Servas – My Favorite Organization Ever

Excerpt Reprinted with permission from “Female Nomad and Friends” by Rita Golden Gelman. Copyright © 2010. Published by Three Rivers Press/Crown Publishers, a division of Random House, Inc. BUY IT HERE

Being a part of Servas is like having family all over the world. It’s actually better than family. People join Servas because they want you to visit them when you are in their country. Not always the case with family. Read more

OK, so have found yourself in a fabulous Arab bazaar in some hot, sandy and exotic country. It is a maze of twisting alleyways crammed with people and intriguing shoplets selling bright and alluring handicrafts: colourfully decorated carpets, lamps, clothes, leather and metalware.

Trapped in shopping heaven, you almost pass out with excitement. Sweet, musky incense wafts through the air, and as you saunter along in the heat, handsome swarthy men try to entice you into their shops with cheesey one-liners “Madame, can I ask you something…?” Read more

Jordan is like a sandpit for adults - a fascinating little Middle Eastern country, with lots of great things to do in and around the sand! Travel distances are not long from one highlight to the next, and a lot of the country can be seen in around 10 days.

My journey started in the capital of Amman. Like any big cities, it is a bustling business centre, a mix of old and new, but not a reflection of the true Jordan. I had arrived very late at night, and slumped into my hotel bed. Suddenly I was rudely awoken at around 3.30am by the dawn chorus of muezzins calling all to prayer. I had failed to notice that my room was right next to the mosque, with loudspeaker aimed at my room! I had to laugh. Yep, my fault for forgetting to put my earplugs in. Welcome to Islam. Read more

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Julie from Venus Adventures writes: “What! You’re going to Iran?!“ By the way my friends reacted to my announcement that I was going to Iran on holiday, anyone would have thought I had just flung a towel-cum-turban around my head and said that I was off to join Al Qaeda. Read more