The Hajj Coach

There are lots of food options in addition to what your tour operator provides. I recommend you become familiar with Arabic cuisine, and know which dishes you enjoy. Arabic food is lighter.  Hajj is busy and you want to maintain a light stomach.  Most tour groups provide a mix of Arabic and other food choices.  The food hall in the clock tower has a lot of American chains in addition to local food.

Arafat is the key day for your prayers. It can feel like an exam, but if you prepare and invest in preparing your and your family's dua list you will be ready. If your tour group has a campsite you will most likely remain in the camp for the entire day.  Very good if you have trouble walking or trouble being in the sun all day.  The sermon is available to listen to, bring a bluetooth speaker to play for your other friends or listen on your headphones https://arafatsermon.info/ If you don't have time to listen to it, it is recorded and you can listen after your Hajj to revisit your experience.

If you have young people in your life who were helping you prepare for Hajj, you should keep them  updated. Simple text messages summarizing your day or sharing a highlight Keeping a diary of your journey which you can share on your return Sharing photographs is probably something your young person would like to see.  Take photos appropriately and share with the intent of educating.  Much of Hajj is already on the internet in photos and YouTube videos. If you don't have your own to share you can share others.  No need to share with the world, just with your young people.

You may be leaving young family members behind on your trip. Whether you are a parent, grandparent or are active with young children, here is a suggestion.  Get the young people in your life to write down their own Duas.  This can help them start to get an understanding of Hajj and get them to invest into your trip. The long term goal is to get young people to set a long term of goal of completing Hajj if they have the means physically and financially.  Suggested Steps Let the young people in your life know your intention for Hajj, especially when you will leave for Hajj. Set a deadline for receiving the dua list, and communicate this date to the young people Once you receive the Duas, make a copy with your phone.  Or ask them to write the duas in an online format such as Google Docs Bring the physical copies with you -- suggest putting 1 young persons dua in a labeled envelop. Read the duas at Arafat.  You can also read the duas at the Grand Mosque....

Extra Umrahs are not a requirement for Hajj.  But for many pilgrims they want to perform extra Umrahs. First perform Umrah for yourself.  This is key. Your travel group will most likely assist you to perform your 1st Umrah, normally very soon after arriving into Makkah. If you are spending additional days in Makkah, you will have time to perform extra Umrahs.  It is approximately about 3-4 hours to complete.  I suggest only doing 1 Umrah per day. Performing extra Umrahs should only be done if you are fit enough.  If you plan to do extra Umrahs, in your preparations for Hajj at home make it a goal to walk 5km at a brisk pace daily.  The most difficult part may be the Tawaf because there can be a lot of pushing especially if you do your tawaf on the Mataf (the ground floor).  The Sai is more distance but it it performed in an air conditioned hall and there tends to be less people. Your travel agent wants to minimize risk. Consequently they are on...

Makkah gets very very busy as the days approach Hajj. To get around, the local taxi service in Makkah is probably your best option. Prices may need to be negotiated.  Have cash available. Your taxi driver will accept US dollars, having small bills ($5, $10) is important. The unpredictable nature of road closures (due to the traffic/people changing hourly) it is difficult for ride share companies to drive effectively. A local knowledge driver is key to success. In Jeddah, Uber / Careem will work. This is useful if you don't have local cash for the taxi, because ride share is paid by credit card.

This is a difficult question based on many individual factors such as: Time the person have, if you only have 2 weeks vacation this will limit your options Your savings goals Hajj can be a physically difficult trip and being younger and more fit makes the journey easier.  Umrah trips are much much less expensive compared to Hajj. The Saudi's are trying to make Umrah easier which will keep prices low for the near future.  If time is your issue (for example a parent needs to return to their family quickly) search for a short duration package.  You can return in the future to perform Umrah.  The longer Hajj trips allow people to pray more at the Prophet's mosque in Madina or the Grand Mosque in Makkah.  It  allows one to explore the other historical sites in these regions.  And finally it allows one to perform additional Umrahs.  These are not part of Hajj.   These are the benefits of longer trips. If you have limited time, here ...

Having BIG goals is an important part of life.  Saving for Hajj should be most people's big goal.  But what should one's savings goal be?  Here are a few suggested tips. Find a Hajj provider that you like today. There are many if you live in North America. Identify which package best suits your situation. For some people it will be the cheapest package (a shared room with up to 4 people). For others, being in the same room with a spouse when possible is important and worth the cost of a double room. Once you have found the package price, use this as a starting point.  As an example I will simplify with $5,000. Identify when you plan to go.  For this example I will assume 5 years from now. Add $500 for each year in the future.  This is the inflation rate that you should consider. For my example the savings goal should be: Savings Goal = $5,000 for the base + 5 years X $500 = $2,500                   ...