my weekend in the desert: sde boker, israel

have you ever sat in the middle of nowhere and listened to complete silence? it’s a strange feeling, probably because i’m used to always hearing the noise of the city, people talking, or the clicking of technology. this weekend i spent three days in sde boker which is in the negev desert of israel and aside from the extreme heat, it was pure bliss.

on one of our days in the sde boker area we had an art activity about 15 minutes from where we were staying, and following the activity we had a Tunisian food experience. all of the vegetables were spread out on a table (potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, olives, lemon sauce) and you could assemble your own sandwich with the various vegetables and fried pita bread. it was delicious and also a little out of my comfort zone since i’m typically picky with raw vegetables. eating this fresh food in the middle of a desert forest was different than anything i’ve experienced before and just overall very, very cool.

after our first day at the kibbutz-like community, we walked about 30 minutes into the desert to star gaze and sit around a bonfire. a woman came to teach us all about the different stars and zodiacs, and we even got to look through telescopes to see saturn and jupiter. this campfire experience was really different than any i’ve had before because i felt very connected to the nature around me and very disconnected from my phone, which was amazing.

my favorite part of the whole weekend was honestly the views. the picture above is what i saw when i exited my room, and it was the most peaceful and magical setting ever. it reminded me a lot of my time in the Judaean desert in 2017 when i was able to have a period of meditation before hiking masada the next day. total bliss. we learned a lot about David Ben Gurion, the first prime minister of Israel, on this trip too. he had so many plans for the desert and spent several years living in the negev before he died. it’s really special to witness the abundance and lovely communities out there in what feels like the middle of nowhere.

i mean… how beautiful is that. it would be rude of me not to include a picture of the desert sunset. this setting leaves me a little bit speechless and i feel really grateful to have been able to spend some real time there reflecting, learning, and evolving.

back in tel aviv now with the humidity, hustle of the city, and stable wifi!!!! i hope you all enjoy reading these as much as i love writing them. more to come!

yalla ♥️,

sydney