Spain 18,
Oct. 7, 2026,
Hi Everyone,
Today is Oct. 7th, the day that my life changed, the day that I realized that I could not, nor would return to my former self. Throughout my life, I have been a son, a husband, a surgeon, a father, and a grandfather. I have also identified myself as a Canadian, a Jew, an atheist, and a Zionist. These identities underwent a profound transformation following the tragic events of October 7th, 2023. On that fateful day, indelibly etched in my memory, the latter identity assumed paramount importance over all others.
There are many dates to remember, for my generation, for the generation of my parents, ‘the greatest generation’ and the generation of my children. Many people remember these dates, many remember exactly what they were doing at the time the event took place. Nov. 11, WW1 ended, Sept. 1, WW2 began. June 6, the Normandy invasion, Aug. 6, Hiroshima, May 8, WW2 ended in Europe, Nov. 22, Kennedy was shot. Sept. 11, the Twin Towers, Oct. 7, Gaza.
On Oct. 7, 2023, I made the decision to go to Israel and serve in whatever capacity I would be needed. Eventually I went to Israel 3 times. In 2024 I served 2 months, 1month with the IDF packing medical bags and 1month as a physician/paramedic with Magen David Adom. I repeated this in 2025 serving 2 weeks with the IDF and 2 weeks with MDA. Once again in 2026 I spent 3 weeks in Israel, including 2 weeks with MDA. I documented my experience in my blog entitled, ‘gobriantravel.com’. Subsequently, I wrote a book documenting my experience. The book includes several chapters on the history of the Middle East from 1900 to 1948. The book concludes with chapters dedicated to my family history and my personal opinions of the world today focusing on antisemitism and antizionism. All proceeds on the sale of the book will go towards the purchase of an ambulance for MDA.
I awoke this morning, at 6:29, 1 minute before my alarm was to go off, to lightening and the sound of thunder. Oh no! I really did not want to ride for 5 hours in the rain. By the time I had my bags packed and secured on my bike, the rain had stopped. I boarded the ferry from Palma, Majorca to Denia and settled in at a window seat for 5 hours. After a 5 hour boat ride I had no interest in doing a 5-7 hour bike ride. Last evening, I edited my journey to a 3-4 hour ride on the autoroute. The sun was shining, the road was bone dry so away I went. The speed limit on highways here is 120 km/hr. I rode mostly at 100 to 110 and was quite comfortable at that speed.
I am staying at a 4* at the outskirts of townfor a reasonable price. I just spent 2 hours at one of my favourite places, the laundromat. I am sitting at a local taverna with the locals, had a delicious meal consisting of fried calamara, writing my blog. I made friends with a few of the locals who promised to read my blog. We checked it out on the website and it had been automatically translated into Spanish. Great! As a reward, I was served a ridiculously large teramisu with an oversized glass of Scotch to finish off the meal.
Love,
Brian
