Safety and Fear

When I first started planning my trip to Middle East I was expecting the typical "Oh my G-d, I can't believe you are going to such a dangerous place" reactions. I was not disappointed. No matter how much I quoted statistics about how it was more likely to be killed while driving on a Dallas freeway (10x more dangerous, actually) than to visit Israel for 10 days, they could not be convinced. I think the culprit is the usual negativity slathered on TV addicts by a drama-driven media focused on the region.

Funny that I didn't get that reaction when I went to Brazil or Mexico, countries where an American tourist is 25x more likely to be the victim of a violent crime. By that I mean killed. But then there isn't ongoing press coverage of crime in those areas.

On the other hand I was also surprised at how many people wanted to come with me. I actually had to narrow it down to two. We three share the same philosophy - we'd rather go out doing what we want to do than live a safe life limited by fear.

Zeh mah yesh.

With that I bid you shalom and I'll see you mid November!

Yallah bye!