I’m part of this awesome Facebook group called “Girls LOVE Travel”, where 21K girls share their travel stories, tips, and tricks. Recently, there was a post about asking for countries that are NOT on your travel bucket list for whatever reason. I thought it was interesting, because as someone with a serious case of wanderlust, I really don’t think any place is completely off-limits for me.
What started as a friendly discussion as somehow turned into 200 comments (some racist and ignorant), and the tone has completely changed. The thread got pretty ugly very quickly. Here are a snippet of some of the comments…
“Weirdly one of the countries I’m most scared of is USA (I’m french). The gun thing is freaking me out.”
“China. Not a fan of countries that don’t generally value life.”
“Texas – I’m sure my view is narrow and I’m uneducated on the matter, but I just have this image of miserably high humidity, unhealthy food, and close-minded people. Again, I’m sure there’s much more to it, probably some dry areas, and open-minded people, but I’m not too keen on going out of my way to find out the truth! Way to be close-minded of me”
“I also wouldn’t discount anywhere completely…but for now Israel, India, really the rest of the Middle East except maybe Dubai and Petra, and countries ending in “Stan” I’m not interested in…at least not until I see other places first!”
“I don’t want to go anywhere I’d have to get vaccinations first. I’m so not afraid of pain or needles but I just don’t want to get Alzheimer’s!”Â
I’m curious about your picks. Is there anywhere in the world where you have absolutely no desire to see? What do you think influences your decision? For me, it’s amazing how much the media creates fear for others around the world (example: the USA “gun epidemic”).
The comments are open…
Cuba. I have no interest in my money funding a repressive and murderous regime. And I grew up there, so this is not a “media creating fear” case. I lived it.
I’m anti the term Bucket List. That implies doing something before you die. I subscribe to the belief of living every day as if its your best day rather than your last day.
At this moment, I think I’d like to stay away from any country where terrorism, torture, kidnapping, disappearances of journalists and UN Workers, etc are prevalent.
North Korea and Afghanastan would be at the top of the list.
“I don’t want to go anywhere I’d have to get vaccinations first. I’m so not afraid of pain or needles but I just don’t want to get Alzheimer’s!”
It’s scary that a commenter at that site has conflated the childhood vaccinations/autism debate with adult travel vaccinations/Alzheimer’s. Good grief. Not even close. Let’s hope some travel will educate her and open her mind.
On the bucket list question, I like Kathy’s (WRFM) outlook above.
Ilha da Queimada Grande down in Brazil. You can get there by special waiver. Its claim to fame is one snake to every square meter of the island with most having fairly toxic venom.
Here’s the thing, I have plenty of places that I want to see but I feel uncomfortable going to because my money might be supporting a system of government that I am fundamentally opposed to. I would love to see North Korea but am not ok with my money supporting a government that starves it’s people. Many other places like that.
So, I guess my point is that there’s no country that’s not on my bucket list, just that I might try to steer clear of some places that are ruled by people that I think are not the best. Unfortunately, that can rule out some really amazing places and you can find something wrong about any country you go to.
The “gun epidemic is a completely rationalized fear. There are far more mass shootings proportionally in the US every year than in any other industrialized country. We are truly in an epidemic. And with groups such as the NRA threatening everyone’s safety, by limiting background checks and allowing even people on the no-fly list to purchase guns, people everywhere have a reason to be scared.
Sad that the “gun thing” in America freaks that one commenter out when terrorist tragedy has struck France in recent years.
Such an interesting topic! Believe it or not, I have no desire to travel to Jamaica. I know it’s a nice place, but I think it has something to do with my family being from Trinidad. Growing up traveling to an island with so much culture, I just don’t feel like going to somewhere so “touristy” like Jamaica.