The Elements of AlUla: Arabia’s Lost City and the Heritage of Earth

Zero To Travel Podcast

Jason Moore

Society & Culture, Business, Entrepreneurship, Places & Travel

4.6 • 866 Ratings

🗓️ 4 September 2025

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Today, I’ve got a special episode from The Elements of AlUla, a travel docuseries produced by Armchair Productions. The company was founded by Aaron Millar, who you may know as the host of The Armchair Explorer podcast. In this series, Aaron is going to take you on a journey into the heart of one of the most ancient kingdoms on Earth. Located in the northwestern corner of Saudi Arabia, Alula is an oasis in the desert, layered in 200,000 years of human history. Until recently, it was closed to outsiders, and to this day, only a handful of visitors have ever been. In this immersive documentary recorded on location, we’ll take you to the heart of one of the great wonders of Arabia and give you a glimpse of what it feels like to be there for real. Highlights Include: Exploring the ancient city of Hegra. Built by the same people who built Petra in Jordan, Hegra is every bit as spectacular, but only visited by a handful of intrepid travelers. Visiting Jebel Ikmah, a library of ancient inscriptions carved into stone that reveal life in the desert more than 2,000 years ago. Riding Arabian horses to petroglyphs in the desert (and nearly falling off). Meeting a herd of overly friendly camels, with a taste for microphones. Learning from rawis, local storytellers, about the history of the incense road, a vast trading route that passed through Alula and changed the face of Arabia forever. Resources: Sign up for our FREE newsletter Listen on Apple, Spotify ExperienceAlula.com Instagram, Facebook, X Armchair Productions Armchair Explorer Podcast Want More? Top 3 Life Lessons from the World’s Greatest Adventurers with Aaron Millar (Host of the Armchair Explorer Podcast) Travel To Utah: Fireside Dances, Ancient Ruins, and the Beauty of Hózhó (Balance) Exploring San Francisco by Cable Car Thanks To Our Sponsors Apple Card - Earn 3% back on the Apple products and services you love with Apple Card. Booking.com - Book your next stay and find exactly what you’re looking for on booking.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to the Zero to Travel podcast where we explore exciting travel-based work,
0:10.2	lifestyle and business opportunities, helping you to achieve your wildest travel dreams.
0:16.0	And now your host, World Wanderer and Travel Junk junkie Jason Moore.
0:24.6	Hey, hey, it's Jason here with zero to travel.com.
0:25.5	Welcome to the show.
0:28.7	Thanks for being here letting me bring a little travel into your ears today.
0:34.6	This is the show to help you travel the world on your terms to fill your life with as much travel as you desire.
0:39.7	No matter what your situation or experience. And travel is what you will do today. My buddy, Aaron Miller, over at the Armchair Explorer podcast, also has
0:46.9	a company called Armchair Productions, and he makes these incredible immersive audio travel
0:52.8	documentaries, if you will.
0:54.8	He goes on the ground, so you get to sort of hear the ambiance of these different places.
0:59.6	And he's got a new one.
1:00.5	It's called The Elements of Alula, which takes you into the heart of Alula, an ancient city located on an enormous oasis in the middle of the desert, which until recently has been closed to
1:12.7	outsiders. It's an area packed with incredible history, and I love the idea of learning
1:19.8	about a place that has been closed and is now open up. Today you're going to hear the Heritage
1:25.6	of Earth episode, which is one of the episodes in this four-part series, which we'll link up to in the show notes.
1:32.2	Now, I understand some of you may have some preconceptions about travel to Saudi Arabia.
1:37.9	This is something I discussed with Aaron, the creator of this series.
1:41.0	I also talked to my friend who was a travel journalist and a female
1:46.0	who traveled their solo. Both said they were surprised at what they found on the ground. And
1:52.3	Aaron reminded me of something that's really at the heart of my personal philosophy around travel,
1:56.7	which is, you know, travel's always been a way to connect people, a way to open doors and share ideas.
	...

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