Fashion – Camping by the Jordan River

For my family, summer means being together in the outdoors and preferably near a body of water.

We often indulge in holidays in hotels or luxury resorts in Israel and around the world but years of traveling together has taught us that what we most enjoy is spending time together camping out in nature.

It is as if having to work hard at clearing a site, pitching tents , gathering wood, getting your fire started and cooking your food under the stars, really ‘coping with the elements’, brings us the most gratification.

To celebrate my husband’s birthday this week, we packed tents, chairs, sheets, cooler bags of food and drinks and most important for me ,an inflatable mattress and a pillow and off we drove to the Jordan river in Israel’s beautiful Galilee.

By American and European standards the Jordan River is a tiny stream but for us it is a great place to swim and cool off from the scorching heat of summer.

We looked for an intimate off the beaten track stream so that we could enjoy a secluded space of our own.

This is the paradise we found.

There are many blogs on the web with lists of what one should pack for a camping holiday, often stating the obvious: swimming costumes, hat, sunscreen etc.

In my opinion, the essential thing which I could not do without is a Sarong. This big rectangle piece of cloth is the most wonderful thing and can be worn in various ways: as a skirt, as a dress, underneath the armpit, as a dress over one shoulder and as a dress tied around the neck.

But I use it for much more: I cover my shoulders in the water, protecting them from the sun.

When outside the water, reading or eating, I wet the Sarong and put it around my shoulders, just to cool off.

In the evening, I cover my shoulders to protect them from the mosquitos

You can imagine that after all that I must have a few Sarongs and I am always on the lookout for more. Here are some of them…

Have a wonderful summer and be happy!