Is It Safe to Travel Right Now? Yes and Here’s Why I Still Believe in Going

Traveling right now seems to come with a question that pops up more and more often: is it still safe? I get that question a lot and even more frequently now. With my plans for a US road trip and a European rail trip, I hear it from both sides of the ocean. People in Europe look at my US plans as if I’ve completely lost my mind. Meanwhile, people in the US ask whether Europe is still safe to visit. And the funny thing is: when you point that out people look at you full of wonder: "Naturally my side of the ocean is safe. Why wouldn't it be?"

Don't judge an entire continent by the headlines

Yes, the news can be upsetting. It often is. We are constantly shown conflict, division, violence, disruption, and fear. That is what news does: it highlights what is going wrong but that does not mean the whole world is unsafe. It does not mean people should stop living and it definitely does not mean you should give up on the trip you have been dreaming about.

For most destinations, yes, it is still safe to travel. Not because nothing ever happens, of course it does, but because travel has never been about waiting for a moment when the world is completely calm. That moment does not exist. If you wait for a time when there is no unrest, no political tension, no bad news, no uncertainty, you may end up waiting forever.

That doesn’t mean you should be careless. It means you should be sensible

Travel smart. Prepare a little. Read up on the places you are visiting. Keep an eye on local advice. Know the basics. Be aware of your surroundings. Get travel insurance. Don’t take unnecessary risks. That is not fear. That is simply good travel practice as it always has been.

There are absolutely places in the world where traveling right now is not wise. Active conflict areas and regions with severe instability are a different story. But that is very different from saying that entire continents are unsafe.

Take the United States or Mexico, for example. Yes, bad things happen there. We all see those stories. But the the countries are huge. It is not one place, one mood, or one experience. You cannot reduce a country to the worst things that appear in your newsfeed. The same goes for Europe. Europe is not “unsafe” because of tensions in one area, just as America is not “unsafe” because of incidents in certain cities or states. Most of the time, when you travel, what you actually encounter is something very different from the image created by the news.

• You find kind people;
• You find ordinary streets and beautiful landscapes;
• You find small cafés, train stations, road trip snack stops, museums, castles, theme parks, conversations, sunsets, and the strange magic of being somewhere new.

You discover that most people, almost everywhere, are simply living their lives.

That is one of the reasons I believe travel matters so much. It gives us something the news rarely can: perspective. It reminds us that the world is not only made up of crisis and conflict. It is also made up of beauty, generosity, humor, curiosity, and connection. Travel makes the world feel human again.

And maybe that is exactly why it feels so important right now.

Because fear shrinks your life. Fear tells you to stay home. To cancel the plan. To wait. To distrust. To believe that the world outside your own bubble is mostly danger but travel does the opposite. Travel expands your world. It gives you memories, stories, confidence, and wonder. It reminds you that life is happening now, not someday in a safer, tidier, more certain future.

Of course everyone has their own comfort level, and that is okay. Not every destination is right for every traveler. Not every trip is the right trip at the right moment but I do think there is a real difference between being cautious and being scared out of living.

And too often, people are letting the headlines decide for them.

So here is my honest answer when people ask me whether it is safe to travel right now:

Yes, in most cases, it is.
Be smart. Use a skilled travel agent. Be prepared. Use common sense. But go. Take the road trip, book the rail pass, visit the city, the park, the mountains, the coast in the end, that is what makes life feel bigger, richer, and more worth living.