Shalom from Tel Aviv! It’s hard to believe that–just last month–I was driving across the US. I sold my car in Wisconson, hopped a greyhound back to NYC, flew to Israel (layover in Germany), took a 10-day tour from the Golan Heights (along the Syrian boarder) to the Dead Sea (along the Jordan boarder), and now I find myself in a backpackers hostel just a short walk from Jaffa in Florientine, Tel Aviv.

When I’m not washing sheets…I’m contributing to open source projects and wandering the streets of Jaffa or schmoozing with Germans, Aussies, and Dutch 20-something-ers at the cheapest hostel in Tel Aviv.

While my previous international travels as a hobo were well-funded by my salary as an software engineer, my new vagrant lifestyle lacks any source of income. As such, I’m subsidizing my travel by worktrading my time for free lodging. In exchange for 27.5 hours of “volunteering” each week, I’m staying at this hostel for free.

When I’m not washing sheets or feeding ~100 backpackers vegan dishes (from 2 shitty hot plates!) with a 70 shekel/night (<$20 USD) budget, I’m still contributing to open source projects and wandering the streets of Jaffa or schmoozing with Germans, Aussies, and Dutch 20-something-ers at the cheapest hostel in Tel Aviv.

Though Tel Aviv does have the highest concentration of vegans per capita than any city in the world, it’s a very hedonistic city, and I’m looking forward to cycling the open road. But it’s been nice to get travel tips from fellow travelers in this hostel. Indeed, the logistics of traveling between at-war countries (ie: Israel & Lebanon) is a non-trivial act. Their knowledge & tips have proven invaluable in my planning.

After my 1-month commitment to volunteering at this hostel has finished, I’ll have 2 months left on my Israel/Palestine visa. After that, my plan is to cross into Jordan and then fly from Amman to Berut, Lebanon.

After that, I head West to Africa or East to India. I’m still undecided..