Hey Kate! I actually remember you bringing this up on my Instagram and I’m SO sorry I didn’t reply — I’m much more easily overwhelmed on that platform and not as thorough. I guess I’m old school and just love conversations here in the blog comments 🙂

Anyway, I think you bring up a very valid and interesting point. Obviously for a lot of reasons and especially in recent years many US citizens kind of cringe to admit where they are from. That has never sat right with me, again for a lot of reasons, one of them being how insanely privileged we — internationally traveling US passport holders — largely are. But still, the condescension and smirk you get from residents of many countries can be, regardless of how deserving it might be, tiring. And I realize that Israel, along with the Philippines, really stands out to me as one of the rare places I’ve been and can say people’s eyes just LIT UP in acknowledgement of the fact that yes, I’m a blonde haired little American girl excited to be running around their country. I admit, that feels good, in comparison to an eye roll, you know? I need to think about how much that informs my options of those places.

I appreciate your acknowledgement of my own frequent acknowledgement of my privilege, ha. I was definitely raised to be constantly aware of and grateful for it! But it is a lifelong process!

Thanks Guy! I hope their borders open again soon.

Yes yes yes! Cannot wait to wander around Israel with you, girl!

Hey Kat — thank you for sharing your thoughts in such an honest and civil way, I truly appreciate it. I really get where you are coming from and respect those that take a hard line and choose not to visit destinations that they feel are violating human and civil rights.

What I really struggle with is I think that — and I specify that I’m absolutely not referring to you here — this is often not evenly applied across the globe. From my observations bloggers who travel to the US, to Myanmar, and even to North Korea receive less questioning and criticism than those who travel to Israel, and I can’t help but wonder if anti-Semitism is at least a small part of that equation. The conflict in the Middle East is SUCH a complex issue that asks big questions of those who ponder it — what reparations do we feel were owed for the atrocities of the Holocaust and World War II? Do we believe in the need for at least one country on earth that can act as a Jewish homeland? What compromises have to be made if we do?

I don’t know the answers, and as an agnostic cultural Christian, I have a lot to learn to even start asking the right questions. I do know a smaller percentage of the Israeli population voted for Netanyahu than the percentage of the US population that voted for Trump, and Rabin Square was filled with Palestinian flags a few weeks ago as Israelis protested police violence against both Black and Palestinian people. I guess the Israelis that I know is are an incredibly progressive, warm community that do not feel represented by their government — and I can relate to that. Gosh, it’s so complex.

Right? I miss it so much… starting to confirm some 2021 travel dates is really giving me a lot to look forward to and restoring some sanity, majorly!

Thanks for reading, Jo!