I really enjoyed reading this but it makes me a bit sad. I have a dream to someday traverse the Muslim world in my old Land Rover 110. I would start in Dakar and make my way clockwise through the Sahara all the way to Egypt. I want to see the Bekaa valleys of Lebanon where my ancestors came from; I want to float the Euphrates and cross into Pakistan via Iran. I want to drive the Khyber Pass into Afghanistan and I want to visit the Wakhan Corridor. 45 years ago, I could have done all of this and lived to tell the tale. Today, it's virtually impossible, especially for a pale-skinned American like me. Now, in 2015, it may be hundreds of years before it's safe for my kind to go there. It makes me sad.