I heard the news this morning, knowing my sister and husband are on a tour of Jordan and Egypt. Fortunately I have now heard from their daughter that they were in Egypt at the time. Their trip returns via Petra and flies back out of Amman, so I don't know if they will be affected as the BBC news says the land borders are currently closed. Thank goodness they are OK - but where is safe these days?

I was half considering a similar trip next year myself but now am unsure. I know we can't let these people win but the middle east does look a particularly volatile place.

The Middle East has always been volatile - even Christ's family were displaced for a census!

Perhaps this is not the best time to visit, but statistically you could be run over by a bus ....

Make your will (NOT a joke - I bet many of you haven't made one or updated it within the last five years) before you go, have all the sensible jabs and assess the risk with a cool head.

There's a lot of nice people who live there, and it's a shame that their lives are spoiled by a vicious minority trying to destabilise ordinary people in the name of their religion - only it's not what real believers believe.