For many people, the ability to perform 'Umrah is seen as nothing less than a gift from the Most Kind, the Most Generous. As a child growing up in the Kingdom, however, this was not the way I perceived it. I had always taken the annual 'Umrah trips my father took us on for granted. 

Always, that is, until I moved out of the Kingdom. Because my family relocated to the United Arab Emirates, a country in the Middle East and not a day's journey from the Holy Cities, I expected we'd visit Makkah as frequently as when we resided in Riyadh.

The dismal reality, however, was that we would not see the Holy Cities for five years after having left Saudi Arabia; a duration long enough to make me cherish the trip my parents (may Allah bless them) had planned for our 2012 Spring Break and want to preserve every moment of it as best I could. Gifted with a memory that was rather selective in what it chose to retain, however, I couldn't rely solely on my mind to store details of what I imagined would be a most beautiful trip. Therefore, I decided I’d blog about it.