My pre-trip research before arriving in Riyadh was the usual Reddit-Google-TikTok expedition. What’s Saudi Arabia like? and safe + Saudi Arabia + Jewish woman.
The results were mixed. Google suggested that anything and everything is fair game for government surveillance, especially when it comes to Americans, so to be careful. Culture clash, it warned, in bright red letters.
The first page of results was littered with stories about American citizens being detained for edgy tweets and government-owned websites warning about potential “breaches of etiquette” that could earn you a hefty fine, or worse. (“Worse,” of course, was up to the reader’s imagination.)
One such faux pas apparently was using disabled restrooms if you weren’t disabled. Another was bringing in controlled substances—even vitamins required a doctor’s note. A worried Canadian travel blogger implored his countrymen not to wear shorts.
But Reddit and TikTok—more current, perpetually updating—showed
