After a day of driving, we exited our bus and were greeted with our next ride: a small old pickup truck outfitted with bench seats in the open bed. Six to a truck, we piled in the back and away we went, zipping off into the Arabian desert at sunset. Hair in the wind, golden hour in the sky, any evidence of the city faded away within minutes as we found ourselves in a sea of sand, surrounded by the glowing sandstone of Wadi Rum. Once again, I found myself in awe of the beautiful country of Jordan.

Whether you’re seeking culture, adventure, city or desert, Jordan has something for everyone. It has been on my bucket list for a while, so when I was invited to join the inaugural Jordan Ancient Wonders Tour with TBA Escapes, I leapt at the opportunity. The company (founded by fellow blogger The Blonde Abroad) specializes in luxury tours for women in far-flung destinations around the world. In Jordan, I would be joining twelve other adventurous ladies on the journey of a lifetime. Even more exciting, it was a photography tour, which gave us the opportunity to spend extra time capturing our memories and refining our skills. Here are the top highlights of my time in Jordan.

Visiting the Treasury of Petra at night

Three nights a week, the ancient city of Petra holds a light show and musical ceremony at the Treasury - the most popular site in the city. The journey begins after dark with a 1.5 mile trek through the desert on a path lit by 1500 candles. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. Once you reach the Treasury you sit among the lanterns and enjoy the ceremony. The next day we came back and explored the rest of the city, which is a must as well!

Glamping in bubble tents under the stars in the Wadi Rum desert

Once reaching the entrance of Wadi Rum, we climbed into the back of pickup trucks to ride out to the middle of the desert at sunset. Our destination? The Luxotel Bubble Tent camp. If you’ve never stayed in a bubble tent, add it to your list. Our bubbles were SO cool and comfortable - they had AC and ensuite bathrooms! We stayed up late practicing our astrophotography and I fell asleep watching the night stars from the bed in my tent. Fun fact: astronauts have said that Wadi Rum resembles the surface of Mars, so much so that many space movies have been filmed out there, including The Martian and Star Wars.

Scuba diving through a sunken plane in the Red Sea. I love scuba diving, and the Red Sea has some of the best diving in the world. We spent a day out on a private boat in Aqaba exploring the waters, including a shipwreck, sunken plane, and tank. Getting to swim inside of a plane is one of the coolest diving experiences I’ve had to date.

Floating in the Dead Sea. At 1200 feet below sea level, The Dead Sea is the lowest point on Earth, and the salt concentration is so high that you literally float in the water. You cannot sink. I witnessed one of the most amazing sunsets I’ve ever seen here, and the following morning we bobbed around like buoys in the sea watching the sun rise.

Hiking through the waters of the Wadi Mujib slot canyon. I love a good adventurous activity, and our excursion through Wadi Mujib is one of the coolest hikes I’ve ever done. It begins with a calm walk through the waters of the canyon, and quickly turns into an adrenaline-packed adventure of climbing waterfalls and sliding down rocks.

This tour was one of my best travel experiences to date, and that was partially due to the amazing women I shared the journey with. Almost everyone was a fellow solo traveler, so I didn’t feel out of place coming on the tour by myself. It was really interesting to meet so many other women with a similar solo travel journey to mine: they want to see the world and it’s difficult to find people who are free or want to do the same.

This was my first time joining a group tour and it was nice to try something different from my usual solo travels. The itinerary was incredible and the accommodations we stayed at were very comfortable, which makes a big difference after a day of climbing up waterfalls or hiking through ancient cities. Thank you to TBA Escapes for hosting me! You can check out their current tours here.

Have you ever been on a group tour? Have you visited Jordan?

To see more of this trip, check out my Jordan video!