Work.
Everybody’s got to do it at some point, even those of us who like to pretend life is just a series of exotic vacations pasted together one after the other. How fortunate for me, then, that the first big project I took on since quitting my PR job in December 2010 was scheduled in a country I’d long wanted to visit — the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
But what did I really know about Jordan before I arrived? Turns out, not much.
- Petra. Between Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, the Left Behind Series and about a dozen travel blogging friends who’ve paved the road before me, I thought I knew what to expect from the “city as old as time.”
- The Dead Sea. Jordan shares this very salty body of water & its mineral-rich mud with Israel.
- Cuisine. I’d heard the food was not just delicious, but plentiful.
- People. Would Jordan be similar to Egypt (like, would I get lots of offers for camels) or perhaps a bit more welcoming?
- Borders. Jordan borders Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria and the West Bank and Israel, so I could pretty much expect my family to be nervous the entire time I was away, despite the fact that Jordan itself is a very peaceful nation.
- Biblical Connections. Despite a solid knowledge of Biblical history, I can’t say I ever really conceptualized it all on a modern-day map. Jordan seemed like a good place to start just that!
After two intense weeks of social media consulting, research and presentations with the Jordan Tourism Board and its partners, I was able to escape Amman for a tour of some of Jordan’s most famous sites.
I learned so much and I can’t wait to tell you all about it! Stay tuned…
My tour was sponsored by the Jordan Tourism Board. As always, opinions are my own!