A True Cosmopolitan
 A cosmopolitan character, Yossi Ghinsberg has made planet Earth his home. Yossi says he belongs where he is, right here, right now.
Yossi was born and raised in Israel, a country somewhat an island in its isolation in the Middle East and was the second son to migrants from Eastern Europe whom arrived in Israel after the second World War. ‘The mould of my culture and society was tremendous’ Yossi explains. ‘We were the first generation born in the country after the war and grew up knowing that we belong here and that we need to stick together to defend ourselves and make sure the holocaust would never happen again. For me to be able to say that I am an Earthling first, before any national, cultural or religious identity, is not a simple declaration, to say the least. Nevertheless, I have become someone who belongs to the experience of life in this realm and am traveling this planet at home wherever I am, yet a foreigner even in the country where I was born; I am the eternal nomad, a traveling soul, a badu.’
It is Yossi’s view that it is time to dissolve the illusion of separation, reconcile our differences and work together toward a better future for ourselves, our home planet and the generations to come. ‘We are one people on one planet; culture, religion, traditions all have their place provided they adhere to the basic planetary rules: respect one another, we are all privileged guests here, and since it wasn’t us that prepared the guest list, we should respect all other guests as equal to us.'
Traveling the planet excessively, Yossi speaks seven languages fluently and can 'get by' in a few more. He has an unquenchable thirst for learning new languages and starts by picking up his first words from the taxi driver at the airport.
As an explorer Yossi travels to remote corners of the world such as Papua New Guinea, Myanmar and Madagascar, using the atlas as his only guidebook, insisting on arriving in remote communities that are not on the beaten track to share his life experiences with them and receive the gifts of the locals' hospitality.
No matter how far I travel, still the human experience is similar. Parents want to see their kids get a good education and marry a fine match. People thrive for the same things: economic independence, safety, basic human rights.
The planet is both big and rich enough to be a good home to us and all species, it is only the illusion of separation, the illusion of scarce resources and greed and short sightedness that cause turmoil and suffering.
At any moment the world evolves as we understand that we are responsible for it.
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