I
t took two guys from England, who
came to Israel in 1994, to come up with
the idea of starting up a free and in-
dependent newspaper for travelers (also
known as "long-stay tourists") in Israel
and fulfill what they thought was a very
obvious market gap.
The result of their deliberations was
The Traveller, which has been appearing
on an on-and-off basis since September
1994. So far, it seems to have captured the
imagination and support of long-stay
tourists, who on the whole are young, Eng-
lish-speaking, in no way integrated in Is-
raeli society and tend not to read The
Jerusalem Post Or The Jerusalem Report.
Aden de la Fuente and Nick Day, edi-
tor in chief and publisher, respectively,
were, after all, travelers themselves. They
were certain they could produce something
interesting— the kind of paper they them-
selves would want to read.
"I was walking along Damascus Gate
one day," Aden de la Fuente recalls, "and
I sort of fell in love with the whole trav-
eler aspect of Jerusalem. Travelers defi-
nitely have a family relationship with each
other as there are so many long-termers."
While travelers come to Israel for dif-
ferent reasons, there is a definite circuit
stretching from France, Italy and Spain
The
raveller
How two young men from England found a niche in
Israel's already expansive newspaper market.
GIDEON KEREN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
all the way to Greece and Israel, where it's
possible to find work throughout the year.
Israel is on that map with construction
work, dish washing, bar work, waitress-
ing, kibbutz volunteering and jobs as an
au pair.
"And while Jerusalem's not as good for
work as Tel Aviv, the hostels and the
falafel are cheaper," he adds.
Mr. de la Fuente's initial concept was
to produce a newsletter, but then Nick Day
came in with the idea of a newspaper. Nei-
ther had worked on a paper or had even
written before.
Men de la Fuente and Nick Day:
The first step was learning
how to use a computer.
Mr. de la Fuente, 28, a gentile and na-
tive of Surrey, worked in the wood trade
in England and owned a saw mill.
"I couldn't handle the stress and pres-
sure any longer, thought I was a bit young
anyway and made a getaway. I arrived
here following the general migration of
travelers from Greece to Israel and cer-
tainly didn't come here to set up a news-
paper in any way."
Nick Day, 29, who is Jewish and used
to work as a transport manager for a TV
company back in London, was traveling
in Africa. In need of money in Egypt, he
crossed over the border to Eilat, then
worked there for a few months before corn-
ing to Jerusalem for a week's visit — which
has stretched into a stay of two years.
The two met while staying in an Arab
area- ofJerusalem at the Palm Hostel and
working together in a bar for a couple of
months.
They went headfirst into the newspa-
per business, borrowing a phone and learn-
ing how to use a computer. And with help
TRAVELLER page 72