My husband, Rick, and I traveled to Lebanon, Oct. 9–18, and then Iraq, Oct. 18–25, this year with our trusted travel outfitter Spiekerman, out of Michigan.

We had been booked to go to Iran for three weeks following the Lebanon segment, but that got canceled by Spiekerman for our safety. We trust their advice!

My husband studied archaeology in undergrad and spent a year in Greece, so he’s an enthusiast of these old places. I love Lebanon and our sites in Iraq from an Old Testament and biblical reference.

Paula and Rick at the Martyrs Memorial in Baghdad.

Lebanon was a beautiful country with great sites, food and lodging. Iraq had good hotels, consistent food, difficult roads and check points and desolate scenery, and yet I’m so happy to have visited Babylon, Ur and the home of Alibaba.

Of note for Global Traveler was our great experience at the Turkish Airlines Business Lounge in Istanbul. We flew from Baghdad to Istanbul on a 1:15 a.m. flight, arriving at 4:45 a.m. We had an 8.5-hour layover for a 13-hour, 40-minute flight to LAX, then another two hours to Tucson and a one-hour drive to our house. A very long day!

Luggage storage area at Turkish Air business-class lounge: They have figured out a way to store luggage where most lounges won’t.

The good news: When we first arrived at Istanbul’s beautiful new airport, we contacted the Turkish Air desk, having heard we could maybe get a comped, on-site hotel room. That did not work, and we were sent to the business-class lounge, There we found we qualified for a suite. Yay! What qualified us?

1. We were business class.
2. We had a connecting flight of more than eight hours.
3. We had a layover of more than eight hours.
4. There were suites available, and we each had a single bed suite!

— Paula Vogel, GT Globility Board

Paula at Roman ruins

Roman ruins in Lebanon

North Lebanon

A view of the cozy room. All you need is here.

Service desk for private suites

Directions to the airport lounge