Inside Saudi Arabia

In the summer of 2009, Victor Barrero typed "life in Saudi Arabia" into Google and got scared. He came anyway, on an eight-week flynas internship, a 25-year-old from Mexico who packed a camera and a checklist: camel market, old Diriyah, the grand bazaar. None of it looked like the photos. Diriyah was boarded up. He got into Kingdom Tower only because a guard mistook him for a diplomat. Then a frie...

A year in, Carly and Vesna re-priced their whole life in Riyadh: what's gone up, what surprised them, and what they'd tell someone running the numbers before a move. This is the granular version of the cost conversation, from the two biggest line items down to the ones nobody warns you about. They walk through compounds across four tiers, from the common 300 to 350K range to the half-million luxe...

Your neck pain and your gut might be the same problem. This week we sit down with Peter from Tonic The Method on what wellness actually looks like in Riyadh right now.   Peter is a physical therapist and Chinese-medicine specialist who moved here from Lebanon expecting wellness to rank near the bottom of people's priorities. He was wrong. We get into the nerve that connects your neck to your stoma...

After a run of guest episodes, we did something different.. a live summer Q&A on TikTok, answering your questions in real time, and turned it into this week's episode. No guest, just us catching up before the summer break. We get into what a Saudi wedding at the Ritz-Carlton is actually like, the malls worth your time in Riyadh, the Saudi and Gulf abaya designers we actually buy from, learning...

Saudi Arabia had no sunscreen of its own, in one of the hottest climates on earth. Ghadi Alshehri spent three years fixing that.   Ghadi is the founder of Borderline Beauty, the first homegrown Saudi sunscreen. She sat down with Carly and Vesna in Riyadh to talk about the gap she found, the science most of us were never taught, and what it takes to build something Saudi-made right now.   In this e...

There are seven routes to Saudi Premium Residency. Most people only know about one or two of them, and almost everyone thinks Vesna got hers because of Instagram. This week, Carly and Vesna walk through all seven, what each costs, what each unlocks, and what they wish they'd understood before they started navigating it themselves. Vesna holds Premium Residency as a secondary, sponsored by her husb...

Cedric Dahmoun said no to Saudi three times before he came. He stayed five years. He's a Belgian-Algerian content creator with 600,000 followers, most of whom found him through TikToks showing what life in Saudi actually looks like. He came during COVID from Dubai, with no Arabic, no plan, and a feeling that he'd run out of versions of himself to try in Europe. In this episode he tells us about th...

Alex Tashbaeva stopped going to school at twelve. She'd already been on a tennis court eight hours a day since she was five, and her Uzbek-Soviet parents had decided she was going to be a champion. By sixteen she'd left home; by nineteen she was the only girl on a ten-person coaching team flying to Riyadh to build out the Saudi national tennis programme. She said yes on a phone call. She knew noth...

How do you transition from the intense world of derivatives trading at Goldman Sachs and private client tax at KPMG to launching a global luxury swimwear brand? In this episode of Inside Saudi, we sit down with Katleya Nielsen and Ayesha Mahomed, the visionary founders of Lanuuk. They pull back the curtain on the "maternal shift" that led them to leave their 10-year corporate careers to solve a ma...

What is life in the Kingdom actually like when you step outside the "compound bubble"? In this episode of Inside Saudi, we sit down with viral creator Senan, a "Westernized Saudi" who has mastered the art of explaining his culture to the world. We start with a quick story about how an internet misunderstanding actually brought us together, but the real conversation begins when we dive into the loc...

What does it really take to succeed in Saudi Arabia? In this episode, we sit down with Mahmoud Moamenah, founder of Sudasi Business Solutions, to explore why understanding Saudi culture is the key to both life and business here. From growing up in Saudi and living abroad, to helping expats and businesses navigate the market, Mahmoud shares insights on integration, identity, and why many people nev...

Saudi Arabia is changing fast, and people around the world are starting to pay attention. In this first ever Inside Saudi Live, we bring together three very different perspectives on what life in Saudi is actually like. Ali Almeshaal is a Saudi media professional and tourism entrepreneur who began his career in television and now works across communications and tourism in the region. Micah Nicole...

It’s just us, Carly Overman and Vesna Petrovic, for a real time Ramadan catch up in Riyadh. We’re recording on Day 6 of Ramadan and yes, we’re fasting, with a short pause while traveling. In this episode we share what it actually feels like as non Muslim expat moms. No water. No coffee. The midday slump. Breaking fast with our kids. Ramadan events. And the unexpected reset we didn’t see coming. We...

He started with one penny. At 16 years old, Rayan set himself a challenge to turn a single penny into something bigger. That decision changed his life. From couch surfing in New York to almost playing Cristiano Ronaldo for 1 million dollars, to gaining 100,000 subscribers from one short, this is one of the wildest creator journeys we have heard. In this episode we talk about: • The 1 penny challen...

Brandie Janow moved from Tennessee to Riyadh in 2009.. long before Saudi’s creative boom, design strategy conversations, or packed cultural calendars.   In this episode, she shares what early Riyadh was really like (when grocery stores were the hangout), how she founded Smuug to celebrate Saudi culture through design, and how she's part of building the foundation of design and the creative economy...

Mariana De’ Carli Orti is a Riyadh-based author and publisher with a global story that runs from Brazil to London to Saudi Arabia. In this episode, she explains how her English novel hit #8 on Saudi’s bestseller list, what publishing really pays authors, and why Riyadh feels like home. We also dive into AI in books, the future of publishing, and the Riyadh Writers Conference (Feb 6–7). Topics cove...

In this episode of Inside Saudi, we're joined by Yasmin, a Muslim expat mother who has lived in Riyadh for five years and made the bold decision to homeschool her children. We talk honestly about why international school fees, often 40–75k SAR per year, and long school hours didn’t feel right for their family, why she chose no nanny, and how homeschooling has changed their daily life. Yasmin also...

Cecilia, the French founder of Bonjour Arabia, shares how she built a cultural tourism business in Saudi Arabia—from early exploration trips to launching in Riyadh and expanding into AlUla. We talk the realities of starting a company, building community outside compounds, creating heritage-based experiences (food, crafts, desert nights), and how tourism is growing under Vision 2030—plus a viral mo...

In our first-ever guest episode, we sit down with the one and only Mama Sandie. The Realest Housewife of Riyadh. From becoming a mother at 18, to building a career, surviving sepsis, a spinal fracture, and eventually relocating to Saudi Arabia, Mama Sandie shares her unfiltered story with honesty, humor, and depth. We talk about: Identity loss and reinvention after moving to Saudi Postnatal depres...

In this episode of Inside Saudi, we’re sharing our 2026 goals and intentions — from wellness and family life to growing a podcast and building a business in Saudi Arabia. After a huge year that included moving to Saudi, growing our families, launching Inside Saudi, and navigating burnout, we both felt the need for a reset. This episode is an honest, reflective conversation about health, motherhood...

Welcome to The Riyadh Edit: Our Favourite Things of 2025.   In this episode of Inside Saudi, we’re sharing our most-loved places, finds, and everyday favourites from living in Riyadh — from cafés and coffee spots to beauty, shopping, furniture, kids’ activities, and wellness.   Think of this as our insider edit: the places we take visitors, the brands we actually shop, the beauty treatments we lov...

A short year-end chat on what this year brought us, what we’re grateful for, and why we’re so excited for 2026. Thank you for being here — we’ll see you in the new year 🤍  

What is it really like being a woman in Saudi Arabia today? In this episode of Inside Saudi, we share our real, lived experiences of living in Riyadh as women — openly addressing the biggest misconceptions around women’s freedom, safety, dress code, work, driving, and daily life. This is not about what Saudi Arabia used to be like — it’s about what life is actually like now. In this episode, we ta...

Moving to Riyadh and wondering how to make friends as an expat? You’re not alone. In this episode of Inside Saudi, we break down the real ways people build community in Saudi Arabia — from WhatsApp groups and fitness classes to saying “yes” more often and pushing past that initial loneliness. We talk about: ✨ Why making friends in Riyadh is easier than you think ✨ How warm, open, and welcoming S...

If you’re planning to move to Riyadh in 2026, this episode gives you the REAL information you actually need — from visas and family relocation to schools, compounds, and how people are getting jobs in Saudi right now. Carly and Vesna share their honest experiences with the Saudi visa system, family visa challenges, passport tips, and navigating life in Riyadh with kids. We break down Premium Resid...