Comments on: The world’s most dangerous place: our own imagination?

By: Andy Jarosz

Andy Jarosz — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 17:04:15 +0000

Thanks for your comments Rebecca. You’re absolutely right. Even in our own cities we need to stay safe and be careful. And yes, we can play a part in opening people’s minds to the fact that the world isn’t full of people trying to kill us, and that in fact in most countries we’re welcomed with warm hospitality.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 05:33:19 +0000

Such a great, insightful post! I find this too – and mostly the negative comments come from people who haven’t travelled – whether because they don’t want to, they limit themselves to “safe” countries or whether circumstance doesn’t allow them to travel. But as travel bloggers we have an opportunity to show people the world and let them know it’s a safe, wonderful, fascinating place.

I travelled to South Africa recently and had people throwing all sorts of statistics about crime rates at me before I left. Then when I returned, the first question I was asked was “did anything bad happen to me?”

And when I went to East Timor – well, there were quite a few freaked out people!

But by telling people about the wonderful people I met, the amazing things I saw, hopefully I’m opening up their minds to new experiences and new information.

Of course, wherever you go – even here in my home town of Melbourne! – you have to be safe.

Thanks for the post!

By: Andy Jarosz

Andy Jarosz — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 21:46:32 +0000

Thanks to all for the interesting comments. The stories are familiar – of those fearing for our lives when we travel to places with far lower crime rates than we leave behind in our home towns. The fear of the unknown.. it’s a powerful force and keeps so many people from leaving their perceived safety zone. I guess this gives those in Egypt/Thailand elsewhere the chance to explore without swarms of visitors?

By: Mara

Mara — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 13:27:28 +0000

Couldn’t agree with you more, Andy. Everyone thought I was crazy moving to Egypt….safest place I’ve ever been. On the other handI have no wish to visit America because of 3 concepts my own imagination works on because of the films, sit-coms etc. on TV…
1. Fear of small towns ‘cos the sheriff might be the bad guy with the power to make me disappear!
2. Wouldn’t want my kids to go to school there because of the bullying and the “hazin”i(initiation rites).
3. Gangsters, drug wars, murders, corruption (from all the crime films set in America that our media is filled with these day)

Well, where else am I to get my “programming’ from? Wonder if the film makers and TV producers are aware of the effect this has on the minds of “foreigners” like me! ?

By: Guurrbi

Guurrbi — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 00:55:34 +0000

Another great article, Andy. Thank you! Reminds me of being advised by Avis in Hua Hin not to drive in rural Thailand without a gun (we went anyway and were met with nothing but kindness); and being told in Panama it was too dangerous to travel on Colombian buses (we did and found the Colombian people the friendliest and most welcoming on the continent). And the only place I’ve ever been robbed or burgled? London. Three times!

By: Ruth

Ruth — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 16:39:29 +0000

My husband and I had the same fear questions about our trip to Dubai, but we felt safer there walking around at night than we do in our home city and everyone was really wonderful. We tend to visit “unusual” places by the standards of most of our family and friends so we enjoy breaking those fear myths for them and encouraging everyone to get out and explore.

By: mugs

mugs — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 10:57:22 +0000

very interesting comments. i guess its all the media and Cultural tension. I myself am spanish and have heard very negative things about morroco. Even my brother in law who travelled there last year, was scared shitless b4 he got on the plane. thining that he was going to get robbed in teh exact moment he landed. I can’t blaim him, because he has been living in spain all his life (Unot like me) and believes this “local rumour” abut morrocans being dangerous and dodgy. my bro in law and myself have both come back from morroo happier than ever. proving this “spanish/local belief” being false. NO problems no violence . nothing. In fact, i wouldnt mind retiring in the rif mountains when i get older.

By: Sherry Ott

Sherry Ott — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 18:37:45 +0000

Absolutely – nice post and well put. That fear keeps us strapped down to our lazy-boys experiencing the world through our flat screen tv rather than seeing it for ourselves. Fear is powerful. The question is – do you want it to have power over you?

By: Walther A. de Carvalho

Walther A. de Carvalho — Mon, 31 May 2010 03:06:43 +0000

I always thought like you. I live in the northern Brazil state of Pará, near the Amazon jungle. And yet never understood why some people believe we are all Indians. I do not walk the canoe through the streets of my city. Where I live, we study science, we have universities, movies, malls and we can read and speak English. I know that we also have violence, as anywhere in the world. Violence is associated with social problems, educational deficiencies and poverty.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Sun, 30 May 2010 23:29:35 +0000

Carlo makes an excellent point. Mexico gets a similar bad rap, thanks in part to what the U.S. media chooses to cover, mainly the drug wars and swine flu. I have spent considerable time in Mexico over the past three years, and I can’t tell you how many times someone in the United States has expressed concern for my safety. I know that they mean well, but like Argentina, Mexico is a huge country. Sure, there are dangerous areas, just like anywhere. I’ve witnessed more crime on the street in San Francisco than I ever have in Puebla, which is more than twice its size (in population). It saddens me to think that travelers would skip this beautiful Colonial city and other worthwhile places in Mexico out of fear, or just because there’s trouble hundreds of miles away at the border.