Tomorrow morning I leave for South Korea! Finally! My first trip since I started this blog. I am so excited, mostly because I am traveling there with one of my best friends, Sarah, to visit my other best friend, Jill (& also to chow down on some real Korean BBQ of course). South Korea definitely wasn’t my first pick for a destination, but my friend Jill has been living there almost a year now teaching English to Korean students, so while we have a tour guide and a place to stay, Sarah and I decided to take advantage. We ended up scheduling our trip during one of Jill’s vacation periods and she already had tickets to Malaysia so we decided to join her there after Korea. Then Sarah was getting excited and saw that flights to Vietnam were only $30 one way so we were like “why not go there too?”

Pretty much everyone I tell about my trip responds in the same worrisome way. “You think it’s safe to go there now, with everything going on?” My dad is like the number one advocate on me not going, Even my mom who is so chill about everything, expressed her concern about us going at this time. I’m sure you know that the North Korean leader is a little crazy. Maybe you have heard the stories of what happens to people who end up in North Korea, but for the most part they keep to themselves. Well, just recently North Korea started testing missiles – missiles that apparently could reach all the way to Alaska. I don’t know what caused them to do this, but I know our President Trump has a lot to say in response to it.

My phone has been going off with the CNN app giving me updates on everything that North Korea is doing and my dad is constantly telling me not to get lost and wonder across the Northern border (like that would be easy to do). The situation never really phased me though, especially since Jill never once mentioned it to me. I decided to ask her about it, just to see if South Koreans were as worried about North Korea as much as Americans were. She said it wasn’t even important enough to discuss to the South Koreans and that if she didn’t have social media she probably wouldn’t know anything about it. I told my parents so they could feel some relief.

Which brings me to a major topic: why are people so scared to travel? I especially want to say Americans. Less than half of Americans have a passport, compared to Canada, Australia, and England, where over 75% of their citizens have a passport. Granted it could take a lifetime to explore every beautiful area of the United States, but some are just afraid to leave the familiar. Every time I travel internationally someone (usually my dad) always thinks it is not a good idea. Yeah, North Korea may be testing missiles, but they haven’t been tested in South Korea, nor does any evidence suggest that they will. Why should people be scared to travel there, when there are numerous terrorist attacks going on in our own country? Not only are mass shootings becoming the norm in America, but there are plenty of ways to accidentally die in your own backyard/home.

Dangerous and questionable situations are not new. They’ve been happening since the beginning of time, but today they are in the spotlight more than ever. With the Internet and social media sites spreading news so fast, these tragedies are so quick to spread worldwide. Have you ever heard the term “if it bleeds, it leads?” Terrible stories are purposely front page news. People feed off of them; they feed off of being scared, but where are the heart-warming stories? Do people know that most of the world is friendly, and not once in any of my travels have I ever felt unsafe? You have to be smart, though. Don’t think you are safe everywhere. Just like there are dark streets and areas I wouldn’t go alone in Las Vegas, I would avoid the same type of areas in other cities and countries. Be aware of your surroundings and don’t do anything sketchy abroad that you wouldn’t do in your own hometown.

So if you are struggling with nerves of going overseas, gain some courage. To me, experiencing the world and gaining life long friendships always beat out being afraid to adventure. Give the world a chance! Step out of your comfort zone – you will not regret it. I can’t wait to be writing my next post overseas!