Every day is special but February 19th is extra special! Why? At 10:00am registration opened for Taglit- Birthright Israel’s summer trip! The trip is a gift of 10 activity-filled days in Israel with a tour guide, 2 group leaders, a bus driver, a medic, a group of Israeli soldiers, and 39 other participants. As a gift, this trip is completely free! But make sure you bring enough shekels (Israeli currency) to buy more falafel than you can eat. Disclaimer, you’re also going to want to buy anything with a Hamsa hand on it.
One of my best decisions was registering for the Israel Experience winter trip. Over this winter break instead of sitting at home watching Disney Channel with my little sister like I usually do, I connected with a country I had never thought twice about before, created friendships with people I would have never met otherwise, and learned more than I ever could learn from highlighting a textbook.
Though some people choose to go on the journey with friends, I wanted to have my own experience without any influence from back home, so I chose to register alone. Arriving at the airport and seeing this group of unfamiliar faces made me feel like I was the new kid at school again, not wanting my mom to leave. But after the 8 hour flight to Moscow, 3 hour layover in Moscow, and then another 3 or so hour flight to Israel, everyone was a friend.
If your idea of an ideal getaway is sleeping late into the morning in a luxurious hotel bed and then spending the rest of the day with your feet up, you probably shouldn’t go on the trip. The itinerary is basically a game of Tetris, fitting in as many activities as possible to make a measly 10 days feel like a 10 year journey. These activities include different types of hikes, museum visits, shopping at outdoor markets, camel rides in the desert, watching the sun rise on top of the Masada, Shabbat dinner, group bonding games and more.
Get comfortable with falling into streams, grabbing onto muddy branches, encountering random cats in the streets, and putting hummus on anything and everything. We drank chocolate milk from a plastic bag, got muddy at the Dead Sea, snored on the bus, laughed at a comedy show, and cried at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum and Israel’s national cemetery Mount Herzl.
Why travel to one of the most amazing places in the world just to sit on your butt? However there is of course down time, also known as a few hours of sleep. Sleeping arrangements include hotels, a Kibbutz cabin, and a Bedouin tent in the desert. Whether it is a bed, cot, or sleeping bag you are given for the night, it won’t matter because you will most likely stay up until an unreasonable hour hanging out with your new friends, no matter how tired you thought you were.
It’s hard to capture one of the best trips of my life with simple words. If you are interested in Taglit and think you meet the eligibility requirements, you will not regret registering! If you have any questions or concerns about the registration process or trip , feel free to contact me!