The only thing more certain than absence to make the heart grow fonder is enforced absence. With this in mind, Travel Industry Today has asked readers to reveal their bucket list, or all-time favourite, destinations that are lingering in their minds while waiting for the world to welcome travellers again. Wolf Paunic, president, Trafalgar Canada, weighs in in our continuing series with Israel.

As I’ve never been to Israel, I would say that without any hesitation that the middle eastern country is the No. 1 future destination on my personal wish list.

Here are five key inspirations for such a choice:

1. Layers of history, displayed through the sites and stories of the evolution of Mediterranean civilizations, antiquity and mighty empires of its days: Rome or Ottoman Empire among others…

2. The multi-faith spiritual significance and gravitas Israel carries. Post-crises, a bit of self-reflection, exploration of one’s tradition and belief, and an opportunity to put it into context of other creeds and traditions, is rather unique to Israel.

3. Beaches, social scene, café culture, and fantastic fusion of different food traditions are super attractive.

4. Wonderful choice of activities and individual explorations. My family loves to hike and explore micro-areas with good local histories of past and present times. A combination of visiting archeological sites, followed by a local farm or vineyard, followed by a local hangout with live music and display of distinctive melange of cultures – sign me up!

5. Light, landscapes and the sounds of different languages: Mediterranean light, from Greece, Spain, Italy, Middle East, has unique quality of bright sunlight juxtaposed with wonderful blues and greens of the sea; a landscape dotted with cypress trees and silver-green olive groves, plus a scent of citrus trees; and the hustle, sounds and colours of the traditional old towns, layered with the sound of Hebrew, Arabic and a slew of global languages, is the veritable music of travel.

We welcome contributions: Send yours with the subject line “Where I Want to Go When This Is Over” to baginski@travelindustrytoday.com.

(All submissions are subject to editing for length and style).