AMIT Alum Captures the World in a Year
By Heidi Mae Bratt
What began as a personal challenge for his 40th birthday became something extraordinary for AMIT alumnus Ilan Rogers, who took his camera and curiosity around the globe, visiting 52 countries in 52 weeks, while taking more than 100,000 photos along the way.
With little more than a carry-on bag, and a Canon DSLR, Rogers crisscrossed five continents via planes, ships, trains and buses, logging more than 150,000 kilometers (93,205 miles) throughout the year. His photography project is now possibly among the largest in breadth and scope ever completed around the world.
“I’ve always had a thing about birthdays,” said Rogers. “They make you think about what you’ve accomplished and what you really want to do going forward.
“A year ago, as I was nearing my 40th birthday, I knew it was going to be an especially difficult one. So instead of sitting and complaining about entering a new decade, I decided to make it the most amazing year yet,” said Rogers, who graduated from AMIT Rehovot in 1996. The school was co-ed at the time he attended, prior to its division into AMIT Gould Hallel Junior and Senior High School for Girls and AMIT Hammer Junior and Senior High School for Boys.
In alphabetical order, these are the countries that Rogers visited and photographed:
Andorra, Antigua, Argentina, Austria, Barbados, Belgium, Britain, Bulargia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Holland, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Thailand, Trinidad, The Vatican and Vietnam.
In addition to the journey itself, what was also extraordinary was the cost of his travels. Rogers spent less than $2,000 a month, including all of his expenses, airfare, accommodations at hotels (“Most were 3 and 4-star hotels, not youth hostels,” he said.), food, and any extras, even when visiting expensive countries such as Japan, Iceland and New Zealand.
“I set myself a global challenge,” Rogers said, “to visit as many countries as possible in 52 weeks for less than the cost of staying at home.”
How did he manage that?
Through a mix of Internet savvy, knowledge of the different airlines, the seasonal popularity of his destinations and a method – or perhaps a faith – he developed a way to book his airline tickets and hotels at the last minute to get the best deals. Rogers cost-effective travel garnered much attention in the media when he returned home in January, and he intends to help and encourage future travelers who might be daunted by the cost and complexity of international travel.
“If you live in a Western country, you’re probably spending more than $2,000 just on housing, utilities and food a month,” he said. “It’s amazing when you discover that you can travel the world for less than the cost of staying at home.”
Rogers, who is a marketing consultant and is able to do his work any place (he was in Europe when AMIT magazine interviewed him), got a taste of traveling the world when he was an 11th grader at AMIT Rehovot, a school he said that opened him up to the world.
At AMIT Rehovot, his classmates were a diverse group of students, some of whom came from Sephardic backgrounds with families hailing from Yemen or Morocco. It was exciting for him to be exposed to different cultures through his AMIT classmates. He especially loved going to their homes and trying their deliciously spicy foods, foods that he still has a penchant for.
During his high school years, even more opportunity to expand his world came his way. Rogers was tapped by the Israeli Foreign Ministry to be among a select group of student ambassadors representing the state of Israel. The teenagers traveled to the United States for a month in 1995 and visited several states, speaking about Israel at schools, synagogues, churches and other venues. That year, the summer Olympics was to take place in Atlanta, which was a stop along the young ambassadors’ journey as well.
“Being a young ambassador for Israel was really transformative,” Rogers said. “Up to that point, I was quite shy and would never have dreamed of public speaking. However, through the program, which gave us real-world training, I was able to develop the confidence to do so. I think that’s where I started to also realize how important it is to educate people about Israel.”
Fast forward to his yearlong journey and Rogers said that he was quite aware of how while a civilian, and “just this guy taking pictures,” he truly was an ambassador for his country.
“Almost everywhere I went, people were welcoming and supportive. Much more than you might expect, considering all the negative press about Israel,” Rogers said.
“Even in some European countries, that are often thought to be quite anti-Israeli, locals were eager to hear about and see photos of Israel, and many expressed an interest to come visit as well,” he added.
As a Jewish traveler, he said there were moments that were “bashert,” using the Yiddish term meaning divinely ordained. In Italy, for instance, he was in an ice cream store when an elderly Italian man beckoned him and pulled out a yarmulke from his pocket to show Rogers. Or another time when on a bus in Iceland, an ostensibly Christian woman overheard Rogers’ conversation with the bus driver about visiting Israel. The women chimed in and asked Rogers if he spoke Hebrew – in Hebrew.(The woman also had told him that her father had been in Israel and that she had been on an Israeli kibbutz in the 1980s.)
“There were so many amazing moments like this that just kept happening”, he said.
Despite being in places where there sometimes were practically no Jews, Rogers, who keeps Shabbat and eats kosher, always made sure to observe the laws.
For food, he stuck to a primarily vegetarian diet.
As for Shabbat, “I often slept for 20 hours,” he quipped, “making up for the lack of sleep and countless kilometers of walking throughout each week.”
Rogers said that he enjoyed all of the places he visited and photographed, but among his favorites were Japan, which he visited during the celebration of the cherry blossoms, and Iceland, for its spectacular and natural beauty.
Now Rogers is starting to post his photos online, publishing another country every week on his social media accounts and personal website.
He is also looking to showcase his photos in the real world as well. “I want to share this unique experience with everyone who likes to travel and would love to exhibit my best photos in venues in Israel and abroad,” he said.
For Rogers, there are many takeaways from his trip. One, of course, is his tremendous sense of accomplishment.
“I feel truly fortunate to have seen and photographed so much,” he said. “It’s been an incredible experience and has clarified for me what I’d like to do in the years to come.”
Another is the importance of being “an ambassador” for Israel, especially when traveling overseas, something that started back when he was an 11th grader at his AMIT high school.
“When we travel, we each have an opportunity to represent Israel in a better light,” Rogers said. “People might see or read negative things in their local media, but if they meet a friendly Israeli, who respects them and their culture, they are far more likely to think more positively about Israel as well. I think we each have a responsibility and opportunity to make a difference.”
Click here to see the photo gallery! To see more photos, follow Ilan Rogers’ global photography journey on Instagram or Facebook at: ilanrogers.official or his website at IlanRogers.com.
