Lonely Peleg
Diary of a nomad. 152 countries, 18 years on the road.
Everyone asks me what I am running away from? “I am not running away, I am searching”
Today Lonely Peleg is the biggest travel blog in Israel with over 250,00 followers.
I decided to live my life differently. I do not have a house, a regular job, a car or a university degree. I got my education on the road and my inspiration from the people I meet along the way.
I grew up in a beautiful, small beach town in the North of Israel. I was a hyper active and dyslexic child. I was told I would never be able to learn English or study any further. Not fitting into the normal school system of my town, my mother moved me to the alternative school of art at the nearby Kibbutz. Here, I thrived. It gave me the opportunity to explore realms of photography and film. Subjects that interested me. After school like any Israeli teenager, I was drafted into the army for 3 years. I served as a Sergeant in one of the IDF Infantry units. Here I learnt discipline, brotherhood and pushing the limits of my physical boundaries. Mainly it taught me to trust myself.
After the army I could still not speak english. This did not stop me from going to travel South East Asia for my first ever trip.
I learnt more in these 3 months of travel than all my 12 years of schooling. I learnt about new cultures, people, experienced new and different things. I felt freedom like I never had before. This is what ignited my passion for traveling.
When I ran out of money I knew I still did not want to return back to Israel. I flew to Australia and found work as a landscaper for the Jewish community. This forced me into learning to speak English. This one year trip taught me something that has allowed me to follow my dreams for all these years; the fact I would always manage wherever I was and that I could make traveling the world my reality.
I don’t remember the exact moment I decided that my dream would be to travel 100 countries but it was probably on the back of some truck in Central America. I have lived in the poorest neighbourhoods of Africa and in the largest dumpsite in the Philippines. I crossed Siberia in the third class of the Trans-Siberian railway. I have climbed volcanoes and spanned deserts. I hitchhiked through Africa and lived with nomadic tribes in Mongolia. I volunteered with refugees during the war in the Ukraine. I built a school in Cameroon. I helped the kids of ‘Smokey mountain’, the largest dumpsite in the Philippines.
In all of my travels I have sought the authentic, a real experience. I lived among the locals, sharing their food and shelter.
I learnt from them about their culture and history. I did this all on a small budget, in some places I managed living on less than a dollar a day. It took me nine years to accomplish my dream of traveling 100 countries. The most important things I learnt from these years of travel; that you do not need a lot of money to travel and that money does not buy happiness.
I most third world countries it is much cheaper to travel than live in any of the big cities around the world. I learnt to trust people and accept their kindness. In exchange I have been able to share my story with them, a story they become a part of.
In March 2013 I met 3 incredible businessman that had an idea to help others, an idea that came to be my dream. You can read more about my projects here.
My vision is to keep traveling the world meeting new people and expanding my limits. Another part of my vision is to bring followers of my blog to join me on my projects or even inspire them to volunteer there even when I have left. It will guide them to organisations that do not cost them huge sums of money to volunteer but allow them to help directly. Also vice versa with connecting organisations with people that really want to offer their time.
I am in Trinidad and would be willing to host you for a visit to my home
What an amazing adventure of a life! I have always wanted to do something like this but as for now, I am where I am. If you ever come to Nova Scotia, Canada I would be happy to have you stay with my family and to show you around!