So many times before we leave for a big trip, something significant happens in the world. As of late, it’s more terrorist related, but it could be anything from a plane crash to a bridge collapse. Regardless of the significant event, I have an onslaught of friends/ colleagues/ random strangers tell me that the world is too crazy to leave the US and that I should cancel my trips indefinitely. I always respond in the same way — “I appreciate your concern for my well being and safety, but this isn’t my first rodeo. We are very aware travelers and take all the safety precautions that we can, however we cannot and will not allow any of these happenings to scare us away from our dreams”.
But every once in a while multiple significant events happen in a small time period before a trip (ie. Bombing in London, bombing in Manchester, stabbing in Paris, attempted bombing in Paris, cars driving into large crowds in London, etc) that it starts to put a tiny speck of doubt in my mind. Are we doing the right thing? Are these random strangers right? But then I wake up the next morning to a train crash in Portland, a shooting in California and a triple homicide right here in St. Louis.
Perspective.
There are people everywhere that want to cause harm just to cause harm. It’s not because it’s a democracy, or a dictatorship, or a Socialist country, or a Muslim country. It’s because there are inherently bad people in the world. A difficult concept to comprehend in a world that constantly stereotypes these ‘bad’ people to a specific population of people. Not all Christians are good, not all Muslims are bad, not all white people are racist, not all African Americans are criminals, etc. At the risk of becoming too political, I’ll end with this — If people would just start looking at the good in people rather than focusing on the bad (or more often the perceived bad), the world would be a much happier (and I’d argue, safer) place to live.
P.S. If you live in the US and travel outside the country, I strongly recommend you sign up for the STEP program through the Department of State. This program allows you to place your travel into the State’s system just in case anything significant were to happen while you are traveling. For example, if you are in India and there is a massive earthquake in the town you are staying in, the State will know that an American is located in the rubble and they need to send aid. It’s a no-brainer. Just sign up! https://step.state.gov/step/
P.P.S. We leave tomorrow!! Nothing but travel posts going forward!
