David Mark Erickson

Eilat, Israel

Well, another long dry spell of not posting to my blog and a dearth of photos from my travels. What can I say? Not much, except to warn anyone who things they might want to keep a blog … save yourself the trouble unless you are very dedicated to writing and/or journal keeping.  The self imposed guilt trip of not posting is not worth the trouble!

OK, with my obligatory self-flagellation out of the way I can get on with this post.  As I write this I am sitting at a mall-side café in Eilat, Israel looking out at the northern end of the Red Sea.  The last month has been rather paradoxical in that a lot has happened for me, but not in the typical travel adventure sort of way.

[Ed’s Note: I wrote this this morning, but have not found a reliable internet connection until now (early evening).  The only decent open wifi spot I found, where I am sitting right now, is at a bus stop across the street from the main shopping mall on the main drag running through town!]

I arrived in Israel exactly one month ago on Christmas day.  I started out in Jerusalem and then spent most of my time in Tel Aviv.  I made some small trips to Bethlehem, Haifa and Nazareth.  I am now about to cross into Egypt – which I am really looking forward to.

While I was in Tel Aviv, I spent some time at the Landmark Education center and assisted on two back-to-back weekends helping on the Production Team for the running of a Forum and Advanced Course.  Some of you know that I am a Landmark grad having done the Forum and Advanced Course back in Aug & Sep when I was home in Seattle.  I’ll save comment for what I think about Landmark for another occasion, suffice to say that attending the courses were extremely profound and what I have learned has changed the course of my life in ways I could never have imagined.

Being able to participate in the Assisting Program at the Tel Aviv center was amazing. It was also great fun and inspirational to be able to spend time with the people I met there.

As a result, I find myself operating with a new sense of freedom and enjoyment for my travels.  To be honest, there have been time on this trip where I have really questioned why the hell I was out here rambling around and spending my savings.  That self-doubt has disappeared and, like a ship cut loose from its anchor, I am free now to enjoy and appreciate my adventures in a whole new way.