Travelling as a Political Act

I hope I have always been thoughtful about where I travel. There are countries that we have avoided specifically for some if the reasons you have cited. Now ask me when was the last time I set foot in the US.

Firstly, I'll say that violence towards ethnic groups based on "blame" for the virus is unacceptable. Sadly it is not restricted to the US.

That said, I don't quite see what the response of posters to a question about violence in Europe has to do with murders in Atlanta.
To follow your tourist dollars logic, does this mean you shouldn't be spending any money in the USA?

I have no issue with not visiting countries based on their politics. As I don't think naming such places would survive moderation, I won't name any, but I certainly would have not wanted to visit Apartheid South Africa. There are central European countries that appear to be moving increasingly towards forms of fascism and repression of rights - I won't visit them either.

Trotter - I was surprised by the responses in the thread about Asians facing racism in Europe, but it is of a piece with the many comments on etiquette and behavior topics that show a profound ignorance and lack of self-awareness about cultural assumptions.

That's one of the reasons why I keep recommending that people try reading Joe Lurie's new edition of his book on intercultural miscommunication:
https://www.perceptionanddeception.com
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0970846363/ref=rdr_ext_tmb

Trotter. Yes, and amen

Avise, "modest" bonus points for an SAT worthy literary reference

Hmmm Traveling as a Political Act? On a RS forum in General Europe.

Appropriate? Well, what does Rick have to say about it...beyond producing a TV Show titled Traveling as a Political Act and publishing a book titled Traveling as a Political Act.

And a 2 second Google search will reveal too many news stories of racist attacks in the EU post Covid. Very much a ‘real” topic.

So yeah, sadly more than highly acceptable as a topic of discussion under General Europe, Sorry I missed the earlier thread- I see it is gone now. Hopefully those with inappropriate responses left with it.

Whilst I agree with you about not visiting certain countries, to some extent, if you decide not to visit countries because of their stance on LGBT, race, religion, ethnic minorities, sexism etc, you would only travel to first world countries and not all of these.

The only country in Europe I have experienced any discomfort was Turkey. I dared to walk in front of my husband in the souks and experienced much elbowing from the male locals which ceased once I moved behind him.

My husband will not visit Malta because of its stance on killing wild birds on migration.

I visited The Gambia a few years ago on a wildlife holiday. The government corruption was obvious to see, but without our tourist pounds, the local communities in which we stayed would have been much poorer and they would probably have cleared ecologically sensitive sites that would never be replaced.

I know of many Brits that have boycotted going to the USA over the past 8 years.

Is there one person on this forum who really and truly wants travel to be political? Do people understand that almost everything written here just punishes the innocent? Are you going to boycott a country or a city because of a single person or a handful of the misguided?

Hopefully every person on this forum is against hate crimes and violence to others. If you personally boycott a city, a state or a country, do so. Don't come to a travel sight and create a political issue.

Don't come to a travel sight and create a political issue.

Create a political issue? No, if course not. Shine a light on a geopolitical concern? I would think that appropriate for some travellers. Others may find such discussions uncomfortable because they hit too close to home - the old people in glass houses thing. I've noticed a few people on this thread who pooh poohed the very idea of anti Asian sentiment either at home or in Europe. But I read several articles in our local paper that reported exactly that, along with the usual xenophobic, racist, or sexist leanings of some governments. This is less a political issue than a global human rights question. And believe it or not, there are people in this world who would prefer to avoid countries who tolerate or embrace these attitudes and actions, either for concerns over personal safety or for moral reasons. Castigating or denigrating their opinions says more about you than about them.

Travel ethics has been brought up as a topic for discussion here before, travel ethics by the webmaster, no less.

Just my two cents worth and just a personal opinion, but in all of his talking and writing on 'travel as a political at' I don't think I ever heard Rick Steves advocate boycotting travel to a country strictly because of political/social attitudes or beliefs. If those political/social attitudes or beliefs of a country become an issue of potential or actual safety , then that's another matter entirely. In that case I would avoid those countries.

I agree with those who prefer to differentiate between a governments' attitudes/beliefs and those of the people that one is likely to encounter when traveling. There are many countries where I disagree with some 'official' attitudes/beliefs/practices with regards to political/social issues, but I still travel to those countries because I know that many, or even most, of the average citizens don't adhere to the same.

As for the original post being inappropriate in this venue, I certainly don't think it is, but again, just a personal opinion.

There are a few places on earth that I will under no circumstances visit. If you find my post from years back you will easily discover where those places are. I was pretty vocal.

Then I began to get push back of a nature similar to what I posted above. What you see as insulting, when I received it, I found helpful in my thought process and instructive when considering the values of others.

As for the OP, It is better person who acts upon their values. The OP showed courage and that is quick becoming a rare thing these days. No person deserves criticism for holding to their values.

But to suggest that there is a paradox that should always be kept in mind, I think is a healthy thing when considering those who do not share the fire of your convictions. If we were all as driven as the OP, I suspect the world would be a better place.

So my comments have not been about the subject of the values but of thought processes we should all engage when developing our values.

And since we are talking all around the OP, and not to the OP (myself included), let me say, Trotter, it was not my intent to be critical, and if you took it that way, my apologies..

This has put Asian Americans, a group as diverse as can be, on the front page. I know the readers here are well informed, but if you want a few readings that might be of interest and worth sharing:
Strangers from a Different Shore by Ron Takaki (a founder of Asian American Studies at UCLA, later at Berkeley)

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures by Anne Fadiman

The Price of Nice Nails in the NY Times, 2-part series May 7, 2015.

These eliminate stereotypes.

I agree that many countries have problems with human rights or worse. I don't mind if you personally choose to not visit a country that has the wrong policies and politics. A few travelers may try virtual signaling to others by claiming that they won't visit certain countries due to what is wrong with the government, certain policies, or politics. Visiting a country doesn't mean you agree with the government, its policies, its economy, conditions, politics, and so on. I only avoid countries that would be a blatant safety risk to me. People have been organizing themselves into tribes, with each tribe hating the other tribes and some tribes harassing and killing other tribes, since human beings first existed. I don't know what to do about it. I don't know what you should do about it. The problem is encoded in our DNA.

Thank you to those who have offered words of encouragement and support. I do not typically share in a public forum feelings of anger and dismay.

To those who feel that the issues I have raised do not belong here I reiterate what was previously mentioned; the name-sake of this forum literally wrote a book on travel as a political act.

To those who seek to push me down a slippery slope, all I asked is that you be thoughtful about where you travel and why.

To those who feel that the issues I have raised do not belong here I
reiterate what was previously mentioned; the name-sake of this forum
literally wrote a book on travel as a political act.

I think its a fair post.

all I asked is that you be thoughtful about where you travel and why.

And we all should. In travel and in everything we do. Best to live by example (especially for me since my words often come out wrong)

Travel as a Political Act starts with the premise that we can't begin to understand the world without experiencing it. Travel connects people to people, it helps us fit more productively into a shrinking world, and it inspires creative new solutions to persistent problems.
Through his own experiences, Rick explains how anyone can travel more thoughtfully — anywhere. And he shares a series of his field reports from Europe, Central America, and the Holy Land to show how travel has shaped his politics and broadened his perspective.
Updated for 2021: This expanded print edition is updated throughout and includes a new chapter, "Hunger and Hope: Lessons from Ethiopia and Guatemala," Rick's first-hand look at how smart development aid is helping impoverished people lift themselves out of extreme poverty. Rick also offers insights on coping with the coronavirus pandemic, climate change and climate-smart initiatives, nativism, immigration and the plight of migrant workers, Islam and Christendom, Brexit, and the EU.
Rick donates all royalties from the sale of this book to Bread for the World, a nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to ending hunger. ( https://store.ricksteves.com/shop/p/travel-political-act)

I have not read the book, but based on this summary, I get the sense RS is more in favor of traveling so as to better understand the world, than to use a boycott of some places as a political statement.

I haven't read the book either, but I've listened to a whole bunch of podcasts where RS explained the concept, and I agree with your assessment :-)

So for me the choices I make are on a continuum. I am a vegetarian for ethical reasons (not contributing to the slaughter of animals for the benefit of my diet) but I eat diary products. I don't visit Poland because of its stance on abortion. I didn't visit South Africa during apartheid and while Mandela was imprisoned but visited other corrupt African countries. I'm ecologically minded at home but my carbon footprint is extensive due to my travels. I do what I can reasonably---maybe less or more than others---but I try to honor my beliefs and soul.

I respect your position, but when you say
"I don't visit Poland because of its stance on abortion" - what exactly do you mean by "its stance"? The stance of however many (maybe a dozen?) people in Poland's Constitutional Court? The stance of a very vocal pro-life minority? The stance of estimated 60 to 70% of the population that did not support the ruling of the Court? The stance of more than a hundred thousand people that came out to protest?

If anything, I think it is in the cases like that that p2p diplomacy efforts (and, by extension, "travel as a political act") could play a vital role in moving from honoring one's own beliefs to opening a meaningful dialogue.

Refusing to take responsibility for ourselves and blaming people that are different from us for our problems or failures is not new. Nor is it limited to any one place or people. It does seem like we learn nothing from the past or the present. And I'm perplexed by how rational thinking, caring and respect are so easily replaced by the fear, anger and hatred that leads to intimidating, injuring and killing innocent people.

Many states in the USA have been off my visit list for decades. The same is true for countries in the world. At 75, with few good travel years in my future, it's highly unlikely that any will change enough for me to be willing to spend my limited resources of time and money in them.

I think Trotter is absolutely correct with her statement "be thoughtful about where you travel and why. " I loved Istanbul when I went there a few years ago , and found the city to be surprisingly liberal. During that time I saw the police (several hundred, heavily armed) break up a small demonstration of maybe 50 women, many of them grannies - and fairly brutally. Since then, the Turkish government has become more draconian, so I am reluctant to visit again. Apartheid South Africa pointed to any mild show of support (e.g. foreign tourism) as justification that people didn't care about the segragation policies. Other countries will do the same.

For us, travel means an escape from the constraints of our respective home cultures, a chance to observe other places as neutral onlookers. It's a sort of sacred undertaking, not to be done just for our personal entertainment but also intended to nurture understanding and tolerance on our part. It is definitely not used as a political weapon for expressing or imposing our values on other peoples (like that would work.)

And de-listing or cancelling countries... what does that accomplish? I might do that in the interest of my personal safety.

I guess my point here is that individuals have very little good evidence to make these broad judgments about country-specific sexism and racism in the first place - much less to carry out boycotts based on our supreme wisdom. I feel a little sad for the Brits and others who cheated themselves out of trips to the US for political reasons. Better, I think, to toss off the issues we are fed by the media, to travel as much as we wish, whenever we can, to experience, listen, and absorb - and to add all that to our well of understanding. Besides, you never know when the next pandemic will lock you back up again.

GOGOEurope, thank you for the support, but to be clear I did not state a position on the Atlanta topic. Just not something I think it would be appropriate for me to do. I DID, throw out some things for people to think about when making travel decisions. G-d travel feels so trivial in the face of such injustices,.... But that's why we are here and there are other forums for the things that matter in life. Back to the point, to be rational in such decisions you would either have to be very uncaring about one group or another or you will find yourself sitting at home, because no country will pass the test. So, it is of course, a personal heartstring for lack of a better word, that drives each of us. As such as much as it is not fully rational, it is above and beyond criticism from anyone.

While we are locking this thread to any further off-topic discussion, thank you all for your comments and support for the AAPI community. The murders in Atlanta and the hundreds of other attacks on the Asian community are truly despicable. Travel as a Political Act is all about lessons we can learn from other countries and cultures. Hate toward any group is the clear antithesis of Rick’s message. Our forum is meant to be a safe space for people to gather and share ideas and advice to encourage travel, and we see that traveling is a powerful way to better understand and contribute to the world in which we live.

On the subject of choosing not to travel to any particular country, the topic of ethics in traveling has come up in this forum repeatedly. There are good reasons to choose not to travel to a given country for its political positions and the choice is rightly yours. Rick’s example with his trip to Iran clarified for many that the people in a country do not necessarily reflect that of their leaders. The message of Travel as a Political Act is not to avoid travel based on politics, but to travel thoughtfully and meet the people. Stay safe and we’re looking forward to when we can all travel again.