Join Me On Tour :)
I thought I’d take a moment to tell you about some trips I’m making under the banner of my tour company over the next year or so.
I don’t do many tours, but the ones that I do, I like to take people where other travel companies don’t go, and tell stories in a unique way. You can see the company website at www.istoriatravel.org
Each spring I try to get to Jordan to get people walking in the footsteps of Lawrence of Arabia.
Yes we talk about him, but if you know anything about me, I don’t do the ordinary narrative. So my tours are very much about the Arabs, their Arab Revolt and all the other white people who happened to participate too. T. E. Lawrence wrote the English narrative on events, and so he made it all about him, but I try and redress the balance.
We’re the only WW1 tours that operate out of the southern half of Jordan, which is where all the best stuff is. Why take you to see a plaque on some rubble where he slept for three nights once, when we can take you to where he fought, and where the revolt plied their trade sabotaging the Turkish lifeline in the region, the Hejaz Railway?
I’ve spent more than five years exploring with the local Bedouin and locating various points of interest. Know how I know we’re unique? Because we get laughed at on our way around because we’re the only nutters that pass by every summer. For those with the legs for it, we’ll even take you to some WW1 trenches in the Arabian desert!
We start off in Aqaba, where we have a welcome dinner, get to know each other and set the scene.
The original tour was based on incorporating a three day desert trek in, so you can really get to know the region. I can’t explain what it’s like to wake up in the middle of Wadi Rum and see no sign of civilisation, but the fact that we have people who repeatedly done the same tour tells you a bit about the place, the people, and the way it clears your head!
If at all possible (the schedule is mayhem, and we have to latch on to existing trips and let our local guide work his magic) we will get you on the replica Turkish steam train that chugs back and forth in Wadi Rum and is subjected to a mock raid by the Bedouin. At the very least, you will get to explore a steam engine (it’s 1950s and Japanese, but a locomotive is a locomotive) and the bonafide WW1 carriages while they are stationary.
After the trek, we speed off past the policemen laughing at us at their checkpoints and head out onto the railway. This is the bit where I can guarantee we’re taking you where no other tour on earth goes.
I know we’re there for Lawrence and that part of Jordan’s history, but on my tours I don’t like to speed you past the bucket list items, and so then we head up to Petra, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Here you get a full tour and then more time to explore for yourself. There’s the opportunity to spoil yourself with a Turkish massage in Wadi Musa, before we round off the Arab Revolt content with a battlefield visit on the way back to Aqaba for a final night out.
We run a second tour, for those who are less mobile, hate trekking or just don’t feel like camping. The itinerary is the same, but whilst you are in Wadi Rum, you will be based at one of the glamping sites. You’ll get a 4x4 sunset jeep tour included, and the rest of the time will be for chatting about the Arab Revolt, and picking up any optional extras like more jeep tours, or star-gazing by night, or just relaxing by the pool.
You’ll have three people looking after you on these trips. I do the old stuff. Our local guide, Mohammed, does the really old stuff, having been born and raised on the doorstep of Petra, and Owen is our Tour Manager. He’s a repeat visitor to Jordan, Bedouin adoptee and had wholly fallen in love with the country and her people. That’s why he is riding a camel in one of the pictures below.
Both tours will take place in February 2025, and you can find a full itinerary, including dates and prices and booking information here. On one of the tours next year, you’ll even get a fourth expert, as we have a very excitable geologist coming all the way from the US!
We also have a couple of spots left this September on our Roads to Rome tour, which showcases nearly two thousand years of history.
Based on Catherine Fletcher’s brand new book of the same name, we look at how Roman roads have shaped history, and she’ll be joining us along the way.
Specifically, did you know that Rome has only ever been invaded from the south successfully twice? We’ll be looking at both campaigns side by side; so you’ve got a dual road trip looking at the recapture of the city 1,500 years ago, and the Allied campaign through Monte Cassino in WW2.
When we let you out of the bus, you better be ready to walk! There’s lots to explore. We will absolutely not drive the length of Italy without letting you out at Pompeii. We’ll be staying in a mansion, and on this occasion, if you have been before, there is also a splinter group heading off to explore Herculaneum and Mount Vesuvius.
When we get to Rome, there is also a three day optional add on for those who want to explore the city. I’ll be doing this tour with Catherine, and with Dan McAndrew, who’s Istoria’s resident ancient history buff. You can find out prices, a full itinerary and booking details here.
COMING SOON
There’s a fantastic three-war tour in Western Europe in the planning stages, and on the day trip front, Kate Jameson and I are looking into a naval tour of Bristol. If there is enough interest, I will also look at doing out ‘Beyond Caporetto’ tour of Northern Italy again too. Showcasing the end of WW1 on the Italian Front, we follow the Italian, German, Austro-Hungarian, British AND French armies in 1917-18. Accommodation includes a castle and our culture stop is a vineyard visit, taking advantage of the fact that we would be in the region where they produce Prosecco!
To stay up to date with all of our information, you can join our mailing list by visiting the website here.
If you have any questions, you can email me at info@istoriatravel.org
I love the photos Alex takes on these trips … I have based many illustrations for various projects on them - it would be awesome to follow in the footsteps of Lawrence of Arabia! & visit Aqaba, which sounds impossibly romantic!