Final Thoughts on the Jordan and Egypt Trip

I started this trip on September 12, 2025, flying from Phoenix to JFK, then from JFK to Istanbul, and finally Amman Jordan.  I returned to JFK and New York City on October 8, 2025.  That is a trip of almost a month.    By any measure that is a very long trip.  Most Americans travel for only one week at a time.  If they are lucky they may travel for two weeks.  Work and family are usually the top reasons.  It is hard to understand and enjoy a foreign country in only two weeks. That's why I relish the opportunity for slow travel - understanding and enjoying the country, culture, food and the people.

On the front of my blog, in case you missed it, there is a quote by Mark Twain, the famous American novelist:

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.  Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.

This is needed more than ever today in our fragmented society in the United States.  We need a better appreciation of our fellow human beings, whether they are white or black, rich or poor. beautiful or ugly.  "All Men Are Created Equal" is found in the United States Declaration of Independence and is emblematic of America's founding ideas.

However, this should apply to all men and women in the world!

My love of travel is not only to see the famous places in the world but to understand how other people live, how they struggle, how they enjoy their bounties, how they appreciate their history and culture.

I knew very little of Jordan and Egypt when I started on this trip.  But both countries have a long history.  It makes me appreciate how their ancient civilizations laid the foundation that the rest of mankind built on.  America has only a little more than 300 years of history.  It has the benefit of building on the skills, knowledge, culture, perseverance, and resiliency, that the immigrants brought to this country.  

When I travel I make it a point not to miss any opportunity to learn or experience something because of money or time.  I can say I saw Petra at night, climbed into the Great Pyramid, swam in the Nile, saw King Tutankhamen's treasures from his tomb, visited the new Grand Egyptian Museum, sail in a dehabaya, tasted some amazing Jordanian and Egyptian food, met some of the friendliest Jordanians and Egyptians, and on and on.

This trip motivates me to travel and see more of the Middle-East - Israel, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and other north African countries like Tunisia and Algeria.  

Where to next?  Cuba!