Crime and Terrorism
Fear of Being a Victim of CRIME, VIOLENCE or TERRORISM
When you start thinking about making that dream trip of yours a reality, it’s not unusual to suddenly come up with lots of reasons why you shouldn’t do it.
We have an instinctive fear of change and the unknown that may have the benefit of protecting us from the dangers of misadventure. At home, in our familiar environment, we’re not exposed to lots of uncertainties but as we get ready to embark on something new and a bit different, the fears start to show up.
You start to notice scary things out there in the unfamiliar world. And if your area of fear is crime and violence (we all have our different concerns), that’s what your worries will be about.
“Fear makes strangers of people who would be friends”
Shirley MacLaine
Of course, there is crime and violence in the world, probably in your own environment as well, but when you’re in your familiar surrounding, you know what to do, how to act, where to go and where not to go, and maybe feel a bit more familiar with the people that surround you.
If this concern is something that’s preying on your mind, one thing you can do is to educate yourself.
In travel books and on travel sites you can immerse yourself in information and advice on everything from how to behave in different situations and different places around the world to stay safe, to what’s the best lock to put on your backpack.
Talking to people who have done lot of traveling, and hearing about their experiences, is of course something that we always recommend.
If you’re really concerned and want to increase your self confidence in this area, you could even take a course in self defense. Most probably, you will never have to use what you learn, but if it helps you feel safer, and better able to travel, it can be worth considering.
It is also worth noticing that the most violence happens between people who know each other. And the place where you run the biggest risk of being a victim of violence is in your own home (especially if you are a woman or child).
Another thing you can do is to stop watching the TV news and reading newspapers. Since the focus in the media is primarily on “the bad things” in the world, it’s easy to get discouraged and start thinking that the best and safest thing to do is to stay at home.
It’s important to remember though, that we seldom see headlines about all the fantastic, marvelous and positive things that happen around the world every day, every minute and every second.
The most common crimes that affect travelers are different forms of economic crime. Someone thinks that you have more than you need and wants to have a piece of it….
We remember ourselves, with happy embarrassment, one time when we were in southern Spain on our way across the border to Gibraltar. A man with great authority stepped up to our car and put a piece of paper on our windscreen and announced that it was something we needed to be allowed across the border and it cost us a certain an amount. We paid gladly only to realize, when the person had quickly disappeared, that the important paper was an old lottery ticket….
Fear of being a victim of a terrorist action is something that has become more common during recent years.
Terrorism does exist. And the same goes for other anxieties such as disease, crime, accidents. The question is, how big are the risks really and are they a good reason to stay at home and avoid doing things you like and want to do?
“Conflict… what if we are both right?”
Loesje
By the way, is home safer? As we have seen, bad things can happen everywhere.
There are of course areas and places in the world which are considered more risky and places which are considered safer, so if this is something that’s worrying you, why not choose your destination accordingly?
You can, for example, find updated recommendations at each country’s Foreign Offices and you can check on the internet if you want to study this in detail. Lots of information can also be found on these pages:
http://travel.state.gov/travel/travel_1744.html
http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travelling-and-living-overseas/
And remember, our world is big and there are an innumerable number of fantastic places to experience and in most of them you probably won’t need to be worried about these issues for a second.
Furthermore, this is an area where we really think that it’s more important to focus on solutions instead of the problem.
That may mean not giving in to fear, which, as we see it, is the reason that this problem exists in the first place.
Traveling gives us a fantastic opportunity to meet people from different cultures, religions, and social levels. Meeting people in real life is a great way to help us to see and realize that behind those and other superficial differences like color, language, clothing, living circumstances, we are all rather alike.
We all have about the same basic needs and values. We need food to eat and a safe place to live. We want to love and to be loved. We want to take care of our families and friends and we want to be happy.
“Perhaps travel can not prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all people cry, laugh, eat, worry and die, it can introduce the idea, that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends”
Maya Angelou
We are bombarded all the time with pictures and opinions from the media and from our surroundings which can easily make us think that people and places foreign to us are something to be afraid of, as something that may be a threat to us or something we must protect ourselves against.
When you travel and become friends with people on the other side of the world (or in a neighboring country or maybe even in your own) you quickly realize how much we have in common.
We are all human beings and the more of us who have a chance to experience that, the bigger the chance that we will be able to live without thinking we have to fight each other. Who wants to kill a friend?
Or as travel guru Edward Hasbrouk says it:
“At the end of the day, our safety and security depend most of all on understanding the world – understanding that is the result, above all else, of the direct personal contact, experiences and learning that result from international travel.”
With regard to all the different fears we may have that prevent us from going out into the world and doing the things we are dreaming about, take a look at what fear or fears you associate with traveling.
Study that specific area, gather facts, read about it, and talk to people who have experience of it. Learn how you can prepare yourself, how you can protect yourself and consider if it is really a risk at all.
And remember – just because you are afraid of something does not make it dangerous.
Just think of how many people are terrified just at the thought of getting up on a stage and speaking in front of an audience. It may be terrifying, yes, but that doesn’t mean that it’s dangerous.
Also, if you work with these things and still find yourself afraid, you can always choose to take the step and make your journey anyway, because, as the saying goes:
“Courage is to feel the fear and do it anyway”
