Travel Quote: “No place is ever as bad as they tell you it’s going to be”

by Mike Richard

From Chuck Thompson’s excellent To Hellholes and Back: Bribes, Lies, and the Art of Extreme Tourism:

If there’s one lesson I’ve prized from my years of travel it’s this: no place is ever as bad as they tell you it’s going to be. Government bureaucrats are more concerned with covering their asses by issuing ludicrous “warning” than with disseminating accurate situation reports. And our “news media” – if you want to call information largely regurgitated from self-interested corporate and government sources “news” — operates pretty much like your one crazy drunk friend, the guy who has a hysterical public reaction to even the smallest events, and gets in a tizzy over every opinion whether he agrees with it or not.

Truth.

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About the Author

Vagabondish founding editor, Mike Richard, is a Rhode Island native, professional web designer and travel junkie with an unhealthy addiction to backpacking, hiking and seeing the world. He enjoys knit hats, small, declarative sentences and speaking in the third person. His professional credits include "Woman's World magazine contributor" and having once been interviewed by Tyra Banks (seriously).

mixer m
December 6th, 2012

I can’t tell you how much flak I got for when I wanted to travel to Mexico City.

Everyone was down my throat about how dangerous it was.

To some I started asking them, “when was the last time you were there?” That shup them up.

To others (closer friends), i told them that of course I take my safety seriously, and just like any city- there will be crime. I know that. I need to be careful. I’m not going to run around dark alleys shouting- I’m an American- hear me roar” .

The other thing was, b/c of my family background, I could blend in fairly easily: i.e. I’m not a white w/ blond hair.

Most everyones concern was b/c of what they hear from the news media, where legitimately speaking there are many problems along the border states.

Shalu Sharma
February 18th, 2013

There is a lot of truth in the saying. You have to do your own research on the place you are visiting and learn about the place, its history, language, culture and so on.

Adventures in Tulum
May 15th, 2013

We agree with mixer m. We still get asked “Why Mexico?” every year before we go. The media has a lot to do with why some people are afraid to travel. So to answer the “Why Mexico?” question, we always say… Have you been there?