Stage 9: Worried
Worried
The Episode
It isn’t safe for women to travel alone.
You need to be EXTRA careful.
Whatever you do, DON’T talk to strangers!
Never carry around too much cash on you.
Don’t leave your drink unattended!
Shouldn’t you just wait for a man to go with you?
There are common fears that orbit the idea of traveling.
The fear of being lost
Getting robbed
Losing all of our money
Getting kidnapped
Being raped
Being murdered
But are these fears accurate or just a misperception?
Should we plan for the worst but expect the best?
What are the real chances of these events happening?
However, it seems that when we travel to new lands, what we are afraid of is more that we don’t know our surroundings. We are unfamiliar with the customs, our surroundings, the cultural mannerisms, the speed of the city, or even how to order. Our discomfort in a new place can prick our brains to believe that mischief looms behind every door.
But that’s not to say that these malevolent moments don’t happen. They do.
We get our passports stolen,
Hopelessly lost
Pickpocketed
Scammed
Grabbed at
Lied to
These moments are part of the process. Our travels aren’t always filled with Instagram ready pictures, there are plenty of alarming moments in between.
In this episode, we tell the stories we don’t want to share with new travelers.
All of the fears that we have around travel will bubble to the service, and we will do our best to burst the misleading stories on how dangerous the world is.
We will discuss
Is the world dangerous?
How dangerous is it to travel?
Sexual assault statistics
Why to not leave your drink unattended.
How to travel safely as a solo female traveler.
How to trust people while traveling.
How to follow your instincts while traveling.
Are you likely to get kidnapped while traveling?
How to not get kidnapped while traveling.
How to not be attacked by monkeys while traveling.
Why to research the laws of other countries before you go traveling.
How to avoid dangerous activity while traveling.
Nick and Amy are set on seeing the world and sharing their stories with others. They have a travel podcast, What the Pho that helps backpackers make the most of their adventures with travel hacks, tips, games, and plenty of Nick and Amy’s own stories.
Jordan, Mexico, Thailand, there isn’t anywhere that Nick and Amy won’t go and document. But for all of the traveling that they do, they have also seen the darker side of the world.
Punk Dads
Brian and Jason are known for being a little reckless. In their travels, they are known for sleeping face down on black sand beaches, hunting for coke , hitchhiking to sacred valleys.
But sometimes the universe tells them to slow down in less than subtle ways, and sometimes they listen.
Adam Selbst
Adam loves animals ( often more than people). But he has found that not all animals are open to his enthusiasm and warm embrace. And wherever he goes, he seems to find himself in trouble with one kind of animal in particular.
Today, Adam is a NYC storyteller and host of the Big Irv's Storytelling Road Show in Williamsburg, NYC where you can hear more of his stories from the road live.
Dawn Fletcher
When Dawn was 20, she got the trip of a lifetime: to live in Brazil. She was crushing it at Brazilian lifestyle: samba, soccer, and endless socializing. She started to get comfortable there, to a point where maybe she could stay here forever... Until one night she got a little too comfortable and had to renegotiate what she would have to give up in order to stay in Brazil.
References:
Assault Statistics in Italy-The Guardian
Gender Gap in Italy- The Local
Negativity Bias- Verywellminded
Negativity Bias- Positive Psychology
Strangers Abroad is a travel podcast hosted by solo female traveler and storyteller, Adrien Behn. Strangers Abroad is ‘ This American Life’ for travel. Each show we bring you a theme and multiple perspectives on that theme. Each theme is a stage we experience when we travel and dissect it from every angle to make our listeners travel richer.