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dead sea

On Fear And Learning To Fly- Israel Trip, Part 3
ParenthoodPhotographyPostpartum Anxiety & DepressionTravel

On Fear And Learning To Fly- Israel Trip, Part 3

by babyrabies September 28, 2015
written by babyrabies

When I got the email from Vibe Israel, asking me to to apply for a weeklong trip to a foreign country I’d only ever associated with conflict and war, I actually thought it was a joke.

And then after I checked out their pretty legit website, I asked some close friends if they’d do it. They all said YES, OF COURSE. And I thought they were crazy.

But, there was that voice in my head trying to silence my fear, and sift out the sounds of reason. It was telling me that this was a chance of a lifetime. It was trying to yell over my anxiety that everything was going to be fine, great!

I listened to it just long enough to apply, then hoped I wouldn’t get chosen.

I felt joy when I first got the official invite, nearly immediately followed by dread and doubt.

It wasn’t just the ideas I had about the (lack of) safety in Israel. I was also afraid because what if something happened to my family while I was half a world away, what if the plane crashed, what if I had a panic attack, what if I didn’t know enough about religion, what if I offended someone, what if World War 3 broke out and I was stuck in Israel trying to fight my way home, and had to befriend a zombie?

That last “what if” is courtesy of a lot of too many movies, I guess.

Up until the very last night, I wondered if I should back out. At one point, I thought my “gut” was trying to tell me it wasn’t going to end well, that this was one of those Final Destination moments when I should make the drastic choice to cancel everything, in order to avoid a tragedy I’d see on the news the next week.

You guys. Obviously that was CRAZY. I know this. Sometimes this is where my anxious brain goes, especially before I fall asleep. (My dreams are so super fun.)

I didn’t have much time to think anymore about it from the minute I got up super early the day of my flight. Yay, running late! By the time I got on my flight from Newark to Tel Aviv, I was so damn tired that I slept through most of the 10 hours. Andplusalso, Benadryl.

It was a super smooth flight, and nobody had any interest in keeping their window shades open, so I didn’t even have to think about flying over an ocean.

From the minute I arrived in Israel, I’m telling you, I felt 110% safe- safer than some places I’ve visited in our own country. That’s not to discount or diminish the real conflicts and tension that I know do exist there, but for the time I was there, the places WE visited, from north to south and between, didn’t make me feel unsafe.

All that said, there were still moments that it hit me that I was nearly as far away from my family as earthly possible. There were moments of panic, moments when I had to decide to stop checking the news (not for anything local… just in general.)

But then there were moments like dining on the roof of a hotel in Tel Aviv, and marveling at how far I’ve come… in so many ways. How is THIS my life?

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18 months ago, the voice of reason in my head would have been barely a whisper. Anxiety and fear would have been screaming at me to stay home. Hell, they didn’t even want me to go to the grocery store down the road. And back then a 2 hour flight felt like a one way ticket to the grave.

In the middle of the Dead Sea on the 2nd full day of the trip, I picked up some salt on the shoreline, and noticed the bracelets I absentmindedly slipped on my wrists that morning…

DeadSeaBracelets

Fly, warrior.

Goodness, did I ever.

Push play!

A video posted by Jill Krause (@babyrabies) on Sep 5, 2015 at 10:15am PDT

DeadSeaMud

September 28, 2015 2 comments
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My Trip To Israel, Part 1
BloggingParenthoodPhotographyTravel

My Trip To Israel, Part 1

by Jill September 23, 2015
written by Jill

Man, I’m overwhelmed right now.

To start, my blog has been down, off and on, for over a week, thanks to some kind of hack and malware. I’m so sorry if you got a warning when visiting here last week. I’m told by my host that it’s really, for real, totally fixed now. Seriously. They mean it. They better mean it.

I lost my first post about Israel, and I have SO much to tell you all about it! I don’t even know where to start.

I’m going to re-cap what I said in that post that was lost, I guess.

Basically, did you know I went to Israel for a week at the beginning of the month? I did! And it was life changing. Just beyond anything I’ve ever experienced.

So here’s how that came about. I got an email from Vibe Israel last spring, asking me to apply for a “mommy bloggers” trip. They could only bring a very small group of mom bloggers from around the world, so I thought my chances were really slim, and I was REALLY scared to actually get accepted. But I applied anyway.

And after a couple months of waiting and an interview, I got the email with the invitation. Eeep!

Why was I scared and why did I decide to go? I’ve got a whole other post for that coming up.

Who else went?  from the US- Jamie and Janessa, from the UK- Amanda, and from Australia- Kelly.

What is Vibe Israel all about? What was their intention in arranging this trip? This video explains it far better than I could.

To sum it up, it wasn’t for political or religious reasons. Vibe Israel is a non-profit dedicated to working with influencers to highlight the Vibe of Israel in all aspects.

Where did we go, what did we do? Here’s a rundown in pictures. I’ll elaborate more in future posts:

Day 1 was a travel day, ending with dinner in Old Jaffa in a building from the time of the Crusades.

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Day 2 was Jerusalem with a group of Israeli mothers and a phenomenal female tour guide (one of the very few women offering tours of Jerusalem).

TamarAvaraJerusalem

Photo by Tamar Avara

Then a traditional Shabbat dinner with 2 families in a Tel Aviv home (this was SO special!).

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Day 3 began with a visit to the first children’s museum in all of Israel (and a REALLY spectacular one, at that).

ShaniChildren's Museum

Photo by Shani Sadicario

Then the Dead Sea!

ShaniDeadSea

Photo by Shani Sadicario

Day 4 started with a visit to Google Campus Tel Aviv to meet and talk to local entrepreneurs and start ups focused on women and families.

ShaniGoogle2

Photo by Shani Sadicario

Then an afternoon with my “Israel Buddies”- two moms who welcomed me, and talked with me in one of their homes for hours. I’ve got an entire post coming up just for this!

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Then dinner on a rooftop in Tel Aviv with 3 powerful and inspirational Israeli women and mothers.

ShaniTelAvivRooftop

Photo by Shani Sadicario

Day 5 began with a visit to the Sarit Shani Hay design store, where we met with the designer herself, and got to play with all her creative designs. I NEED this massive alligator for our playroom!

ShaniSarit

Photo by Shani Sadicario

Then it was time to drive north. We stopped at a kibbutz that’s home to adults with special needs, and those who need a little help in life. It’s a working organic farm!

FarmEggs

Photo by Shani Sadicario

We collected food and made a delicious dinner with Paula Rosenberg, an Israeli TV personality and natural lifestyle champion.

Paula

Photo by Shani Sadicario

Day 6- After waking in our historic and stunning hostel in Nazareth, we took a walking tour of the city. This was the day a HUGE sand storm covered the country. It was pretty crazy.

ShaniNazerethWalkPhoto by Shani Sadicario

After that, we headed to a children’s boutique- Tuty- to chat with local child and baby brands.

ShaniTuty

Photo by Shani Sadicario

And finished it off with an interview with a large newspaper! Did you remember the part about how we started the day walking through a humid city drowning in sand?

newspaper

That night we played with Mamanet, a sports organization solely for mothers, where they play something very similar to volleyball, except you throw and catch the ball instead of bumping and spiking it… which didn’t help me much at all. (But it was fun!)

ShaniMamanet

Day 7- A few of us walked through the local market in Tel Aviv, or “the shook.”

IMG_4846

Then it was off to the Daniel Rowing Center (had you any idea that Tel Aviv has a thriving rowing community?)

IMG_4857

for a final farewell cocktail party.

ShaniFarewell

Photo by Shani Sadicario

That last picture is me hugging Vibe Israel Founder/CEO Joanna Landau. It was an emotional goodbye. I so admire her and all the women on team Vibe Israel.

I feel like I have family there now. One that I fully intend to visit again soon.

I plan to blog about my trip for the rest of the week, and I’d love to hear if you have any questions you’d like me to try to answer for you! Did you know Israel is the #4 country to raise children, according to a 2015 poll by Internations, and the US isn’t even in the top 20. Why do you think that is? I don’t have the answers, but I have some theories I’ll try to get into in the coming days.

Look forward to a LOT more pictures, too! That is if I can finally finish editing them all.

Here’s a peek at what’s to come tomorrow- An afternoon in the life of an Israeli mother.

IMG_4455

 

September 23, 2015 12 comments
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