Israel

We've only been in Israel for a week, but this much we have learned. There is the historic, biblical, politically tense Israel we hear about on the news. And then there is Tel Aviv. A bubble of fashion, food and fun surround by this conflicted nation.Like many metropolitan coastal cities, the local flavor is best displayed on the beach. This was illustrated by an invite from our new Israeli friends Arthur, Jango and Yanai. And to our surprise we were joined by none other than Doc Paskowitz who was in Israel working on his non-profit, Surfing 4 Peace.

This is the same beach where Doc first introduced surfing to Israel in the 50's by giving his board to the first lifegaurd who could catch a wave. Topsi was the first and is now the namesake for this beach.

"People who can surf together, can live together." The mission behind surfing4peace.org.

At the center of Tel Aviv's yemenite district is the HaCarmel Market, locally referred to as The Shuk, outdoor market in hebrew. It stretches 5 narrow blocks and is only accessible by foot and the odd bike. From sunrise to sunset the vendors sell some of the most beautiful fruit, spices, herbs, cheeses you'll ever see. It is also where we bought the carrots for True's first meal. She's a fan!

Jerusalem arguably has the most history per square foot than any other city and is beyond beautiful. Regardless of what you're looking for you'll find it there. Without going into the cliche specifics it is more than worth seeing. You'll learn more than you could in a text book, buy more than you'd want in a mall and discover more about any religion than you could in a church synagogue or mosque.

Befriending a local has to be the best piece of travel advice one could give. Without our solid group of locals in Israel we never would have known you can camp in style on a random beach north of Tel Aviv. This is definitely not the Israel you hear about on the news, though maybe it should be.

On the horizon, the first and best of the daily rain storms where everything would get soaked, just in time to dry by sundown.

Small fishing village down the beach a ways.

Setting it all out to dry.

True had her first meal and started crawling in Israel.

The whole family. A solid bunch.

The remnants from other campers' gear made the perfect decorations for our little home.

Not sure sunsets get much better than in Israel, but we might have been lucky because even the locals were pretty blown away by the few we got while camping.

Words to live by. We tell ourselves this at least once a day.

Serenated by Asaf and Jango - wait till you hear this gem.

Sea of Galilee, Kinneret, if you're Israeli is in the north of Israel. A far cry from the dry desert imagery most people conjure of this country. The area is lush, green and fruitful... literally. Jango took us to his uncle's mango orchard and honey bee farm and if you know Given, you can imagine how stoked he was. Three of his favorite things are honey, picking mangoes straight from the tree and of course, tractors! It isn't often you find all three in one place. Another reason Israel continues to amaze us.

The Negev desert at the south of Israel is closer to what we had pictured of the country, but it is still more beautiful than you could imagine. Because it is so untouched you can get a good idea of what it looked like in biblical times, minus the Land Rover of course.

Locals are who make a country worth visiting and who will show you the real soul of a place. Without our new friends in Israel, our trip would have only been a fraction as amazing. So thank you thank you for showing us all your country has to offer. We miss you already!

Yaeer "Jango Mango" Eldar. This man is a one-stop production house and can make all your dreams come true.

Arthur Rashkovan, co-founder of Surfing4Peace.org and has many big things on the horizon.

Doc Paskowitz also co-founder of Surfing4Peace.org and of course a living legend.

Nataly Elian a sassy and talented designer who also happen to be Arthur's better half. Check her out: naftul.tumblr.com

Asaf Shalem. Talented mucisan on the rise in Israel, you'll be hearing from him.

Yanai Dietsch. One of the most enthusiastic people you'll ever meet and also a talented designer. Sadly Israel is losing him to Indo.

Shmuel Raykin maker of the best honey we've ever tasted. He also hosted us for Rosh Hashana the Jewish New Year.

Josh Burde, our EP's brother, is a transplant from South Africa but you'd never know it. He makes beautiful Kabbalah based jewelry and hosted a Shabbas dinner for us.

Last but not least, we have to thank Janothan Paskowitz for introducing us to most of these guys!