The new year, and the past

So, a new fresh year dawns on us. Last year swooshed by like a French TGV-train, yet so much happened. We settled in Jerusalem, a big thing in itself.
In January, I was in Sweden for New Year, then seeing clients. On the way home, I stopped in Riga. Then, my mother became our first visitor there, staying for ten days.
In February, I went to Southern Spain for a paragliding story, then to Bologna for a food & drink story.
March took me to Berlin for more food & drink stories, then to my hometown Malmö in Sweden.
Femke’s sister and her boyfriend came to visit us. In the end of March, I also started to work part time for ANERA, the same aid organization where Femke works. And I started to work as the editor of the Swedish paragliding magazine Hypoxia.

In the beginning of April, we traveled to Jordan and had an adventurous camel safari in Wadi Rum and some diving and snorkeling in Aqaba. This was together with Femke’s sis and her boyfriend. A week after they left, Femke’s parents came to visit us, and we traveled together to Haifa, Akko and the Galilees.
Later on in the month, I went to southern Turkey to do a story about luxury hotels. Afterwards, I met up with Femke in Istanbul and together we had a romantic weekend there. Also, in the end of April, my Swedish university friend Dag came to visit us with his little daughter.

May brought more visitors in the form of Brussels friend Sarah (a Swedish freelance journalist) and her mother. After that, I went to Provence in southern France for a paragliding story, having great fun.

In June, I stayed in the region all the month. Femke’s university friend Eddy came to visit, and in the end of the month, we had a great midsummer party in Arbel (the Galilees) together with Anna and Lotta. My first issue of Hypoxia was published in the end of the month.

July was a hot and long month, spent entirely in the region. Puh! This was also when I made my first visit to Gaza.

With August, my traveling season started again. With Femke, I went to Amsterdam to see her friends and family, and to do a story about hotels in Amsterdam. My mother also came to Amsterdam for two days to see us. This was also the first time she met Femke’s parents. In the end of the month, I made another trip to Gaza.

September took me to Sweden, to meet family and friends, as well as clients and the printers of Hypoxia. From Sweden, I flew directly to Turkey for a sailing story. In the middle of this, I turned 39.

October 2007 spells SOUTH AFRICA for us. We flew there the 3 October for an almost three weeks long trip together. For Femke it was holiday, while I did a travel story. We had such a lovely time there. When Femke flew home, I stayed another week for a paragliding story. Coming home in the end of the month, I greeted Swedish friends Lucas and Lotta welcome as guests in our Jerusalem home.

In November, I once again went to Gaza. My friend Bonen came to visit for ten days, and in the very end of the month, I went to India for a paragliding story.
I came home from India mid December, worked for nine days with ANERA (my new boss in Washington, Liz, was visiting, as well as our new Jerusalem boss, Robert). 20 December, we flew to Sweden (with a lunch stop in Amsterdam together with Femke’s mother) to celebrate Christmas with my family and to meet friends. 27 December we flew south again to the Netherlands to meet Femke’s family and friends.

Summarizing the year this way makes me realize how busy 2007 was. I spent 159 days somewhere else than home. And we had guests over for 56 days. No wonder I was tired now and then. Yet, it was a great year with lots of fun.

How will 2008 be? No idea. I don’t even know where I will be living in the end of the year – maybe Jerusalem, maybe somewhere else.
Hopefully (but I am afraid I doubt it), things will change to the better in Palestine and Israel.
What I do know, is that Femke and me will continue to work in the West Bank and in Gaza as long as we live in Jerusalem.

I will hopefully continue to produce Hypoxia, the paragliding magazine (going to Brazil in February for a story). And I will probably start to write a travel blog for the Swedish web portal of MSN. My freelancing for Swedish travel magazines will also continue, including a planned trip to oasis in Egypt in March, and probably to Slovenia in April/May.

Otherwise, we just have to see. Let’s hope it is going to be fun!