In the last three years, I have been to 16 of the 81 provinces in Türkiye.* I have met a surprising number of folks from what feel like quite different cultures. Each has contributed to my personality and helped to create a new and better version of myself. And that is where my story begins.

I have learned that traveling to a new area isn’t just about sightseeing or having new experiences but is also,at least for me, about making new connections with many new kinds of people — ranging from merchants I encounter in the streets to folks I meet who end up being travel buddies.

Wherever found, folks I meet in person are not the caricatures one sees in the media. As I interact with them, it is possible to get a real feel for their values and lifestyle, and I absolutely love the gift of these experiences.

In exchange, I am also gifted by being able to teach folks from other places about my Palestinian experiences, values, hopes and dreams. They often give me positive feedback when they learn I come from Palestine, Gaza.

I hear responses like “We love Palestine” or “Free Palestine. They often express curiosity about how I got to their country, knowing how hard it is to travel from Gaza.

Whatever reaction others might have, I love hearing such questions, which tell me that they are aware of how much Gazans suffer from the blockade.

And such encounters give me another chance to share stories about traveling outside of Gaza. I see this as a win–win situation. Others get to listen to and learn from the stories of someone who has lived under a blockade, and I get to both play a role in raising awareness about the Palestinian issue and to learn about their culture. I so very much enjoy watching their reactions!

The last time I was in Gaza was four years ago, when I was still in high school. When I returned to Türkiye, the teacher asked our class where we had been during our summer holidays. It was the only time in the six years I’ve been in Türkiye that I was able to answer this question as my classmates did: “I went to visit my family in my memleket” (a Turkish word, perhaps best translated as “dear homeland”).

I had been waiting for this moment since the very first day of school so I could tell the class that for once I had been able to go to my own homeland and spend time with beloved family members that I hadn’t seen for four years. While I loved that opportunity, usually I stay in Istanbul, living the life of a tourist. That allows me to explore Türkiye’s marvelous architecture, scenery, and antiquities.

“You’ve been to more places in Turkiye than we Turks” is what I hear from my Turkish friends when I show them pictures of me in provinces they’ve not yet visited.

Although these are fascinating experiences that I will aways remember and cherish, I must confess that traveling alone in a country where I’m a foreigner in isn’t a thing I love most.  To tell the truth, what I would love most would actually be simply having a touching meeting in our home garden in Gaza, (a thing about which I dream whenever times are tough).

Many Gazan students have similar experiences when they start their studies abroad.  During vacations they are forced to stay in nearly empty student dorms while their roommates go home to see their families. 

The blockade of Gaza by the Israeli occupation army has made it very difficult for us to visit our homeland, and this makes our hearts ache every single day. It is a barrier to our fulfilling our needs and aspirations. However, being in a different society does give us a chance for us to raise awareness in other nations about the conditions under which we Gazans are forced to live; and perhaps it will lead to a change in our living conditions when others begin to understand and start to work internationally to help us make changes.

As a beginning Gazan traveler, I lived with a deep sense of saudade, a Portuguese word referring to deeply missing something that is seemingly unattainable. Although I am incredibly grateful to be able to visit new places, meet new people, collect inspiring ideas, and build memories that are clearly helping me to mature and develop, there is never a day without its downside. That side is that I never forget that these things will not still be available to me once I re-enter Gaza.

I hope and expect to apply these ideas on my society to get rid of the feeling of saudade. I realized that I am no longer bonded with places per se, but with creative ideas and the commitment to the Palestinian cause which I carry within me wherever I go.

*Türkiye is the new spelling The Republic of Turkey adopted in 2021 with the aim of rebranding the country.