I have finally checked Jordan off my bucket list!
I spent three weeks exploring beautiful Jordan in May 2018, attending an adventure travel conference, and then taking a group of YOU with me hiking on the Jordan Trail to Petra.
My guest today, Ban Barkawi, is a Jordanian friend of mine whom I met studying abroad in Italy years ago. Listen as Ban and I talk about travel in Jordan, safety, customs, attractions, history, FOOD, and so much more, including:
- Five days hiking the Jordan Trail from Dana to Petra (named a world’s top multi-day hiking trail by National Geographic)
- Camping with the Bedouins in the desert
- Feynan Eco Lodge
- Jordanian FOOD and local communities
- Um Qais (Northern Jordan)
- Petra – the Siq, the Monastery, the Treasury, Indiana Jonesing
- Wadi Rum – sleeping in Martian Domes, jeep tour in the desert, lamb cooked in the earth
- Dead Sea – an experience that you absolutely MUST feel for yourself!
About Ban Barkawi
My guest today is my beautiful friend Ban, whom I met studying abroad in Italy when we were just 20 years old.
She is a Palestinian Jordanian and here to share her insights on living in this beautiful country. We got to meet up in Jordan on my first day thereafter not seeing each other in 9 years. Some friendships just never change.
Ban Barkawi is a Jordanian multimedia journalist and radio presenter based in Amman, where she hosts a daily morning show at an English-speaking station. Together with the podcasting platform Sowt she produced Eib, a podcast in Arabic that addresses gender-based taboos. In 2013 she produced the award-winning TV documentary Refugees in Business about the livelihood of Syrian refugees in Jordan’s Zaatari camp. Ban holds an MA in multimedia broadcast journalism and a BA in news-editorial journalism.
Find Ban on Twitter and Instagram @banbarkawi – feel free to reach out to her if you have any questions about Jordan, she is an amazing human.
Show Notes: Travel in Jordan
Adventure Travel Conference – Adventure NEXT Near East powered by the Adventure Travel Trade Association
Guide for Petra and Jordan Trail – Experience Jordan – ask for Ayman! Tell him Traveling Jackie said to take you Indiana Jonesing through Petra
Guide for Um Qais or Pella in Northern Jordan – Baraka Destinations – stay at their B&B Beit Al Baraka
Activities in Um Qais – beekeeping (buy the bee products!), biking, guided ruins walk, cooking class, hiking
BUY THE COOKBOOK! –> Empowering Women Through Cooking – Stories and Recipes from Jordan
Wild Jordan – Visit the store in Amman and buy some locally-made goods, your money goes back to the communities
Feynan Ecolodge – Candle-lit, Bedouin-run eco hotel in the middle of the desert in Wadi Feynan
Wadi Rum Martian Domes – Sun City Camp
GROUP TRIPS: View all the trips I offer here, check out the Jordan itinerary here (sorry you missed it!)
The beautiful song from Jordan: Zina by Babylone (I can only embed a sample of the song, go find it on your favorite player to download and listen to the whole thing!)