A very Arabian Christmas: What the hell was I thinking?

The Monastery at Petra. I think it is better than the Treasury of Indiana Jones fame [2009 by Author]

Our online editor, Alexandra Marshall, has an excellent piece in the Christmas bumper edition of The Spectator Australia entitled Travels with my Brother. Alexandra’s article reminded me of the rhythm in Jack Kerouac’s On the Road. It also made me think back to two Christmases I spent in the Middle East. I mentioned one New Year’s Eve I spent in a Russian Mafia nightclub in Aqaba, and Alexandra thought it sounded like the start of an interesting article. So here is the result: Part 1 of A Very Arabian Christmas that does for Speccie Christmas articles what Die Hard did for Christmas movies. Part 2 is all downhill from here. But read Alexandra’s article first, it’s brilliant!

I was married in Amman. It’s this whole other story that is no doubt entertaining for others but makes me wonder, ‘What the hell was I thinking?’ Let’s just say I wasn’t. But let us also say that ‘third time lucky’ is an evil lie!

Writing in the Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall had this to say:

This morning, when posting the articles for the day, I discovered that fellow writer Michael de Percy has crazier holidays than me. He has penned a travel piece worthy of Netflix – A very Arabian Christmas. ‘What the hell was I thinking?’ he asked. No idea, but it’s an entertaining read.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, A very Arabian Christmas: What the hell was I thinking?