Retracing My Steps: Jerusalem

There is an ongoing debate in the world of travel between those who believe in constantly exploring new frontiers, and those who laud the benefits of revisiting places, learning the local way and constantly deepening your experience.
I sit on the fence with these two theories, understanding that while going somewhere new provides a rush and a thrill that is unparalleled, there is also an amazing quality in learning to understand and know a place after the second or third visit.
Fabulous Tour of the Universe TM is a great mix of the two. We started off in Koh Samui, a place we’d never been to before, and loved every second of discovering the foreign culture, the unfamiliar places, and making the silly mistakes that make the trip more fun at the end.

Now on leg two, we’ve arrived in Israel, a place I have long called my second or third home. Its here that I fall into place within an hour or two of arriving - haggling with the taxi drivers in my Hebrew that improves by the minute; climbing the hills and the stairs of the ancient stone streets with growing familiarity; discovering new shops and restaurants alongside old favourites; and recalling a memory, a story, an event, on every street corner.
Strolling through the streets of Jerusalem over the last two days has been one long nostalgic trip down memory lane. Walking down the main roads in the city centre, I don’t just see places: I see events. There’s the square where I met one of my best friends for the first time over a frozen yoghurt; there’s the bus stop where I made a panicky phone call home to my mother after a local hairdresser dyed my hair an unmistakable shade of magenta; here’s the burger joint we used to frequent after a massive night of tequila and long islands; and here’s the restaurant where I had the most heavenly steak of all time.
It’s more than that though - along with each memory, there are new places, new experiences that are yet to be had. There’s the Indian restaurant that I simply must try, and there’s the new shoe store that is so much better than anything else in the area. Here’s the park where I am now spending time with friends, creating new memories and new moments of nostalgia for the future me.
So as I walk down the streets among the ghosts of my former self, I can also hear the whispers of the me of the future, reminding me that each moment now is worth hundreds in the future, as I relive this incredible experience and draw on it for years to come.