I suppose it means there's more room in Paris for the rest of us

Honestly I could say all sorts of polite things.. but really,, I just think shes a dummie. And you are right.. more room for me.. ( and you ) .. so no skin off my nose. How people go through life like that amazes me though..

The unfortunate truth is that she is probably in more danger here in the U.S. If you look at the number of women who are followed home from the grocery store, the mall or work by a stranger or stalker, I'd be more afraid of that.

I have some friends, a married couple, who have wanted to go to Scotland and England for 10 years. They are afraid to go. They believe the countrysides of Scotland and England are not safe. Can you believe it? The man said to me, "Rebecca, you better not go to London. It's against the law over there for people to own guns, so all the criminals in London carry knives. And they're all over London. They'll come right up to you and knife you in London."

Then I had to make up an excuse as to why I was laughing and had accidentally spit out some coffee while laughing.

Very sad but...I think that she would probably be making another excuse if it were not for the recent terrorists.

At 94, just before her death, my Mom would talk about her life and her ONLY regrets were that she didn't get to the Great Wall and on a Safari. She and Dad had lived in Europe for a couple of years and traveled widely which she appreciated and they always reminisced about their experiences. I feel like that I do not want her regrets (though slight, lol!)!

I also think there are some people who travel and some who don't.

The more of this I hear , the more I realize that this is not genuine fear , but people looking for an excuse for a thinly veiled xenophobia . Unsafe in the Scottish and English countrysides ? -- - I thought I had heard it all!!

I believe Loch Ness is particularly unsafe for swimmers.

I used to be confused when I would hear someone talk about being afraid to travel; I just couldn't fathom how someone would not want to travel. But now when I hear it I just feel pity, knowing that these people are being fed misinformation and their 'thinly veiled' xenophobia (as Steven noted) is encouraged every day by prominent figures they trust and by a media that blows every little incident out of proportion. It's sad that they don't know what they are missing.

Just because some people are educated does not mean they are smart. And the idea of knives all over London really had me laughing! Where did they come up with that is beyond me. Agree that some people will find an excuse not to travel but it is so sad not to include traveling as part of a great life experience whether it is going to New Orleans or Boston or Paris.

I think Pam is right. There are some people who simply have no interest in traveling, period. I have some some family members and friends like that, and I do think it is sad.

They want to stay in their town, in their house, with their friends and family close by and not move outside that comfort zone, even in the US. They do make all kinds of excuses, but I think fear of anything unknown or different or that they can't control governs their lives. They definitely did not inherit the flexibility or moxie of their immigrant ancestors.

The most extreme personal example I can think of is an aunt who grew up in the panhandle of Texas, would go to NM or to OK, but had never seen the bluebonnets bloom just a little farther south of where she lived. She was in her early 80's when she said that. I was speechless.

Of course there are plenty of people in big cities who are just as provincial in their own way. I have a very dear friend who is terrified of living on the ground floor of any house or building because she thinks someone will get her. Forget traveling alone anywhere or staying in a motel that has doors that open outside as opposed to the inside into a hallway. This fear is totally irrational and has nothing to do with any experience she, or anyone she knows, has had.

"Too afraid of going to a tourist attraction because she thinks the terrorists would get her," reminds me of that friend. I think it is also irrational and makes me wonder why they think they specifically would be targeted?

And, Andrea, unlike your colleague, this (retired) librarian has traveled as much as I possibly could manage my whole life, about half of it totally by myself. When I accepted the job to work as a librarian for the US Army in the Nürnberg Military Community in the 80's, people I was working with in the US were amazed that I was going over there by myself knowing no one. They thought I was taking a big risk. Where were we working at the time I made the change? McNeil Island Corrections Center (closed in 2010) in WA. I guess the risk you know is better than the one you don't.

Andrea,

Unbelievable! There doesn't seem to be any logic with these attitudes, and the others that are described in this Thread. I suppose it would be futile to try and convince her that there's no basis for her fears. It's kind of sad that she will never see the beauty of Italy (or Paris for that matter).

I guess the best testimony about travel danger is that so far all of us who are posting have made it back alive.

Some people will just be afraid of anything that is different or alien to them, and fear-mongering by news channels doesn't help.

We are couchsurfing hosts (not so active now - more people are using airbnb - even us!), and at my old job one coworker - every time I'd say we were going to have someone staying, she'd say they were going to murder us or steal our tv (yeah, because that'll fit in their backpack...lol).

I cannot tell you how many wonderful people we have met from all over Canada, US, Europe - even a few girls from Australia and a lovely young lady from South Korea last year...and we have made a few lasting friendships with folks we have stayed with multiple times in Maine and London.

I do feel bad for people who are too frightened to travel (this same coworker was terrified of flying...tho I think she did fly to Nfld last year and finally got over that phobia...not that long a flight from Halifax tho). But some people are just happy with their own little corner of the world - I will never understand, but I have the 'Wanderlust'! To each his or her own.

I find it a bit odd that people are making fun of others who voice their fears about travel to Europe. Yet 99% of requests for hotel recommendations include the word "safe."
Just waiting for the day when someone asks about a dirty, dangerous, and ill-managed place to stay.

She may have said she was afraid the "tourists" would get her - and she'd be right. ;-)

I agree with you all about how sad it is. I get that some people (my mother, for example), have no wish to travel anywhere, but for someone who talks about it not infrequently to be so fearful is just sad.

This wasn't a new comment from her after the recent terrorist attacks in Paris either. She has been talking like this for years. Just a few weeks ago she thought she had a family wedding in Italy and was so excited as it was the "push" to get her there. She asked me for my advice, got excited, then got scared, and then said she'd let her sister plan it all and she'd just tag along. In the end, the niece decided to have the wedding in Mexico. Off the hook!

And since I like to cruise the Caribbean in winter (when I can afford it), she also told me she was afraid of cruising since the Costa Concordia disaster, not to mention norovirus!

Well, I'm certainly never going to Great Britain - they've never difinitively identified Jack the Ripper, so the risk is just too great. And now that I think about it, he can now take EuroStar onto The Continent...

I think I'll just stick with Las Vegas. It's soooo safe there. And of course it's.just.like.Europe.

Seriously, I'd hate to be responsible for someone's pre-PTSD, but I want to ask someone who's truly afraid of European (aka, 'all foreign') tourist sights if they're scared to death every day they park in their employer's parking lot and enter their workplace. There are a lot of car jackings, workplace shootings, terrorists who like to bomb office buildings...so going to work everyday is far more dangerous than standing on top of the Pisa Tower. And the Eiffel Tower. And Oktoberfest. (Yes, a bomb exploded at Oktoberfest in 1980 that killed 13 people and injured over 200...but using conservative attendance records for the last 10 years, your risk is somewhere around 0.00000024. I'm going to Oktoberfest!!!) Not to mention the number of people - nearly all female - who park their car in a supermarket or mall parking lot, and are never heard from again. Yet those parking lots are always full when I go...

Now, I do also remember how I felt before my first trip. I didn't speak French/German/Italian/Flemish, I'd never taken a train, I'd only had 1 or 2 experiences with the metro/trams in San Francisco (which is nothing compared to Paris or Rome), and I'd taken probably 2 taxi rides ever. Could we get around OK? Would we starve LOL? What about all of this lining up for customs, passport control, etc.? Would we end up in a Turkish prison? Even thought we weren't going to Turkey? If I hadn't spent the previous 10 years watching Rick Steves' TV programs - religiously - I would have been much more apprehensive. But I knew I could do it, and I was highly motivated to do it! Some people have absolutely no interest (or at least think they don't) in seeing Europe nor anywhere else. The people that make me truly sad are the ones who desperately want to go, but are fearful for one reason or another (or their family/spouse give them such a hard time). Some dive in, or perhaps receive a little push, and are like fish in water after realizing they hadn't yet died, won't starve, and that they can communicate. Then they're hooked!

Andrea, tell your colleague that Italy hasn't (yet) participated in any anti-Islamic State air strikes; they're probably way down the terrorism list (sigh). I know - this isn't a realistic way to determine actual danger, but neither is hers.

And tell her that she's made many of us very sad for her. Then hand her "Europe Through the Back Door" (send me the bill) and the link to Rick's TV programs. Highlight the section titled 'Perspectives' with a sticky-note bookmark. You might also highlight the line about the 12,000,000 Americans who travel to Europe every year without incident. Then show her some Trip Advisor reviews & photos of some fabulous agriturismos ;-)

You can also order a RS Tour Brochure and Tour Experience DVD to give to her so that she can see some other apprehensive newbies doing just fine and having a blast in Europe.

One down (hopefully!); so many more to go...

A year or so ago I gave her a copy of the old travel skills DVD that was coming with every RS travel gear order. I showed her where to find online the new one and also the new Tour Experience video.

Maybe one day she'll go for it.

I guess the best testimony about travel danger is that so far all of us who are posting have made it back alive.

Not sure that is true. Ed is still missing.

Held in a Turkish prison, wearing only a speedo.

Oh puhleez, Karen! It took me months to get the image out of my mind the last time.

A broader perspective is something to admire. But not entirely common, even in the Rick Steves forum apparently. :)

Andrea,

Maybe you could let your friend read this Thread.

I wonder if she'd be less afraid if she travelled with someone else or perhaps on a RS tour where she'd be with a group and all details would be taken care of. That might be a "non threatening" way she could satisfy her life-long desire to see Italy (or even the Eiffel Tower). The 14-day Best of Europe would probably be a good fit.

Just a thought......

As referred to above, why would you want to go to somewhere by yourself (Paris, Berlin, etc) where you don't know anyone and where you don't know the language ( and what else can you think of as an impediment for visiting a place ?). it is exactly for those reasons I would choose to go there. Before I went to Europe alone at 21, I had never been away from home, didn't have the dorm experience in college, never away from Calif, never flew on an airplane, never had taken a subway (there was no BART back then), never bothered to learn how to drive, so the first big adventure was this 3 month trip (12 week), in Europe. It was the time to go in 1971.

Yes, it is sad since a librarian with a MLS would presumably know better. I would say the terrorists don't want you, why would they?

On the subject of people who do not explore beyond their immediate area, I remember riding on a NYC subway when I lived there decades ago; I overheard a group of old women who had apparently spent their lives on the upper west side speculating about what the city was like below the Columbus Circle station.

And as for as the Scottish countryside, watch out for those rabbits!

I honestly think some people just really aren't interested...but I guess at least they don't pretend to want to do it and then use any excuse to chicken out. (Like your library lady).

My mother-in-law is one of those...well, why do you have to go see it? Can't you just look at a picture or watch a video and be happy?? Maybe because her husband was in the RCAF and she had to uproot from Lunenburg, NS and live in the exotic towns of Portage la Prairie (Manitoba), La Macaza, Que and Greenwood, NS...lol. But my father-in-law got to go to New Zealand and Italy and other places that I should have relished hearing stories of while he was still alive.

the exotic town of Portage la Prairie (Manitoba)

LOL!

Joel, LOL! Watch out for the rabbits!

Frankly, I assume there are all kinds of 'bad people' training for all kinds of 'bad things' all over the world. Maybe my next-door neighbor is spending weekends learning to handle those tricky rocket launchers so he can travel to __ and fight the __. Or maybe he's aiming at me. Fact is, there's no way of knowing. AND no way of preparing nor avoiding his attack. I'm quite sure there are people in the countryside and cities of Great Britain training for something as I type...but I'll still go there if that's where I want to go. I'm still way more freaked out about the automobile trip to my local airport than knife-wielding ninjas jumping out at me in the countryside of Great Britian. I'm not saying it couldn't happen, but...The numbers are definitely clear on where my fears should (Hwy 50) and shouldn't (GB) be. Travel in parts of Europe - and perhaps more so at tourist-popular monuments - IS riskier than in most people's hometowns, but the increase in risk is so infinitesimal. How many people scared of travel are texting while they drive? Fiddling with a CD? Eating, drinking, and driving? Weaving in and out of car lanes? I'll skip over safe sex issues...and driving under the influence...and not watching their high blood pressure...and riding carnival rides. Not all of those things are awful and I'm sure all of us are guilty of some of them, but they're waaay more risky and dangerous - probability-wise speaking - than the 15 minutes you will spend at the top of the Tower of Pisa.

If someone really doesn't want to travel, that's fine, but I hate it when they allow something that's not a 'real (or/nor likely) thing' to derail their dream...especially when they get older and bolder but it's too late then.

But FWIW, in full disclosure I have no burning desire to spend time in Mexico. (But I never have, so...) Sounds kinda crazy there. BUT the safety issue is a real thing there; I wouldn't trust a police officer as far as I could throw him, and that's unfortunate. They aren't all corrupt, but the system has severe problems. So I'll happily spend the next several trips in Europe! More room for someone else Down Mexico Way...

Andrea, your co-worker will probably never take a trip that is out of her comfort zone. So many people are afraid to ever take the first step that would open up a whole new exciting world. In her case, and the case of so many others, the terrorist have won. My topic, " I'm Not, Are You Afraid" posted right after the Paris murders was for the same reason. I had several people ask me if I was still going to Paris after what had happened. They could not believe my plans had not changed and it would not keep me away. I had asked my 60yr old cousin to go with me, and her reply was, she would never go to Europe with all that happens there. No way you can even talk to people with that mind set. So, we that travel, lets just go and enjoy it, in maybe a less crowded Europe. Just let those others that only dream about it, continue to dream.

My response was similar when several people asked if I had canceled my tickets to Paris. I responded, "No! I just wish I could be there right now instead of having to wait several weeks so I could be in the unity march."

How many people here skydive? I don't. I used to fly planes and wondered why anyone in their right mind would want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane.

I knew a few people who did. They knew I didn't want to. My main fear---the chute not opening. They could quote statistic after statistic on how safe it was but I wasn't jumping.

It was out of my comfort zone. It was an unknown area.

When they starting talking more about how much they enjoyed it and the thrill they got, I listened more. I still didn't jump but I was more interested.

I'm sure they couldn't believe that I wouldn't jump. They may have talked about how I was believing misinformation, I was listening to people who didn't know, I was believing the news of skydiving deaths was more common than in reality, and so on.

Sound familiar?

Substitute the woman in the library for me and traveling for skydiving. It could be the same thing. Traveling to places unknown is possibly outside her comfort zone. And making these unfounded excuses is her way of not having to admit she's generally scared.

Or it's possible that she just doesn't have the same travel interest as you or I do. Traveling to Europe may not be high enough on her interest level to actually take action. Sitting on a beach in Mexico is how she would prefer to spend her vacation time. I know lots of people who want to spend their entire vacation time sitting on a beach, renting a beach house, playing golf, or taking yet another cruise ship to the same Caribbean ports.

Is that how I would want to spend my vacation time? No. But I'm not them. Just because someone doesn't like to do what you do doesn't make them wrong. Or damaged in some way.

It just might mean more gelato for us.

Or it's possible that she just doesn't have the same travel interest as you or I do. Traveling to Europe may not be high enough on her interest level to actually take action.

Well, Andrea does says 'although she dreams of going to Europe (especially Italy)'...so it sounds like she is interested...just my 2 cents...if I have a dream, I am going to make that sucker happen! ;)

She does talk about wanting to go to Europe all the time, but I realize now it is only an abstract wish in her case.

Lucky me is off to bed early because I have an early flight to Florida. We are risking it all - cruising! Hopefully I survive the noro and will talk Europe with you all in a few weeks. And hopefully I will be able to plan a September trip soon with all your help.

It's not the noro you have to worry about, it's the mysterious mosquito virus. Haven't the worrywarts warned you?

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_27476626/headed-caribbean-what-know-about-mosquito-virus-there

Have fun :)