Ten years ago, on this day, I set out on my most epic adventure. Ever since I was in a child, I had dreamed of driving to California to see the country. This all started when I was about 10 years old and my cousin Chilik came to visit us from Israel. Him and his friend bought a used car for next to nothing and just took off for the west coast, returning a couple of months later. Growing up…
But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. –Samwise Gamgee, The Two Towers (movie version) Well, the last few months have been… not very conducive to travel, especially not with a toddler. Like billions of people all over the world, 2020 is not going the way we’d planned. Originally we were going to take a big family…
So originally Ariel and I were planning a getaway at the Beresheet hotel in the Negev desert of Israel. But then, Jacob got sick on the day of flight and even though he was better, we decided to just take him with us instead of leaving him with his grandparents like we’d planned, or cancelling outright. The Beresheet hotel is really a very unique place. It was built right into a cliff overlooking the Makhtesh Ramon (Ramon Crater), in the…
About a week into our time in Israel, it was time for Ariel and I to get away to one of my favorite places in the world, the Israeli desert, or Negev. Originally, this was supposed to be a night for just the two of us, but since Jacob got sick on the plane, and although he was basically back to normal, we decided to bring him with us instead of leaving him with his grandparents. This was a little…
One of the reasons we decided to go to Turks and Caicos for our second overseas getaway since Jacob was born, was because of all the fanfare that Grace Bay Beach had earned the top spot on TripAdvisor’s “Best Beach In the World” for two years in a row (2017/2018) AND managed to make the top 5 in 2019 as well. That’s a pretty strong case for being the best beach in the world. So does it live up to…
With Jacob now in daycare, and shifting into full fledged toddler mode, Ariel and I decided it was time for another trip for just the two of us. Unlike our trip to Bermuda though, which ended up being more of an adventure than we had intended, our goal this time was to just relax on a beach and try to stifle our instinctual need for exploration. We really just wanted a break, especially after going through a nearly incessant two…
As the sun sets on another decade, I thought it would be good to take a minute to pause and reflect on this incredibly transformative time in my life. Decades are usually not really a thing when you get right down to it. If you look back on nearly every decade, their defining characteristic almost never takes place in the first year. Sometimes it doesn’t even take place within the decade at all! The 2000’s didn’t really “start” until 9/11….
So it’s been a few months since Ariel and I went to Bermuda for our 4th wedding anniversary. Our plan for the trip was to just go on our first real relaxation trip since having Jacob. That… is not what ended up happening. Bermuda has so many beautiful beaches and resorts, but there’s just too damn much to see! The entire country is tiny (less than 30 miles end to end and only a few miles across at its widest…
So aside from our fun excursion to Niagara Falls, Ariel, Jacob, and I, have been hanging out all around Toronto. This trip is actually a big step for our little family, because this is the first time the three of us are truly on an adventure on our own. When we went to Jamaica, the whole idea was that we would be utilizing the incredible personalized nanny service at the resort we stayed at. Our 2 week trip to Israel…
For a change of pace this year, we decided to spend July 4th outside the US. Ariel had never been to Niagara Falls and had always wanted to go. Plus Jacob is still little enough that he gets to do a lot of stuff for free. Anything tourism-related in the USA on Independence Day tends to be zoo, and besides none of us were really feeling extra patriotic this year. So we decided to fly up to Toronto and head…