Introduction:
Back when was younger, whenever someone asked me where I wanted to travel to, my answers were pretty much basic "London, Italy, Japan, Maldives, USA, Dubai". Don't get me wrong, I still want to visit those places and they're surely beautiful and interesting! However, as I grew older and started developing new interests such as reading about history, religion, theology, poetry, and human evolution, my fascination quickly shifted towards other cultures and regions that are less known about. It felt like there was a whole new world to discover, a whole new way life, new mentality and mysteries to unveil .
First of all, from a cultural point of view, I feel overexposed to western culture: it seems like western culture, and far east Asian cultures, became more or less "mainstream". As those regions dominate the world economically, their culture got infused in other regions to different degrees. Whether you're in France or in Saudi Arabia, chances are you like watching American movies, and went to eat at KFC before!
Chances are you listened to Michael Jackson growing up. And last but not least,with this globalization, the western-dressing style has become the norm in most of the world (T-shirt and Jeans for example).
Moreover social media doesn't help: apps like Instagram where thousands of influencers post thousands of photos travelling to these popular destinations made me feel like I've already been to those places, over and over again.
BI also feel like I got brainwashed into thinking some cultures are better than others, or some countries are worth visiting more than others, in part because they are wealthier and more important in the New World Order.
Rather than pick something that interests me on a personal level. I felt like had to do like everybody else and think like everybody else.
Last and but not least for this lengthy introduction, I feel like tourism in most popular countries is very commercial, you don't get to experience the people and the culture as well, it is less spontaneous, often times you don't even get to leave the hotel or resort bubble and the beaches. This could also be due to the fact that in large, a lot of the wealthier societies are more individualistic, strong family bonds are emphasized and people tend to be more suspicious of strangers or simply don't care about them.
Reasons I don't want to travel:
Take photos in famous landmarks to share on Instagram and get tons of likes.
Reasons why I want to travel:
Walk in the lands where ancient civilizations developed
Admire the architecture that I somewhat feel connected to
Be in contact with people whose lifestyles and mentality are still somewhat untouched or authentic and still not entirely influenced by western global culture.
1) Egypt
Country: Egypt
Dominant religions: Sunni Islam and Coptic Orthodox Christianity
Reasons it interests me: It has the sites of one of the most impressive and ancient civilizations in the world. A lot of Abrahamic-faith stories , whether Biblical or Quranic, take place in this country. In that sense, It's a place that impacted the world. A place filled with mysteries.
2) Caucasus
Countries/regions included: Armenia, Georgia, Chechenya, Circassia, Dagestan, Azerbaijan etc.
Dominant religions: Orthodox Christianity, Sunni Islam and Shia Islam
Reason why it interests me: The enchanting sounds of the Armenian Duduk, the elegant Lezginka dances of Georgians and Chechens (and others); The Caucasus region has amazing traditional clothes. Their women look like feminine princesses and their men like masculine warriors.
The landscape of the region with its fascinating mountains and picturesque lush forests are perfect places to meditate on ponder on God's beautiful creation.
3) Persia
Countries: Iran
Dominant religion: Shia Islam
Reasons why I want to visit: I've spent a lot of time watching travel vlogs in Iran made by westerners, mostly Americans, and I was amazed by this land. All agreed on one fact: Iranians are one of the most hospitable, welcoming and helpful people a person can come across.
From a historical POV: Persia, was once home to a very strong civilization, one of the greatest enemies of the Hellenistic world. This historical greatness also manifests in Iran's heavenly architecture.
From a cultural POV: This region of the world culturally impacted a very large portion of the world, whether directly or indirectly. The Seljuk Empire for example was a Persianized Turkic Empire that stretched all the way to Anatolia and the Levant. After the Ottoman empire took power, a lot of those Persian cultural elements got spread even further: Eastern Europe, North Africa and more..
4) Levant and Iraq
Countries: Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Iraq ...
Dominant religions: Sunni Islam, Catholic Christianity, Shia Islam , Orthodox Christianity, Druze , Judaism.
Reasons why I want to visit it: As this confentional mosaic shows, this region was home to the Abrahamic religions . Therefore, a lot of the history we grew up hearing, all started in this very same place.
The levant and Iraq is the region of the world where agriculture first appeared. It's the region with the highest concentration of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world like Byblos, Jerusalem, Damascus, Aleppo and more. Like Egypt, it has this magical ancient feel to it.
It is home of some of the most influential civilizations in the world: Phoenicians (who created the Alphabet we use today), Babylonians, Mesopotamian, Canaanites , etc.
https://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/eco-tourism/stories/12-oldest-continuously-inhabited-cities
5) Maghreb
Regions/countries: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya.
Dominant religion: Sunni Islam (with a Jewish minority that was very present historically speaking).
Reasons why I wanna visit it:
This is my region of origin, so I couldn't not add it. I objectively don't think there's anywhere else in the world where the 3 old world continents have merged so well (Africa, Europe and Asia). The Maghreb has been at the crossword of all ancient Mediterranean civilizations. The Romans, Greeks , Andalusian and French from the north, their native Amazigh civilization at the south, and the Phoenician, Arab, and Ottoman from the East. Every one of these influences, can still be found in the Maghreb.
And this one is personal too, my family having Andalusian origins from Grenada, the Maghreb is the cultural heir of the ancient medieval Andalusian civilization. Which also manifests in the beautiful Moorish architecture that can be found in every ancient Maghrebi city (Fes, Tunis, Algiers, Marrakech, Tlemcen, Zaghouen, Tripoli etc) but which also can still be found in Andalusia itself. The heavenly palace gardens with their fountains, the colorful mosaics, and calligraphic details, all account for this magical-like atmosphere.
An ancient Andalusian poem interpreted by the Parisian orchestra:
6) Central Asia
Countries included: Khazakstan, Uzbekistan, etc.
Dominant religions: Sunni Islam, Orthodox Christianity (Russians)
Reason why I want to visit it: Beyond the beautiful nature they have, their historically nomadic lifestyle interests me a lot.
People usually think negatively of nomads, however, I feel like such a lifestyle frames the mind in a peculiar yet fascinating way, these people have to learn not to get too attached to one place and at the same time, they feel like all of the steppes or desert is their home, they developed great a ability in verbal communication, poetry, and language, since this was the most adapted form of art that could be transported with them.
When they speak, they use a lot of imagery, which can be very poetic and delightful to hear if you understand the language (which is why for example Arabic poetry is exceptional).
This is a general overview to why nomads interest me, but to get back to central Asia , I find their traditional tents to be very cozy and aesthetically pleasing. And I like to imagine their horses wildly running through the steppes , fighting for or against the aggressive mongols.
7) Turkey
Country: Turkey
Dominant religion: Sunni Islam
Why it interests me: First of all, as a sufi inclined person, I dream of learning the secrets of "Sama", also known as the "Whriling Dervishes".
Moreover, it is home of the Ottoman Empire , an empire that influenced the culture of my own country as well as all of North Africa, Middle East, and the Balkans in Eastern Europe. I also love their Traditional style of Music.
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