Um…40,000 movie screens featuring multiple danger-free showings every day are substantially safer than a stay at a Syrian aid facility.
Of course they are. But that poster states he won’t go anywhere outside of the US because he won’t be safe, while HERE, he doesn’t have to worry about his safety.
Well yes, but are movie theaters safer than Canada, where this poster is also afraid to go?
My nephew has done Doctors Without Borders in countries that are not in conflict with anything recently. I doubt that he would go any country where his security or safety is at risk. Heck his mother didn’t let him apply to Berkeley for the same reason. He is the only heir and there is no spare, well for this brother. The other brother has an heir and a spare, kind of like British royalties.
@Nrdsb4 Yes. My post debunks the notion that movie theaters, post offices and elementary schools in quiet neighborhoods are dangerous places.
It’s interesting that people squeal about their rights, both real and imaginary, but when you leave the borders of the US, many of those rights cease to exist.
JustOneDad, I think the post you’re referring to was in response to this,
which strikes many of us as rather short-sighted considering that the rates of violent crime in the US are higher than those of many other countries. IOW, statistically our kids would be safer in a movie theater or suburban classroom in Italy, Australia or Canada than in their American home towns.
I think the scariest thing is that someone would limit their travel because of ignorance about relative safety of other countries.
Why is it scariest? If you don’t know the area, it’s best not to take risk. I came from such country and my father never let me travelled to a particular resort in my country because of safety concern. It’s a legitimate concern.
Well, actually, I was replying to Nrdsb4.
Comparing “crime rates” across countries is problematic at best. AND, when you are the American in a foreign country, the overall rate does not apply to you.
@JustOneDad, I cross-posted with your later post. I was responding to #40.
True, because your risk of being a victim is usually lower than crime statistics would suggest.
Which had nothing to do with what I was referring to.
Thats why you educate yourself, instead of just throwing up your hands and declaring you will not visit a place you are interested in, because you think it is dangerous.
I was raised by two people, who had many anxieties, and who themselves had been raised by people with many anxieties.
Although I live in an area with lots of lakes and rivers, we rarely swam as a family, and I was not comfortable in the water. When I was 21, I was determined to rid myself of this fear, and took up whitewater river rafting, which was a blast. I still am not a great swimmer, partially because I am extremely nearsighted, which is disconcerting, but I go swimmng every week, and my kids swim, one was even on swim team in high school.
That was a rather mild example, because it didn’t really involve travel, but for example another family member traveled to the mountains of Chile, and lived for almost two years as a missionary while she was taking a leave from college, she had a great experience. The daughter of a friend of ours, ( who are adventurous, but always take calculated risks after research and training), moved to Morocco after college where she currently lives, another friend of our daughters, lived in India, while she did research for her Ph.d, and my aunt lived in northern India for 40 years ( also as a missionary, but different denomination) after she graduated from college.
Youngest went to rural Africa with a local program while she was in high school. They had to bring their own water, but it was a great experience for her.
Interesting that most of the young people I know that are interested in travel are women. My brother did join the military, although he was stateside for most of the time.
I do recognize that people have different levels of adrenaline tolerance. One family member chose to skydive to celebrate a birthday, while I like to celebrate birthdays at a local restaurant with a nice glass of wine. 
Another family member is a firefighter which obviously is a risky profession, and the friend of a friend who is a skilled pilot, is called up when a jet pilot is needed to dump fire retardant in tricky area.
The Blue Angels pilots with their F18’s, have nothing on him!
http://www.khq.com/Clip/11765815/tanker-drops-fire-retardant-behind-chelan-high-school
If you have read about Yosemite, you’ll have heard about the young girl who contracted the plague and the children who were killed by a fallen branch while they slept in their tent. Accidents happen, and you can prepare for them somewhat, however. if you don’t want to live cowering behind your couch, you have to go out and live your life.
It’s true that young people can be very idealistic, and dismissive of actual risk. Gathering information does not have to be with the intent of shutting down the trip, but to prepare yourself for different scenarios. I don’t know if MSF did a sufficient job of this or not, I admit I wouldnt be comfortable with my kids going into a warzone, but I haven’t necessarily been comfortable with a few of the other things they do either. But adults should be free to make their own choices, and make them from an informed rational place, not out of fear.
It was not just anxiety. We had family members who got blown up in a bus on their way to this resort. It’s real and not imagination.
I wasn’t saying all fears are unwarranted. That certainly sounds like a legitimate and terrifying worry. My nephew was sent to this country to live with my brother, who adopted him, after his mother had her car blown up( no one was inside thankfully).
But not to travel because of a blanket fear that it is too dangerous, combined with the belief that traveling in * this* country is always safe, is misguided.
Exactly.
I am one of the biggest “chickens” on the planet, yet I still do force myself to get out of my comfort zone occasionally to travel. I’m afraid to fly, I have a fear of heights, I worry about weird freak accidents, and terrorism abroad. But I’ve had some great experiences abroad as a result of forcing myself to not mentally convince myself that the risk of a given activity is actually greater than the reality.
Right now I’m trying to get my courage up to take the “Peak to Peak” gondola on our upcoming trip to Canada, which is nothing like the risk described in the OP, but to ME is substantial. DH would love to go but probably won’t if I refuse, so I’m mentally assuring myself that while the risk is not zero, it’s not nearly as high as my fearful self tells me it is. It remains to be seen if I’ll actually do it.
That said, I know I could never convince myself to do a MSF or any other similar risky endeavor. My hat is off to those who put their concern for their fellow man so far ahead of self interest.
If the employees at the DWB’s facility in Syria were “flabbergasted” that Mueller showed up with her boyfriend/colleague, then why is it so hard to imagine that some of us would be “flabbergasted” as well? They certainly have first hand knowledge of the dangers that an american female would face in that region. And I have to believe that DWB’s advises their volunteers on the safety of travel in adjacent regions. I still am not sure we have the complete story here. I am a bit suspicious of the boyfriend/colleague who she accompanied. He is Syrian and has refused to speak to the press.
Personally I agree that the efforts of young people like Mueller deserve a certain level of respect, that does not mean that I advocate throwing caution to the wind. Americans are hated in certain regions of the world and traveling to Syria would not be something I would do right now. You can be sure I would do my best to dissuade any family member from doing so as well.
I probably would try to use all of my powers of persuasion to get my child to reconsider going off on a similar mission. However, I don’t tell myself that because I am a parent, my offspring are required to obey me for life. But yeah, I’d probably resort to any kind of emotional tactic I could think of to get either of my Ds to re-think going to a place like Syria. Not necessarily proud of the fact, but there it is.
Nrdsb4, I admit that when my son mentioned to me a few months ago that he’d like to visit Mexico again, all the alarm bells immediately went off in my head and I begged him not to. Even though I’m well aware that there are many places in Mexico that are perfectly safe for tourists, and that he’s 25 and I can’t prevent him from doing what he wants. My reactions as a parent aren’t necessarily rational. So if he ever told me he wanted to go to Syria, I’d do exactly the same thing as you, including whatever emotional blackmail I could think of.
IMHO, it’s an adrenaline junkie thing. If my life went to pieces, I’d volunteer for the Peace Corps. I’d probably refuse a high-danger spot, but yes, likely I could die in any random poor third world spot anyway. Or driving my car within 3 miles of my house.
I agree that I’d stay out of Assad’s territory and help refugees. Heck, refugees who manage to get to Europe have it pretty darn bad too.
I do not know whether to feel sad for someone who volunteers in such a dangerous place and suffers from it, but I do know, having turned down specific jobs, that I would NOT feel sorry for any contractors, making 4 - 10 times as much as someone stateside would make for the same job, who work in very dangerous areas. I was offered double my salary to go to a South American country, with a full-time armed guard and I don’t even know Spanish. The site was five hours by plane from the nearest major city. I can’t believe I even considered it.
I had a friend in college who did the “European backpacking” thing after HS, and they started in Ireland planning for six weeks. He woke up in a hospital bed, and found out he had fallen and hit his head when they were climbing on some ruins. He luckily still had his stuff with him and he wasn’t permanently injured, but his “friends” had all continued their itinerary. And he was lucky he was in a country where they spoke English, and that his parents had enough money to get him home ASAP.
I had another friend who was a bit older and went to Europe with four friends. One “friend” separated from them and basically did whatever she wanted, to the point that her parents were calling my friend and others to find out where she was and why she wasn’t calling. The first time, the three others panicked and found her, but then they gave up. She was “fine” just didn’t want to be with them. So if something happened to her, they wouldn’t have known (or cared) because of the way she acted.
It is difficult to judge “how safe” a place is when you hear these stories and then you start hearing details like “the Syrian boyfriend” and so on…
That part of what happened to her reminds me of the story a year or two ago about an American woman traveling in Turkey (without her husband and kids, as I recall) who met a man in Istanbul and and was then murdered by him. It isn’t always safe to spend time with some guy you meet while traveling in a country in which Americans aren’t necessarily that popular. Although, again, Turkey (especially Istanbul) is not considered a particularly dangerous place to visit.