From Israel to Istanbul

I've got to be honest, I'm writing this post mainly just to keep some new stuff flipping through the Upcoming Adventures section of the home page. Because really, I'm still so completely immersed in Israel, we're in the height of our tour, so it's hard for me to try and pull myself out of it (The Now, the present) and write about something that's in the future. But, I've got a travel blog to maintain, and this is part of the job. So I shall write.

Since I've failed to write much about Israel, I'll give you the quick version of this trip: I'm currently on an organized, 10-day tour all over Israel with 28 other people, including my grandma, mom and sister. We start each day around 7:30 in the morning, travel around each day on a bus, visit sights, learn about the language, culture, and history, and all try to take as many mini-naps on the bus as possible when we can. I have lost track of what day of the week it is entirely, and don't really know the date either. Vacaction Mode has completely taken over my mind, aside from the fact we have 6am wake-up calls and I'm shifting slightly to Zombie Mode. But it's been an absolutely amazing trip so far, and we still have three, four, or five days left of it! Yay!

And the yay's are only going to continue, because after our final tour day in Israel, my family and I will be heading to Istanbul!

I have yet to meet a person who's been to Istanbul and come back saying anything other than, "It's [one of] my favorite cities in the world/places I've ever been." And just looking at that picture, I can definitely see why! I mean, check that city out! Don't you just want to teleport there right now?? Turkey is another country I've never been to, and it goes without saying: I AM STOKED about this trip and for it to continue in the Turkish direction!

And as much as I'm enjoying being on an organized tour, I am also quite excited to have the chance to be set semi-free in a new city, as I'm used to being. We have a tour guide arranged for one of our days there, but during the rest of our time we are able to sleep in, wake up slowly, do whatever we want, and set our own pace. Which I assume will be quite a quick and wild one, considering we're going to a city inhabited by approximately 14.4 million people, that spans two continents (Asia and Europe), but not too quick, because we're still talking about an 85-year old woman.

Because I don't know what today is, or how many days are left on our Israel tour, I've no ability to tell you when I leave (and I love it), but I can tell you that once there, I will be spending five days in the city. Or maybe it's five nights. Hehehehe. Travel life! I know for sure my family flies back to Tel Aviv to catch their flight to California on the 14th, then I'll stay in Istanbul one more night before I fly to Bosnia and Herzegovina, where I'll begin a short, 300km hitchhiking adventure from Sarajevo to Split, Croatia, to meet up with some friends and my love for an amazing road trip around. Woo!

Pack your bags, family, we're going on an Adventure!

Sending biiiig blessings, love, light & wonder to you all!

I love you!

Allie-Sun <3