A quick glimpse at some photos from Jordan as I’m going through all my photos from the trip. The city pictures are from a refugee camp in East Amman, the desert shots are Petra. More soon, I promise. Enjoy!

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It’s an unexplainable feeling, really. No, that’s not me– but it certainly could have been me floating in the Dead Sea reading the newspaper. After all the YGL sessions today, I popped down to the lowest place on earth (1,385 feet below sea level) for a swim, or maybe better described as a float. With 33% salinity it’s as close to swimming on the moon as I have ever felt. You can totally just do barrel rolls on the surface, a total lack of gravity– but watch your eyes, this water stings brutally bad and tastes as foul and salty as you could ever imagine.

Environmentalists guess that due to lack of fresh water (duh) the Dead Sea will likely be entirely evaporated in another 50 or so years. I recommend a trip to Jordan or Israel pronto to experience it! No word on the healing powers, although my skin does feel a little bit softer now.

I thought everyone would enjoy a little bit of a travel update! Fresh back from Vancouver, I’m headed to the Middle East shortly for the Young Global Leaders Dead Sea Summit. Earlier this year I was nominated as a YGL (press release here) alongside some pretty impressive individuals from all sectors, geographies and walks of life. Humbling to say the least. Having been to Davos and some of the other WEF events, I think I have a pretty good idea of what to expect– but am looking forward to this opportunity to meet new people, have stimulating conversations and see another part of the world, big time.

So, what do you do in Amman, Jordan? Float on my back in the salty Dead Sea? Not so sure. I’ll be making a day trip to Petra but otherwise my plate is pretty full with the pre-arranged sessions and activities. Anything bloggable and on the record I’ll be sure to share. Neighbored by Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Israel, I’m naturally looking into a visit to some of the surrounding countries if time (and security) permit. What should I do?

I'm very excited to be headed to Dubai for a few days this evening! Update: Gah! Sickness has taken over and I was unable to make the flight.  Looking forward to visiting another time. 

 The primary purpose of the trip is to take part in the Inaugural Summit on the Global Agenda, by the World Economic Forum. A few months ago after my participation in Davos, I was nominated to one of the councils (marketing and branding, an absolute honor) and this is the first major meeting for the group as a whole to talk about the purpose and issues each council will be focusing on. There are 70 different councils; everything from science, the environment, to the internet. The WEF is describing the occasion as a “new unique gathering of the world's most influential thinkers… to advance solutions to the most critical challenges facing humanity.” It's certainly a pretty big claim, but I'm very humbled to have been invited, as it's an opportunity to give back in a big way with all our individual organizations alongside an incredible facilitator, the forum.

Although I'll be focusing on the work at hand, I am using my free day and a half before I head back to New York as a chance to check out a few things like the new Airbus A380 on the flight over (an insane piece of aircraft innovation), go skiing indoors (seems like an ecological nightmare but I'll wait and hold judgement until I see it), and see a few other famous places (Tea at the Burj, etc). This is my first time to Dubai, so as usual if you have any tips for food, drink, shops, insider thoughts, must-see things etc, please comment below or drop me a line. Thanks!