Thank you for sharing this with us. Such a good reminder to step out of my travel comfort zone. I'm curious if the women in your group saw things differently from your perspective?
Glad you enjoyed it Rebecca! I asked my mom and sister, neither felt judged or shamed in any way. If you do have a chance to visit I recommend spending time in AlUla instead of the bigger cities like Jeddah and Riyhad.
Proust's quote rules them all -- excellent choice (and thanks for sharing your trip, it definitely opens some eyes!).
Marcel in full and in french:
"Le véritable voyage de découverte ne consiste pas à chercher de nouveaux paysages, mais à avoir de nouveaux yeux, de voir l'univers avec les yeux d'un autre, de cent autres, de voir les cent univers que chacun d'eux voit, que chacun d'eux est."
I LOVE THIS!! Yass to this, Brian! I'm an Indian, and I travel and volunteer at hostels. I've had people tell me they were hesitant to travel to India but ended up loving our country after experiencing it.
You'll never know the truth unless you experience it yourself! You'll never truly see the beauty and kindness of a place and its people until you step in and immerse yourself. I'd love to visit Cuba, Mexico, and Saudi someday!
What serendipity!!! I am reading this in the Riyadh airport, waiting to catch a plane to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. I’ll be in country for a week. My experiences in Arabic countries, including Morocco, Egypt, Yemen, UAE, and Jordan have all been very positive, although I note Substack is blocked here. I had to use my VPN to read your post!
Surprised you had to log in with a VPN, I was on Substack throughout the entire trip and never had issues. Great to hear from you Brant, enjoy your time there!
We are in AlUla now, on our way to the famous tombs of Hegra. No more problems using Substack. Suspect it was a network fluke before. Posting short videos on my YouTube channel, in case you are interested
Until I read your post, Brian, Saudi Arabia would've been one of the LAST places I'd ever consider visiting. Thank you for enlightening me and pointing out my obvious Western bias.
What a great piece, and one of the best articles I've read recently encouraging you to step out and see the world. Thanks for sharing your family's tradition.
I love this tradition and agree with you and Rick Steves — you understand humanity the most when you go where you're "not supposed to go". And trusting the world to keep you safe when you're traveling alone in a foreign land is even more empowering.
I recently visited China and as usual, my biggest takeaway was 1) everyone everywhere is just doing their best to go about their lives, and 2) the propaganda goes both ways. Both the US and China have their strengths and limitations..
The lack of ANY type of decoration or reindeer or no holiday lights whatsoever was a bit depressing for me even for a Muslim country . Usually the lobby has a token Christmas tree that we adopt . The experience and being the 4 of us out weighed the minor sadness .
Oman after this trip (with just the parents )was warmer to the holidays and token Christmas trees in each lobby.
Brian, I am all for expanding horizons and debunking cultural biases (after all I am a social anthropologist who has spent 25 years living and working in different parts of the world, including places like Ethiopia and Burkina Faso) but it would be great to also give some context to the situation in Saudi. It is not all that great for the women who live there, when you look closer https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde23/8770/2024/en/ and for anyone who dares to speak truth to power https://www.amnesty.org.uk/saudi-arabia-human-rights-raif-badawi-king-salman
Totally get you Liza, I was hesitant even writing this because I know Saudi doesn't have the best track record when it comes to human rights.
I'm simply reporting on what I saw and relaying the conversations I had with normal every day people. Remember most of what we see through media is sensationalized and doesn't apply to much of the general population.
Brian, I appreciate that you're working on challenging your biases and that you had a positive experience as a tourist. However, I encourage you to recognize that the people you met while traveling with a guide do not necessarily reflect the everyday reality of life in Saudi Arabia. Before advocating so strongly on this topic, I urge you to read about Saudi human rights violations and educate yourself on the broader context. Having a platform is a privilege, and with privilege comes responsibility.
We weren't traveling with a guide though. We just had a couple of tours throughout the trip, the rest of the time we were on our own meeting locals.
I didn't just speak with men, I spoke with many women and never got signs of violation or oppression. I've read and educated myself, for sure the country has done some horrific things, but again, this doesn't reflect the general population who were super kind and welcoming to us.
This was an interesting take on an authoritarian regime: there are no pickpockets because the punishment is amputation. I guess what matters is that you have a good vacation.
The point was to shed light on the fact that countries can change and improve over time. That style of punishment might have been more common decades ago but it's no longer the case. I can assure we didn't see any amputations, maybe they're hiding them from the foreigners, idk?
I liked to read your interesting article! It is a big deal to understand what does it mean to be able to broken with any ideas that you thought about other countries like "conflictives" that politics show us everyday and makes us fear. I changed this vision when I traveled to these type of destinations.
When you are inside, immersed in the culture, politics and society you be able to know how is their reallity. This is a good point to CHANGE our points of social view and critic sense. I would like to add&suggest that if you change your supercial state throught other more deep with people you will find answers that maybe you wouldn't have imagined:
"Telling&recieving stories are a great chance to feel a peace and eliminate the hatred that one carries inside".
Thank you for sharing this with us. Such a good reminder to step out of my travel comfort zone. I'm curious if the women in your group saw things differently from your perspective?
Glad you enjoyed it Rebecca! I asked my mom and sister, neither felt judged or shamed in any way. If you do have a chance to visit I recommend spending time in AlUla instead of the bigger cities like Jeddah and Riyhad.
What a wonderful family tradition, Brian. And what a remarkable experience you and your family had in Saudi Arabia.
Thanks Clarice!
Proust's quote rules them all -- excellent choice (and thanks for sharing your trip, it definitely opens some eyes!).
Marcel in full and in french:
"Le véritable voyage de découverte ne consiste pas à chercher de nouveaux paysages, mais à avoir de nouveaux yeux, de voir l'univers avec les yeux d'un autre, de cent autres, de voir les cent univers que chacun d'eux voit, que chacun d'eux est."
His quote is like the chef's kiss on any travel article 😂
I love this quote! It is now in my collection of travel quotes, where I will use it in some future article. Thank you for sharing it.
What a cool tradition and great for opening the eyes, the mind, the heart!
And wouldn't you know it, I was just about to propose a BCN Substack meetup when I saw your note! I will join next week. 🍻 😊
What serendipitous timing, looking forward to finally meeting in person!
I LOVE THIS!! Yass to this, Brian! I'm an Indian, and I travel and volunteer at hostels. I've had people tell me they were hesitant to travel to India but ended up loving our country after experiencing it.
You'll never know the truth unless you experience it yourself! You'll never truly see the beauty and kindness of a place and its people until you step in and immerse yourself. I'd love to visit Cuba, Mexico, and Saudi someday!
So cool that your family does this!
What serendipity!!! I am reading this in the Riyadh airport, waiting to catch a plane to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. I’ll be in country for a week. My experiences in Arabic countries, including Morocco, Egypt, Yemen, UAE, and Jordan have all been very positive, although I note Substack is blocked here. I had to use my VPN to read your post!
Surprised you had to log in with a VPN, I was on Substack throughout the entire trip and never had issues. Great to hear from you Brant, enjoy your time there!
We are in AlUla now, on our way to the famous tombs of Hegra. No more problems using Substack. Suspect it was a network fluke before. Posting short videos on my YouTube channel, in case you are interested
https://youtube.com/shorts/HARo_2s_LCM?si=UW9etCsrG1OoINjP.
Until I read your post, Brian, Saudi Arabia would've been one of the LAST places I'd ever consider visiting. Thank you for enlightening me and pointing out my obvious Western bias.
Appreciate you reading Larry! I'd recommend going sooner than later, before the "disneyfication" engulfs the country and it becomes the next Dubai.
Whoa, I'd love this:
> There’s no alcohol in Saudi so instead of bars and clubs [...]
It was wild!
What a great piece, and one of the best articles I've read recently encouraging you to step out and see the world. Thanks for sharing your family's tradition.
Thanks Jesse, glad to hear it resonated!
I love this tradition and agree with you and Rick Steves — you understand humanity the most when you go where you're "not supposed to go". And trusting the world to keep you safe when you're traveling alone in a foreign land is even more empowering.
I recently visited China and as usual, my biggest takeaway was 1) everyone everywhere is just doing their best to go about their lives, and 2) the propaganda goes both ways. Both the US and China have their strengths and limitations..
Thanks for the comment Livia! Agreed, no country is perfect and unfortunately media tends to only highlight the bad.
The lack of ANY type of decoration or reindeer or no holiday lights whatsoever was a bit depressing for me even for a Muslim country . Usually the lobby has a token Christmas tree that we adopt . The experience and being the 4 of us out weighed the minor sadness .
Oman after this trip (with just the parents )was warmer to the holidays and token Christmas trees in each lobby.
Great article!! Really enjoyed it! As always :) Hello from an ex-Barcelonian, now in CDMX 😊
CDMX is high on my list of places to visit! Prof G talks about how it's set to become the next Austin with a bunch of startups, entrepreneurs, etc.
Will be sure to reach out whenever I make it there :)
Brian, I am all for expanding horizons and debunking cultural biases (after all I am a social anthropologist who has spent 25 years living and working in different parts of the world, including places like Ethiopia and Burkina Faso) but it would be great to also give some context to the situation in Saudi. It is not all that great for the women who live there, when you look closer https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde23/8770/2024/en/ and for anyone who dares to speak truth to power https://www.amnesty.org.uk/saudi-arabia-human-rights-raif-badawi-king-salman
Totally get you Liza, I was hesitant even writing this because I know Saudi doesn't have the best track record when it comes to human rights.
I'm simply reporting on what I saw and relaying the conversations I had with normal every day people. Remember most of what we see through media is sensationalized and doesn't apply to much of the general population.
Brian, I appreciate that you're working on challenging your biases and that you had a positive experience as a tourist. However, I encourage you to recognize that the people you met while traveling with a guide do not necessarily reflect the everyday reality of life in Saudi Arabia. Before advocating so strongly on this topic, I urge you to read about Saudi human rights violations and educate yourself on the broader context. Having a platform is a privilege, and with privilege comes responsibility.
We weren't traveling with a guide though. We just had a couple of tours throughout the trip, the rest of the time we were on our own meeting locals.
I didn't just speak with men, I spoke with many women and never got signs of violation or oppression. I've read and educated myself, for sure the country has done some horrific things, but again, this doesn't reflect the general population who were super kind and welcoming to us.
This was an interesting take on an authoritarian regime: there are no pickpockets because the punishment is amputation. I guess what matters is that you have a good vacation.
The point was to shed light on the fact that countries can change and improve over time. That style of punishment might have been more common decades ago but it's no longer the case. I can assure we didn't see any amputations, maybe they're hiding them from the foreigners, idk?
Of course, you didn't get an invitation to a lashing, these people are not stupid. But maybe you wish to read this https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde23/7783/2024/en/
Because you don’t see a thing it doesn’t exist? What a unique way to live.
I'm not saying it didn't/doesn't exist, I'm just saying it doesn't happen to the degree to which people assume it does.
I liked to read your interesting article! It is a big deal to understand what does it mean to be able to broken with any ideas that you thought about other countries like "conflictives" that politics show us everyday and makes us fear. I changed this vision when I traveled to these type of destinations.
When you are inside, immersed in the culture, politics and society you be able to know how is their reallity. This is a good point to CHANGE our points of social view and critic sense. I would like to add&suggest that if you change your supercial state throught other more deep with people you will find answers that maybe you wouldn't have imagined:
"Telling&recieving stories are a great chance to feel a peace and eliminate the hatred that one carries inside".
See you in the next articles and views!
Thanks for sharing <3
Couldn’t agree more