When I fell in love with someone, I moved into a cave in Jordan

An American woman moved to a cave in Jordan after falling in love with a local tribesman who liked one of her photos on Instagram.

Natalie Snider, 42, took a photo of a Bedouin man riding a horse while visiting Petra and posted it on Instagram.

Feras Boudin, 32, commented below that it was him and invited her to visit, which she did in September 2021 after 18 months of online chatting.

The two fell in love and now share a two-bed house in a network of caves inhabited by some Bedouin communities.

Feras has lived in a Bedouin cave since birth – just like previous generations of his family.

But it was a big change for Natalie, who had previously lived in Italy, New Zealand, Florida and Germany and traveled for administrative work for a tour guide company.

The couple now live in the cave, which has two bedrooms, a storage room, a balcony and a functional bathroom, powered by spring water they collect.

It also includes a balcony overlooking the desert and another room for storing saddles and other equipment for the couple’s camels, mules and chickens.

Natalie Snider, a tour guide from Orlando, Florida, said: “I took a photo of a Bedouin wearing a scarf and riding a horse barefoot there, and it was a cool photo.

“I posted it on Instagram and he commented that that was me. Then he said he wanted to come visit and I did.

“I have always had a passion and interest in archeology in the Middle East and I have been traveling to Jordan for some years.

“I have moved around the world my whole life and have always been a free spirit.

“This is probably the most grounded place I’ve ever been and the most invested I’ve ever been in a place.

“I just started a company to do tours and get authentic experiences in Jordan.

“When I’m in Jordan, I help out with tour groups. When I’m out of Jordan, I do office work when I go to the U.S. or New Zealand.”

Natalie described Bedouin culture as “a different level” than what she was used to and that she was just “going with the flow of life day in and day out”.

She said: “I had come to understand the culture, but Bedouin culture was on a completely different level.

“Tribal life is on a completely different level. They don’t live in a modern way like other people.

“There are about 42 communities in the caves. It’s an open community, so everyone comes together. It’s like Thanksgiving and Christmas all year long.

“Ferras’s tribe were the only ones allowed to live in the caves because they lived there for so long and kept the indigenous people in the caves.”

During the winter, they move into a hotel they rent in a village in Petra for 10 years before returning to the cave for the warmer months.

They recently rented a house for 10 years in a village in Petra, where they will live for the coming winter.

The cave is a 15-minute drive from the city, so supplies such as food, wood, and animal equipment are easily accessible.

They use solar panels and don’t have to pay rent.

They live an off-the-grid lifestyle, collecting spring water for use in their bathrooms, and Ferras even built handmade pipes for the cave.

Feras, a tour guide from Petra, said: “I have lived there my whole life, as have my grandparents and generations of my family. I love it and I never want to leave.

“I prefer the cave lifestyle. The government offered us land, houses and other things for free if we were to leave, but we have refused and will continue to do so.

“I call this cave ‘the palace’.”

The duo said one of the best things about cave life – which overlooks the Jordanian desert – is the tranquility.

They say the tight-knit communities of Aboriginal people are a big reason why so many stay.

Jordan’s scenery attracted Natalie to move there, and for her love of travel and exploration, she found there was so much to appreciate there.

Natalie said: “In Auckland I lived in a marina apartment overlooking the Hauraki Gulf.

“There’s more day-to-day stuff and I’m spending more time getting all my computer-based work done and catching up on business at the weekends while enjoying hiking or eating fish and chips on the beach.

“Life is calm, relaxed and slow. The pace of life in Petra is very fast. From sunrise to late at night, there is always something happening and something to do.

“Go on a trip and cook in the mountains with your family, or keep working in caves and houses and be with animals.

“In the city, life felt defined by the things I owned—clothes, cars, gadgets—and keeping up with society. But in the cave, that was my experience.

“In the city, it’s easy to feel isolated despite being surrounded by people. Life in the caves and Petra taught me how to slow down and appreciate life for what it is – something that cities often allow me to overlook.

“In the caves, life is simple yet connected. Eating, sharing stories, and even being silent with the Bedouins felt like home. I had never experienced a community like this before.”