In the last few days I’ve been featured on the news around the world usually with the title “American Travel Blogger Alyssa Ramos Stuck in Kuwait Self Evacuates, Claims the Government Was No Help”. And all of that is completely true. Here’s my full side of the story.
For those new to my page, I’m actually one of the first established solo female travel bloggers and influencers. I started my blog nearly fifteen years ago, helped path the way to the industry of “influencer marketing”, and I still do it as a full-time job, traveling an average of 25 countries per year. I’ve been to a total of 146 countries so far, including several trips to the Middle East.
My main income comes from collaborations, ad revenue, and affiliates, and I also started a group trip business 10 years ago (the first to do influencer-hosted group trips), where I host 4-5 trips per year in destinations most people don’t want to go to solo. This is why I was in Saudi Arabia.
After traveling to so many countries, these days my goal and passion is to highlight lesser-known countries and hidden gems, especially places with a false negative stereotype of being dangerous. I’ve danced with dozens of tribes in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, trekked with mountain gorillas 6 times in D.R.Congo and Uganda, and I’ve sailed back and forth the Drake Passage 8 times to get to Antarctica 4 times. Not to mention, I travel solo the majority of the time.
I am a huge advocate for human rights, animal rights, and showing the truth about places and people. Including the shady things that the governments do.
That being said, I was probably the worst travel blogger to get stuck in the middle of a US-caused war, with no help offered, and a large platform to tell that to.
Lots and lots of haters and trolls have commented negative comments like “that’s what you get for going to the Middle East”…as if they have clearly never seen the beauty or fabulousness of that area, or “why the hell would you go there knowing there was a war coming”…as if I can predict what the most unstable man in the world is going to randomly do or when he’s going to have a power trip tantrum.
Like I said before, I’ve been to the Middle East many times, almost every country there in fact, and all of my previous travels have been wonderful, educational, and even luxurious. For all the people saying “why would you go there”, I wish I could tell them that they likely could never compare to the level of class and luxury that exists in the Middle East. Also, I know that the people there are very respectful and helpful (yes, even to a solo female traveler), and that for the most part, it’s actually really fancy!
After my solo travels in Saudi Arabia last year (2025) proved to pique the interest of my Travel Tribe group trip community, I decided to add it as a group trip the following year, which sold out immediately.
So, I was in the Middle East because we had a group trip to Saudi Arabia planned a year in advance, and the add-on to it, was in Kuwait.
Here’s the countries I’ve been to in the Middle East and surrounding regions by the way:
I’ve never had problems in any of those countries, and very much enjoyed my time in them.
In short, the tensions didn’t start until just before our trip was starting. Like I said before, there is no way I can predict the most unstable man’s sudden war decisions, and there’s no way they will ever warn anyone of it.
I researched why he was threatening the attacks; I researched all about why the US and Israel don’t want Iran to have a nuclear weapon, and I kept track of the news, even monitoring the Travel.State.Gov site, which, I’ve known for years is completely inaccurate and useless. By the way, even up until the day of the attacks, Kuwait was listed as a Level 1 travel advisory.
From the news, it seemed the negotiations were going in a positive direction. Even Iran said they weren’t happy about it, but they were moving in a positive direction. The timeline, even according to Trump, was around 10-15 days to reach an agreement. I thought for sure we had enough time to finish the trip, and get out of there.
We honestly had a wonderful time in Saudi Arabia, and it wasn’t until the last couple of days that I started to worry.
While I was in Saudi Arabia, I sent a message to a guide I had booked for our Kuwait trip, asking to confirm the plans. He seemed a bit surprised and asked if I was going to cancel the trip, and if I wanted to maybe come back in a few weeks. So that’s when I started to worry.
I emailed the US embassy in Kuwait on February 26th asking for insight and advice about whether or not we should still come. But they only directed me to that dang travel.state.gov website, told me to enroll in STEP, and to look out for notifications.
So I emailed the hotel and asked their opinion about whether we should cancel or not. They replied that everything was fine, Kuwait was very safe, and to still come. I relayed the information to the five other girls who were coming with, and asked their opinions, telling them I was fine with either decision: to cancel or to just go. (By the way, we were only supposed to be going for 1.5 days, and all of our international flights were out of Kuwait).
Everyone unanimously agreed to still go, if anything, to catch those expensive flights home. We all had been watching the news, and really believed the negotiations would keep dragging on at least for another week, especially since they made plans for another meeting that would have taken place after our trip…
The last Story I posted on Saturday before our plane took off from Jeddah to Kuwait City at 9am was saying something like “really hope the US doesn’t decide to attack sooner”, with legitimate optimism that we would be in the clear.
When we landed, around 11am, all of our phones buzzed away with people sending us the news that the US and Israel did not wait for the next negotiation meeting and went and attacked Iran anyway, WHILE we were in the air. That was one of the biggest “Oh fuck.” moments of my life. I knew Iran would retaliate, and I knew we were in the worst place for that, being just south of them.
Not quite sure what to do, we proceeded to the visa on arrival area, which had floor to ceiling windows overlooking the planes on the tarmac. As I waited for the visa, I frantically kept trying to check the news to see if there was anything happening in Kuwait, but there were no reports yet.
Then I heard something I’ve never heard in my life; ‘Boom boom boom’. I thought I knew what it was, but I didn’t want it to be true. I looked at my friends, all with the same look of “What the fuck was that”. Instinctively, we turned to the windows, almost expecting to see something explode, but we didn’t see anything, thankfully.
“Excuse me, what was that noise?” I rushed to ask the immigration officer. He listened and we heard it again. “Oh, missiles, but don’t worry, Kuwait is very safe.” He casually said. “Don’t worry, go to your hotel, enjoy the city.” a woman also added.
“A MISSILE?!” I blurted, “Should we get another flight and leave?!” I blurted, but they still very calmly replied, saying almost with a laugh, “The airport is closed now, don’t worry, Kuwait is safe.”
That was probably one of the top terrifying moments of my life so far. And it was mostly because I was worried about anything happening to my friends. I was the one who suggested going there after all.
Thankfully, they were all relatively calm, although I know they were also secretly panicking inside. We cleared customs and I tried some of those officers what we should do, but they as well just told us to go to the hotel because the airport is now closed. Talk about terrible timing.
Just to note here — if the US cared at all about its citizens, they would have at least sent some sort of warning, or updated their useless website. But there was nothing. It seemed like yet another one of trump’s middle of the night tantrum power trips, or even as if he was trying to further cover things up. He was and is also carrying out several other things at the same time as all of this, and likely while also golfing or spending money on lavish Mar a Lago parties while refusing to give a dime to transport citizens out of the danger he created.
Anyway. I tried to stay calm and led the group outside to get taxis. In the taxi the driver was the same as the airport staff; calm, casual, and acting like there wasn’t a war starting outside.
In the middle of him giving us a mini-sightseeing explanation of Kuwait City, I heard a siren and rolled down the window. “What is that?” I asked.
“Oh, just the siren, don’t worry, all good, Kuwait is very safe.” It was starting to sound like there was a memo sent out for everyone in Kuwait to tell us this, and I wasn’t sure if I should believe it or not, but I didn’t really have a choice.
Later I’d find out through the Kuwait Times social media posts that the continuous siren means “All Clear”. Which also means, there was danger, and that they cleared it. That danger was hundreds of missiles and drones, and the boom boom boom noises we were hearing, were the Kuwaiti air defense intercepting them by blowing them up in the air. More on this later.
As I’ve mentioned before, I tend to do a lot of dangerous activities, but usually as safely as possible. Diving with bullsharks? One of my favorite hobbies. Climbing the world’s highest peaks? My yearly workout. I even live in Mexico where most people think it’s soooo dangerous (it’s definitely not, especially compared to the U.S.).
But I’ve never had to figure out a shelter in place plan, in case we were struck by a missile or drone.
We did what any normal millennial would do, and looked up the protocols online, and found that the best thing to do is:
So I went and asked the hotel reception where the stairs were and if they had a shelter. They did, showed me to it, and I relayed the message and safety plan to my group.
We also learned through the Kuwaiti social media posts that if we heard a siren that was intermittent, or a wave, that’s when you need to go seek shelter. Every time we heard the continuous siren, we all panicked, wondering if we hear a wave or not.
All we could think to do while sitting together in the lobby of the hotel, was to keep checking our outbound flights for updates. We had no idea the extent of things happening, or how long it would last.
Then we saw the posts and the news that the Kuwait Airport, where we had just left a couple hours ago, had been bombed by an Iranian drone. My stomach flipped and I felt dizzy. What if we were still there? I tried not to think about it, and thanked whatever guardians were protecting us right then.
For some silly reason, or maybe it was just hopefulness, and with nothing else to do all day, we waited to see if the airport would re-open, and we would be able to take our flights out. However everyone posting the very clear airspace above us, quickly made it known we were not getting out. Soon after, all of our flights were cancelled.
I messaged the embassy again on Instagram, no help. I called the consulate and spoke to an actual person, and he just read me the STEP email that said shelter in place. I knew we were on our own, so I started asking around for back up plans.
Looking back, I consider ourselves to be really, really lucky. The Kuwaiti air defense intercepted nearly every incoming missile and drone. While we were there, nothing touched Kuwait City, however the US Embassy and US military bases were hit, along with civilian areas hit by falling shrapnel.
But two of the other women who were on my Saudi Arabia trip weren’t so lucky. They had chosen to do a long layover in Dubai and Bahrain before heading home and also had no idea what was going to happen.
In Dubai one of my travel girls was reporting fighter jets flying low overhead followed by explosions and then smoke and more explosions. I asked where she was staying to try to keep track of her and she said The Palm, so we all assumed that was a safer place to be, because why would Iran target a tourist area? A few seconds later we saw on the news that a hotel on The Palm had been hit. She was soon evacuated downstairs, but not much planning was taking place, she needed to get out of Dubai. Between everyone in our travel group chat, she was able to find a guide in Oman to transfer her out!
At the same time, another one of our travelers was in Bahrain experiencing similar horrors. It got so bad that she had to make a run for it, cross the border into Saudi Arabia, and try to fly out of Dammam. Her hotel helped her arrange the car to do it, and she safely flew out of Dammam to Cairo, and then to London. The hotel she was staying at in Bahrain, was bombed the next day.
With our back up flight cancelled too, and attacks escalating on the news, I knew there was no chance of flying out any time soon. Although Kuwait did feel safe, there was no way we could just stay sheltered in a hotel indefinitely. Especially when it was impossible to sleep or calm down with the constant sound of interception explosions followed by the reassuring yet shrilling all-clear siren.
Then we saw news that the US gov had announced on social media (as in, did not email us or send a STEP message) that all citizens in the Gulf countries should evacuate, however, they could not help us do that.
Even on the state.gov website for Kuwait advisory, it says, “Make sure you have emergency evacuation back up plans, do not rely on the US embassy to get you out.” Which is fine, I was not relying on them anyway, I just want to make sure the truth gets out since all I’ve been hearing is lies.
So I told our group that I thought it was time to start thinking about doing a land border crossing back into Saudi, to fly out to Riyadh. Everyone seemed worrisome about the idea, but I knew it was the only way.
As a highly experienced traveler, I know to rely on the locals when you need help with something. So I messaged a local Kuwaiti travel influencer who I had been in contact with in general about the trip, and asked if she knew any transfer companies that would take us all the way across the border.
Earlier I had found a car that would take us to the Kuwait border only, and said I’d need to get picked up on the other side in Saudi, however there is a 2 kilometer gap in between the border stations, that seemed dangerous to walk at the time.
The influencer (Fatima from @hello965) sent me the number of a transfer that would take us all the way across, so I contacted him, but he wasn’t available until 8pm the next day.
A random person from Portugal had messaged me on Instagram saying he knew of an SUV transfer company that he and his wife were going to use, and said they had 4 seats available if I wanted to go. But I had 5 people and I wasn’t going to leave anyone behind. He said they had a second car though so I quickly assembled a meeting with my friends.
Things seemed to be looking up, at least in the sense of getting out of Kuwait. I now had two transfer options, and one of the other girls, Kelly, said her finance company back in Boston had offered to help get us a secure ride out through their corporate travel insurance.
But again, as a very experienced traveler, I know that the second least likely people to easily help travelers in a dangerous situation after the gov, is insurance companies. We had been waiting since the night before for her work to get back to us with more information, but we were running out of time.
The timing was important because with the sudden news to evacuate, all foreigners and some locals wanted to leave. I knew the transfer cars would be in high demand and we needed to confirm one before it was too late.
There was even a scared solo female traveler who knocked on my hotel door earlier to ask if she could come with us, and several people had started DMing me for help, and I sent them all the Portuguese person’s info to take those spots if they wanted.
It was about 3pm when I called the meeting in the lobby to discuss when we should leave and how.
Kelly said she was still waiting to hear from her company, and half the group wanted to wait for them because it sounded like they would provide security. But I had to bring up the question, “What good will security guards do if a drone or shrapnel is falling on us?” Plus, any sort of armed Americans might make us more of a target. But some still wanted to wait.
Then, the solo travel girl came downstairs, packed and heading out, she came up to me and said, “Hey, I’m getting out, I’m going with the people you sent me, we’re leaving in an hour,” I looked at everyone as if to convey “See, we also need to get the fuck out of here.” and felt a pang of panic, wishing I could just go, but refusing to leave anyone behind.
I quickly texted to ask if the second car was available, and that we’d take it. But they said it was already booked. My heart sank and my stomach knotted. Not giving up though, I asked for the number of the company, and messaged them myself.
As I was explaining to the group that at that point I didn’t think we should wait for the US travel insurance company, or the government, and that we needed to just book a local ride. Seeing how fast the other cars filled up and left, they agreed.
Miraculously, the second transfer company responded, saying they could get us a GMC XL for 8 people with luggage for $1200 any time.
My instinct was to leave immediately, but it was already close to 5pm, and the sun would be setting soon, and driving at night seemed a lot scarier and more dangerous than during the day. So we all agreed to leave at 7am, and walked next door to get money out of an ATM, then got ready to go.
During all of this, I had been posting on Instagram about what was going on, and I started doing news interviews in the midst of it. The reporters did a great job at telling my story, but not to my surprise, there were so many trolls and haters, who I have a very important message for coming soon.
For the third night we all laid in our beds at the hotel, unable to sleep because every few hours, we’d hear the boom boom boom followed by continuous all-clear siren. But around 4am I heard two of them back-to-back, and wondered if that counted as “discontinuous”.
Whenever I got worried that my window was suddenly going to blow up, I’d grab my phone and go into the windowless bathroom. I did that, and checked my messages to see if the group had also written about the alarm. But first I saw a message from my mom, saying that more posts were coming out saying US citizens should evacuate immediately, and asked if we could leave sooner.
At that point, I did feel the life-threatening risk of being there. And although some locals, and a ton of people sitting on their couches in the US will say I’m being dramatic, I was absolutely scared for my life, and the lives of my friends.
I texted the group and asked if they were awake, and if so, if they wanted to leave sooner. They were all up and ready already, besides one who was in the shower. I texted the driver, who had already messaged me at 5am confirming the 7am pickup, and asked if he could come sooner. He said he could be there by 6:30. I relayed the message, and we all met downstairs.
Although hijabs (head coverings) are NOT required in Kuwait or Saudi Arabia, I asked everyone to put them on to make us look “less American”. Because at that point I honestly thought a drone might be able to see us and make us a target.
As we were loading up, I made one more video update on Instagram to let everyone know we decided to self-evacuate. Yes, I USED A FILTER, because I hadn’t slept in 4 days (some people talked shit about the filter while ignoring that there were missiles flying overhead), and while talking, like I just mentioned, I could hear more boom boom booms.
Piled in the SUV, with a Bahranian driver (who by the way was fasting for Ramadan the entire time), we set off for the border of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Straight through one of the most targeted areas, where the US military bases and embassy are. They had already all been struck though, and evacuated, so I stayed hopeful we’d be ok, but also like had my eyes glued on the skies, jumping at every fleck of cloud or bird in sight.
I was so nervous that I don’t even have any photos or videos from that part of the ride. All I could do was stare outside and try to not let the others notice how nervous I was.
But before we knew it, we were at the border! Just an hour and a half, we had made it! There was no one else there, and it took us a total of maybe thirty minutes to cross both borders.
LUCKILY we all already had the Saudi Arabia visa from the previous trip, which is multiple entry, so we were good to go, unlike many who were stuck there, because the visa can take several days, and there’s no visa on arrival at land borders.
Coming soon….
If you know someone stuck in Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE, or Qatar, please send them this post: Middle East Self Evacuation Info – Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia
PEOPLE MAGAZINE: Travel Blogger Trapped in Kuwait Is ‘Self Evacuating,’ After Claiming U.S. Government Is No Help
ABC NEWS: American travelers in the Middle East speak out amid Iran conflict – ABC News
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