Meet Ben Lilly!
He’s a 001 Country Per Year challenge taker and and photographer currently living in Santa Cruz, California. Today he’s posting his favorite photos from traveling to 14 countries!
2011 DESTINATIONS: Israel, Czech Republic, Germany
TRAVEL TIPS FOR ISRAEL: Israelis are called “sabrot”, after the desert cactus fruit, the sabra. It means they’re prickly on the outside and soft on the inside. If you want to be taken seriously, cut in lines, don’t take crap from anyone, and get rid of your filter. The thing about this society is that people have no barrier of politeness, but when you really have a reason to go beyond small talk they’ll decide if they like you instantly and be truly warm and friendly without boundaries. There is no awkwardness in Israel. It was hilarious going from Israel directly to Germany, a land of pale skies and pale people where politeness is king. On the train from the Frankfurt airport a woman dropped her luggage on a man in a suit and went into frenzies of apology: “Entschuldigung! Entschuldigung! Entschuldigung!” “Bitte, bitte, bitte,” he said quickly, and they both avoided eye contact like it was the worst thing that had ever happened to them. I couldn’t help but snort back a laugh - and through the lens of the white Western culture I’m used to, suddenly I realized how much I had loved Israel after the fact.
One of the upsides of this is that Israelis are not afraid to discuss politics. If anything gives me hope that there will be peace, it’s that. Explore. Ask Israeli Arabs about racism. Ask Israeli Jews about the religious right-wing, the haredim. Ask anyone about the IDF and their compulsory military service. They’re all proud to serve their country, but that doesn’t mean that they necessarily like the army or agree with what it does. Above all, realize that everyone here wants peace.
TRAVEL GOALS: To use my travels to learn how to make my everyday life better. When I go to a party at a hostel bar and try to interact with strange people speaking foreign languages, I learn things about myself that will make me more sociable at the next 10 parties I go to. As much as talking about my travels is a great party line or whatever, travel isn’t a hobby in and of itself. It’s a mirror. It makes you realize what you want to be doing, and inspires you to do it more when you get home - so that next time you travel, you’ll be happier with what you see in the mirror. (There are always a few useful pop hits that I promise myself I’ll learn on guitar after a missed jam session opportunity.)
“And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” -T.S. Eliot
COUNTRIES VISITED: United States, Jamaica, Mexico, Canada, England, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Israel, Egypt
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This was my first-ever sight of the Eiffel Tower in Paris - from the Place du Panthéon, just as the lights were being lit - and I’ll remember it forever.
Stechelberg, Switzerland, in my opinion the most beautiful town in the world. Hiking in the Alps is like following roads through the sky. The time I spent there is why I plan to study abroad there next year.
Ouzo and a sunset with a view on Santorini is the perfect recipe to make you feel like Ernest Hemingway. yeah, that sounded really hipster… but it’s true.
Travel brings out the poetry of people-watching. This woman was strolling along the water on the island of Amorgos, just staring out at the ocean. Who is she? and how did she find herself here?
“Drink up, baby / look up at the stars / and I’ll kiss you again between the bars…” -Elliott Smith. Jerusalem.
In Cairo, the City of the Living (at least according to “Raiders of the Lost Ark”), the ironically-named City of the Dead is a massive slum where squatters live with their few possessions under pitched tents or inside the reclaimed mausoleums of the city’s cemetery. This is Sam, a shop owner whom we met in Cairo who showed us around the grittier parts of the city.
Despite everything, Panther Beach, halfway between Santa Cruz and Davenport, is my favorite place on this earth.
Bordeaux in the rain.
The struggle to take a good plane-window photo is eternal. I was stunned at how good this one, from a flight on the ever-janky Czech Airlines, came out. My trip this summer was the first time I’ve truly ignored my parents’ warnings not to spend too much time in transit - and though it was exhausting, I truly came to love the open road (well, the open public transportation), and the nostalgic sense of journeying it gave me. The world really isn’t that small yet if you know where to look.
