Social media is a flutter with the story of a 6th American tourist who has died in the Dominican, and anytime a prominent person is murdered while traveling, or a pretty young white girl, or if there is a terrorist attack I hear people (since I'm American it is mostly Americans) express a lot of fear about how dangerous travel to these countries is.
I hear it from endless family members anytime I am taking a trip to Europe {there doesn't even need to be a recent scary event} and at first my hackles rise and I can feel frustration and irritation rise up. Then I try to quiet them with tolerance and the fact that these people are just afraid of what they don't know which is an incredibly human reaction.
To help put things in perspective I wanted to share this visual:
As the article points out (the original can be found HERE) humans are notoriously terrible at assessing risk.
It's why you remember Natalee Holoway {pretty blonde high schooler killed in Aruba if you forgot} and think of the dangerous locals you can encounter when you travel, and you don't give a second thought about eating a hamburger and fries when your grandpa died at 59 from a heart attack {insert appropriate health issue that led to death in your family. Everyone has one}.
It's why parents are terrified about kidnappers, and yet have a pool in their backyard or let kids run free at the lake when the likelihood of drowning is significantly higher than kidnapping.
We {myself included} engage in irrational fears all the while participating in activities that have a much higher likelihood of causing us harm. For instance I'm enjoying a glass of wine whilst writing this article, and yet I'm far more afraid of being killed by a shark than by overindulging in cabernet sauvignon. {see chart below to understand how silly this is}
Travel is not dangerous.
NO MATTER WHERE YOU GO {and provided you take appropriate precautions}
I've heard nothing but amazing things from females who traveled solo throughout Asia and felt entirely comfortable.
I've gone zip lining in Costa Rica and lived to tell the tale.
I have friends who have traveled to Iran and absolutely loved it. They met amazing people and were not afraid for their safety once.
I lived in Sofia, Bulgaria for 2 months and never once did I face a near kidnapping by a communist.
I know many who have gone on religious pilgrimages to Israel and came back with life changing experiences.
The bottom line: Please do not let your fears keep you from traveling {or doing anything you really dream of doing}.
The magic of travel is that you do feel out of your element, a little off kilter, and even a little uncomfortable. BUT when you finish you realize all the experiences you had made that slight bit of discomfort so worth it. You also realize that you grew significantly through the experience.
To me it's like a drug. And once I was hooked there was no way I could ever go back to the way things had been. So just give it a try. Pick a place and try stepping outside your comfort zone.
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