“Wait, Jordan the country? What on Earth for?”
“Did they issue you a bullet-proof vest with that invite?”
“Is your life insurance paid up?”
These are some of the unnecessarily nervous reactions that I’ve been getting this week, when I tell people that I’m going to travel to Jordan in April as a guest of the Jordanian Tourism Board.
Answers:
“Because it will be amazing.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Honestly, I’m not oblivious to the current situation in Egypt and the fallout across the Middle East from the revolt in Tunisia, but the chance to visit an incredible place like Petra and a city like Amman, plus Crusader castles and the Dead Sea, is WAY too interesting to pass up.
What about the naysayers and worriers?
I offer these suggestions….
How To Travel To Interesting Places During Rather Tumultuous Times
Here are a few precautionary moves that make sense for any traveler:
1) Keep up with the current political situation, including following country pages from various news organizations, key people on Twitter and connecting with several others who know the country well and/or live there. My thanks to UK travel writer and MidEast expert Matthew Teller (a Twitter connection) for his suggestions and insights.
2) Travel light. This is no time to be weighed down by too much stuff in a big suitcase. I’m taking one carry-on suitcase and one bag for a netbook computer and peripherals. I can handle it all myself for a lot of miles, if needed.
3) You know how you check the exits for hotels and airplanes? I will have three possible border exit points in mind for my location, at all times….by foot, by air and by land transportation. Excessive? Oh, yes. Prudent? Hmm, most likely.
4) Check in with the Embassy. In the very unlikely event of problems, the US Embassy will want to know that I’m in country, and will work to get me out. This is purely precautionary, but as a former military person who planned noncombatant evacuations, I know how important it can be.
Now, really, can we all just RELAX?!
Jordan is fine. I am fine. My fussbudget friends should also calm down, and know that I would not go if I didn’t feel quite safe.
Now, time to think about slapping on some Dead Sea mud to see if its supposedly therapeutic properties improve my complexion. I’ll take all the help I can get.
Disclosure: The Jordanian Tourism Board is providing my airfare, accommodation and entry fees. They have not told me what to write about, and the itinerary is still in flux. I am not traveling as part of a group.
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There are always going to be well-meaning friends and relatives who will freak out about almost anywhere you’re going, except maybe Hawaii, Canada, England, or the Caribbean. Usually they watch way too much TV and don’t even think about a country until they see it in the headlines. I was a tad worried about going to Jordan many years ago, right after the Gulf War, but then I went and the place is burned into my brain forever—in a good way of course.
Visited Jordan last year. Was completely awesome. I’d avoid it like the plague now.
Awesome, Sheila, you’re going to have a great time. I would love to be in the Middle East right now!
Sheila, you’re going to have a fine time. I look forward to hearing about what you’ll do and what you learn, and the people you will meeet.
Thanks, all. Believe me, I continue to stay very tapped in to the current situation. We’ll pull the plug if needed – I’m not foolhardy – but Jordan is not Libya, or Bahrain, or Egypt.
Thank you for this interesting and objective post.
It is amazing how the general people cannot differentiate between different countries in the Middle East! I hope the perception of Jordan will start to change and everyone will know what a safe and peaceful country it is.