For those of you who’ve never heard of this unbelievable opportunity, Birthright is a trip that various organizations run to send young adults who were born with aJewish background on a FREE 10-day trip to Israel because, well… these people believe a visit to the homeland is every Jews right from birth.First I’ll backtrack to about 2 years ago when I finally found out about this program. I went through the application process, was accepted onto a trip – and turned it down. Why? Why would I turn down a free 10-day trip to a country that means so much to my culture? ‘Cause I’m a baby, that’s why. I am your typical homebody; let me be in my comfort zone, kind of girl, at least I thought.
Don’t get me wrong; I love where I come from and the life I live. But, after talking myself into taking the trip of a lifetime years later at the age of 22, I’ve finally realized what I have been missing out on in my little ‘bubble’ that I like to call home, South Jersey.
I feel like I’m preaching to the choir when I rave about how amazing traveling is, because it seems as though most college students my age have already figured this out for themselves. But, since this past winter was the first time for me – don’t kill my vibe.
From the first moment I stepped out of the airport in Tel Aviv, to sleeping on a mat comparable to what one might use for yoga in the middle of a desert, to the last moment I traveled home squished between two strangers on the 14-hour flight I experienced a new mindset. This new mindset is one that I feel as though has allowed me to relieve a lot of stress, anxiety and overthinking. Going with the flow. Traveling taught me to go with the flow. I have always been the type of person who overthinks plans, over analyses conversations and stresses over the future. I'm usually that one in the class group project who takes initiative to get started, set a date and have say in topic. My beds always made and I'm what my friends consider a 'neat-freak'. If this doesn't imply it enough, I like to have control over situations. I don’t want to say I was ‘roughing it’ at all on the trip, but having situations a little flawed and out of my control, over 6,000 miles from home (discomfort on the crammed plane, sleeping conditions, tiredness etc.) allowed me to realize that I can either complain, waste time trying to change it, or accept it and go with the flow. Waking up each day on the 10-day journey unsure of the weather, where I was heading or what activity I was dressing for was kind of fun. The surprise and thrill of doing something new and exciting every day showed me how nice things can be if every once in awhile I sit back and see where the wind takes me.
The next – and I feel in some ways most important thing I learned was that nature and hiking IS awesome. When you look up NARP in the dictionary, you see my face, (Non-athletic regular person) so before the trip, when I read the itinerary, all of the outdoorsy kind of things we would be doing intimidated me. I think the exact moment that I changed my mind and realized how great the outdoors, being physically active and enjoying nature was when we hiked Mount Masada… on the hottest day… under the desert sun… after 4 hours of sleep. All the odds seemed to be against me; I was tired, out of breath and sweating. The old me would have looked at this as inhumane torture, but, within moments once we reached the top, everything was going for me – I was in the most sacred land to my family, with 42 new friends, hiking up to breathtaking views on a beautiful sunny day. At that exact time I realized how amazing everything around me was. To the right I could see the glistening Dead Sea, to the left I saw what seemed to be never ending quiet, peaceful desert and next to me I had friends who were quickly becoming just like family. I could breathe let alone think clearer during the remainder of the hikes on this journey. I slept in a tent bundled with 3 layers of pants, gloves and my North Face under shooting stars (I saw 5, so cool), after sitting around a bon-fire telling stories. I road a camel at 6 a.m. in the same clothes I was in for the previous 36 hours. I ate dinner on the ground inside a tent as Bedouins served me. I stood in silence in the middle of the desert looking up at the night sky and reflecting on life. I fell in love with the outdoors.
Ever get dealt what feels like, 100 bad cards in one week or even a day? Ever start to question society because of all the hate we are constantly witnessing? I would be lying if I said I never had these feelings run miles through my head. My trip on Birthright reassured me that there are, and always will be genuinely good people in the world. Within an hour of getting off of the plane, loading the bus with our bags and heading to our first stop – Caeserea, I felt strangely comfortable. These 40-some 18-22 year-old people who were around me were so accepting, so open to new people and things, that I was able to act exactly like myself. In South Jersey; and I can confidently say that the same goes for many other places, society tend to be very cliquey. A worry of mine before the trip was that the cliqueyness would carry over to Israel and that I wouldn’t feel comfortable. Something about being in a new land brought a similar, unspoken mindset to everyone on the trip. We all were interested in each other’s backgrounds, thoughts and ways of life in an extremely personal way. As if the other American students on the trip with me did not reassure good peoples existence enough, the Israeli soldiers that spent 5 days with us along with our tour guides and hosts throughout the country allowed this sense of ‘being who you are’ to carry all throughout the trip. These soldiers that spent their time off from the Army to show us what Israel was all about possessed such an amazing, positive outlook on life. Not to mention the last night of the trip, my birthday. These people who hadn't even known me for 2 weeks yet made my birthday one of the best yet. They surprised me with a cake, and sang the appropriate, yet cliche Taylor Swift 22 to me throughout the whole day. I define a good person as being someone who wants you to be yourself – embraces and accepts it. After this trip, I made a promise to myself to surround myself with only those kinds of people.
The list of what Birthright Israel taught me about others, the world and myself could go on for days. Overall, what I took out of the experience can be summed up into one corny, motivational Insta-worthy quote - ‘be true to yourself’. Like some fortune cookies read, if you are true to yourself, constantly are who you want to be, push yourself to do your best and keep your mind open to any new experiences and people that come your way – you’ll always find happiness.
