oreo gelato for 3 euros. I felt it was a must to have pasta so I finally ate cacio e Pepe at a place. Honestly I did not think I would be able to leave the airport let alone explore Rome fully. I made my way back to the train station. Note I did this all without phone connection which I was pretty happy about. I used the maps and spatial awareness to get me to and from the places I needed. At the airport I got grilled pretty hard by the El Al security guy. He did his job diligently and it was fun getting questioned. I'm waiting for my flight to the Holy Land now!

I woke up at 5:30 am today to catch a 7:15 flight to New York. My dad drove me to the airport and we said our goodbyes. I got a window seat and slept the whole entire flight. Upon arriving to JFK I took the subway to the lower east side to grab brunch with my close camp friends Marley and Delila. **We have been friends for over 13 years through camp and college.** Friendships like those do not come often and I really value all our memories and times together. In the subway I was reminded how much I dislike New York. A guy was screaming bible verses and proselytizing Jesus and then a huge lady sat next to me squeezing me into the railing. She smelled like cigarettes. Also a homeless lady came asking for money. **It was really sad seeing how everyone did not even treat her as a human being.** How have we let society get to a place where we value human life so little? I nicely told her I did not have anything and she appreciated the acknowledgment. She also told me she had seen me before. The subway took two hours and I arrived to brunch late. We ate at potluck club and it was pretty good. After that I went to Public hotel to work on my blog. I put in a good shift and released it to the public. Then I got a bagel from Tompkins square bagel which was pretty yummy. **It was the equinox today so it was required of me to lay in the grass.** I found a local park and sat there and FaceTimed Ron and Zach. The grass was pretty poor and un comfy but it was nice being outside. The weather was great, that was about the only good thing about the city. Also people dressed very fashionably which was cool and there was so many different types of people. I could see how New York was once a prosperous place but it is just not it now. It's dirty and smelly and expensive. Finally I went to back to the airport to catch my flight to Rome. I'm pretty exhausted from a really long day and I hope to sleep some on the flight. I think I have a middle seat which sucks but I'm so tired I think I will make do.

I had an amazing week with my parents. It felt long but it also flew by. They were so helpful in helping me pack and unpack and get everything ready. I know it must be hard for them but I am very grateful for their love and support. I wake up at 5:30 am tomorrow for a flight to New York. In six hours starts the day I have been thinking and talking about for so long. **The crazy thing is it has not really hit me yet.** People have asked me "how do you feel?" " are you excited?" And honestly I do not know how I feel. It just feels like another day which is good. I am not scared or anxious or excited or happy or sad. In the past when I would get excited for a trip the excitement is due to a break from your routine and making the most out of a two week vacation. **Now this is my life for the foreseeable future.** There are so many unknowns and I am forced to take it day by day and really be in the moment. That idea is exciting to me but I do not feel excited if that makes sense. **Being back home for the first time in 6 months made me realize how amazing it was to grow up in Florida.** This week I went to the beach with my mom and went fishing with my dad. We ate fresh seafood and relaxed in nice weather all day long. Florida has a very unique flare and I am grateful to have been shaped by the people and the places here. The natural beauty is stunning and I never realized it until I left. So much wildlife like dolphins and stingrays and pelicans and deer that you don't see on a daily basis elsewhere. I am going to try and get some rest. I feel exhausted from the past two weeks of packing and unpacking and getting everything ready but it all comes down to tomorrow. **I have a backpack on my back to show for all the work I put in.** Looking forward to whatever may be.