I recently got back from an Awesome Israel Taglit-Birthright Israel trip, and after thinking back to all the friends I made, all the things I saw, and all the support I had, I can honestly say that my life has truly changed after taking this trip. Last semester was a very difficult one for me personally, due to issues going on amongst my family and friends, and I desperately wanted to get away from it all. One day, purely by chance, one of my friends from school mentioned that he got a flier for a Birthright Israel trip even though he wasn’t Jewish, and he decided to give it to me instead and urged me to check it out. So, I went to the place where my friend got the flier, and after putting down both my name and the name of one of my closest friends, I felt like I was finally getting my chance to get away.
Once I told my mother about this opportunity, she was as happy as could be. After all, both she and my friend’s mother had been pushing us to go on Birthright, so once they found out we were going through with it, they were both ecstatic. My mother even dug up some pictures of my father when he was in Israel, which made me want to go more than ever. My father passed away when I was three years old, so now going to Israel – a place he loved and even taught English in – was all the more important. And with all this love and support behind me, I embarked upon this trip knowing only one other person. When both he and I arrived at the airport, I was admittedly a bit nervous, but once I was back in the airport – this time homeward bound – I returned having made thirty-nine new friends.
These thirty-nine individuals were unique in their own ways, and many of them kept me laughing and smiling those ten days we were all together. It was definitely great going into the trip knowing one other person, and since we were both open to meeting other people, our chances for developing wonderful friendships were sky-high. I will truly miss this group of people, yet I do know that I will keep in touch with and see many of them over the course of the school year, and hopefully for many years to come. The people leading this trip made it even more special, namely the tour guide, the two chaperones from our school, our medic/security guard, and especially our bus driver, who again and again impressed us with his driving expertise. These five made the entire group feel safe as can be, and carried out their duties with admirable enthusiasm, dedication, and passion.
All in all, the people on this amazing trip made it even greater than I ever could have imagined, and made each place we visited and the time we all spent together even more memorable. It was also great to go to the places my father loved and had been to many years ago, such as the Holy City [Jerusalem] and the Western Wall. Even though my father passed away, I will carry on his love for the land of Israel, and I promise that it is a love that will never wane. Words cannot really describe how amazing this trip was so I will sum it up as best as I can: this truly was the trip of a lifetime. You’ll have to experience it firsthand to know what I’m talking about, so if you can, find out as much as you can about going on a Birthright trip, and seize this opportunity you’ve been granted. I promise you won’t regret it.
Ian Golden is from Norwalk, Connecticut. Currently a sophomore at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, he is majoring in English and minoring in both Education and History. He traveled to Israel with a Awesome Taglit-Birthright Israel trip that left on January 6, 2013 and returned on January 17, 2013.
We would like thank guest blogger Ian Golden for this post. Want to see your name here? If you are interested in writing a guest post for us, please send an email to info@awesomeisrael.com or visit us on Facebook!
