In a never-ending world of social media, can we not help but feel a little frightened at the thought of traveling to a new “place”, especially one considered by the world wide web to be “unsafe and dangerous” for Americans? But, I tell you one thing, the more I travel and the more I survey this world, I find this to be shockingly untrue. It is another case of media proving Murphey’s Law. What’s bad will happen and should be spread and what is good doesn't exist and should be contained.
Case in point, I lived in Honduras (the murder capitol of the world) with a friend for almost a full year. When I arrived there, I was packed full of crazy suspicions and exaggerated hear-says. Many people had advised us, “Don’t go. Don’t you see what comes on TV? That country is so dangerous!” And before arriving, I had succumb to the exact same thought processes.
When my nerve-racked body stepped off the plane onto the blistering weather of Central America, all I saw were smiling, friendly faces around me. Surely this couldn’t be the frightening, foreign place that I had heard so much about. Sure, every guard surrounding every entrance carried a machine gun, but they seemed to be as calm as the next person. It is apparently policy for guards to carry these guns wherever they are. We got so used to seeing the armed guards around us that by the end of the trip we forgot they even carried them. It became common life. Our life.
My friend and I are a bit of free spirits, so we weren’t the typical sit tight and look pretty type of travelers. We lived for the thrills and the adventures each new day brought us. We rode around on beat up scooters over the crumbly Honduran terrain. Once, we even packed three of our girlfriends on that tiny scooter and lugged a ginormous water jug between our legs back up the hill to our house. What a day. It was certainly a poignant memory, to say the least.
But these are the amazing things that I remember. I remember taking taxis anywhere we wanted to go (in groups of course). We would visit the beautiful beach towns of Honduras on the regular, stay in eclectic hostels, hitch rides, eat coconuts, make friends with the local kids. And all this time, I never, ever felt afraid of the people. Ironically, it was the complete opposite.
The only incident that occurred that could have caused some apprehension was at the end of our trip. Certain female gang members in Tegucigalpa were dying their hair red and blond, but it was a policy that tended to only apply to Honduran women. So things did occur occasionally that would cause a sense of awareness. But I will tell you one thing, the people of Honduras were some of the kindest, warmest, and most family-oriented people that I have ever met. No matter who you were, they were quick to offer you the shirts off their backs or the food from their tables.
I write all this to say, let’s not be so quick to believe everything we hear. Especially everything in the media. And, yes, of course there are dangers in this world and of course precautions should be taken in certain situations; but don’t be so quick to deny the adventure for the sake of the fear. Especially when you don’t know the full story. Use common sense. Do your FULL research. Go where you’ve always dreamed. Try things out for yourself, and create your own conclusions. I promise you’ll be fine. I’m living proof.
