Crossing sites off a bucket list can be fulfilling, but we need to add more human experiences to our bucket lists.
After our tours, we ask our guests to give us the top 2 highlights from their trip. They often say: Petra and the village experience in Ghor.
A simple experience with […]
Our friends at The Abraham’s Path Initiative and the Ayoun Community Project have started weekly walks in this beautiful area of Northern Jordan. If you’re traveling in Jordan, or live here and want to experience this surprisingly green side of Jordan, check it out.
Walks are held each Saturday and include a locally prepared lunch in […]
This post originally was featured in the Voluntourist newsletter for Voluntourism.org.
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” Marcel Proust
Jordan has some of the most spectacular sites I have ever seen. In a country smaller than the state of Indiana, Jordan […]
I recently discovered the hardest question you can ask an Arab: Fairuz or Umm Kulthum? Taxi drivers in Amman typically answer this question: “This is too hard.” or “You cannot ask this question.”
Fairuz and Umm Kulthum are Arab singers. Umm Kulthum was born in Egypt in 1898 and died in 1975. According to Wikipedia, “More […]
Last weekend I brought a group of seven 40 and 50 year-olds to southern Tunisia, the land of unique underground Berber dwellings and the exotic Sahara Desert. Like many visitors on group tours to the desert here, our plans included a […]
Staying at the Ammarin Bedouin Camp within the Petra Archaeological Reserve helps the traveler enter into the atmosphere of ancient Petra. How jarring it is, then, when they pull up to the front gate and feel like they’ve walked up to the Disneyland gift shops.
My preferred way to enter Petra […]
Coming off the ten year anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, fear and distrust between Americans and Arabs remains high. The biggest contributing factor to this, in my opinion, is that we still don’t know each other.
I’ll admit, getting to know each other isn’t easy. In the […]
Walking down the old Roman road that leads into and out of Petra will never get old. I’ve been there four times now, and landing a job with Engaging Cultures means I’ll see the place twice more this summer. But something special happened last trip, something that […]
A few photos from our recent trip where local Jordanian students traveled with our guests. Our guest booked a customized version of our ‘Engage Jordan’ Tour. They were able to experience Mt. Nebo, Umm Qais, Jerash, and other sites on their tour with local Jordanian students.
Our guests were able to interact with the local […]
I know interacting and participating with the local host community can enhance a person’s travel experience. But, can actually traveling with locals (same van, same hot sun) add to the discovery and understanding of a travel destination and its people? Could it even benefit all parties […]
