We’re reaching our tour guide tentacles all the way to the Middle East on this episode. We talk with Ramzi, a tour guide from Petra, about the best that Jordan has to offer. And, let’s just say he does a pretty good job at selling the Kingdom of Jordan as a travel destination. Ramzi walks us through what to expect and dispels some of the myths that travelers may have about the country. As he puts it, “people should expect to touch the whole past.” We’ll talk about Petra, but also some lesser known spots like Jerash, the best preserved Roman city outside of Rome. Ramzi also shares some insight on the Dead Sea, Amman and the Red Sea. Plus, as a bonus Cathleen joins us again and talks about a special women’s only trip that she’s organizing to Jordan. You can go (if you’re a lady!), just check out her page.

Jordan is a classically exotic travel destination, but it’s also a trending spot this year. Conde Nast Traveler has put Petra on the 18 destinations of 2018 list. Travel and Leisure has Jordan on its list of 50 destinations for 2018. And National Geographic has put the 400-mile long Jordan Trail on its list of Best Trips in 2018.

We also spend a good amount of time talking about desert travel more generally. We spent part of the weekend up at Joshua Tree National Park and we talk a bit about what makes the desert special (or weird).

As always, thanks for listening!

For your next trip, have you considered how to work with a travel advisor? Seems archaic to most people but did you know that advisors are going through a huge renaissance right now? Yes, now. Turns out, millennials NEED help.

We are back in the podcast world and are really excited with what we are dubbing “Season 2” of the Scuttabout Travel Podcast! This week we bring everyone up to date with what we’ve been doing for the last six months while we’ve been away (think: a little LA Chargers Football for Kris, a little business development and an Etsy shop for Lauren) and chat with Lauren’s friend and colleague, Cathleen Richards, about how people, specifically millennials, are traveling and what benefits people can receive when working with a travel advisor/curator. As we mention in this episode, people used to have to visit a travel agent if they wanted to travel (fly, etc) somewhere. Then, with the advent of the internet, all of the information and booking tools in addition to SO many discount and deal sites were at your own fingertips. And now? Well, it seems like the internet is so saturated and again, people are SO busy with their own lives, that travelers are really circling back to travel advisors to help filter through all of the information that exists out there. Travel advisors are here to help build a trip that is personal, authentic, and completely tailored to your tastes.

I’ve recently added a page to our website about trip design and travel planning and encourage you to check it out if you want to take the trip of your dreams but just don’t know where to get started. Let’s plan the best adventure of your life together.

Have you missed any of our podcast episodes? They are all free to download and are available here and on Apple Podcasts. If you like what you hear, we would love it if you took a few minutes to subscribe and rate & review the show! This is a labor of love for us and we are so grateful to our listeners! Questions? Shoot us an email at [email protected]

In this episode we ride off to Iowa to join tens of thousands of cyclists on RAGBRAI–that great bicycle ride across that state of Iowa that we’ve done a couple times now. We are also joined by our friend and RAGBRAI “team” mate, Ann Wessling, who announces races for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon series when she’s not riding her bike (which is nearly every other weekend of the year). She offers insight into traveling for fitness, running races, and shares stories from her near decade experience with RAGBRAI.

Have you missed our other podcast episodes? All of them are available to download for free and can be found here or on Apple Podcasts. If you like what you’re hearing we would love it if you could take a few minutes to subscribe and rate & review the podcast! This is a labor of love for us and we are so grateful for our listeners!

Thanks for joining us this week on the podcast. We would love to hear your ideas for future episodes or themes! Shoot us an email at [email protected]

What do you think about travel for baseball stadiums? For some, it’s a thing. A cool thing, if you ask me. Few other activities speak summer as loudly as a good ole’ American baseball game. It is America’s pastime after all. This week we spoke with fellow tour guide, Jack Larsen, who has seen nearly every baseball park America has to offer. We won’t list them all here but in random order here are some other things we touched on during our conversation:

Fenway Park

Wrigley Field

Cracker Jack

Field of Dreams Movie Site

Jack is also the founder of The Jack Larsen Foundation where their mission is to inspire people to dream of a better tomorrow for themselves and also for their local community. The foundation is committed to community outreach projects, youth development programs, and has sponsored multiple student scholarships.

Have you missed our other podcast episodes? All of them are available to download for free and can be found here or on Apple Podcasts. If you like what you’re hearing we would love it if you could take a few minutes to subscribe and rate & review the podcast! This is a labor of love for us and we are so grateful for our listeners!

Thanks for joining us this week on the podcast. We would love to hear your ideas for future episodes or themes! Shoot us an email at [email protected]

Few other activities speak summer as loudly as a good ole’ American baseball game. It is America’s pastime after all. This week we spoke with fellow tour guide, Jack Larsen, who has seen nearly every baseball park America has to offer. We won’t list them all here but in random order here are some other things we touched on during our conversation:

Fenway Park

Wrigley Field

Cracker Jack

Field of Dreams Movie Site

Jack is also the founder of The Jack Larsen Foundation where their mission is to inspire people to dream of a better tomorrow for themselves and also for their local community. The foundation is committed to community outreach projects, youth development programs, and has sponsored multiple student scholarships.

Thanks for joining us this week on the podcast. We would love to hear your ideas for future episodes or themes! Shoot us an email at [email protected]