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Spare 45G?
Err Travel · September 19, 2000

Are you looking for an out-of-the-ordinary guided tour? Can you get away for up to three weeks? Can you get yourself to a departure city (Beijing or London or Miami or Oslo)? And - oh yeah - can you cough up between US$30,000 and US$45,000?

You can? Well then you could join other well-heeled folk to "travel to the world's most exotic places by private jet, private train and polar icebreaker."

Beats me how I got on its mailing list, but a West-coast company sends me glossy brochures about its luxury guided tours to some of the most remote and exotic locations in the world. You won't read about these trips from Cheap Charlie. Nor will you see me on one of the tours. It's not because they don't exist - they do. And it's not because I can't afford them - I can (if I don't eat until 2009). No, it's because the people who sign on to these trips will be taking on far more of a risk than I care to shoulder.

Paging through a recent announcement advertising a three-week "Ancient Crossroads" expedition, a couple of things jumped out at me: their destinations and their schedule. They jumped out and made me shudder.

First the destinations. This tour makes stops in Jordan, Syria, Burma, Indonesia, Cambodia, Mongolia, China, and Iran. Pretty exotic places alright, but pretty dangerous too. It's as though the company were trying to compete with Robert Pelton in visiting the World's Most Dangerous Places.

Just peruse what the U.S. State Department or the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office have to say about these destinations. Sure, there are warnings about petty street crimes. But there are grimmer advisories too.

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office warns that in Indonesia "there is an increased threat to British interests from global terrorism." Indonesia along with Jordan currently are the recipients of "Public Announcements" issued by the State Department warning against travel to these countries. Syria is included on the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism. The government of Burma (a.k.a. Myanmar), one of the most oppressive in the world, makes travel hostile and difficult.

The other countries to be visited, Cambodia, Mongolia, China, and Iran, are no walks in the park either. They too have their share of travel hazards.

All in all, the countries selected for visitation on the Ancient Crossroads expedition have the potential for being quite perilous.

Then there is the problem with the advertised schedule. It multiplies the dangers that wait at the destinations. The brochure describes almost every move the expedition organizers plan to make.

The date and time of each departure from each city is listed. The date and time of each arrival in each city is listed. The name of each hotel in which the tour group will be staying in each city is listed. And the specific points of interest to be visited in each country are listed.

With the inclusion of a nice picture of the private Boeing 757 (which makes it easily recognized when it rolls into a terminal) and an attractive photo the crew in uniform (which make them quite identifiable when the group checks into their hotel), the brochure is a regular guidebook for criminals.

With this much information available about the comings and goings of a bunch of wealthy tourists in a foreign land, I can't help but think - or hope - that the tour company will change destinations or schedules or hotels or planes or uniforms at the last moment to protect its clients.

I inquired of a representative from the company about its security measures. She said she'd call me back. She never did.

Dr. Terry Riley is a psychologist and travel security authority. His column appears on Wednesdays. He is author of the popular book Travel Can Be Murder. Visit his site at http://www.appliedpsychology.com or e-mail him at terry@ticked.com.