By Logan Citroen, Bus 4 Participant
I chose to participate in Sea to Sea, because the idea of hiking and camping from the Sea of Galilee to the Mediterranean Sea sounded like a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Before the trip I wasn’t really sure if I would enjoy camping for four days, but after camping in the Negev for three, I wanted more. I had camped and hiked with my family before at home, but I wasn’t sure if I could handle this outdoor trip.
We were split apart into random groups of 7 people and together in our groups we would work together to cook our meals and share supplies for 4 days.
Everyday our schedule involved us waking up at 6:00am to beat the heat waves for our morning hikes, we then cooked our own breakfasts and lunches with very limited supplies, then swam in beautiful creeks and rivers, then hiked again to our new campsites.
To be completely honest, I wasn’t really excited about the no bathing rule given to us, but in the end it is what made the whole experience even more rewarding. I made really good friends on this trip, friends from all over the United States that I know I can keep in touch with, (we already started planning our possible birthright trip).
On our last day we were all wishing we could stay outside camping, instead of leaving to a real bed with a shower. I’m really glad I chose this 4 day chavaya because now I feel even more connected to Israel’s nature and history. Not only that, but I feel like I learned a lot about myself than I knew before. I had to step out of my comfort zone almost every activity that we did, and I will take what I learned here back to my life at home.
