People On My Trip

Hey Everybody,

I would like to start my blog posts of Israel about the other 39 people who I shared this adventure with.

The reason I bring this up is because I had many reservations about the people who I was going to be traveling with. I (wrongly) assumed that I was going to be traveling with 39 others who had a sense of entitlement.

Granted, this thought process wasn't totally ignorant. I have had many friends who have traveled on this same trip, and constantly complained about the others who they had met.

There were two major differences between my trip choice and my friends' choices of trip. Originally, I was going to do birthright with a good friend of mine who is into hiking. Unfortunately, she pulled out of the trip, and I was left by myself to do a trip that was totally out of my element. This being said, most people who I knew growing up would never want to hike.

The other major difference between the trips my friends' had gone on and mine was the fact that they had all gone on trips from the 18-22 year old range, while my trip had an age range of 22-26. Prior to the trip, I didn't realize how big of a difference that is. Instead of being the oldest on the trip, I was the third youngest. It made a world of difference.

The people on my trip totally changed my perspective of what being a young adult Jew is. Most of the people on my trip lived in the New York City area. The professions that people had ranged from every spectrum of life. There were bankers, entrepreneurs, accountants, artists, photographers, reporters, grad students, med students, musicians, actors, teachers, consultants, non-profit workers, and the list went on and on.

Being one of the youngest on the trip, it constantly dawned on me that these people were a snapshot of what my life is to become over the next few years. My mind was blown by the different paths people took. The one thing that brought us all together was our religion and our trip.

My idea of what a young Jew is was totally shattered. I was dumbstruck and embarrassed that I came into the trip expecting horrible people. I made great friends who I expect to stay in touch with for the rest of my life.

The fact is, we were a special group. All of us understood what it meant to be part of something larger, and we all accomplished that goal.

That's it for now,

Z