Whoever traveled in South America, India or Thailand probably met a lot of young Israelis backpacking around after they finished their military service at the IDF or their bachelor degree. Yes, traveling is quite a popular thing among young Israelis, and I wasn’t different. When I was 12 years old, I saw my cousin came back from South America. After I had seen his pictures of all of the extraordinary places: Rio de Janeiro, Machu Pichu, Iguazu Falls…, I decided to travel there after my military service too. And I actually did it, I realized my dream!

Little did I know that three weeks into the trip, I will feel a new feeling that I have never known before. It was the feeling of… RELAXATION & FREEDOM

You see, as a perfectionist high school student who worked his ass off in the unstoppable race of getting high grades, a self-taught software engineer and one who served under high stress in the Israeli army to secure my country, I was in a state of doing all the time, working non-stop!  And then, I was at the hostel’s patio in Mendoza, Argentina, and I remember that I laid on a hammock, read a book, and talked to random people in the hostel.  It was the first time in my life that I did nothing and still enjoyed, just from being. It was also my first time as a solo traveler after I split away from my Israeli friends in Cordoba. That means I chose to do nothing.

Since then, on the same trip, I experienced different aspects of this feeling, for example, I rent a bicycle and rode by myself along the “Seven lakes route” for a long full day, and enjoyed every second of it, especially the little things along the way.

On the other hand, those times when I wasn’t proactive, I felt miserable and tired. Once I took responsibility, I used my freedom to choose and knew that I can rule my world, to be whoever I want to be.

After ten months of traveling in South America (and Cuba and Canada), I came back to Israel, sent my C.V. and began my journey as a Senior Software Engineer in a startup company. Which is also something I’m passionate about, and I’ve been working there since then to make the world more efficient on a daily basis.

Back then, I thought that I won’t backpack ever again. Because now I have significant responsibilities in my work. To my surprise, I found out that by being proactive one more time, and by planning ahead with my employer, I was able to make some backpacking trips again. This time for Mexico, Spain, and Costa Rica, and celebrate total freedom once more.

Between all the travels I tried to have the feeling of Relaxation and Freedom in my everyday life but didn’t find a way. Until…

One day, a friend of mine introduced me to meditation. With practice, I managed to get into the relaxation state and to take things with ease, be less stressed and to enjoy the moment. Suddenly I realized that freedom doesn’t appear only when I travel, but at every moment, in every decision, in every step.

Traveling doesn’t have to be just abroad. It is unrealistic for me to travel a lot overseas and keep my day job.  Israel is such a diverse country: deserts, mountains, lakes, snow, seas, swamps, we have everything here! And I want to enjoy it as much as I can, even more than any other place in the world and to share it with you.

So why blogging? What is SeñorTraveler all about?

The SeñorTraveler project is a platform.
It is a platform to share those feelings and the experiences with everyone.
It is a platform to create a community of travelers who want to join and explore with me Israel and the world.
It is a platform to add more information about traveling and the life in Israel and to help travelers to fully experience Israel.
It is a platform for me to get better in English as a writer and as a speaker.

I hope you will enjoy my posts, my journey, and that it will also be helpful for you.

Leave a comment to show your support and tell me what do you wish to know more about Israel.