I built the first version of this website back in 2014, just before I qualified as a guide. It served me well for a long time, but it had started to show its age, and for a while now I’ve wanted to give it a proper refresh. Guiding has a way of filling the diary, though, and there was never quite the time. With things quieter than they’ve been in a long while, I finally had it.
What I wanted to change
The other thing is that I put that old site together right at the very start, before I’d really done much of anything. In the years since I’ve guided a remarkable range of people and trips (students and pensioners, families and corporate delegations, pilgrims and journalists), and almost none of that breadth was coming across. I wanted a site that reflected the work as it actually is now, rather than as it looked when I was just setting out.
I also wanted to put the writing in order. Some of my older posts had gone a little stale over the years (broken links, mostly), and a blog is no use to anyone if it leads them to a dead end. So I’ve been back through them, with the aim of keeping them genuinely useful to the people who find them while planning a trip.
What I’m most pleased with
The part I’m most pleased with is the new gallery. On the old site it was a small box you scrolled through, rather tucked away in a corner; now it’s the immersive thing I always wanted it to be, and I think it gives a real sense of the variety of Israel and of the different kinds of touring on offer. If a photo catches your eye, you can click straight through to the blog post behind it and read more about the place. That’s exactly how I’d want to explore it myself.
I’ve rebuilt the blog posts themselves too, with bigger images, a cleaner layout that’s easier to scan and a little tips box on each one. The hope is that they’re actually helpful if you’re interested in a particular place or subject, and not just pleasant to look at.
A small confession: I build all my own websites. I’m a guide, not a developer, but I genuinely enjoy it (the design, the tinkering with different features, the working out of what might actually be useful to someone planning a trip), and I’d much rather have my own hands on it. So if you come across the odd rough edge, it’s entirely mine.
Preparing for a return to normal
It’s an odd moment to be relaunching a tour-guiding website, I’ll admit. Things are quiet, and have been for some time. But I’ve always felt this work is worth doing properly, quiet spell or not, and I’d rather welcome the next group of visitors with something I’m proud of than sit and wait for the world to feel ready again.
The site is really for anyone with half a mind to visit Israel. If you’re thinking about coming with a private guide, I’d love to hear from you; and if you’re only in the early stages of planning, I hope the blog and the planning pages are useful to you regardless. Either way, please do have a look around the new site. I’d really love to know what you think.
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