WE HOPE THAT THE WAR, AND THE HUMAN SUFFERING, WILL END SOON, AND THAT WE'LL BE SEEING GUESTS AGAIN.

After being hosted by some amazing people the past few years, especially on our recent trips, we really feel the need to "give back", and would love to host as much as possible . We love hosting, though being a bit off the tourist.map, we don't get a ton of requests. I promise an quick answer to any request. (Anything other than that would be disrespectful to the Couchsurfing Community.)

We love taking our guests on day-trips (any direction from Hararit offers great options) around the Galilee, especially now that we're retired, and have time. It's good for us, as it gives us the motivation to get out of the house!

We both are now retired, and trying to get in as much world exploration as we can, while we can. The idea is to spend about a third of the year on the road, and the rest of the time watching the garden and our grandchildren grow.

Tami was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 2019, two weeks before we were to leave for 4½ months in India. The operation was successfull, all the tests have been negative, and we managed to leave here in late January, but had to return, before the flights stoppped, and at least travel there for six weeks.

We're now back traveling, doing longish backpacking and camping, along with shorter trips when fares are low.

We hope, in the next few years, to make it to South America, the Philippines, and much of Africa.

I was born in Philadelphia USA, 1952, Jewish lower middle class liberal / socialist / secular family, went to Central High School (228 to anyone who knows what that means) in the city, and Penn State University for a degree in Russian Literature. I came to Israel in 1973 as a kibbutz volunteer, and ended up staying (don't ask why). On the way back to the US to get my stuff, I met Tami in Rome, in the Sistine Chapel, on August 4th, 1975. I returned to Israel, got in touch, and we were engaged within a few days.

I did an MA in Linguistics at Hebrew Univerity, but worked at crap jobs until I reached my TURNING 40 CRISIS, and decided I wanted to teach Film History (which I never actually studied). I taught the subject in high schools and colleges, until I retired in 2019.. I loved teaching, and was quite a natural at it. Until the end I enjoyed going into class, and the challenges involved in doing it right. However, I lost all my strength and patience in dealing with the system, which seems to always work to demand mediocracy.

Tami (short for Tamar), nee Peretz, was born in 1951, to the "Sephardic Nobility" of Jerusalem, and studied art in Tel Aviv. She worked as an art therapist in special education, before retiring. We've been together since 1976, have three grown children, and five grandchildren. She is an artist, and the creative one of us, with her art, ceramics, jewelry making, etc. Not to mention cooking!

We usually travel together, though I sometimes do a "me-only" trip centered on what I call "urban trekking", for which she has less of a passion.

Since 1995 we have been travelling, trying to see as much as the world as we can in the time remaining (for us, and the world), backpacking through much of Southeast Asia, Central Asia, and Central America, and camping with our trusty tent in Europe and North America.

I have a passion for so many different things, I can only provide a partial list: cinema (obviously), music (all kinds), art, literature, sports (playing and watching), architecture, philosophy, gardening, beer, etc.

I'm a Jewish Atheist, though I'll be respectful of my guests who might have their own beliefs.

As for philosophy, to quote the great philosopher Groucho Marx: "Sometimes you have to take the bull by the tail, and face the truth".

Please note that Hararit is a small village in the Galilee. Even though our profile comes up on searches for Haifa, Akko, and Nazareth, we're not any of those, even though transportation to and from all of them is possible. However, sending a request "I'm going to be in Haifa.....", etc., means you didn't read the profile.

Also, while I am willing to accept friend requests from CSers I haven't met, if you don't include a personal message along with the request, it means you haven't read even this far on the profile, and I'll ignore.

I love photography, and you can see some of my travel pictures on Instagram, at freddylubin1952.

"The world is not my home, I'm just a-passin' through."

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Truth be told, I joined in order to find a place in Reykjavik a while ago. But as we began to get requests, and after visiting our wonderful hosts in Iceland, I got the idea, and found it to be something very close to how I want to live my life. I love meeting people when I travel, and getting to think a bit outside the usual box needed for day-to-day existence. And I love having people find our out-of-the-way village, and get to show them, and allow them to experience what we have here.

I enjoy having friends on Couchsurfing, even if it's someone I haven't met personally. I'll accept friend requests, but I don't appreciate getting them with no message at all. I'll always just ignore them. It means you haven't read my profile.

CURRENT MISSION: Keep on keepin' on:

"Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me." (Woody Guthrie)

"Don't lend your hand,
To raise no flag,
Atop no ship of fools" (Garcia, Hunter)

"Do you know, we could go,
we are free;
Any place we could think of,
we could be." (Paul Kantner, David Crosby)

"Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light." (Dylan Thomas)

Interests

Some interests come and go, but there's always cinema, literature, beer (REAL beer and ale), sports, philosophy, music, travelling, gardening, teaching (it's a job, but also fun), humor, conversation, literature, poetry, .... and life in general. Life, whatever you do, can always be fascinating:

"Once in a while you get shown the light
In the strangest of places if you look at it right." (Robert Hunter)

You can see my photos on Instagram at freddylubin1952.

• dogs
• arts
• literature
• poetry
• architecture
• dining
• running
• gardening
• traveling
• socializing
• music
• sports
• teaching
• history
• philosophy
• science
• travel
• cinema
• nature
• good food
• craft beer
• marx brothers
• nothing
• urban trekking
• the grateful dead
• photogrphy
• 42
• flying spaghetti monster
• life the universe and everything
• staying alive
• things i can't mention
• monk and 'trane

Music, Movies, and Books

So much, I can't even start to list. I love all kinds of film, from Classic Hollywood, to Bergman. I could list a thousand favorite films. Same with music. I grew up in the '60s, with rhythm and blues, and rock-n-roll, but love jazz, classical, everything. Special call-out to Jimi, Duke, Monk, 'Trane, and the Dead. And Charles Ives.

As for books, I studied Russian literature, which I loved (Gogol, Zamyatin, early Dostoyevski, Bunin, etc.), but read now mostly non-fiction.

Among my favorite poets are Blake, Whitman, Ginsberg, and Robert Hunter.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Lived 7+ decades on high energy level. St, and don't want to stop.

Anything amazing? Seeing my children born, maybe. Or looking at the stars at night.

US States I've visited: Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky

Teach, Learn, Share

I love talking about ANYTHING, love the give and take of discussion, which is one of the reasons I love traveling.

What I Can Share with Hosts

WITH GUESTS: Great food and drink, and conversation. As well as my knowledge of travel possibilities in our region. I'm not promising, but when possible, I love taking guests on a drive around our part of the Galilee

WITH HOSTS: We enjoy sharing our stories and passion for travel. And hopefully, friendship.

Countries I’ve Visited

Afghanistan, Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, England, Estonia, Ethiopia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Norway, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uzbekistan, Vatican City State, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Israel, United States