I read a whole issue like that on Libya on a trans-Atlantic (no pun intended) flight for a Christmas party in London. Couldn't decide where to go for the break, so figured I'd hit Libya, but it was too opaque trying to sort out how to acquire a visa, so I went to Tunisia instead. Then the revolution and the whole Arab Spring kicked off, hah!
I almost went to North Africa and the Middle East in September, 2001, just because it would have been a fun and obscure trip (probably would have skipped Libya, but Tunisia/etc. for classical reasons).
Yeah, I knew people who were in Saudi during it. I would have felt safer as an American in most of those countries than as an Arab in the US, immediately post-9/11. I think there was a news article about some westerners in Yemen post-9/11; the people they were with were quite kind.
It still would have sucked for travel, and would have been pretty scary.
