Why the “Worldwide” Travel Alert is Bullish*t
I suppose you’ve seen the US State Department Travel Alert for the whole damned world.
The whole world? Really?
The first time I saw this scroll by on my Facebook feed I rolled my eyes and thought, “‘Merica! Does it again. Ugh.”
The second time it was accompanied by a worried note from a mama friend who wants to send her lovely 18 year old daughter to Europe with mine this summer; it read: “So… what does this mean, exactly?”
“Stay in Colfax, Indiana.” One commenter added.
“It makes me want to get on a plane and fly home!” Another, who apparently is abroad at the moment, added.
Since then I’ve been getting progressively more annoyed.
The more I think about it, and the more I read the various reactions to this move by a government agency that is supposed to be a resource for travelers around the world (because it’s not just US citizens that pay attention to these alerts and warnings) the more disappointed and angry I become.
If you’ve read the warning and are one of the people cowering, keep reading.
If you’ve read the warning and rolled your eyes, like I did, keep reading, because those of us who know better need to equip ourselves to combat this kind of bullshit.
That’s right. A Travel Alert issued for the whole world is bullshit.
It’s a lazy, CYA, move
First of all, this is a lazy, ass-covering move by frightened officials somewhere in the US government.
The world looks scary right now, if all you do is watch it through the boob-tube instead of actually living in it. Hell, sometimes it’s scary when you do actually live in it.
I’ve been in gun-pointing situations while traveling that have made me twitchy. I’ve had tea with real live extremists who spent the hour laughing maniacally and making jokes about killing Americans. Yes. Really. We kept my husband’s citizenship on the lowdown that afternoon.
Scary, however, doesn’t justify reactionary blanket statements that freak everyone out even further.
Paris was a tragedy. So was Beiruit. So was Mali. So was the plane in Egypt. So is the rising death toll in the Syrian refugee crisis. So is the skyrocketing death toll due to the runaway gun problem in the USA… which, by the way, has claimed far more lives this year than the terrorists who are getting so much press coverage.
Did you know that the UK Foreign Travel Advice page for the USA includes warnings related to terrorism and gun violence. Mmmhm. How does it feel to be on the receiving end?
Here’s the thing:
It’s totally legit, and it’s their job, to put out carefully researched travel alerts & warnings in response to real intelligence on a particular place. Syria is currently too dangerous for tourism. Duh. As much as I’d like to walk across Iran alone, now is not the time. We get it. Please, do issue legitimate warnings.
However, to start shouting alerts about “the whole world” is worse than lazy, it’s insidious. They aren’t doing their jobs. They’re behaving in a reactionary manner. They are not providing any real or actionable information.
I am currently in Canada, on an island with 1400 people and three times as many cattle. Dangerous? I think not. Sweden? Singapore? Lichtenstein? Australia? Vietnam? These places are now being warned against because some yahoos in Paris, Beirut, and a handful of other places lost their minds? That makes no sense at all.
This warning is the State Department attempting to cover their asses, “just in case” something else happens, so they can say, “See! We warned you!” That’s bullshit.
It’s fear mongering
Also, it’s fear mongering. I’m sorry, but there is no reason to lump Bhutan in with threats that might be posed by Boko Haram.
Why would they do that?
Why would they want to make the population more afraid?
Think about that for a second. Really think about it, because the answer to that question: THAT is what scares the shit out of me.
Fear sells, doesn’t it?
It sells stuff, but it also sells political agendas. Surprise, surprise, we’re in the process of choosing presidential candidates on both sides in the ramp up to next year’s election. So who benefits from the fear?
I’ll leave you to work that out for yourself.
It’s damaging to the economies, which is just what terrorists would like
Worse than being a CYA move and an attempt to control people through fear, this warning has the potential to seriously damage economies. Tourist dollars matter. To Paris. To Mexico City. To Toronto. By needlessly “warning” against the safety of travel to places where absolutely no justification of that alert can be made, the US government is affecting those economies. Directly.
Don’t you think that the extremists of the world, who’d like nothing more than to remake it in their own twisted images, wouldn’t love, more than anything else, to contribute to the financial ruin of the places they see themselves at war with?
Well done, America. You’ve just played right into their hands. Increasing fear, and an economic impact is exactly what they are hoping for.
Travel is exactly what this world needs
Furthermore, travel is the antidote to so many of the things that plague us: fear, misunderstanding, a lack of compassion, extremism in all of its forms. The argument could be made (and I’ve made it before) that the best thing we could do for our kids, in the world moving forward, is to let them live within a peaceful Muslim community for long enough to get comfortable. It was one of the best things we’ve done for ours.
By making this dumb-ass blanket warning against the entire world, the US is effectively saying that we should hunker down at home and wait this out. We don’t want to let anyone in, because they might hurt us. We don’t want to venture out, because they might hurt us. So let’s all stay home with people who look like us, and think like us, and make sure nothing interferes with our neatly little boxed version of the world, shall we? This, my friends, is what’s wrong with America in one government issued statement.
Au contraire.
I say, travel.
- Get out there.
- See stuff.
- Be smart.
- Be safe, of course, but see the world.
- Ask questions.
- Tell your stories.
- Hear their stories.
- Find the common ground.
- Seek understanding.
Take your kids to Paris, in spite of the terror attacks, and having meaningful interactions with locals, like my friend Stacey did. Let your kids plan their summer trips in Europe and do it knowing that the odds are in your favour, and that giving them the time and the encouragement to travel might just be the antidote to all of this horror in the next generation.
The State Department couldn’t have it more wrong, what the world needs now, is travel.
Data driven decisions, over fear
Why the heck is the American public so reactionary? We couldn’t be any more knee jerk in chorus if there was a conductor standing in front of us with a raised baton.
I remember learning that this country was built on religious freedom, the separation of church and state, the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, the acceptance of immigrants, independent opportunity, and optimism. Aren’t those the things that made America great?
The land of the Free and the home of the Brave!
Where the heck did that go?
Why are we now ruled by fear?
I have made a commitment in my life, personally, to make data driven decisions.
What that means is that I have to work a little harder. I have to be willing to educate myself and gather that data. It means that I have to commit to suspending my choice of emotional state until I have an understanding of the situation. No knee jerk fear.
Let me help you out with a couple of snappy infographics, as they relate to terrorism:
The big question: “What are you going to do?”
And what am *I* going to do?
I’ll tell you what I’m going to do.
I’m going to actively not worry about my son, who, at 17, is on a three month sea expedition that began in France, carried him to Italy, Spain, Morocco and the Canary Islands before pushing off to cross the Atlantic. When he finally reaches this side of the ocean he’ll island hop for a while more.
I’m going to fly to Antigua Barbuda in two weeks for a week’s winter holiday with my husband.
I’m pushing ahead with travel plans for 2016 that I’m hoping will include Spain, India, Guatemala, the USA and Canada, at least.
I’m encouraging my well traveled and capable daughter to grab her friend by the hand and hop trains across Europe, again, next summer if she wants to.
I’m allowing my 15 year old to travel (alone) to Guatemala this winter to work on a nutrition project that matters to him, in a backwater town we love in the highlands.
You can do what you want.
You can stay home and be afraid. Or, you can continue to live your life free, and brave. In making those choices I’d encourage you to make data driven decisions and to ask a couple of key questions:
- Who benefits from my fear?
- What can I do, in my life, to help humanity move past this?
And please, by all means, argue with me in the comments. :)
Photo Credit: João Silas
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On Your Terms is a publication by Tortuga, makers of the ultimate travel backpack.
