Travel Deeper in Jordan with Heather M. Surls’ Memoir ‘Beyond the Jordan

Heather M. Surls, author of Beyond the Jordan, sharing her decade-long experiences living and traveling across Jordan and the Holy Land.

Whether you’ve toured Jordan with Jordan Horizons Tours or still dream of your trip to the Hashemite Kingdom, we’ve got a book to further your explorations!

Beyond the Jordan, a memoir-in-essays by American writer and journalist Heather M. Surls, describes the author’s decade of living in Jordan and the Holy Land. This book will take you to popular tourist sites like Wadi Rum and downtown Amman but will also lead you on new adventures: climbing the mountains of Wadi Feynan with a Bedouin shepherd, harvesting olives with a farmer in Ajloun, and talking tatreez with Palestinian women in al-Baqaa’ refugee camp.

More than places, Heather is captivated by people. Her book introduces readers to dozens of Jordanian, Palestinian, Syrian, and Iraqi men and women, giving portraits of their daily lives without shying away from the realities of displacement, poverty, and regional wars that affect so many. While exploring customs and heritage, she challenges readers to shed media-perpetuated stereotypes of Arabs and instead view them as generous, resilient human beings.

Because faith features often in Heather’s book, travelers who have chosen our biblical Jordan tours may be especially interested in Beyond the Jordan. Before living in Jordan, Heather spent two years in Israel-Palestine. Her experiences there provide a foundation for how she continues to view faith and a peaceful, just future for all people in the region. This book reads as a spiritual memoir—exploring how the author has encountered God in the desert and how warm friendships with Muslims, Jews, and Christians alike have shaped her spiritual landscape.

You can purchase your hardcopy or ebook version of Beyond the Jordan at Amazon, Barnes & Noble.com, or Bookshop.org. If you live outside of the US, it is also available through many international retailers.

For more about Heather M. Surls and her work, visit her official website Heather M. Surls – Writer, Editor, Author of Beyond the Jordan. You can also explore her creative projects and essays at Anthrow Circus, where she shares insights into culture, storytelling, and her experiences in the Middle East.

(Disclaimer: The views presented in Beyond the Jordan are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Jordan Horizons Tours.)

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