Do you really want to drive?

I drive at home out of necessity, so when I vacation I endeavor to do so in places where driving isn't necessary.

I don't hate driving or anything, it's just that if I don't have to do it, why would I?

So this explains my love of Europe and China, with their speedy and easy-to-use Metro and rail systems.  But what's a girl to do when headed somewhere without much in the way of public transit, such as Jordan or Morocco?

If you're trying to stick to a schedule and/or want freedom, then you're either renting a car and crossing your fingers or hiring a driver.

I was a little wary of driving across Jordan, but it helped that the people were unfailingly wonderful. I mean, sure there are giant speed bumps in the middle of the highway and people can pass wherever they please, but they'll also stop traffic to help you pull out of your dead-ended wrong turn and help you close the hood of your rental car that you hadn't even noticed wasn't shut (uh, I've heard?).

Plus, it was kind of exciting to drive across a foreign country with Google Maps as my only companion!  It's hardly Lewis & Clark, but you definitely feel out of your element when the only scenery looks taken from Mars.

This could be anywhere in Jordan, or also Mars

A few words of warning: speed limits appeared to change with little to no warning, and you go from "middle of nowhere" to "middle of town" obscenely quickly--take it a little slow if you can.  That being said, I was stopped a few times and I'm still honestly not sure if I was speeding or if the officers just wanted to shake hands with a blonde American--I did not, so far as I know, get a speeding ticket.

Your other option is a driver or shared car--a driver seemed overly luxurious to me, especially after the first day driving--Google has mapped Jordan! Undoubtedly a driver knew about little secret photo spots and clean restrooms along the way... I'm sure I missed some experiences, but timeliness was more important to me and I wanted to spend Christmas at Petra!

A shared car is just what it sounds like--several people split the cost of the drive--but as a foreign woman I didn't feel quite safe driving in a car with possibly several men for hours through the Jordanian desert.  A plus though: cell phone reception was great the whole trip!

My cat, where she is definitely Not Supposed To Be

There are also limited public busses, but that leaves you completely at the mercy of bus company schedules in the best circumstance and the wait for a full bus in the worst of them--and my neurotic travelling heart just can't wait around while there's sites to be seen!

In the end, driving across Jordan was a whole lot like driving across Texas--a whole lot of nothing. But be warned: look out for livestock (most often goats): while the police aren't tough on speeding, laws in Jordan mandate that the driver is always at fault if they hit a pedestrian (and so far as I know, that goes for animals, too).

This road trip was a great warm-up for my follow-up last month, when I relocated from Texas to Indiana--making a two day drive with two cats.  Note: no matter how ingenious you think your barrier system is, your cat will find a way through, over, or under it.

These two particular road trips have whetted my appetite and now I'm starting to look forward to road tripping the Midwest!