361: Performing Hajj & Umrah and How to Travel the World with a Family of 5 on Points and Miles with Amena Bakali
361: Performing Hajj & Umrah and How to Travel the World with a Family of 5 on Points and Miles with Amena Bakali  
Podcast: The Maverick Show: Travel Stories on Culture, Identity & Living Beyond Borders
Rating: Explicit Published On: Mon Nov 03 2025
Description: Learn how to use points & miles to perform Umrah with a family and travel the world to celebrate Eid in different cities. ============================ Get the Monday Minute my weekly email with 3 personal recs for travel, culture, and living beyond borders you can read in 60 seconds. ============================ ON THIS EPISODE Amena tells the story of how she met Matt and bonded around Palestine solidarity at the WITS Travel creator summit in NYC. She then talks about her parents experience immigrating to the U.S. from India and Pakistan, her experience growing up in Dallas in a Muslim immigrant home, the impact of the post 9-11 environment on her life, and how she developed her politics and worldview. Amena then talks about her first trip back to India as an adult, performing Hajj in Saudi Arabia, seeing the Islamic architecture in southern Spain, celebrating Eid in Istanbul, and visiting Japan and London. She then talks about performing Umrah as a family, shares strategies to accumulate points and miles to cover international family travel, and talks about her Umrah Guide. Finally, Amena talks about raising socially conscious kids, integrating travel into their lives, and what travel means to her today. → Full show notes with direct links to everything discussed are available here. ============================ FREE RESOURCES FOR YOU: See my Top 10 Apps For Digital Nomads See my Top 10 Books For Digital Nomads See my 7 Keys For Building A Remote Business (Even in a space that’s not traditionally virtual) Watch my Video Training on Stylish Minimalist Packing so you can join #TeamCarryOn See the Travel Gear I Use and Recommend See How I Produce The Maverick Show Podcast (The equipment, services & vendors I use) ============================ ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Maverick Show on Instagram and DM Matt to continue the conversation Please leave a rating and review — it really helps the show and I read each one personally You can buy me a coffee — espressos help me produce significantly better podcast episodes! :)