• What's ticked?
• Accolades
• Contact us

c o l u m n s

• Cheap Charlie
• ChrisCrossings
• Err Travel
• Leocha
• Travel Notes
• Archives

Don't Go There!
Err Travel · April 4, 2000

Thinking of a trip to the South Pacific? How about an African safari? Or Carnival in Brazil?

Think again. There are more than a handful of places where I'd think twice before departing, and there are some destinations that I wouldn't go at all.

While we security experts may quibble about high-risk versus very high-risk destinations, there is considerable overlap in our views of places on the globe where foreigners travel at their peril.

Robert Peyton has made a career of treacherous travel and keeps a running tally of hostile locations. From Afghanistan to, yes, the United States, he lists 35 countries as the world's most dangerous places.

Air Security International also comes up with a list of dangerous places every year. This year that list includes: Algeria; Central Africa; Colombia; Islamabad and Karachi, Pakistan; Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa; Lagos and Port Harcourt, Nigeria; Maputo, Mozambique; Mexico City, Mexico; Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea; Sao Paulo and Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.

My list shares much in common with my travel security brethren. But I also have some additional inklings about what could be in store for travelers this year.

Europe So long as the gangster economy prevails in Russia, violent crime can only increase. Organized crime breeds common crime, and there is no indication that gangsterism is on the wane. Africa Instead of identifying specific countries, I would string CRIME SCENE tape around the whole of sub-Saharian Africa, including South Africa.

As I am writing this column, even the few relatively stable countries in the region are tottering (witness Côte d'Ivoire), and South Africa seems to be in a losing battle with its criminal population.

Asia Travel in India, particularly in New Delhi, will become more hazardous. There you can find all the festering economic, social, and political conditions that lead to increases in both street crime and terrorism. And I wouldn't be surprised if Japan didn't start to show some cracks in its reputation as one of the world's safest destinations. With the Japanese appetite for Western ways, why should Western-style crime be any less popular?

South America Violent crime in Colombia will spill into the countries that border it: Brazil, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela. Even if the government in Colombia makes progress against the rebels and the drug rings, the translucent borders of the region allow criminals to move freely to and from neighboring states. And the severe lashing that Mother Nature recently gave the equatorial nations of the continent makes Venezuela a doubly perilous place.

North America As a long-shot prediction, I'm adding Montreal and Toronto to my list of destinations that could prove hazardous to unsuspecting travelers. Besides serving as gateways to the U.S., these cities may be just the kind of venues that attention-seeking nut cases may seek to make a violent strike on North American turf.

Rest of the World There are no "risk-free" destinations, and travelers, through their own complacency, often increase whatever levels of risk await them. Indeed, most travelers will fall victim to crime outside of the high-risk locations listed above. Such are my inklings.

I hope I'm wrong on every count.

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.