Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
FAMILY breaks are usually determined by two factors - money, or the lack thereof, and compromise.
While there are families, I've heard, who plot and plan and save in some admirably systematic way, we sadly did not inherit the plotting, planning and saving gene. As for compromise, we are only four, but it can still be tricky finding a holiday that pleases everyone. Are we especially difficult? I don't think so.
This is what we like: older son, 12, likes action, physical challenges and 'doing exciting stuff'. Younger brother, seven, likes potions, Game Boy and sand. Their dad likes buildings, cities and photography. I like wilderness and reading. We both like walking - lots - but the boys (especially the youngest) hate it.
Jordan nestles excitingly in among Iraq, Syria, Israel, the West Bank and Lebanon. We do our research and discover that Jordan is, according to our Rough Guide, one of the safest countries in the Middle East by a long way.
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (in Arabic, Al Mamlakeh Al Urduniyyeh Al Hashmiyyeh) is a relative newcomer to mass tourism compared with its near neighbour Egypt.
But it has much to offer; it's an archeologist's dream, littered as it is with ruins and significant sites, none more spectacular than the extraordinary Petra, a 2,000-year-old city carved out of glowing pink sandstone which is Jordan's prime attraction.
For families, it's a slightly unusual destination, though it now features in most family operators' brochures. We only came across a handful of British families when we were there, admittedly early in the season, but it is increasingly popular among those looking for a more adventurous holiday, though nothing too extreme, and Jordanians are famously welcoming towards children.
When I ask my youngest what he enjoyed most about the holiday, he says the fact that everyone liked him so much.
We start our journey with a trip to the Dead Sea. When we arrive, it's a turbulent, oily, frothing mass. At 400m below sea level, it is the lowest point on earth and is renowned for its extraordinary buoyancy.
A friend has warned us that if our heads go under we will die due to the concentration of salt. (Whereas normal sea water is three or four per cent salt, the Dead Sea is over 30.) Only three species of bacteria and one of algae survive in this environment. We will not.
On other days we visit a 12th Century castle in the market town of Kerak and climb up Mount Nebo.
There are views towards Jerusalem, Jericho, Bethlehem - I can't quite believe what I'm seeing. Then there's Petra, the legendary rose red city of the ancient Nabatean people, which lies hidden from sight in a remote valley in the Shara mountains in the south.
Like the Pyramids or the Grand Canyon, it's breathtaking in its scale and beauty, but for a seven-year-old with little legs it's an exhausting day out. Our guide takes pity on him; a donkey is found and he sees the rest of Petra in comfort.
The climax of our holiday, however, is Wadi Rum, the desert where Lawrence of Arabia was filmed. If we had done nothing else all week - all year even - this extraordinary landscape of pinks and reds, with its flats and dunes and sudden bulbous rocky outcrops would have more than satisfied us. All of us.
For the adults it is a thrilling environment as otherworldly as the moon and as beautiful as anything we have laid eyes upon. For the boys, it is an amazing desert playground with rock climbing and camp fires, camel rides and jeep safaris.
