• What's ticked?
• Accolades
• Contact us

c o l u m n s

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

Travelphobia
Err Travel · February 8, 2000

I can't leave home. Every year at this time, I develop a case of "Dososacab Syndrome" - a fear of traveling anywhere except to the local 7-Eleven or Dunkin' Donuts.

My affliction with Dososacab Syndrome always coincides with my attendance at the Department of State's Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) Annual Briefing.

OSAC acts as a liaison in the exchange of security information between the U.S. Government and American companies operating abroad. Every year it hosts a World Threat Overview briefing, and every year it scares the begeebers out of me - leaving me temporarily incapable of even paging through a travel magazine.

Here is a sampler of grim facts -- including links to the State Department's Consular Information Sheets -- that were laid on us this year:

Argentina: A high rate of unemployment has spawned an increase in street crime. In Buenos Aires, four of every ten citizens have reported being the victims of robbery with an incident occurring, on average, every 45 seconds. And probably only two in ten incidents are reported.

Colombia: With rebels operating in 40 percent of the country, Colombia carries the designation of being the most dangerous country in the world. It has a murder rate nine times that of the United States, and with 3000 kidnappings already reported this year, it is on course to setting a record for snatching its and other countries' citizens from its roads.

Mexico: Our closest southern neighbor remains close to Colombia in kidnapping for ransom. On average there, one person is snatched every three hours.

Nigeria: The most populated country in Africa has more than its share of con artists, who have swindled victims - many of them US citizens - out of US$1.5 billion. Nigeria also ranks among the world's most dangerous countries with an average of four murders a day in the capital city of Lagos.

Russia: This economically depressed country remains in the grip of corruption and organized crime, which in turn generates an abundance of street crime.

South Africa: If there is a country that can challenge Colombia as the most dangerous, it may well be South Africa. Carjackings and armed robberies are frequent, bombings of fast food restaurants and tourist areas are common, and along with many of the other countries listed here, it has one of the highest murder rates in the world. Moreover, it is the rape capital of the world with 180 rapes reported every day.

One in eight South Africans is infected with HIV/AIDS -- that's around 3.6 million people -- with 1500 new infections occurring every day. AIDS is so prevalent that it is not uncommon for a company to hire two people for the same job, the assumption being that one of the people hired will contract the disease and "leave" the job.

If information like this isn't scary enough, here's the really bad news: With regard to the countries cited above, as well as many other "developing" countries, there seems to be little optimism that things will improve any time soon. If anything, the spiral of crime will continue - at least for the foreseeable future.

It is gloomy, and it is scary.

Maybe next week I'll think about traveling to distant, exotic locales beyond the neighborhood Slurpee machine. For now, I'm staying home.

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