Adventurous Travel or Dangerous Travel? Which would you choose?

Queen Isabella Causeway Texas Morning by Sheree Zielke

There’s “adventurous” travel and then there is “dangerous” travel.  Since neither my husband nor I are members of the CIA, nor are we navy seals, we have placed limitations on our travel experiences.   Those limitations recently affected one of our travel decisions: an end-of-summer trip to Belize.

Having reviewed a recent Canadian foreign affairs travel report, we have decided that Belize is not the place for us – at least not this year.

Read on . . .

We are not sissies, nor do we faint at the sight of blood – at least so long as it is someone else’s blood.  But that’s just it – we’d rather avoid seeing our own blood, if we can help it.  Advisories that include high crime statistics with the use of weapons suggests that seeing our own blood is a possibility.  So, as much as we’d like to visit this Central American tropical paradise, we are going to pass.  Just for now.

How do we know what’s going on in Belize?  You can know, too, by visiting the Voyage.gc.ca web site.  My contact in Belize says the reports are blown out of proportion (and I am inclined to believe that’s partly true), but even if just a small part of the report is factual like infrastructure collapse and increased incidences of violent crime, then that’s enough to make us think twice, and perhaps revise our travel plans.

The world is a wonderful place, but not every place in the world is wonderful.  We’d like to visit Africa, too, but we’ll plan with caution.  We’d rather avoid sub-machine guns, hand grenades, and machetes, and tanks.

Armed Texas Mexican Border Guards by Sheree Zielke

Weather must play a part in our decision, too.  Tropical storms shouldn’t be taken lightly; just ask the victims of Hurricane Katrina, in New Orleans.  June through November is hurricane season in Belize, and the country has already been affected by Tropical Storm Arthur, a storm now downgraded to a depression that has taken its toll on roadways and bridges, making travel to the main airport very difficult.

Yes, by the time we get to Belize in a couple of months, conditions may be very hospitable.  But should we take that chance?  As visitors, on a fixed time schedule, it’s fairly important that we depart a country at our pre-appointed time.  That’s tough enough to do in a modern nation, let alone in a third world country.

Therefore, it is with deep regret that we have cancelled our reservations in Caye Caulker, Belize.  However, our original flight had us switching planes in Houston, Texas, so we figure we’ll stay there and explore Texas instead.

I can just imagine what some of you are thinking:  Hey, they have guns and crimes in Texas, too.  Yes, I know, but I’ll take my chances with a Texan.   I think their bravado is much bigger than their bullets.

Have you had to change travel plans due to your country’s travel reports?  How accurate to you think those reports are?

Wishing you safe and happy travels,
Sheree Zielke

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