When you thinking about Opulence and the middle east, most of us automatically think of Dubai. Abu Dhabi continues to grow to keep pace and other cities are rising [quite literally] to follow. There’s a definite shift in the region.

Saudi Arabia has historically been more conservative than their neighbors and they are also a little slower to modernize and loosen the conservative restraints, but they are well on their way.

It was still pretty conservative, I wore a hijab the entire time I was there. I saw other woman that wasn’t, but that was it. To be honest – I felt pretty chic wearing one, and completely fit in with the locals. It WAS starting to get a little hot at 80 degrees outside. I can’t imagine what it’s like when it’s well into the 100s!

There was a lot of concern about me traveling to Saudi, which is historically towards the top of the conservative countries, only allowing women to legally drive in 2017, and it is absolutely not required for tourists to wear hijab. Now… since I travel alone, my general rule everywhere I go is to blend in with the locals. Not that I don’t love to stand out, it’s part of my personality, but for safety and honestly enjoyment purposes, I like to feel like I blend in with the crowd.

I went to Jeddah, which I heard was the most advanced, and you can tell they are well on their way. There was a TON of construction all over the city. They are advertising the underground city and the floating megacity underway in the country. This keeps in line with everything else I saw across the region.

While Saudi is a bit slower or behind in the process, I have no doubt they are going to catch up over the next few years and be another Mecca (pun intended) in the middle east.