Comments on: 4 Ways to Die While Traveling

By: Renato

Renato — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 05:12:18 +0000

Got the point (and avoiding troubles is always a good thing). But there were blasts in Jaipur (67 people died) the month before. Still almost nobody says “don’t go to the Pink City”, one of the most popular tourist destinations even this year. As you said a car wreck is by far more likely, almost all in India where over 100K people died last year on the roads. That’s actually a number that is very scary to me.

By: tim

tim — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 13:41:32 +0000

Renato, is this really supposed to make us feel better about the place? “Ahmedabad is far better than Jammu and Kashmir at the moment.” Beirut is better than Baghdad too, but…

Death toll in the last round of blasts in Ahmedabad is up to 56 now, by the way. Some of the wounded didn’t make it.

I’m not saying tourists will get hurt there any given week, but given the history, it’s far more likely there than most other Indian cities.

By: Renato

Renato — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 10:59:11 +0000

Hi Tim,

I was in Ahmedabad last week. It’s a nicer and safer placer than many other cities in India at the moment. As usual, better get reliable information before going there as things change quite often in a few days. But, given or taken, Ahmedabad is far better than Jammu and Kashmir at the moment. And the food much better.

Cheers

Renato

By: Liz

Liz — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 02:55:11 +0000

Transpotation can be risky. The roads that leap to mind are the narrow, mountain roads of Bhutan that have no shoulder or guard rail and a 1000 foot drop, any road in S.E. Asia, especially Vietnam, or those India. Railroads in India are death traps, too, with bars on the windows and people stacked at the exits. Not to discount boats. One night I thought I’d die locked in the interior of a rusted-out ferry crossing the Mekong Delta with freighters passing within feet. I’m as careful as possible but I’d rather die traveling than sitting at home and as a woman I just take usual precautions.

By: Bernie B

Bernie B — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:55:49 +0000

Maybe this goes without saying, but I would add Venezuela to this list too. It’s getting uglier every month. A quote from today’s newspaper: “The president’s popularity has been on the decline due to high inflation, widespread shortages of basic foods, and his inability to control a wave of violent crime.” You get to starve AND get mugged! And if you work for a foreign company, the army can force you out of your office and then out of the country because the state is going to take over the business.

By: tim

tim — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:49:01 +0000

I agree Marie, and I hope people don’t take this too seriously, as I really do believe most of us will die doing mundane things where we live. Women or men.

Mike, The Week is (in my opinion) the only magazine that can truly claim to be balanced. It compiles each story using segments from other news sources across the whole political spectrum. It includes foreign news sources and has a permanent real world news section, complete with colored maps so you can see the geography. The Economist is meatier, but you can spend a half hour with The Week and have a good sense of what’s going on around the world. Every week I see news in there I haven’t come across anywhere else.

By: Marie Javins

Marie Javins — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 18:32:53 +0000

I find it disturbing that there’s a small industry built around women being afraid to travel.

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:00:04 +0000

I don’t know if I’d call The Week a good magazine, but point taken.

By: brian

brian — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:10:59 +0000

that was a thoroughly enjoyable piece, funny too. now am having second thoughts of including ahmedabad on a trip later this year.

By: foxnomad

foxnomad — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:54:41 +0000

Statistically though, driving to the airport is more dangerous than doing all 4 combined.

I don’t know that the risk is especially related to international travel – having unprotected sex with strangers, being in the middle of a flood and risky all the time, no matter where you are.

And the risk of dying from terrorist is extremely remote – less people die from terrorism last year (2007) than in the previous 20 (excluding Iraq, which is a war zone and it’s inclusion in such statistics questionable).