New Zealand

On most of my travels, I would be out of the country for around 6-12 months at a time.

To be able to sustain a trip of that length would require quite a bit of money (one thing that is in short supply), so I would always try to find local jobs in a place I liked to be able to extend my trip. On one of my trips to New Zealand, I found an amazing little restaurant in the South Island, it was in the woods and everywhere you looked was paradise. I asked the owner if she needed help and ended up staying and working there for six months. The pictures are of the family I stayed with and also me working. The other picture is of a fjord in the South Island.  It is an amazing experience to see and walk on a fjord. The work was basic, but had a great time, met many locals and best of all kept me in New Zealand for 6 months. A win-win by my standards

Israel

On one of my trips, I went to Israel and toured the country. When my money ran out I got a job in  Kibbutz Geva.  A Kibbutz is how the country of Israel basically became started. They are small communities where everyone works for the good of all and share the profits.  I was in one in the center of the country (Geva) and we would take trips on the weekends all over the country. 

Some of the Kibbutz on the North would get attacked at night and were actually armed camps for the protection of the people. I was there during the Intifada and was caught up in a riot in Jerusalem and had the pleasure of smelling tear gas for an extended period of time. One of the highlights of that trip was going to Bethlehem for midnight mass on Christmas Eve help at the grotto where Jesus was born. The pictures are: Me swimming in an oasis in the Negev desert; a picture of the Whaling Wall in Jerusalem and a picture of me at the Israel-Lebanon border.