Adventures of an Average Jo - Unique Destinations and Experiences

Hi, I’m Joelle, and I’m on a mission to visit every country in the world! I’m a US-born traveller who’s based in the Middle East. I’ve been travelling solo for over 10 years, visiting 75 countries by age 24. I’ve dedicated this blog to sharing my expertise in budget travel to off-the-beaten-track destinations. I took …

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adventuresofanaveragejo

We brought something special home from Vietnam 🇻🇳🐕

Okay, so technically she’s not from Vietnam, but while we were traveling, George became best friends with a little puppy at the doggy daycare. When we went to pick him up, we learned that her original adoptive family had backed out, so she didn’t have a family to take her home.

We took her home that day, and the rest is history. George is the best big brother, and the two are inseparable. They spend every waking moment playing together until they fall asleep cuddling.

Keeping with the theme of European nobility/historical figures, her name is Joan of Bark (aka as Jona). She’s four months old and weighs a whopping 1.01 kg (2.23 lbs), so somehow she’s even smaller than George 😂

Anyways, I’ll get to posting about my travels soon, but Jona is on the top of my mind at the moment. She’s absolute perfection and we are madly in love

How it’s going vs. how it started. Our most rece

How it’s going vs. how it started. Our most recent picture and one of our first pictures together (buying cowboy hats at a random gas station in Saudi Arabia at 3am).

Welcome to the Gen Z version of a baby announcement: Meet King George VII, also known as George of Arabia. He’s 7 months old and we adopted him 4 months ago. When Saif first suggested we adopt a chihuahua, it was a hard no from me. However, when I met him, it was love at first sight, and I’m actually absolutely obsessed with him. Plus, a tiny, desert dwelling dog is the perfect dog for the insane Kuwaiti heat.

George loves:
- any human food
- visits to his grandparents house
- cuddles
- other dogs
- barking at anyone who walks by our front door

Photos by @salemfhd ft. the iconic Kuwait water towers 🇰🇼

Country #75 with the best travel companions @bethi

Country #75 with the best travel companions @bethisboring @saif_alhajrii 🇺🇿 March 2024

Sometimes it still feels surreal that a girl from a tiny town in Wisconsin could visit 75 countries before I turn 25. So unbelievably grateful and with no plans of slowing down anytime soon.

1. The remains of the Aral Sea in Moynaq.
2. The desert castles of ancient Korezm.
3. Toshhovli Palace, Khiva
4. Chilpyk Tower of Silence
5. Mosque inside Tilya-Kori Madrash, Samarkand
6. An overnight Soviet-style sleeper train
7. Mizdakhan Necropolis, Republic of Karakalpakstan

I normally prefer traveling to unknown destination

I normally prefer traveling to unknown destinations, but Iceland has to go down as one of my favorite trips ever. After 6 years of living in the desert, driving around experiencing the nature and weather with the person I love was exactly what I needed 🇮🇸 Jan. 2024

1. Blue ice caves at Vatnajökull Glacier
2. Diamond Beach
3. Skógafoss Waterfall
4. Seljavallalaug swimming pool
5. A random roadside stop
6. Seljalandsfoss waterfall
7. Jökulsárlón Glacier lagoon

I haven’t shared much from the last 7 months. It

I haven’t shared much from the last 7 months. It still feels weird to share my life, when there is a literal genocide going on.

However, I’ve realized that I still want to share some of the moments that have been shaping my life.

I’ve still been traveling a lot. Here are some photos from my trip to Iran in Nov. 2023.

It was a trip filled with beauty and hospitality, an experience I’ve found most often happens in the places that the western world labels as evil or dangerous. 🇮🇷

Some photos from my last 2 visits (Oct 2023 and Ja

Some photos from my last 2 visits (Oct 2023 and Jan 2024) to Lalish in Northern Iraq with @youngpioneer 🇮🇶

Lalish is the most holy site in the world for the Yazidi People. The Yazidis are a religious and ethnic minority found primarily in Northern Iraq. The religion is believed to have been founded before the 6th Century BC, and it has evolved to include elements of Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

The Yazidis have been persecuted since the 6th Century, but they faced a terrible genocide during the last decade under ISIS. All men were killed, and the women and children were taken as slaves. The few Yazidis who managed to escape mostly took refuge in Germany and other European countries. There are still thousands of Yazidis missing, and many of the surviving women and children that have been found are so traumatized that they’ve forgotten their Yazidi identity and language.

Today, visiting Lalish is an incredible experience. It stands as a symbol of a people’s resilience and hope for the future. It also serves as a reminder to always fight against genocide and for the protection of all marginalized groups everywhere.

1. Me in front of the main temple
2. A Yazidi couple who met in Germany and had come to baptize their son at Lalish
3. One of the surviving volunteer caretakers of the temple
4. A family celebrating the baptism of their daughter. Most of the family fled Iraq in 2014 and resettled in countries across the world. For many of them, it was their first time returning to their home country and seeing their family members in 10 years.
5. A Yazidi man visiting Lalish. Shoes are not allowed anywhere on the temple grounds.
6. The baptized baby and her mother.

#lalish #iraq #traveliraq

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