The air around me was cool and damp, the kind of pervasive dampness only found in old spaces, spaces locked off from human habitation for decades, centuries even. On every wall, remnants of an ancient culture depicted animals, kings, triumphs, and women, lots of women. We had visited several desert castles in Jordan that day, and Quseir Amra was …
The wackiest ideas are often born from a single comment, an off-handed remark meant as a joke but then expanded into a full-fledged idea. This is precisely the case with my decision to make some Instagram-worthy photos and jump around Jordan. My very first day in the country, fellow travel blogger Jodi joked about my …
I like to fancy myself a citizen of the planet . . . I go places, I see, I do, I eat and I learn. And on the eating front, I take cooking classes in new places with the forever hope that someone eventually imparts in me the skills it takes to cook anything beyond …
A rose-red city half as old as time. These these words sound like the opening lyrics to a love song. Instead, poet John Burgon penned them in reference to an ancient civilization and ancient city: Petra. The words conjure images of a civilization that carved their history into the soft sandstone rocks jutting toward the …
One of my favorite photos from my Jordan travels is this photo of the hand of Hercules laying on the ground on a hilltop in Amman, Jordan. In fact, one day I might frame it because looking at it sets my imagination wandering. The first person I showed it to was mostly unimpressed, asking “It looks …
I find it hard to describe the way my memories often work—I remember experiences as if a single Polaroid photo was taken of each event. Sometimes, mini vignettes play out and conversations echo around the central snapshot memory; rarely the whole event, instead brief and often times quite inconsequential moments. My earliest childhood memories standout in …
As a vegetarian traveling to a new country, I face a few extra challenges and considerations. While I wouldn’t out-right skip a destination because of food, the pecking order does change if I know I can eat well once I’m there. So when I had the chance to visit Jordan, my initial thoughts circled like …
Unrelenting Indian sun bounced off the yellow sand, sneaking under my hat and slowly tinting my skin red as I cautiously posed next to my camel for a photo-opportunity. Before my brain even registered the aggressive nip Krishna the camel aimed in my direction, my guide intercepted, creating a needed wall of safety between me …