Inside Saudi Arabia

helloinsidesaudi
  • 4.0 (7)
  • Society & Culture

Before moving to Saudi Arabia, we searched everywhere for a glimpse of what everyday life would be like. Inside Saudi Arabia was born from that search — a podcast exploring culture, family, style, wellness  and life in today’s Kingdom. Hosted by Carly Overman and Vesna Petrovic, each episode blends our personal experiences as expats with the everyday rhythms of a country in transformation. Whether you’re moving here, already living here, or simply curious about life inside Saudi Arabia, we’ll give you our perspective on the trends, shifts and conversations shaping the Kingdom right now.

  1. Jul 20

    The World Will Come to Learn From Saudi: Victor Barrero on Expo 2030 & the Riyadh Boom

    We've never done a two-parter, but there was too much to cover. In Part 2, Victor Barrero is back to talk about the next chapter: Vision 2030, Expo 2030, and what it actually takes to build a country at the speed Saudi is moving.   Victor helped launch Flow in Riyadh, close to 1,000 households across four communities, stood up in a matter of months after landing. In this conversation he pulls back to the bigger picture: the wave of development sweeping the kingdom, why capital from around the world suddenly wants in, how the compound model has changed since the Aramco era, and what separates a project that sells from one that struggles. We get into the airport that now greets you with "welcome to my country," opening a company through WhatsApp, the hidden cost of moving senior talent halfway across the world, and why Saudi "rewards patient, not fast" even in a race to 2030.   If you're trying to make sense of the Gulf right now, as a resident, a professional weighing a move, or just someone watching from afar, this is a wide-angle view from someone who's been in and out since 2009.   New here? Go back and listen to Part 1 first for Victor's story of how he got to Saudi.   with @caroverman and @vesnapetrovicx   FOLLOW VICTOR HERE: https://www.instagram.com/victorinriyadh/ and follow us for more: https://www.instagram.com/insidesaudiarabia/ https://www.instagram.com/caroverman/ https://www.instagram.com/vesnapetrovicx/   00:00 Cold open 01:25 Welcome back: what Part 2 is about 02:30 Recap and picking up where we left off 03:00 Launching Flow: 1,000 homes on an ambitious timeline 05:59 What makes Flow different to live in 07:30 The development wave and building blocks of hospitality 10:40 Saudi capital vs. foreign capital 11:00 Before Vision 2030: compounds, Aramco and family offices 12:55 International co-living models arriving 13:55 Expo 2030: getting a country ready 16:40 The scale: 100+ countries and a temporary city 18:22 What's left behind after the Expo 18:38 The Formula One analogy 20:07 The airport test: welcome to my country 21:55 Digital life: Nafath, SIMs and banking on WhatsApp 23:00 Setting up a company in Saudi 24:17 What makes a project sell vs. struggle 27:35 What the market actually wants: hospitality 29:55 Families vs. single professionals 32:25 The hidden cost of senior talent 34:22 UK or Saudi? Not apples to apples 36:28 Saudi rewards patient, not fast 39:00 Advice for newcomers: observe, then sprint 40:18 Being a connector: 40 nationalities in a day 42:34 No back alleys: a transparent platform 44:44 Five years from now 47:04 What success looks like 47:59 Closing   Inside Saudi is the English-language podcast about daily life in Saudi Arabia today, hosted by Carly Overman and Vesna Petrovic in Riyadh. New episodes every Monday. 🎧 Follow so you never miss an episode 💬 Questions for a future episode? Drop them in the comments

  2. Jul 13

    A Year of Nanny Mistakes: What We'd Do Differently

    One of us has had a live-in nanny since September. The other has a cleaner for three hours a week and a robot vacuum called Robbie, who has just broken down. A year into life in Riyadh, Carly and Vesna compare notes on help: how to find it, how to manage it, and what it costs you when you refuse it. Carly walks through the two routes to finding a nanny in Riyadh, why she asks to see an iqama live in Absher rather than a screenshot, and why the one week trial she recommends should probably be a month. She is also honest about what she got wrong from day one, which was never setting expectations out loud. Vesna has never had help. She grew up watching her mother do everything and did the same in Australia, until a back injury and a growing podcast made that untenable. Her teenagers, for the record, do not want a nanny anywhere near their rooms. They close on mum guilt, the guilt of having help, and the boundaries they now actually hold. If you've been here longer than us, tell us what we're still getting wrong in the comments please.    Listen wherever you get your podcasts: https://linktr.ee/insidesaudi Inside Saudi is the English-language podcast about daily life in Saudi Arabia today, co-hosted by two moms in Riyadh, made for Saudis, residents, and anyone trying to make sense of the Gulf during Vision 2030. With @caroverman and @vesnapetrovicx Follow us for more: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/insidesaudiarabia/ Carly: https://www.instagram.com/caroverman/ Vesna: https://www.instagram.com/vesnapetrovicx/   Chapters:  00:00 A year in, real and raw 01:11 Why this one is for people in the Gulf 02:27 Finding a nanny in Riyadh: the two routes 04:10 ~ Checking status and documentation properly 05:44 Why a trial period matters, and how long it should be 07:58 Hiring from abroad: agencies, timelines, cost 11:00 ~ Qualifications, first aid, and keeping kids independent 12:23 What I'd do differently: expectations from day one 14:30 ~ Weekly check-ins and positive reinforcement 16:32 I did everything myself, until I couldn't 20:30 Robbie the robot vacuum, and outsourcing the small stuff 25:24 Having help here is normal, so why the guilt 27:30 Mum guilt and the boundaries we hold now 29:31 Send us your tips

  3. Jul 7

    Google Told Him Not to Come to Saudi. One Message Changed Everything. (Victor Barrero, Part 1)

    In the summer of 2009, Victor Barrero typed "life in Saudi Arabia" into Google and got scared. He came anyway, on an eight-week flynas internship, a 25-year-old from Mexico who packed a camera and a checklist: camel market, old Diriyah, the grand bazaar. None of it looked like the photos. Diriyah was boarded up. He got into Kingdom Tower only because a guard mistook him for a diplomat. Then a friend in Mexico sent one Facebook message introducing him to a Saudi named Sultan. Sultan took him to lunch. Three weeks later Victor was at an istraha an hour outside the city with thirty Saudi men, dates and Arabic coffee, getting mistaken for an Egyptian who wouldn't come pray. That single introduction turned the whole summer around. In Part 1, Victor tells Carly and Vesna how Riyadh went from a place Google warned him about to the place that felt like home, why he taught himself to read Arabic in three weeks, what revenue management at an airline actually is, and the family decision that brought him back in 2024. Part 2 is next Monday. Listen: https://linktr.ee/insidesaudi FOLLOW VICTOR HERE: https://www.instagram.com/victorinriyadh/ and follow us for more: https://www.instagram.com/insidesaudiarabia/ https://www.instagram.com/caroverman/  https://www.instagram.com/vesnapetrovicx/    Chapters: 0:00 Teaser: Landing in Riyadh, 2009 1:13 Welcome to Inside Saudi 2:15 Victor Joins the Show 3:07 First Landing in Riyadh, Summer 2009 5:43 Adjusting to Saudi Business Culture 8:19 Failed Sightseeing & Early Misconceptions 13:07 The Facebook Message That Changed Everything 13:50 Straha Nights & Saudi Hospitality 17:58 Deciding to Return & Starting a Blog 20:20 Going Fully Local 25:04 Revenue Management at Flynas 28:29 Insider Flight Booking Tips 31:40 Leaving Saudi & a Career Around the World 35:55 Pandemic Reinvention 37:42 Costa Rica & Wellness 39:41 Lessons from a Math Teacher 41:34 The Power of Real Relationships 42:24 The Fire That Shaped Everything 45:01 Returning to Riyadh in 2024 47:21 Riyadh Transformed 49:02 Joining Flow 49:45 What Expats Get Wrong About Housing 52:07 Selling a Lifestyle, Not Just a Villa 55:01 Advice for People Relocating 57:05 The Kingdom's Vision for Quality of Life 59:36 Take It Slow: First 90 Days Advice 1:01:26 Adjusting to a New Culture 1:04:31 Wrap-Up & Part Two Teaser

  4. Jun 30

    How Much It Really Costs to Live in Riyadh (2026 Update)

    A year in, Carly and Vesna re-priced their whole life in Riyadh: what's gone up, what surprised them, and what they'd tell someone running the numbers before a move. This is the granular version of the cost conversation, from the two biggest line items down to the ones nobody warns you about. They walk through compounds across four tiers, from the common 300 to 350K range to the half-million luxe end, plus what an off-compound option like Sedra actually trades away. International school fees land near 100K per child once trips, uniforms and deposits are counted, and they're honest about the math that forces real choices: cheaper school or more travel, space or community, save or spend.   They get into the Chinese cars they both bought outright, fuel so cheap it changes how you move around the city, a four-tier map of where to grocery shop, and the beauty, abaya and travel spend that adds up quietly underneath everything.   No invented numbers, just what a year of living it has actually cost them. Follow Inside Saudi so you never miss a Monday episode.   New here? Start with our cost of living and relocation episodes. Follow us: Show: @insidesaudiarabia Carly: @caroverman on insta / @carlyoverman on tiktok Vesna: @vesnapetrovicx Everything in one place: https://linktr.ee/insidesaudi Got a question we didn't cover? Drop it in the comments and we'll get to it in a future episode. Listen wherever you get podcasts   Chapters: 00:00 Cold open 01:01 Welcome and what this episode covers 02:47 The biggest cost: schools vs compounds 03:37 Is Riyadh expensive? London, Sydney, Vancouver 04:27 Housing: compounds and your top-three list 06:47 The common tier: 300 to 350K compounds 09:11 Apartment-style compounds: 150 to 250K 13:53 Off-compound: the community trade-off 14:42 The luxe end: half a million to one million 16:35 Less is more: what a year taught us 17:28 Utilities, electricity and internet 19:17 School fees: roughly 100K per child 20:50 Uniforms, ECAs and the trips that add up 24:40 Visas, exit re-entry and premium residency 25:58 Cars: why we both bought Chinese, outright 28:22 Fuel: the one genuinely cheap thing 29:08 Groceries: weekly spend and where we shop 31:00 The grocery map: Spinneys down to corner shops 34:31 Beauty: nails, Botox, finding someone you trust 39:35 Abayas: 50 riyals to a few thousand 42:30 Clothing and kids' clothes 44:20 Help, nannies and cleaners 45:00 Travel: why living here makes you want to go 46:01 Wrap-up

    How Much It Really Costs to Live in Riyadh (2026 Update)

  5. Jun 22

    Your Neck Pain Starts In Your Gut? Wellness in Riyadh (Peter, Tonic The Method)

    Your neck pain and your gut might be the same problem. This week we sit down with Peter from Tonic The Method on what wellness actually looks like in Riyadh right now.   Peter is a physical therapist and Chinese-medicine specialist who moved here from Lebanon expecting wellness to rank near the bottom of people's priorities. He was wrong. We get into the nerve that connects your neck to your stomach, the breathing fix he reaches for before any machine, which everyday foods are quietly acidic, the exact contrast-therapy order he recommends, and why he reads teeth grinding as a clue to something bigger. Plus the colon-massage story Vesna will never live down.   Hosted by Carly and Vesna. Listen and follow wherever you get podcasts: https://linktr.ee/insidesaudi   Chapters: 00:00 Intro and Teaser Highlights 01:18 Welcome - What This Episode Is About 03:13 Meet Peter and Introducing Tonic 180 06:15 Tonic's Services and Kingdom Tower Launch 11:47 The Wellness Scene in Riyadh 13:21 The Gut and Neck Pain Connection 19:13 Diet: Alkaline vs Acidic Foods 24:21 Pressotherapy Explained 26:33 Infrared Sauna and Cold Plunge 33:58 Red Light Therapy 39:29 Laser Body Remodeling 45:59 EMS (Electromagnetic Muscle Stimulation) 48:19 The Tonic Signature Massage and Colon Cleanse 52:26 PEMF (Pulsed Electromagnetic Fields) 56:10 Dry Needling and Electroacupuncture 59:22 Personalised Protocols and Recommendations

    Your Neck Pain Starts In Your Gut? Wellness in Riyadh (Peter, Tonic The Method)

  6. Jun 15

    Wedding at the Ritz, Summer Plans & Why We Chose Riyadh

    After a run of guest episodes, we did something different.. a live summer Q&A on TikTok, answering your questions in real time, and turned it into this week's episode. No guest, just us catching up before the summer break. We get into what a Saudi wedding at the Ritz-Carlton is actually like, the malls worth your time in Riyadh, the Saudi and Gulf abaya designers we actually buy from, learning Arabic from scratch, and the question that started this whole show: why Saudi, and would we choose Riyadh again. Inside Saudi is the English-language podcast about daily life in Saudi Arabia today, co-hosted by two moms living in Riyadh, made for Saudis, residents, and anyone trying to make sense of the Gulf during Vision 2030. Listen wherever you get podcasts: https://linktr.ee/insidesaudi CHAPTERS 00:00 Cold open 01:42 Welcome — summer catch-up, live on TikTok 02:47 Summer plans: UK, Greece, Macedonia 05:24 The Saudi wedding at the Ritz-Carlton 09:08 Why we chose Saudi 13:44 Our Saudi road trip — Taif, Jeddah, AlUla, the Eastern Province 18:05 Learning Arabic 21:55 What weddings here are really like 26:14 The malls we love in Riyadh 28:45 Abayas and Saudi designers 31:48 Beauty and salons 35:48 Saudi schools 38:10 Riyadh or Jeddah — would we choose it again 38:51 What surprised us most: the hospitality 45:20 What is the podcast about

    Wedding at the Ritz, Summer Plans & Why We Chose Riyadh

  7. Jun 8

    Everything You Got Wrong About the Saudi Sun

    Saudi Arabia had no sunscreen of its own, in one of the hottest climates on earth. Ghadi Alshehri spent three years fixing that.   Ghadi is the founder of Borderline Beauty, the first homegrown Saudi sunscreen. She sat down with Carly and Vesna in Riyadh to talk about the gap she found, the science most of us were never taught, and what it takes to build something Saudi-made right now.   In this episode: - How she found the gap on an ordinary Tuesday at work - Chemical vs mineral sunscreen, and why it actually matters - Why UV passes through glass, clothes, and cloudy skies - Three years of formulation in Korea, and the "impossible" brief - Growing up between Manchester and Riyadh - Vision 2030, being seen, and building something local - Her advice for the next Saudi founder   Listen anywhere you get your podcasts: pod.link/insidesaudi   Follow Inside Saudi: Instagram @insidesaudiarabia TikTok @insidesaudiarabia Hosts: @caroverman and @vesnapetrovicx Guest: Borderline Beauty @borderlinebeautysa   Chapters 00:00 The country with no sunscreen 00:35 Meet Ghadi and Raghad 02:00 The Tuesday she found the gap 05:00 Chemical vs mineral, explained 09:00 The myths: glass, clothes, cloudy days 13:00 Three years, Korea, and a formula that didn't exist 18:00 Manchester to Riyadh, and coming back 24:00 Vision 2030 and building something Saudi-made 30:00 Advice for the next founder   #SaudiArabia #Vision2030 #MadeInSaudi #SaudiBeauty #Riyadh

  8. May 18

    The Premium Residency Episode: All 7 Routes

    There are seven routes to Saudi Premium Residency. Most people only know about one or two of them, and almost everyone thinks Vesna got hers because of Instagram. This week, Carly and Vesna walk through all seven, what each costs, what each unlocks, and what they wish they'd understood before they started navigating it themselves. Vesna holds Premium Residency as a secondary, sponsored by her husband, and she's open about what that actually means in practice: full benefits for him, partial for her, and a learning curve for the whole family. Carly doesn't have it. Together they break down limited-duration, unlimited-duration, special talent, gifted, investor, entrepreneur, and real-estate routes, with the actual SAR figures and the catch on each one. A few things to know up front: this isn't legal advice, the Premium Residency website is the only source you should trust to apply, and the math fact-check halfway through is worth staying for. Part two, on starting a business once you have residency, is coming. Listen wherever you get podcasts: https://linktr.ee/insidesaudi Inside Saudi is the English-language podcast about daily life in Saudi Arabia today, co-hosted by two moms in Riyadh. Follow Inside Saudi: Instagram: @insidesaudiarabia TikTok: @insidesaudiarabia Carly: @caroverman (Instagram) @carlyoverman (TikTok) Vesna: @vesnapetrovicx   Chapters: 00:00 Cold open 00:53 Welcome + why this episode 03:00 Seven routes, overview 07:20 Route 1: Limited duration (100,000 SAR/year) 08:45 Route 2: Unlimited duration (800,000 SAR) 10:39 Route 3: Special talent residency 13:13 Route 4: Gifted residency (culture & sports) 16:10 Route 5: Investor residency (7M SAR + 10 jobs) 16:45 Route 6: Entrepreneur residency (two tiers) 21:02 Route 7: Real estate residency (4M SAR unmortgaged) 22:04 Process, timeline, background checks 24:58 Myths people get wrong 27:31 The big summary

    The Premium Residency Episode: All 7 Routes
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Ratings & Reviews

4
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

Before moving to Saudi Arabia, we searched everywhere for a glimpse of what everyday life would be like. Inside Saudi Arabia was born from that search — a podcast exploring culture, family, style, wellness  and life in today’s Kingdom. Hosted by Carly Overman and Vesna Petrovic, each episode blends our personal experiences as expats with the everyday rhythms of a country in transformation. Whether you’re moving here, already living here, or simply curious about life inside Saudi Arabia, we’ll give you our perspective on the trends, shifts and conversations shaping the Kingdom right now.

Information

  • Creator
    helloinsidesaudi
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    36
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Inside Saudi Arabia

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