Uploaded April 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Saudi Arabia is a place that everyone has opinions on. We've heard a lot of rumors about this country. Most of the rumors were about the conservative Islamic lifestyle, centering around the way women are treated. We assume most of them were myths, but decided to travel to Saudi Arabia in 2025 to find out what it is really like.
(Although, not everything we heard was about the conservative lifestyle. We once heard someone say that it is infact polite to burp loudly in restaurants in Saudi Arabia. A loud burp signals to the chef that he has done a good job. So far, we have heard 0 people burp loudly in public. Another myth, we suppose)
So far, our trip has been pretty great. Our upcoming vlog (posted in 2-3 days) will cover: not only Ivana's experience traveling as a woman in a conservative Islamic country, but also what we've noticed about local women living here-- as we bump into them and interact in the streets.
In this vlog, we were curious to see what things are like, as a tourist, in general. We were worried we would have a tough time filming, we might get in trouble for the way we're dressing, and that people might not be very receptive to us. Not only are these things true, in a lot of cases the opposite is true!
What stands out most is how warm people here are. This goes for both men & women, as well as ethnically Saudi Arabian people & foreign workers.
In restaurants, frequently another customer will help us get situated. We usually don't have to ask-- they come over to us on their own. (We suppose it is relatively obvious that we don't have a clue, lol). They speak great English, welcome us to not only the restaurant--- but also the country!-- and encourage us to try different dishes.
The best part: they are great on camera!
Our general understanding of the filming-in-public laws are: we are allowed to make video in nearly all public places (except for government buildings), with the caveat that we don't film people individually and invade someone's privacy.
So: wide angle shots of a public place, with strangers walking about is fine, but walking up to one person and interviewing them would not be okay. We are more than happy with this deal.
And so: we've been journeying around Jeddah for 4 days now, and really have 0 complaints. This is an extremely welcoming country. This is a country we feel comfortable in. This is a place where... nothing happens until after 6pm!!!
(This last one is taking some getting used to. We were so excited to tour Al-Balad, Jeddah's historic ditrict. We began our exploration at 4pm. You'll notice the streets are exceedingly quiet until 6:30 or so. We figure this is because of the heat)
And so: live and learn. We are glad we didn't believe the media's report on what Saudi Arabia is like-- because this trip has been very memorable.
Not only that: it's opened up a new door. In our quest to make friends from every corner of the earth... the Middle East is a big, unexplored place for us.
Thanks for watching!
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 - Everyone has an opinion about Saudi Arabia
1:01 - WOW: 1400 year old Al-Balad (Jeddah's historic quarter)
3:29 - People love Canada (we are grateful for this)
4:15 - Who is buying/wearing this clothing?
4:58 - WOW: Ancient football pitch
5:55 - Baby Jean making friends
7:56 - At 4pm, Jeddah is a ghost town
10:22 - Saudi market hunt
14:07 - People love Canada (part 2)
14:46 - All Saudi restaurant employees are like this
18:21 - First time trying tahina & sumac review
20:56 - 45 USD Saudi seafood dinner
25:44 - PROS and CONS of traveling in Saudi Arabia in 2025
▶︎ BEST eSIM we use for our travels: holafly.sjv.io/o4v9gb, and use code JETLAGHOLA5 for 5% OFF
Music:
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Track: Daydream — Land of Fire [Audio Library Release]
Music provided by Audio Library Plus
Watch:
• Daydream — Land o...
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Jazz Dreams by Snoozy Beats / snoozybeats
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
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Music promoted by Audio Library • Jazz Dreams – Snoozy Beats (No Copyri...
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Faithful Mission by Artificial.Music / artificial-music
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Music promoted by Audio Library • Faithful Mission – Artificial.Music (...
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Song: Middle Child - Miss you
Music provided by Music Library - NoCopyrightMusic.
Creative Commons - Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported
Video Link: • Middle Child - Miss You (Vlog No Copy...
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Saudi Arabia is a place that everyone has opinions on. We've heard a lot of rumors about this country. Most of the rumors were about the conservative Islamic lifestyle, centering around the way women are treated. We assume most of them were myths, but decided to travel to Saudi Arabia in 2025 to find out what it is really like.
(Although, not everything we heard was about the conservative lifestyle. We once heard someone say that it is infact polite to burp loudly in restaurants in Saudi Arabia. A loud burp signals to the chef that he has done a good job. So far, we have heard 0 people burp loudly in public. Another myth, we suppose)
So far, our trip has been pretty great. Our upcoming vlog (posted in 2-3 days) will cover: not only Ivana's experience traveling as a woman in a conservative Islamic country, but also what we've noticed about local women living here-- as we bump into them and interact in the streets.
In this vlog, we were curious to see what things are like, as a tourist, in general. We were worried we would have a tough time filming, we might get in trouble for the way we're dressing, and that people might not be very receptive to us. Not only are these things true, in a lot of cases the opposite is true!
What stands out most is how warm people here are. This goes for both men & women, as well as ethnically Saudi Arabian people & foreign workers.
In restaurants, frequently another customer will help us get situated. We usually don't have to ask-- they come over to us on their own. (We suppose it is relatively obvious that we don't have a clue, lol). They speak great English, welcome us to not only the restaurant--- but also the country!-- and encourage us to try different dishes.
The best part: they are great on camera!
Our general understanding of the filming-in-public laws are: we are allowed to make video in nearly all public places (except for government buildings), with the caveat that we don't film people individually and invade someone's privacy.
So: wide angle shots of a public place, with strangers walking about is fine, but walking up to one person and interviewing them would not be okay. We are more than happy with this deal.
And so: we've been journeying around Jeddah for 4 days now, and really have 0 complaints. This is an extremely welcoming country. This is a country we feel comfortable in. This is a place where... nothing happens until after 6pm!!!
(This last one is taking some getting used to. We were so excited to tour Al-Balad, Jeddah's historic ditrict. We began our exploration at 4pm. You'll notice the streets are exceedingly quiet until 6:30 or so. We figure this is because of the heat)
And so: live and learn. We are glad we didn't believe the media's report on what Saudi Arabia is like-- because this trip has been very memorable.
Not only that: it's opened up a new door. In our quest to make friends from every corner of the earth... the Middle East is a big, unexplored place for us.
Thanks for watching!
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 - Everyone has an opinion about Saudi Arabia
1:01 - WOW: 1400 year old Al-Balad (Jeddah's historic quarter)
3:29 - People love Canada (we are grateful for this)
4:15 - Who is buying/wearing this clothing?
4:58 - WOW: Ancient football pitch
5:55 - Baby Jean making friends
7:56 - At 4pm, Jeddah is a ghost town
10:22 - Saudi market hunt
14:07 - People love Canada (part 2)
14:46 - All Saudi restaurant employees are like this
18:21 - First time trying tahina & sumac review
20:56 - 45 USD Saudi seafood dinner
25:44 - PROS and CONS of traveling in Saudi Arabia in 2025
▶︎ BEST eSIM we use for our travels: holafly.sjv.io/o4v9gb, and use code JETLAGHOLA5 for 5% OFF
Music:
–
Track: Daydream — Land of Fire [Audio Library Release]
Music provided by Audio Library Plus
Watch:
• Daydream — Land o...
Free Download / Stream: alplus.io/daydream
–
Jazz Dreams by Snoozy Beats / snoozybeats
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/snooz...
Music promoted by Audio Library • Jazz Dreams – Snoozy Beats (No Copyri...
–
Faithful Mission by Artificial.Music / artificial-music
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
Free Download: https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/artif...
Music promoted by Audio Library • Faithful Mission – Artificial.Music (...
–
Song: Middle Child - Miss you
Music provided by Music Library - NoCopyrightMusic.
Creative Commons - Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported
Video Link: • Middle Child - Miss You (Vlog No Copy...
–
