{"id":45002,"date":"2019-02-27T16:38:17","date_gmt":"2019-02-27T06:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.com.au\/vc\/blog\/?p=45002"},"modified":"2019-03-06T12:45:01","modified_gmt":"2019-03-06T02:45:01","slug":"dangerous-destinations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.com.au\/vc\/blog\/dangerous-destinations\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I like to travel to \u2018dangerous\u2019 destinations"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cYou\u2019ll get kidnapped. You\u2019ll get robbed and you\u2019ll probably get killed too!\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the wonderful, unsolicited advice I received from the man sitting next to me in a London bar when he overheard me chatting about my upcoming trip to Colombia.<\/p>\n

\u201cHave you been there yourself?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh no, why would I? It\u2019s so dangerous!\u201d<\/p>\n

Cue the eyerolling.<\/em><\/p>\n

I was on the receiving end of some similar comments when I mentioned to friends that I was visiting Iran.<\/p>\n

The Middle East? Isn\u2019t it dangerous?<\/em> (There\u2019s that word again!) Especially for a woman?!<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong, I\u2019m no risk-taking adrenaline junkie. I\u2019m a cautious over-planner and I\u2019m literally afraid of everything<\/em>: heights, enclosed places, that feeling you get when something brushes past your leg while swimming at the beach. EVERYTHING. So, travelling to both Colombia and Iran was not something I took lightly. But I\u2019m so glad I did it!<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s why.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve ever visited a big bucket-list destination, the type that\u2019s always chock-full of tourists, you would\u2019ve noticed that sometimes the locals can be a little less than enthusiastic about all the travellers. We get it \u2013 tourist overload!<\/p>\n

But for the most part, it\u2019s the opposite in so-called \u2018dangerous\u2019 places like Iran or Colombia. The locals are excited to welcome tourists with open arms and show them the absolute best their countries have to offer. Why? Well, the locals I\u2019ve met are just so darned sick of all the negative stories that are shared about their home (and are much more widely reported than the good ones) and want to show travellers what the country and its people are really like. They want to show you that there\u2019s more than just what you see on the news.<\/p>\n\n

And just so we\u2019re clear, there are<\/em> elements of danger in these countries \u2013 just like anywhere else in the world \u2013 and bad things can and do happen \u2013 like literally anywhere else in the world. Yes, you have to be careful, but I found that more often than not people were so incredibly eager to show me the best their country had to offer \u2013 something I\u2019d never experienced in more popular bucket-list destinations.<\/p>\n

Whether it was someone pointing out the best restaurant for me to try a local dish or just being a super-friendly stranger, just because, the locals know their country is on show and most really want tourists to leave with the best experience possible. Perhaps so we can spread a positive message rather than all the sensationalised and often incorrect information that is much more readily available.<\/p>\n

I had some of my best travel experiences when I travelled through Iran. I can\u2019t even tell you how friendly people were. I was invited into people\u2019s homes, out to dinner, to get-togethers and family parties. Again, people really went out of their way to show me a wonderful time \u2013 and I\u2019m very pleased to say that most of those moments involved delicious food!<\/p>\n\n

Trust me, once you visit places like these, you\u2019ll be just as charmed as I was.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not saying you should stop listening to official travel advice about countries. And, yes, of course, don\u2019t put yourself in harm\u2019s way unnecessarily. But I sure am glad I didn\u2019t take advice about \u2018dangerous\u2019 countries from people who\u2019d never even visited them before.<\/p>\n

If I had, I never would\u2019ve gone to Colombia and danced in the salsa capital of the world, or chatted to a shaman while hiking to the ancient city of La Ciudad Perdida. I definitely wouldn\u2019t have danced on tables in busy nightclubs with brand-new friends. And what about horseback riding through coffee plantations? Nope. Never would\u2019ve happened.<\/p>\n\n

If I hadn\u2019t gone to Iran, I never would have visited countless ancient ruins, explored underground caves, or learnt about the incredible history of Persian culture. I never would have watched people sing under the Khaju Bridge in Isfahan under the light of the moon. Seriously amazing.<\/p>\n\n

Thank goodness I didn\u2019t listen to that guy in the pub that night. The only danger I encountered was not wanting to leave!<\/p>\n

Plan your exciting getaway<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cYou\u2019ll get kidnapped. You\u2019ll get robbed and you\u2019ll probably get killed too!\u201d That\u2019s the wonderful, unsolicited advice I received from..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":175,"featured_media":45003,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[116,9],"tags":[4768,4769,3445,4333],"acf":{"credits":[{"name":"","label":"","full_url":""}],"enable_review_score":false},"posts_api_cpm_point":"","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.com.au\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45002"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.com.au\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.com.au\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.com.au\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/175"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.com.au\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45002"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.com.au\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45011,"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.com.au\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45002\/revisions\/45011"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.com.au\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.com.au\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.com.au\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.com.au\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}