What’s it really like to be an archaeologist in the Middle East? How can modern travelers experience Egypt beyond the pyramids and tourist traps? What will survive from our digital age when future archaeologists dig through our ruins, and how does studying ancient civilizations change the way you see the world today?
Canadian ex-archaeologist and award-winning author Sean McLachlan shares insights from 25 years of full-time writing and decades of travel through Egypt, Morocco, and the Middle East.

Sean McLachlan is a Canadian ex-archaeologist and the multi-award-winning author of history, travel, and fiction. His books include The Masked Man of Cairo Historical Detective series, the Moroccan Mysteries, and post-apocalyptic sci-fi series, Toxic World.

Sean’s previous archaeology career in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, including dangerous moments
The reality of archaeological fieldwork vs. Hollywood portrayals, from Roman bath games to 3000-year-old fingerprints
His Masked Man of Cairo detective series set in 1919 Egypt during the independence movement
Hidden gems in Egypt beyond ancient sites: Islamic Cairo, desert oases, Coptic monasteries, and the new museums
Practical travel advice for Egypt and the Middle East, including cultural sensitivity and safety tips
His post-apocalyptic fiction and thoughts on what will survive from our civilization for future archaeologists

You can find Sean at SeanMcLachlan.net and his books here on Amazon.

Transcript of the interview
Jo: Hello Travelers. I’m Joanna Penn, and today I’m here with Sean McLachlan. Hi Sean.
Sean: Hey, Joanna.
Jo: It’s great to have you on the show. Just a little introduction. Sean is a Canadian ex-archaeologist and the multi-award-winning author of history, travel, and fiction. His books include The Masked Man of Cairo Historical Detective series, the Moroccan Mysteries, and post-apocalyptic sci-fi series, Toxic World.
Wow, lots there. Sean, you were just telling me how long you’ve been a full-time author?
Sean: It’s my 25th anniversary this year as a matter of fact.
Jo: That is just incredible. But before we get into that, tell us about your previous career in archaeology, because obviously I’m fascinated with it. Lots of people are.
What is the reality of the archaeologist’s job? Are you really like Indiana Jones?!
Sean: Well, not quite Indiana Jones. I worked for about 10 years in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, got a master’s degree. And it’s an amazing job actually. There’s a lot of meticulous excavation and fieldwork, surveying, a lot of lab work, and it is a lot of fun.
I ended up shifting out of it because I didn’t like the academic side of it too much – the fighting for office space and funding and the petty backstabbing that you see in so many university departments. I really liked the fun stuff, which was the actual fieldwork.
And as far as being Indiana Jones, well I never got shot at when I was in the field. I did get shot at by accident once when I was hiking in Arizona, but that’s a different story. And the only real danger was once there was a Palestinian Viper on the site when we were working in Tel Gezer in Israel, Which is this really nasty snake that the venom can kill you in 20 minutes. But we were working near a kibbutz and one of the kibbutz members had a tractor and ran it over. So that was the end of that problem.
Jo: But just sort of coming back on, you said you didn’t like the academic side but you did enjoy the dig work and the lab work. So in my head, I know what dig work looks like from the movies, obviously. What did you do in the labs and —