Israel

If you are a safe traveler, then a European holiday is a safe bet. If you do have a taste for the exotic, traveling around the Middle East is full of surprises and intrigue. And eco-tourism is spreading through the Middle East. A typical journey (by land) could start in Turkey. With a convenient bus system in place, it's easy to travel around Turkey in a non-impacting way to get primed for the Middle East. After Turkey, it's possible to travel to Lebanon and Syria for an unspoiled and authentic tourist experience, and then down to Jordan, Isra...

Although we haven't traveled to Lebanon, we have had a Lebanese friend when touring through Syria. He told us that Lebanon was an advanced country and much different than the "time machine feeling" we were getting in Syria: It was 9 years ago, and the cars looked like they were from the 30s; people everywhere were dressed in traditional gear and it seemed that the environment was very low on the country's agenda (litter was everywhere and cars spewed fumes).

We never did get to visit Lebanon (mainly because getting a VISA would take too much time), but we have been able to...