I vowed to write more often but have been finding incredibly fewer hours in the day to get work done, let alone write (or many of my other hobbies). I’ve been busy and would love to share with you all what’s happened since April!
Leaving Israel
I spent one last week in Israel saying bye to my friends and getting some random activities in:
We went to the Ramat Gan zoo & saw some beautiful animals (and a few Pokemon, too), along with a public spa (watching old Russian Jews slap each other with a leaf fan to “support blood circulation” was the best experience).
I walked around Jerusalem before arriving at a TRY reunion, where I saw my madrichim from my high school study abroad program. It was so cool to see how different (and also very similar) they all were, and how grown-up I felt being in their presence now.
I glamped in the North with Edden & Brandon at her cousin’s vineyard, which I’d LOVE to volunteer at in the future. It’s located on the Israel National Trail so thru-hikers pass by, making it a great spot to (potentially one day) meet great traveler friends. I’m thinking about doing the trail sometime in the next year, unsure yet!
Getting a cheap flight through Budapest
Flights from Israel to the West Coast are not cheap (averaging at least ~$800). If we’re paying that much, we may as well stop in another country for a cheaper fare (and a great layover) — I left Israel to see Budapest for a weekend! It cost me $700 (so not that much saved) but I saw a new city & have reason to make it back.
It was an extremely short visit (~40 hours) but I had a great time exploring the parks & bars in the area. The nightlife reminded me of Berlin while the weekend daytime activities included park hangouts & beautiful hillside monuments. I stayed at a party hostel (the kind where people come back at every hour of the night) and joined my first Jager train (it’s like playing dominoes but with shots of Jager). I took a day of travel to fly back to San Diego.
Van Trip to Oregon
I went with my friend Danya on a road trip up to Lake Oswego in Sheila (her co-owned van). I’ve been wondering what van life would feel like for me, so this was a great opportunity to experience having everything in the car & moving around. Our itinerary was fast-paced (we went out & back in ~15 days), visiting national parks & meeting up with friends in random places.
Prepping the van before the trip was fun, where we started setting intentions & I picked up an intimate understanding of how Sheila works & what’s in the van.
We drove up the coast (seeing Brandon and Alix in SF) and reached Portland, staying in Lake Oswego for a week in an airbnb she had from a while ago (Nan’s has the coolest house). We stopped in Bend for a couple of days (and saw Toren there) then drove through the eastern side of Oregon/California to get back home.
Spending 24/7 with someone else was more difficult than I had realized before starting the trip, and I didn’t realize how many aspects of living you need to match up to make for a frictionless experience. I learned a lot about what I’d want from a long-term travel partner and how I can better be present for them!
Danya & I had a few jam sessions, where I found out how crazy difficult it is to make beautiful words flow into lyrics (and how awesome she is at it!). It’s a skill I’m afraid of working on but know I want to practice — send me tips!
When feeling frustrated or upset, I noticed a pattern that gets me out of my head & back into the world: Frustration (recognizing being upset) > Processes (understanding why) > Awe (finding something amazing about the current environment and emotions I’m experiencing) > Tolerance (recognizing other perspectives & becoming comfortable with the current space). I’d love to hear if people have similar flows of letting go of their frustrations, or if you have a very different process you’re conscious of!
We saw so many cool views, but you’ll have to call me to hear about them 🙃
Farming
In early June I flew out to Chicago and drove 2 hours south to Sheldon, IL, to spend my summer on Zumwalt Acres. I’m apprenticing to learn more about farming, gain experience & knowledge in the environmental sphere, and practice intentional community.
The closeness of fit for me to be in this community is beautiful and so random on how it happened. I heard about this place from Alix (from UCSB) who studied abroad and met someone who farmed here in the past. I applied & got in, then heard of *many* Jews (and non-Jews!) who either knew about the space or apprenticed here in the past.
ZA is a Jewish intentional queer community for people who care about climate change and want to show that there’s a better alternative to industrial agriculture. We spend our days farming (with oyster mushroom production!), sharing our produce locally, and talking about the widespread issues in current farming structures & opportunities with how we can farm instead. It has a horizontal leadership structure, so we’re frequently re-thinking how to improve farm practices & become more sustainable. We make food together (with awesome Shabbat dinners), take on house responsibilities as a group, share skills & jam out, delegate farm needs & make a great house family together. I highly recommend anyone who cares about sustainability and/or intentional community to come to check this place out while I’m here (or after)!
Some of the farm skills I’ve gained: weeding & identification, mulching basics, hay baling, direct seeding & transplanting plants, drip line repair, recognizing plant water needs, running a mushroom growing & harvesting operation, trellising, maintaining a greenhouse & prepping produce for sale, and other intangibles!
Things I’m Thinking About
🤖 In May I was looking into AutoGPT, an autonomous AI service that you can provide high-level objectives (“help me create a profitable sticker design company”) and can distill & create tasks that help toward the goal (“learn what makes for a good sticker design,” “create images that match the design recommendations,” and so on). I haven’t touched it in a bit, but it’s promising for handling trivial tasks (so you don’t have to learn how to do tasks you don’t want to spend your time on). Its abilities will only increase over time, and I have little doubt you’ll hear more about it soon.
☠️ Mom, Dad & I went to the San Diego Museum of Us, where we looked through a cannibalism installation. I found it fascinating to understand how many groups in Western history have needed to resort to cannibalism when journeying into new geographies (or arriving there by accident). We outcast cannibals (for an extremely fair reason) but US history includes them as part of our settlement here. There’s a lot to unpack here, so you should try seeing the exhibit before it goes away!
💵 I finished another consulting project recently helping a VC automate their CRM to reduce the administrative work required to maintain their workflow. I’m looking for other projects after the summer if anyone knows anyone!
📚 I’m flying through books, and log most of them on my GoodReads account. Check it out here! Highlights include 80 Days Around the World (Jules Verne), Advice in an Age of Anxiety (Alan Watts), Mycelium Running (Paul Stamets), and The Stranger (Albert Camus).
Asks & Final Thoughts
Reach out to me if you’d like to visit me & the farm — I’m unsure when I’m leaving yet, but it looks like I’ll be gone by early September.
If you’d be down to donate something to the farm, it helps us with farm tools, hosting local events & other needs we have. We have a matching grant ongoing, so it would be awesome for you to donate here (and mention that you’re donating to Zumwalt Acres in the comments!)
Update me if you have meaningful plans between September and November that would be good to join!
Call me! I often have time on the farm to talk with people 😊