where next to conquer?

Our recent trip to the Mediterranean has got me really excited about traveling again. In some ways, I was dreading that trip. I hate hassles and was worried that something would go wrong or that we'd have trouble getting around. Our experience couldn't have been any further from the truth. We were well prepared and didn't have any trouble whatsoever. I studied a little Italian before the trip, and that really helped. I started teaching myself Greek from a phrasebook while we were on the ship, and that made it easy to read place names in Greece. I also had opportunities to use Spanish, French and Portuguese on the trip. As for Turkish, well, let's just say I'm glad we had a tour guide, even if he sucked. Anyway, being able to learn and use languages new and old to me was really energizing.

So, where should we go next? We've been talking about a few different places:

- Middle East: we'd probably go to Israel and Egypt. I'm interested in Jordan as well, but we probably couldn't take more than 10-14 days off, and we'd probably need more time than that to do justice to Israel alone.

- England: I've never been interested in the UK until the last year or so. For reasons I don't understand, I've suddenly become very interested in seeing where the majority of my ancestors came from. I think the majority of them came from Scotland, but I'm more interested in England. Maybe it's the accents--I don't know. Whatever the case, this one would be really expensive. The exchange rate is terrible.

- Iceland: I'm intrigued by this little country. It seems bleak and desolate, yet beautiful at the same time. It's not that far away, and there are often special airfares from Minneapolis.

- Antarctica: Honestly, this is at the top of my list, and it would probably be the most expensive destination. We would do this by cruise, and we'd have to pay a lot to get onto a ship that would actually let us go ashore. If I can't set foot on the continent, then I'm not going. I expect this one would cost us at least $20,000, so if we do go, it won't be for at least a couple years.

- New Zealand and Samoa: the little lady would probably be happiest with this one. She's half-Samoan and has always wanted to see where her mother grew up. Personally, I'm not that interested in Samoa. If my in-laws' food is any indication, then I would be fasting for however long we were there. Also, from my research, it doesn't look like there's much to do there other than hang out at the beach. I don't need to spend a ton of money to get to a nice beach. As for New Zealand, I've been very interested in seeing it ever since I first saw the "Lord of the Rings" movies. The scenery was incredible. Unfortunately, I don't think there's really an active volcano there.

So many options...What would you choose, and why?