BootsnAll Travel Community

I was on the U.S. State Department website reading the travel advisories and came across one that talked about travelers being kidnapped, murdered...etc. I was also talking to a friend who mentioned that she had a friend go to South Africa for a honeymoon and was killed....anyway, all sorts of stuff.

I know the world is a much safer place than most people think it is, and I also know that the common advice is just to be smart about your surroundings like you would anywhere at home, and you're fine.

But after reading and thinking about all this...I've been overcome with this really weird feeling...almost like a premonition that something horrible WILL happen to me on my upcoming trip. Has anyone ever felt this? I've never felt this way before. It's not just a feeling of apprehension, either...I'm scared, not to travel and leave home, but of dying. I can't believe I just wrote that.

Ugh, I sound so wimpy. But like even right now I can see the headlines, "Traveler predicted his own demise on a Bootsnall message board."

quote:

Originally posted by rydmcalboy:
Ugh, I sound so wimpy. But like even right now I can see the headlines, "Traveler predicted his own demise on a Bootsnall message board."

LOL.

I guess I can relate. I feel that way too sometimes. All I can say is.... shit happens. Really bad shit can happen to you when you travel. A friend of mine was murdered while traveling. And really bad shit can happen at home -- my cousin ran for her life across the Brooklyn Bridge on 9/11.

But the only thing you can do is to accept it and keep on with your life. Know it is really truly deeply unlikely to happen to you while traveling. Or tomorrow. We all die sometime, and when it's your time it's just your time. Death is part of why we live, death gives our lives closure and richness, if you want to look at it that way.

I dunno rydmcalboy. Also know that you are strong enough to survive even horrible things.

Perhaps what you are fearing is simply the unknown? The not-knowing is usually a good thing, and usually the unknown is simply lots and lots of mundane boring life, the surprise-I-forgot-to-not-wash-that-red-top-and-now-my-clothes-are-all-pink stuff, or surprise-my-favorite-sushi-shop-is-out-of-business, not terrorist attacks.

Do your research on the places you're going to. Ask people for their first hand experiences. You'll learn that most places are not as bad as the State Dept says. These boards are an excellent research tool.

I think there is some initial fear when you read the state department advisories and don't have the travel experience. I admit that I was nervous going to South America solo (female traveler). But then I asked other people and other females who had done it and had no problems. With every story I heard, I grew more confident in knowing that I'd be okay.

If the fear overcomes you, then you won't enjoy your trip. Heck, you won't even want to leave your comfy home. Life is an adventure, so live it. Otherwise, you'll never know what's out there...

The chances of you dying are slim. The longer you're on the road, yeah, something may happen (but I'm not talking death). But still pretty slim depending on the place and situation.

I've been drugged. I've been robbed. I've survived. And I still travel. And I still travel alone.

You have to make the most of it, even in the down times. There are some great lessons to be learned out there. And some amazing people to meet.

Do your research!!!

^^ Marisa put it much more succintly than me. Ditto.

Christina what happened to your friend??

Marisa when you say "do your research," do you mean reading about what the unsafe areas are or what common scams are? Or just knowing how public transportation works...etc.?

You'll be fine. Even if you're not, like you said, it will make for a really cool headline after the fact and the story will be told forever. Either way is cool.

I work for the State Department and I've said this on the boards before. Don't worry so much about the travel warnings and advisories. Not that there isn't some great information in there, but those are worst case scenarios. I don't work for the section that issues them, but I can tell you why you always read the worst stuff possible in them: the no double standard act. (I don't remember if that is the official name.)

Basically, when Pan Am Flight 103 was blown up over Lockerbie it came out that the government had concerns that potential terrorist acts were going to target airliners. Therefore, embassies warned their employees to avoid certain flights. However, that information wasn't properly distributed to Americans in general and there was a lot of fallout. Now, State issues all sorts of warnings and advice so that the USG can't be accused in the future of holding back. I work in an embassy overseas and we get security warnings all the time. Most of them seem silly to us because we live here and no what to expect, but we pay attention none the less.

That was a long way of saying that just because bad things happen somewhere doesn't mean they happen often. Just use a little common sense. Now, if you're thinking of vacationing in Mogadishu and the State Department is advising against it, you might think hard about your plans. However, if you want to go to Cancun and you read that a tourist was shot and killed there...well, who knows the whole story. Maybe the tourist was drunk and decided to pick a fight with a group of bikers outside a bar. There were 10,000 other tourists that night who were just fine.

I felt like that too at the start of my trip. Took me 3 hours to get out of Sao Paulo airport because I was convinced I was going to be instantly murdered or mugged or something. I`ve become way more relaxed now 7 months in, even arriving places at night.
I went almost 7 months before anything got robbed off me. Think I`m happier that I expected it to happen sooner, and I survived so long!

I feel like that every time I go somewhere! On my last 4 month solo girl trip I was convinced starting about a month before my trip that I needed to make funeral arrangements. And then I get there and it's fine and the feeling of doom goes away.

Not to discount your feelings at all because I'm all about listening to your gut, but judging from your post, you (like I very often do) read things and got yourself worked up and it feels very real. So my advice would be to go, and if this feeling of impending doom grows/doesn't go away once you get going and start having a good time (and forgetting what people who have never been out of the US scare themselves with), then be more careful, or...you'd have to decide then. Likely though, you'll start feeling much better.

I think I posted almost this exact thing on this forum a couple of years ago and someone said "You're going to die sometime. Would you rather die driving to work on a Monday morning in your hometown?" Someone I know died recently right here in my hometown walking out of a bar everyone I know goes to every weekend and getting stabbed by some 17 year old crackhead, for no reason. It can happen anywhere, but violent crime is really more prevalent here in the US than lots of places in the world (unless you're from elsewhere and are traveling to the USA and I just scared you more, oops!).

Anyway, hope it helps a little that someone else has felt exactly this way (probably lots of people feel this way) and didn't, in fact, die or have anything horrible happen!

quote:

Originally posted by rydmcalboy:
Christina what happened to your friend??

I'm sorry, that was really not the thing to say when you were talking about reading state department warnings + feeling fearful.

To answer your question... My friend Julia was hiking alone in a small town in the Philippines that many tourists hike in -- Batad. I had just been hiking there 2 days before her, and it's a very peaceful place, widely considered safe by both Filipinos and Westerners. Frankly, I think that's exactly why she went hiking on her own there.

She physically bumped into a man on the trail who had a long-running beef with a neighbor and he says he thought she was him and was so enraged that he picked up a rock and bludgeoned her to death. He hid for a week then turned himself in to the police.

It's horribly sad. But it's also just a freak event. It's about as random as that poor tourist from Texas who got stabbed in the Times Square area here in NYC a year or 2 ago by some random crazy person. It's not something that really happens here .... but it happened to him.

I think what everyone is saying is closer to your concerns. I'm afraid I've just given you reasons to feel more afraid. But what I'm trying to say is that although danger exists in the world, the chances of something truly dangerous happening to you is extremely slim. And what everyone else is saying is that, as a traveler, the more you educate yourself about known risks, scams, political unrest, learn how to carry yourself, etc, it becomes even less likely. And that the bad feelings you have are common to feel, but they go away once you see how normal other parts of the world are for yourself.

I'm sorry if I freaked you out. Honestly there isn't any more reason to be than there is staying at home. Cliche, but true.

When I say do your research, read everything you can about the places you're going to. Ready about common scams -- good to know ahead of time, ask people who have been there about their experiences - the good, the bad, the amazing. Learn about the culture(s). Learn about the local political situation. I usually find an online news site for the place I'm going to visit to see a more intimate picture of what's going on there. If you can't read it..then it may be time to learn a new language. Knowing how public transport works is good, but is something that can be figured out when you're there just as well.

The pre-trip research is really to calm your fears. To educate yourself. To get excited about what your trip may hold. To learn about things you want to see, cultures you want to learn about. To make you look forward to it -- maybe a bit nervous, but with much less fear. Focus on the positives.

You'll be fine.

Good stuff.

Also, rydmcalboy, you say you are from the SF Bay Area. Pick up the SF Chronicle tomorrow, which will be running several front page stories about the shootings/gang problems/tiger maulings/assaults/etc. Put it in perspective.

Probably no more dangerous on the road than it is here.

Annie makes the best point. You're much less likely to be killed by a tiger overseas than in San Francisco. Or so I hear.

You guys are too funny.

Ok; I'm actually feeling a little better... Letting common sense prevail is just easier said than done I suppose. It really helps to hear how others have felt so I hope people keep posting.

I do have to say trying to work through this really highlights for me the bravery seasoned travelers really have, on lots of levels.

I was very moved by your entry because I've felt the same way. When I was boarding the plane to Japan in August, I just felt like the plane could crash or something. Who knows why? It was fine. I was fine. No worries after all.

Another thought I had: When I was in Tanzania on a cross African continent trip, we were camped out on the edge of a game park. A ranger came by and told us that armed groups had come through and robbed groups like ours. Some of us started to worry and thought maybe we should move to a more "official" campsite. Our group leader, said hey, you've been in much more dangerous campsites in the last 3 months on this trip than here. It's just nobody ever bothered to warn us before. And it's true. After that, we relaxed.

Like others point out, you can see danger in your local town. We could all get hit by a car crossing the street. Probably not, but we could - statistically it's not a bad chance. Better than the lottery.

My philosophy now is to live well. Enjoy the travel, enjoy life. Don't worry about what could happen. If I die when travelling, at least people will say that I died doing what I love.

(Still, it's never bad to read travel advisories just to know what you're up against in the world...) information = power.

Have a great trip!

I've spent a lot of time in the developing world over the past couple of years and I've found that while there is always a chance of danger it is often no worse than what you face at home.

The vast majority of people are just like you and will treat you well and help you in times of need. That said there are a bad people and also people who are forced by desperation to do bad things. If you educate yourself upfront it will help prepare you, but don't read everything bad to the point that it scares you off the road . When you get on the road use common sense and follow your instincts to stay out of trouble.

To some degree I would also say it's good to lighten up on reading the scary warnings. Before my first trip to Africa I picked up a copy of Lonely Planet's Healthy Travel Africa. A few mins of reading that book and I was wondering how anyone lasts five minutes in Africa. Safety warnings can be the same way, they are great education tools but don't read too many of them.

On a more personal note I spent two weeks in Central Africa this summer and came away with no issues, other than a close call with an antelope that charged me which is a whole other story. I came home and went back to work and five days later fell while running for a subway train in New York and ended up in the Hospital. Basically bad things can happen at home just as easy as they an on the road, be safe, be sane and don't let your worries get the best of you.

It's funny because I felt the same feeling after reading those travel advisories...and coming across the missing persons reports on thorntree, etc...but then I wake up the next day and read an inspriring blog, or travelouge and it all goes away. I traveled in SE Asia a lot when I lived there, as a teen, I was very naive yet I encountered nothing but incredibly helpful people and never had a bad or dangerous experience. I guess it's the "wrong place at the wrong time" really, I'd risk everything to travel before I'd stay at home because of fear. Have a good trip! I'm jealous and can't wait to travel again!

(oh and cheers to christina and her Chuck Norris sig! Macgyver can build an airplane out of gum and paper clips, but Chuck Norris can kill him and take it. )

~kailani

Relax man.

It's scary as hell the first times you fling yourself into the deep-end, (especially alone) but the scariness quickly turns into a kind of pleasant boredom. (I'm serious.)

I would advise you NOT to read the security warnings. They're legalistic claptrap anyway and they'll do nothing but scare you needlessly. Yes, it's good to be informed, but try and get this from your fellow traveler, not from the Government.

I had panic attacks the first time I ever took a trip by myself. But 48 hours later I was swimming with the current. Trust in yourself. Live in the moment.

There is no past and no future, there is only the eternal now.

(Yes, I've been reading too much Zen philosophy.)

FCO

I tend to look at the FCO travel advisory because it seems a little more reasonable on some of the warnings and it updates daily while the US travel advisory tends to be outdated.

yeah we hear a lot of crap about guat, from guide books and other travelers here, but we have not faced any dangerous situation whatsoever thus far. there is risk everywhere just be smart about what you are doing and be aware.

feeling of doom= arriving in panajachel in the dark with no electicity, braving hurricane force winds for the next 3 days with no power, and then feeling an earthquake on the 3 day. i thought the world was ending in san pedro hehe

Think it's safe here?

Consider the warnings other countries give their citizens about travel to the U.S.

See: http://thewidewideworld.com/2008/01/21/passport-to-the-world/