Turkey is truly the meeting place of Europe and the Middle East. Although, generally, Turkey is considered a middle eastern country, its main hub Istanbul has a European feel with old world charm. This bustling city is a doorway into a country that has two distinct sides.

Cross the Rio Grande heading south and you’ll enter the United States’ southern neighbor Mexico. Mexico is a land of many contrasts, from the northern desert to the rainforests of Chiapas, and everything in between. This is a country filled with history and culture–one look at the Mayan ruins is testament to that–but it is also rife with isolated beaches, towering volcanoes, and glitzy resorts in places like Acapulco and Cancun. Whatever your passion, you’ll likely find it in Mexico.

Since 2500 B.C., the cultures that grew into the modern state of India have been involved in a wild dance of religion and politics that make the India of today one of the most colorful, culturally rich, hyperintense, and interesting places in the world. The culture, politics, and economic effects can run to such extremes, in fact, that tourists have often been divided in to “love” and “hate” groups when it comes to appreciating all India has to offer, in relation to the trials one must at times undergo to enjoy it.

Noosa Heads is a cosmopolitan coastal town on the southern shore of Luguna Bay, located on the Northern end of Queensland’s Sunshine Coast approximately one hour’s drive north of Brisbane. It is a vacationer’s paradise with beautiful sandy beaches, turquoise blue water, parks, and surf shops.

When the British withdrew from the Gulf in 1971, a group of seven shaikhdoms from the area united to form the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The UAE has been growing as trading and travel destination, with its mountains, beaches, and deserts, and its welcoming attitude toward Westerners, as well as Easterners. The UAE is known for its dichotomous lifestyle: on the one hand, there are soaring skyscapers with all of the world’s biggest banks represented and bustling shopping malls around every corner, on the other hand there’s plenty of shopping to be done in traditional Bedouin markets (or souks) and traditional cultural activities such as camel racing–legacies of the days before the boom. But while the UAE is considered one of the safest places to travel in the region, it is advised that you steer clear of political gatherings or demonstrations.