I have so much to say about Saudi Arabia, as short as my time there was. 

I was supposed to have moved there in 2012, and the information then, as is the way of life, is different today as it was back then. 

Because Saudi Arabia only opened to tourists in 2019, there isn't a lot of information on the internet. I luckily had a friend there, whom I bombarded with questions before I went (thank you Bader!). For those of you more familiar with my website, you'll notice that this page is a little different from my other pages. Due to the lack of information on the internet, I wanted to add a bit more of my experience, break down some misinformation, and provide the operating hours and entrance fees for the places I visited.

​

While I was in Saudi, and after I returned, a lot of people made comments to me about how oppressed and restricted Saudi Arabia is, especially for women.  Most were quite shocked that I would chose to go there. It's no longer that way, not quite. Women...and men...are still required to dress conservatively. I did not wear an abaya, but I did wear loose-fitting clothing that went to my wrists and down to my ankles, and pinned the tops of my shirts so that they went to my collarbone. My hair was uncovered, except for the one time I went into a mosque (which is mandatory in mosques all over the world). 

​

I did get stared at a lot, particularly by men and children, but as a blonde haired, blue-eyed Caucasian, that's been the norm for me in most Middle Eastern and Central/South American countries that I have visited.  And to be very clear, this never made me feel unsafe.  Especially for children, this is a mere curiosity.

​

Saudi Arabia once had separate entrances for men and women/families. Although that is no longer required, there are still some cafes and restaurants that still have the signs above their doors.  I did enter the men’s door a few times, and had no issues.

Men and women are allowed to socialize in public, even if they are not related or married. Most of the time that I was there, I was with my male Saudi friend, and we were never questioned. The morality police that once questioned such acts, no longer exist.

It has a very strange social dynamic. You can tell it's still trying to pull itself out of the past, and into modern times, but is still somewhat being held back by its great-grandparents.  Even the capital city itself, doesn't quite know what to do. Modern buildings are popping up everywhere, overshadowing the ones from its past. My Saudi friend describes it like a "social explosion".  The country has been locked up so tight for so long, and now that the lid has been popped open, people are exploding everywhere.  People are letting loose on levels beyond that of any other country. Women are tailing men in cars (now that they can drive legally), forcing them to pull over, and asking for their numbers. Or…they're airdropping their numbers to the men sitting at the table next to them at a coffee shop. It's 44 years of social freedom erupting all at once.

As much of a whirlwind that this trip should have been, it was actually quite calm, perhaps one of the most relaxed of all my trips.  I do want to mention that I am quite well traveled; this was my 23th country, and my 5th Arabic country. My experience in Saudi Arabia was made through a different lens, and perhaps may be different for others. 

​

One more thing that I wanted to note... I LOVED the doors in historic buildings, and you'll see that reflected in my photos!