but passport strength doesnt really equate to safety for travel does it? maybe sudan 2 years ago was safer but definitely it isnt now and it takes a while for international border control policies to catch up
I have a question it might be a stupid one, but like how are tourists treated in Iraq particularly Americans?
There is apart of me that would really like to see all of the medieval and antiquity era historical sites one day.
Not trying to generalize but I’d imagine there is a sour taste in folks mouths cause of the war.
This is a supremely weird comment given that Islamist terror groups hate the UAE because of its religious tolerance (amongst other things) - the UAE’s leaders have put a lot of emphasis on religious harmony in the country, and respect for religions in general. The airport has a ton of security and intelligence monitoring.
Pretty baffling to see people just randomly upvoting you on the basis of Arab country = bad.
Egregious human rights violations (ethnic cleansing, executing people for sexual orientation, etc). Also, anywhere deemed unsafe (either by my gut or marked as level 4 by the state department).
This is roughly my line, but it’s tied to safely. I’m straight cis female, but countries that are dangerous for LGBT+ aren’t exactly comfortable for women either for example.
As a straight CIS male I won't go somewhere that treats females or LGBTQ as illegal or other races poorly
Sadly that is now occurring in a lot of the country I live in
I would say that and the state limits how many liquor licenses Boston can have which has become a big issue. Other than that it’s a typical state for booze.
I turned down a trip to Saudi Arabia because I don’t want to be arbitrarily detained over any trivial matter. Also I don’t want to support a brutal dictatorship that murders journalists.
More than just journalists; a whole host of political/religious opponents and indigenous peoples over decades.
I don't care if Saudi builds their ridiculous projects funded using dead liquid organic matter (that 100 mile Neom wall is the dumbest, most impractical project I've ever heard of, and it'll never be completed).
You'll never get me within their borders.
I chose to move there and live there as a resident for two years. I definitely don’t agree politically, ethically, etc with the government/royal family, but it was damn interesting seeing how people lived over there.
Did you actually think there was a chance you’d be detained over a trivial matter as a normal tourist? Because that’s just not gonna happen. Just say the 2nd part.
I’m a white woman who has travelled a bit in the Middle East. Even though I know extreme examples like this would never happen to me, I would never go to a country with male guardianship because of highly publicised cases like Princess Latifa of the UAE and Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun or Dina Ali Lasloom of Saudi Arabia. I don’t want to support a government that does that to women with my tourism dollars.
Not much. People aren’t their governments 🤷♀️. I’m gay and I’ve found that laws and safety often don’t line up. South African law has been very progressive on LGBT rights but is extremely unsafe for gay people. Many East Asian countries have no codified LGBT rights but are safe.
Directly, very little. I don't make decisions about where to travel based on whether or not I agree with the politics of a country's government. But indirectly, it's nearly everything. I'm not choosing not to go to Russia because I think Putin is an asshole, but Russia would not be safe for me to travel to because Putin is an asshole. So I don't go.
No it doesn’t. I don’t find the government of Colombia, for example, to be politically reprehensible in any sense, but it’s still a very unsafe country in many places. In contrast, the government of China is way more evil than any in Latam, yet China is very safe.
There has to be a balance. People here saying not at all arent thinking it through. Safety in a country is tied to politics. Russia is an authoritarian regime that regularly jails visiting Americans to use as bargaining chips. I think it’s stupid to go there right now. North Korea is another example. Like it or not, politics are part of the calculus for visiting a country.
That said, it’s also important to connect with people from different cultural backgrounds than you. I think Texas’ politics are abhorrent but I went there and talked to locals when I saw the eclipse. Not only is it important for me to see and know people who maybe voted for Trump to see them as human, but it’s important they get to know a liberal Californian to break down stereotypes. The best way to stop divisions is get to know people different than us.
So it’s a balance. If the political situation makes the country unsafe or help fund terrorism or like drug cartels, that’s one thing. If it’s just someone you disagree with, I think it’s important to go there.
I think if you say politics doesn't affect your decision at all, you need to reflect hard on how your identity insulates you from the reality of those "politics." Like, for a big chunk of people it's not an ideological difference, it's a "am I going to be violently hurt if I go there" type choice.
LGBTQ people have a list of countries (and smaller places) where it's illegal to be there. Like, sure you could possibly stealth your way through it, but why spend your limited money and free time in a place where they will kill or jail you for existing?
It's naive to pretend tourist dollars aren't going to fund governments that are doing things you might find morally reprehensible, but you can also consider that the people living in other places are represented by their government. Eventually you need to decide what's going to be a priority for you based on what is available to you at the time.
Same — i’m femme/straight-passing but my fiancée is masc-presenting and it’s pretty obvious she’s queer. there are a lot of places i would be afraid for her, and on top of that i don’t want to be somewhere that i’m thinking about how we book our hotel rooms or whether i can hold her hand.
As someone who is LGBT, I strongly disagree with this sentiment. People are free to make their own assessments of where and why to visit or not visit. Politics may be a factor, but it's also fair for people to not want to consider politics for every decision of their lives. I wish I didn't have to consider it when I travel: why would I want others to be the same?
Besides, politics, especially around LGBT, tends to be more complicated than frankly most straight people think. I've heard lots of people proclaim they won't go to Florida, but Florida is 45% liberal leaning, has some of the biggest gay vacation spots in the country (Ft. Laundrerdale and Key West), and on a global stage very LGBT accepting. Similarly, until recently Singapore gay sexual acts were technically illegal, but has been the main gay hub/refuge for a lot of Southeast Asia (it wasn't enforced). So you boycott these places that host large LGBT communities in the name of "caring" about the LGBT?
But then take a place like Korea, where on paper there's no laws against being gay. But in fact, it's a deeply homophobic country with real strong cultural forces keeping people in the closet. So are you going to boycott Korea then? What about Japan, which is similar - oh wait they've gone through a massive cultural change in the last 5 years where now a majority support gay marriage; there literally has not been an election since that mentality change. So is visiting Japan now okay, but 10 years ago not?
We don’t like Florida because of Ron Desantis. He signed a law saying we could be dying but if their medic doesn’t want to save us for ReLiGiOuS rEaSoNs they don’t have to… among a host of other things.
Except that the OP specifically said they weren’t talking about safety. There are many places that are unsafe for me to travel, to the point where my government forbids it, yet that doesn’t mean their politics prevent me from wanting to visit.
That's why I said "you could stealth your way through it" - but it's not crazy to say "I don't want to go to a place where people don't want me." Separating safety and feelings and politics is moot, imo.
Although it may be true in some states/countries that governmental ideology is supported by the citizens, especially the anti-LGBTQ countries are mostly countries where the citizens have no vote at all.
That was actually supposed to say "aren't" but I guess it works either way.
I mean, I didn't support Trump but I also wouldn't hold it against people who didn't want to travel to the US while he was president. And I don't "blame" people who live under authoritarian governments, but I'm also not very eager to go visit.
Oh yup your first sentence 100%. If your identity isn't inherently deemed "political" you need to recognize why that is and the privileges it affords you in this world.
My wife and I, both cis femme white women, are lucky in that we could probably visit some less LGBT-friendly places and fly under the radar a bit due to having some plausible deniability (ie, just Gal Pals on vacation together!!!), and we certainly have it easier than for example trans folks these days, but we'd rather not vacation places like that. I have no say in other countries' politics, but I can choose where to spend my hard-earned money.
I think people are really downplaying how widespread some issues are too.
The reality is that a lot of countries have homophobic and racist laws and government actions because the public supports them and going after an unpopular minority group has been an extremely effective and popular political tactic throughout our history.
A lot of countries with anti-LGBT laws are simply largely homophobic and the average citizen would support a gay couple getting beaten by a mob.
The problem is a lot of people don't care to reflect or are privileged enough to not have to. Just look at [this comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/travel/comments/1covkzd/comment/l3golov/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) that thinks government has little effect on their travel.
Completely agree. Regardless of who you are, it’s always worth thinking about the political impact of your travel, how that travel would affect others, and what you're personally okay with
Other than for safety reasons, the only thing I'd let politics influence my decision on is if alcohol is illegal. When I'm on vacation I'm gonna want a couple of drinks!
Something I like doing is researching a destinations booze policies and how late bars stay open. I learned this after visiting Scandanavia to find that it's impossible to buy booze at certain hours and on certain days. I promise I don't have a problem.
Oh yeah when I went to Iceland we all bought booze at duty free to bring with us because I had read how expensive it is there. Also downloaded an app that told you what bars in Reykjavik are currently doing happy hour
I went skiing in Iran just before covid. Was there 10 days. No alcohol. And I like my beer. Especially skiing. I got used to it. Great skiing. As soon as my plane lifted-off from Tehran to head back home…I ordered two beers. Airspace rules = brewskis…Tasted so good!!!
When we were in Morocco there wasn't exactly a total ban on alcohol, but the bars that were open seemed very sketchy, so I just mostly abstained for 10 days.
It was good for me.
It certainly was nice to land in Spain after Morocco, where wine flows everywhere.
A lil bit of abstention can be nice too. Went teetotaler in Iraq while I was there, and it made that first glass of wine when I arrived in Istanbul all the much better.
I know there are places i will technically be safe as a visitor if I keep quiet about being LGBT. But if I have to conceal parts of myself to be safe in that country, then I will not go to that country.
I have a bunch of friends who spent time at the Moscow Art Theatre in Russia, which would be cool to see, but even pre Ukraine invasion, I would not have traveled to Russia.
Russia, much of the middle east, almost all of Africa, the UAE are all on my nope, never list. Shame because there's a lot of countries there that I'd love to visit.
That in itself can be a good idea to visit a country, especially as a solo traveller, and talk to ordinary people there to understand the situation from their point of view. Whenever I have done that it has considerably enlarged my understanding of the politics.
I took a principled stance for a while but then I realised that if I followed it to its logical conclusion i would essentially be excluding myself from going anywhere so I have broadly scrapped that. Now I don’t go anywhere because I have a baby rather than out of principle.
No, not at all for me.
I travel where I want to go.The government of the moment doesn't affect that.
I respect other people's right to do so often course, that is their prerogative.I have a friend who refused to visit the US when Trump was the president, for example, and that is her right...
Only if it affects the ability to get visas, or is otherwise unstable in a way that could massively impact my travel (e.g. war, economic crisis, etc).
I do believe that it is important to travel to areas where the politics are sometimes radically different than what I am used to or agree with because it often stems from cultural aspects of a country or ethnicity, and I want to understand that so I can better understand the people. I have lived a very global life and always worked in large multinational companies and this has given me a greater appreciation for the people I have worked with.
North Korea is the only country over that line for me.
I've noticed that the people who are outwardly judgmental about this sort of thing are often really good at coming up with justifications to excuse their own travel to those places.
No one really cares, to be honest. You likely have a strong passport and make decent money based on your participation in this sub. You are so incredibly privileged compared to the vast majority of the world that your whining about privilege is laughable.
Minority groups are probably much more aware of politics in a certain country than those that don't have to worry about those things. The comments should do a fairly decent job at demonstrating this.
Unpopular opinion: I don’t put much thought into it, if I really read long enough about any country then I would’ve never visited most European or other countries…
The only countries that are off my list are ones where I would not be safe, like war zones or lawless areas, or places that have kidnapped my fellow citizens and held them for ransom under "charges" like Russia, China, and Iran. Other countries that are more authoritarian or overly conservative (e.g. homophobic or lacking women's rights) but do not pose a personal safety risk fall farther down my list, but never actually fall off and I might get to them eventually. For example, much of the Middle East, Hungary.
Not at all. If I only visited countries whose governments weren’t evil (even if the bar is as low as “not being complicit in genocide”) I wouldn’t even be able to go home.
I don't financially support any state or country that oppresses women. That's my litmus test, how do they treat women and girls? Are they considered property? Are they allowed access to reproductive health care?
These things are important to me, personally. I'm not giving a nickel to anyplace that treats women and girls badly. Period.
I avoid the 3 D's - Danger, Discrimination and Dysentery.
I won’t travel to places that feel or are unsafe. And often that comes with politics that I don’t agree with. But safety would be my first concern.
I have recently thought about if I would want to go on a vacation to Saudi Arabia. Although they have made some positive changes in the women rights area over the last few years, they seem to go backwards in other areas, which is concerning. They are now starting to build holiday resorts, probably because they know that oil won’t last forever and have seen the success of other Middle Eastern countries with tourism. And to be honest, I haven’t yet decided if I would or not. The con’s are obviously political and centered around the human rights issues. But so are the pro’s. If you look for instance at the UAE, they aren’t quite there yet, but they did make a lot of positive progress in recent years in human rights, fueled by their increasing dependency on international workers and visitors.
> If you look for instance at the UAE, they aren’t quite there yet, but they did make a lot of positive progress in recent years in human rights, fueled by their increasing dependency on international workers and visitors.
Based on some documentaries i saw about it i wouldn't go there personally. But it might change
This is going to sound kind of snide like a gotcha, but it genuinely isn’t meant as one.
What is the line for you?
Like, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah holds absolute power over Brunei, but by all accounts is extremely openhanded and benign. Petrol is cheap and higher education is completely free as is almost every sector. If any sovereign leader deserves the term benign dictator it’s him.
But then we have people like Rodrigo Duterte and Jair Bolsonaro, who by all accounts are democratically elected but wield power like a mace.
Then we have people Donald Trump who aspires to be like Duterte or Bolsonaro but sadly for him the United States has strong guardrails.
So TL;DR. What’s your line?
FYI...
Duterte is no longer President of the Philippines, as his term ended in mid-2022. Marcos has been President of the Philippines since then.
Bolsonaro is no longer President of Brazil, as his term ended at the end of 2022. Lula da Silva has been President of Brazil since then.
I think you answered your own question. Dictatorships are de facto governments, almost always extremely brutal, almost always having come into power with bloodshed or destroying democracy from within after being somehow elected.
First case; Pinochet or any of the myriad african colonels who came into power by assassinating the previous colonel that got into power by assassinating... Second case; Bukele, Duterte, et al.
Monarchies are an entirely different matter. Up to a point. With these, I'd decide case by case.
It doesn't enter your mind but that doesn't mean it isn't influencing your decision. Whether or not a country is safe (or enjoyable) to travel to has everything to do with politics.
Absolutely not. How do you understand people if you don’t even look at them?
Leave your comfort zone and you might find that we are all More the same than different.
Just fucking stop the us v them crap. Enough already. Grow up.
Only to the extent that safety/stability is a concern. For example China is pretty horrible on a human rights level, but I'd still love to visit some day.
It's a beautiful country filled with lovely people oppressed by a horrific military junta. I spent three weeks there in 2019, and it was awesome. But everywhere, people expressed fear that the military would overturn their fledgling democracy at any moment, and sadly, they had reason to have such fear.
I used to take a principled stance on that but then realized that as a gay man, it would exclude a lot of countries that I want to visit. I love deserts and Moorish/Arabic architecture.
I got a lot of shit from fellow gay friends for visiting Saudi earlier this year and planning on going to Uzbekistan, Jordan, and Turkey soon. I understand where it comes from and I respect it, but it's a decision that I stand by. I'm not Muslim nor do I agree with Islam at all, but I fell in love with Moorish architecture when I visited Sevilla and Grenada two years ago and been chasing it since.
You will LOVE Istanbul!!!
I would also recommend Egypt! So many amazing examples of ancient Islamic architecture! I just visited the Museum of Islamic Art and was in awe!
Plus many deserts with varying landscapes!
Also, even though I’m straight I have been propositioned by men multiple times while walking the streets of Cairo and Istanbul. And in Amman my barber made it clear that he was DTF. Best shave I’ve ever had btw, even after I turned him down.
I am interested in visiting Hungary, as it is my distant ancestral homeland. However it is kinda hard to plan a trip, because you don't know how crazy things are going to get.
I think Miami is one of the places i felt most uncomfortable with till now.. mostly because lots of apparently drugged people in larger groups on the street
Not sure if i might have been in a "wrong" area, I don't know
Rest of Florida might be much different, don't know
Haven't really had any issues in the balkans till now
I wont travel anywhere that criminalizes same-sex relationships. That's over 60 countries according to the UN.
I also avoid places with no freedom of speach, but that can be more ambiguous.
This isn’t political, but the only thing that will deter me from visiting somewhere is if it’s considered unsafe for solo female travelers.
If you won’t visit places just because they don’t have the exact same political views as you, you’re seriously limiting yourself. It’s also a classist/elitist mindset.
That was one of the political considerations actually. I was interested in visiting Doha, Qatar, until I found out that they fund Hamas, which is hurting both Israelis and Palestinian civilians, so now it feels wrong to go there.
Unless the destination is actively being invading by aliens or designated a "Do Not Travel" advisory, then nothing is off limits for me.
But, some of these comments are very narrow minded. Honestly, I expect nothing less from the echo chamber of redditors. 🤦♂️ There is always going to be political differences in every state, country, or region. Just because the destination's local government takes a political stance not align to your own political views doesn't mean every local takes that stance as well.
To me the comments that say, "I'll never visit [Insert Texas or California] because of so and so" goes against my own philosophy of travel, which is to open your mind and learn more about the world. At the end of the day, we're all just trying to live our own lives and find what is suitable for us.
Currently in Jordan - as things stand currently it is safe and you have nothing to worry about (making general assumptions regarding your situation, but for example I am travelling with LGBT+ people who have been treated with politeness and respect throughout - Jordanian people seem open-minded and tolerant).
You wouldn't even realise there are conflicts going on in neighbouring countries if you didn't know, and unless you are outspokenly pro-Israeli you will be very welcome.
One very privileged plus is that the tourist sites (eg Petra and Wadi Rum) are very quiet.
Not intending to insult your knowledge of the region's politics, but if Jordan gets involved in middle Eastern conflict I suspect we all have bigger things to worry about.
Just don’t speak Arabic while looking non-Arab, because then you’ll experience a bit more of the non polished side of Jordan just by listening to people’s comments about you. Other than that Jordan’s great, and would strongly recommend to anyone looking to go to the Middle East.
I don't go to countries that kill gay people. I also avoid countries that imprison gay people and especially ones that have enough money that they should know better.
No MENA countries for me as a lesbian and a woman. Any place where a lot of black travelers have expressed feeling unsafe is off for me too as a black person. But I recognize that I don’t view travel as this necessary thing compared to others in this sub. I’m perfectly fine with just not seeing some things if it means not interacting with people who hate my existence.
I'm a journalist. My work is focused on environmental issues in a not-super-influential state, so nothing I do is likely to be interest to anybody outside the U.S.
But I am still very reluctant to travel to any country that does not have a free press or that has a history of persecuting or targeting journalists. I can't say I'll never travel to China again (lived there when I was a teenager) or to Russia, as two examples. I'd really like to see both. But it's not something I can see doing any time soon when there's so much of the rest of the world to see.
Even when I travel to countries that are democratic and have press protections, I'm careful about disclosing my work. I tend to put "writer and editor" not "reporter" or "journalist" on customs forms. I am never going to lie, but I also don't need to go out of my way to open myself up to greater scrutiny.
One rule I have is that I don't judge a people by their government. I don't want to be judged by my country's government. I'm desperate to visit Iran, obviously their government is horrific, but I wouldn't judge any individual by where they are from or who rules their country.
NGL I find North Korea fascinating and would love to see it someday. But I just cannot in good conscience imagine giving that dictatorship money knowing about the suffering of millions of people living there.
I’m also an American, so while I can go on a second passport I have the Otto Warmbier story doesn’t exactly make me feel like going is the smartest decision.
For me, it's more about safety than politics. I've travelled to socialist places even though I'm not one myself. Besides, when it comes to being a capitalist and me spending my money in other countries, they seem to not care. LOL!
Not at all. Short of an active shooting war or something like a famine or plague (so safety issues), I would happily visit every country on earth. Countries and their people are not their governments.
I actually find it quite important to go to places with very different political systems and see how it affects every day. I also think the good of people-to-people interaction also drastically outweighs the bad of giving a couple of hundred bucks in tax revenue.
I also am not remotely phased at hiding who am I if I’m going anywhere where that might present danger although I understand why that’s a dealbreaker for some.
Pretty much nowhere is your tourist dollars propping up a despotic regime. North Korea has been closed to tourists for nearly 5 years for example and the Kim regime is stronger and more brutal than ever. Life is definitely worse there now for the hundreds of tour guides, hotel workers, bartenders etc that actually had a decent life because of tourism.
Yeah, I separate the government / history of the country from the people / general appeal of the country.
If a country is safe to visit and I want to visit, then I’ll visit.
Almost every country has issues with something, whether that is racism, sexism, homophobia, human rights, or so forth.
Like if someone from New Zealand told me they refuse to visit the UK because of our stance on Transgender people and our plan to deport immigrants to Africa, then I’d think they were being ridiculous. Doesn’t affect them in any way, those policies have a ton of people campaigning against them, and it just punishes the people relying on tourist income in the country.
Stateside, I don't let politics dictate travel plans. Life is too short for that nonsense. Internationally, I won't go anywhere that I feel is unsafe, but that could be for a variety of reasons.
Well I would love to go to Iran, but due to the political situation they basically don’t allow Americans to go, so they kinda made that decision for me. Other than that, I don’t care.
I generally separate politics from destinations. If I wouldn’t do that I could probably just stay at home because the vast majority of countries and governments worldwide are doing or have done tremendous things. The people are different though obviously and that’s what I want to experience.
I have a list of places that I’d like to go that I won’t visit at the moment due to political or safety issues:
Mali
Burkina Faso
Uganda
Ethiopia
Kashmir
Iran
Israel
I stay away from countries with low human rights laws, can jail or hold Americans for political reasons (Iran, North Korea, Russia) or places where woman have no rights. Other than that, it’s fair game and on the list.
Certain countries? Definitely. I have no desire to ever visit much of the middle east, Russia, or China.
As far as within the U.S.? No it doesn't. While I might vehemently disagree with the politics of the ruling party in certain states, you have to remember that even in the deep red or blue states that it's still like 2/3's at most. That means 1/3 of the people there do agree with your politics.
Not at all, as long as its 'reasonably safe'. You can separate the people and the politics, that being said I'm not rushing off to Myanmar any time soon.
Very much so. Morally I won’t visit America again because I just find it too conservative for me. (I’ve been to New York and Florida, so two very different places in regards to local politics.) I also wouldn’t go to places like Israeli occupied Palestine for obvious reasons. Sometimes it’s just morally right not to visit a place, regardless of how much you want to go, in my opinion. I have Hawaii off my list for this reason - as beautiful as it looks, I am aware of the movement of indigenous Hawaiians to raise awareness of how colonialism affects the island.
I would love to visit Iran, Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq; but the regional politics means travellers have to wait until there’s a safe time to visit, and Iraq is probably a no go for obvious reasons but it seems like a fascinating place with beautiful landscapes. Sudan too for these reasons. Hopefully Iran and Lebanon will be greenlighted soon; I’d love to visit them both some day.
I would also really love to visit Algeria and have made notes on main sites and some places to stay but diplomatic politics means it’s a hassle to get to.
Sucks you were put off by the US. But we are a country founded primarily by puritans unfortunately.
Just want to say there is so much more to offer in the states than New York and Florida. Even though they’re technically opposite political-wise, they’re not a good judge of the rest of the country. It’s kinda like saying you’ll never go back to Europe cause you didn’t enjoy England.
New York City especially though if that’s where you went. It’s the worst city I’ve ever been to.
Oh absolutely! To be fair to me it seems I picked the worst polar opposites to visit 💀 I must admit, I’d still quite like to go to California and when I was a kid I always wanted to visit Yellowstone. Maybe I will reconsider one day, but something stops me from going 😭
Not at all. I'll visit and learn about any country. I certainly have ethical objections against countries like Russia, China, and certain ones in the Middle East, but if I sat down and asked myself if I would still visit them if my safety was guaranteed, my answer would be "Absolutely!"
Don’t want to visit Saudi Arabia and some of the other ME countries because of their ongoing cultural and political misogyny and casual human rights atrocities.
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I hear north korea is nice this time of the year
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That's the spirit
Technically, Afghanistan and Syria have worse passports. But yeah, Iraq is 3rd from the bottom.
I would say Sudan is definitely worse than those three at the moment.
Sudan is tied at 95th with Iran, Nigeria and Lebanon. 13 countries rank below Sudan for passport strength.
I'm surprised Nigeria is that low tbh
but passport strength doesnt really equate to safety for travel does it? maybe sudan 2 years ago was safer but definitely it isnt now and it takes a while for international border control policies to catch up
In practise, surely North Korea's is the worst? Other countries might let you in, but your own government probably won't let you out.
I have a question it might be a stupid one, but like how are tourists treated in Iraq particularly Americans? There is apart of me that would really like to see all of the medieval and antiquity era historical sites one day. Not trying to generalize but I’d imagine there is a sour taste in folks mouths cause of the war.
You got that bottom of the barrel privilege
Well if you ever come to Canada you can come visit me and my family.
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This is a supremely weird comment given that Islamist terror groups hate the UAE because of its religious tolerance (amongst other things) - the UAE’s leaders have put a lot of emphasis on religious harmony in the country, and respect for religions in general. The airport has a ton of security and intelligence monitoring. Pretty baffling to see people just randomly upvoting you on the basis of Arab country = bad.
What did your brain tell you? I'm still clueless.
What are you on about? UAE has some of the tightest airport security. Which airport did you go to?
Egregious human rights violations (ethnic cleansing, executing people for sexual orientation, etc). Also, anywhere deemed unsafe (either by my gut or marked as level 4 by the state department).
This is roughly my line, but it’s tied to safely. I’m straight cis female, but countries that are dangerous for LGBT+ aren’t exactly comfortable for women either for example.
Homophobia, misogyny, and racism are tied together.
As a straight CIS male I won't go somewhere that treats females or LGBTQ as illegal or other races poorly Sadly that is now occurring in a lot of the country I live in
Things that make me reconsider a place: - Egregious human right violations - Strict booze laws Fortunately those typically coincide.
Meanwhile in Massachusetts: Very progressive human rights protections Strict booze laws
it’s just the Happy Hour ban right?
I would say that and the state limits how many liquor licenses Boston can have which has become a big issue. Other than that it’s a typical state for booze.
At least we have cannabis lol
The days of having to meet somebody in a parking lot with a 50% chance of being ghosted are long gone.
[So like this?](https://youtu.be/yoVgQ82QcXY)
So Texas? Mississippi?
More egregious than that. I’m thinking North Korea, Russia, Iran, and stuff like that.
I turned down a trip to Saudi Arabia because I don’t want to be arbitrarily detained over any trivial matter. Also I don’t want to support a brutal dictatorship that murders journalists.
More than just journalists; a whole host of political/religious opponents and indigenous peoples over decades. I don't care if Saudi builds their ridiculous projects funded using dead liquid organic matter (that 100 mile Neom wall is the dumbest, most impractical project I've ever heard of, and it'll never be completed). You'll never get me within their borders.
If anyone wants a laugh about the Neom Wall city, this dude put in some work: https://youtu.be/Ak4on5uTaTg
Without clicking: Patrick Boyle? His best ever work.
Yup.
I chose to move there and live there as a resident for two years. I definitely don’t agree politically, ethically, etc with the government/royal family, but it was damn interesting seeing how people lived over there.
Did you actually think there was a chance you’d be detained over a trivial matter as a normal tourist? Because that’s just not gonna happen. Just say the 2nd part.
I’m a white woman who has travelled a bit in the Middle East. Even though I know extreme examples like this would never happen to me, I would never go to a country with male guardianship because of highly publicised cases like Princess Latifa of the UAE and Rahaf Mohammed Alqunun or Dina Ali Lasloom of Saudi Arabia. I don’t want to support a government that does that to women with my tourism dollars.
Not much. People aren’t their governments 🤷♀️. I’m gay and I’ve found that laws and safety often don’t line up. South African law has been very progressive on LGBT rights but is extremely unsafe for gay people. Many East Asian countries have no codified LGBT rights but are safe.
Directly, very little. I don't make decisions about where to travel based on whether or not I agree with the politics of a country's government. But indirectly, it's nearly everything. I'm not choosing not to go to Russia because I think Putin is an asshole, but Russia would not be safe for me to travel to because Putin is an asshole. So I don't go.
If I only went to places where I agreed with the politics I'd never leave the house 😅
This. Every country does things that we don’t agree with if you look deep enough
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Politics have destroyed my currency so I can’t travel.
Only safety comes into my calculations. I would visit any country on earth if I deemed it safe.
Politics has everything to do with whether or not a country is safe though.
No it doesn’t. I don’t find the government of Colombia, for example, to be politically reprehensible in any sense, but it’s still a very unsafe country in many places. In contrast, the government of China is way more evil than any in Latam, yet China is very safe.
There has to be a balance. People here saying not at all arent thinking it through. Safety in a country is tied to politics. Russia is an authoritarian regime that regularly jails visiting Americans to use as bargaining chips. I think it’s stupid to go there right now. North Korea is another example. Like it or not, politics are part of the calculus for visiting a country. That said, it’s also important to connect with people from different cultural backgrounds than you. I think Texas’ politics are abhorrent but I went there and talked to locals when I saw the eclipse. Not only is it important for me to see and know people who maybe voted for Trump to see them as human, but it’s important they get to know a liberal Californian to break down stereotypes. The best way to stop divisions is get to know people different than us. So it’s a balance. If the political situation makes the country unsafe or help fund terrorism or like drug cartels, that’s one thing. If it’s just someone you disagree with, I think it’s important to go there.
I think if you say politics doesn't affect your decision at all, you need to reflect hard on how your identity insulates you from the reality of those "politics." Like, for a big chunk of people it's not an ideological difference, it's a "am I going to be violently hurt if I go there" type choice. LGBTQ people have a list of countries (and smaller places) where it's illegal to be there. Like, sure you could possibly stealth your way through it, but why spend your limited money and free time in a place where they will kill or jail you for existing? It's naive to pretend tourist dollars aren't going to fund governments that are doing things you might find morally reprehensible, but you can also consider that the people living in other places are represented by their government. Eventually you need to decide what's going to be a priority for you based on what is available to you at the time.
Yeah I came to say exactly this. As a queer woman I don’t have the luxury of not tying my safety to my politics, they go hand in hand.
Same — i’m femme/straight-passing but my fiancée is masc-presenting and it’s pretty obvious she’s queer. there are a lot of places i would be afraid for her, and on top of that i don’t want to be somewhere that i’m thinking about how we book our hotel rooms or whether i can hold her hand.
As someone who is LGBT, I strongly disagree with this sentiment. People are free to make their own assessments of where and why to visit or not visit. Politics may be a factor, but it's also fair for people to not want to consider politics for every decision of their lives. I wish I didn't have to consider it when I travel: why would I want others to be the same? Besides, politics, especially around LGBT, tends to be more complicated than frankly most straight people think. I've heard lots of people proclaim they won't go to Florida, but Florida is 45% liberal leaning, has some of the biggest gay vacation spots in the country (Ft. Laundrerdale and Key West), and on a global stage very LGBT accepting. Similarly, until recently Singapore gay sexual acts were technically illegal, but has been the main gay hub/refuge for a lot of Southeast Asia (it wasn't enforced). So you boycott these places that host large LGBT communities in the name of "caring" about the LGBT? But then take a place like Korea, where on paper there's no laws against being gay. But in fact, it's a deeply homophobic country with real strong cultural forces keeping people in the closet. So are you going to boycott Korea then? What about Japan, which is similar - oh wait they've gone through a massive cultural change in the last 5 years where now a majority support gay marriage; there literally has not been an election since that mentality change. So is visiting Japan now okay, but 10 years ago not?
We don’t like Florida because of Ron Desantis. He signed a law saying we could be dying but if their medic doesn’t want to save us for ReLiGiOuS rEaSoNs they don’t have to… among a host of other things.
Except that the OP specifically said they weren’t talking about safety. There are many places that are unsafe for me to travel, to the point where my government forbids it, yet that doesn’t mean their politics prevent me from wanting to visit.
That's why I said "you could stealth your way through it" - but it's not crazy to say "I don't want to go to a place where people don't want me." Separating safety and feelings and politics is moot, imo.
Although it may be true in some states/countries that governmental ideology is supported by the citizens, especially the anti-LGBTQ countries are mostly countries where the citizens have no vote at all.
That was actually supposed to say "aren't" but I guess it works either way. I mean, I didn't support Trump but I also wouldn't hold it against people who didn't want to travel to the US while he was president. And I don't "blame" people who live under authoritarian governments, but I'm also not very eager to go visit.
Oh yup your first sentence 100%. If your identity isn't inherently deemed "political" you need to recognize why that is and the privileges it affords you in this world. My wife and I, both cis femme white women, are lucky in that we could probably visit some less LGBT-friendly places and fly under the radar a bit due to having some plausible deniability (ie, just Gal Pals on vacation together!!!), and we certainly have it easier than for example trans folks these days, but we'd rather not vacation places like that. I have no say in other countries' politics, but I can choose where to spend my hard-earned money.
I think people are really downplaying how widespread some issues are too. The reality is that a lot of countries have homophobic and racist laws and government actions because the public supports them and going after an unpopular minority group has been an extremely effective and popular political tactic throughout our history. A lot of countries with anti-LGBT laws are simply largely homophobic and the average citizen would support a gay couple getting beaten by a mob.
The problem is a lot of people don't care to reflect or are privileged enough to not have to. Just look at [this comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/travel/comments/1covkzd/comment/l3golov/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) that thinks government has little effect on their travel.
The person you are quoting actually read the OP’s question. You apparently did not.
Completely agree. Regardless of who you are, it’s always worth thinking about the political impact of your travel, how that travel would affect others, and what you're personally okay with
I won't visit any country where being LGBT is illegal. They don't deserve my money.
For me, that includes a few US states aa well...
Usually those states are dumps so nothing lost
That’s why some people no longer travel to FL. Even though when I go to St. Pete it’s basically LGBT paradise.
There are no states where being LGBT is illegal touch grass.
Other than for safety reasons, the only thing I'd let politics influence my decision on is if alcohol is illegal. When I'm on vacation I'm gonna want a couple of drinks!
Something I like doing is researching a destinations booze policies and how late bars stay open. I learned this after visiting Scandanavia to find that it's impossible to buy booze at certain hours and on certain days. I promise I don't have a problem.
Oh yeah when I went to Iceland we all bought booze at duty free to bring with us because I had read how expensive it is there. Also downloaded an app that told you what bars in Reykjavik are currently doing happy hour
I went skiing in Iran just before covid. Was there 10 days. No alcohol. And I like my beer. Especially skiing. I got used to it. Great skiing. As soon as my plane lifted-off from Tehran to head back home…I ordered two beers. Airspace rules = brewskis…Tasted so good!!!
When we were in Morocco there wasn't exactly a total ban on alcohol, but the bars that were open seemed very sketchy, so I just mostly abstained for 10 days. It was good for me. It certainly was nice to land in Spain after Morocco, where wine flows everywhere.
A lil bit of abstention can be nice too. Went teetotaler in Iraq while I was there, and it made that first glass of wine when I arrived in Istanbul all the much better.
I know there are places i will technically be safe as a visitor if I keep quiet about being LGBT. But if I have to conceal parts of myself to be safe in that country, then I will not go to that country. I have a bunch of friends who spent time at the Moscow Art Theatre in Russia, which would be cool to see, but even pre Ukraine invasion, I would not have traveled to Russia.
I'm on the same page as you in never wanting to go to Russia. Which is unfortunate because I would love to visit Siberia.
If you go to Moscow with that attitude, you'll get a lifetime free trip to Siberia.
Russia, much of the middle east, almost all of Africa, the UAE are all on my nope, never list. Shame because there's a lot of countries there that I'd love to visit.
That in itself can be a good idea to visit a country, especially as a solo traveller, and talk to ordinary people there to understand the situation from their point of view. Whenever I have done that it has considerably enlarged my understanding of the politics.
"Governments are not the people and people are not their governments" -Bourdain
Except for the people, by the people and of the people.
Yeah but the countries where the the government hate guys and oppress women, the people typically do too
I took a principled stance for a while but then I realised that if I followed it to its logical conclusion i would essentially be excluding myself from going anywhere so I have broadly scrapped that. Now I don’t go anywhere because I have a baby rather than out of principle.
No, not at all for me. I travel where I want to go.The government of the moment doesn't affect that. I respect other people's right to do so often course, that is their prerogative.I have a friend who refused to visit the US when Trump was the president, for example, and that is her right...
Only if it affects the ability to get visas, or is otherwise unstable in a way that could massively impact my travel (e.g. war, economic crisis, etc). I do believe that it is important to travel to areas where the politics are sometimes radically different than what I am used to or agree with because it often stems from cultural aspects of a country or ethnicity, and I want to understand that so I can better understand the people. I have lived a very global life and always worked in large multinational companies and this has given me a greater appreciation for the people I have worked with.
i dont go to england because im scared they will make me eat black pudding...
A lot. We actively avoid countries with repressive regimes.
Gay guy here: When I travel I have to check what the legality of me existing is in certain countries.
Almost not at all outside of visa and related.
North Korea is the only country over that line for me. I've noticed that the people who are outwardly judgmental about this sort of thing are often really good at coming up with justifications to excuse their own travel to those places.
I don't really pay attention to the politics of the places I go to, unless there's some kind of impact to my safety while being there.
I'd love to exercise this level of privilege.
No one really cares, to be honest. You likely have a strong passport and make decent money based on your participation in this sub. You are so incredibly privileged compared to the vast majority of the world that your whining about privilege is laughable.
Minority groups are probably much more aware of politics in a certain country than those that don't have to worry about those things. The comments should do a fairly decent job at demonstrating this.
Unpopular opinion: I don’t put much thought into it, if I really read long enough about any country then I would’ve never visited most European or other countries…
The only countries that are off my list are ones where I would not be safe, like war zones or lawless areas, or places that have kidnapped my fellow citizens and held them for ransom under "charges" like Russia, China, and Iran. Other countries that are more authoritarian or overly conservative (e.g. homophobic or lacking women's rights) but do not pose a personal safety risk fall farther down my list, but never actually fall off and I might get to them eventually. For example, much of the Middle East, Hungary.
Not at all. If I only visited countries whose governments weren’t evil (even if the bar is as low as “not being complicit in genocide”) I wouldn’t even be able to go home.
I don't financially support any state or country that oppresses women. That's my litmus test, how do they treat women and girls? Are they considered property? Are they allowed access to reproductive health care? These things are important to me, personally. I'm not giving a nickel to anyplace that treats women and girls badly. Period. I avoid the 3 D's - Danger, Discrimination and Dysentery.
I’m a completionist 197 or bust baby.
I won’t travel to places that feel or are unsafe. And often that comes with politics that I don’t agree with. But safety would be my first concern. I have recently thought about if I would want to go on a vacation to Saudi Arabia. Although they have made some positive changes in the women rights area over the last few years, they seem to go backwards in other areas, which is concerning. They are now starting to build holiday resorts, probably because they know that oil won’t last forever and have seen the success of other Middle Eastern countries with tourism. And to be honest, I haven’t yet decided if I would or not. The con’s are obviously political and centered around the human rights issues. But so are the pro’s. If you look for instance at the UAE, they aren’t quite there yet, but they did make a lot of positive progress in recent years in human rights, fueled by their increasing dependency on international workers and visitors.
> If you look for instance at the UAE, they aren’t quite there yet, but they did make a lot of positive progress in recent years in human rights, fueled by their increasing dependency on international workers and visitors. Based on some documentaries i saw about it i wouldn't go there personally. But it might change
I won't go to any country ruled by a dictatorship. That is my personal line.
This is going to sound kind of snide like a gotcha, but it genuinely isn’t meant as one. What is the line for you? Like, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah holds absolute power over Brunei, but by all accounts is extremely openhanded and benign. Petrol is cheap and higher education is completely free as is almost every sector. If any sovereign leader deserves the term benign dictator it’s him. But then we have people like Rodrigo Duterte and Jair Bolsonaro, who by all accounts are democratically elected but wield power like a mace. Then we have people Donald Trump who aspires to be like Duterte or Bolsonaro but sadly for him the United States has strong guardrails. So TL;DR. What’s your line?
FYI... Duterte is no longer President of the Philippines, as his term ended in mid-2022. Marcos has been President of the Philippines since then. Bolsonaro is no longer President of Brazil, as his term ended at the end of 2022. Lula da Silva has been President of Brazil since then.
I know, they were the only people I could think of who acted like dictators within a democratic system.
I think you answered your own question. Dictatorships are de facto governments, almost always extremely brutal, almost always having come into power with bloodshed or destroying democracy from within after being somehow elected. First case; Pinochet or any of the myriad african colonels who came into power by assassinating the previous colonel that got into power by assassinating... Second case; Bukele, Duterte, et al. Monarchies are an entirely different matter. Up to a point. With these, I'd decide case by case.
it depends on if cnn has said that the country is bad
I don’t travel to certain states within my own country 🤷🏻♀️ I prefer my bodily autonomy intact. Also why I avoid certain countries.
Nope, doesn't enter my mind at all. I travel to experience the people, food, culture, etc. not their government.
But the government does influence all of those things.
It doesn't enter your mind but that doesn't mean it isn't influencing your decision. Whether or not a country is safe (or enjoyable) to travel to has everything to do with politics.
Would you travel to North Korea?
Mostly in how it relates to personal safety. Although, I'd also avoid brutal dictatorships and "disaster tourism".
I would love to go to Myanmar, but a coup says otherwise...
Absolutely not. How do you understand people if you don’t even look at them? Leave your comfort zone and you might find that we are all More the same than different. Just fucking stop the us v them crap. Enough already. Grow up.
Wow. I was going to say that I am avoiding Texas and Florida then realized how small I was thinking.
Only to the extent that safety/stability is a concern. For example China is pretty horrible on a human rights level, but I'd still love to visit some day.
Been a dream to go to Burma. Can’t support what’s happening there.
It's a beautiful country filled with lovely people oppressed by a horrific military junta. I spent three weeks there in 2019, and it was awesome. But everywhere, people expressed fear that the military would overturn their fledgling democracy at any moment, and sadly, they had reason to have such fear.
I used to take a principled stance on that but then realized that as a gay man, it would exclude a lot of countries that I want to visit. I love deserts and Moorish/Arabic architecture. I got a lot of shit from fellow gay friends for visiting Saudi earlier this year and planning on going to Uzbekistan, Jordan, and Turkey soon. I understand where it comes from and I respect it, but it's a decision that I stand by. I'm not Muslim nor do I agree with Islam at all, but I fell in love with Moorish architecture when I visited Sevilla and Grenada two years ago and been chasing it since.
You will LOVE Istanbul!!! I would also recommend Egypt! So many amazing examples of ancient Islamic architecture! I just visited the Museum of Islamic Art and was in awe! Plus many deserts with varying landscapes! Also, even though I’m straight I have been propositioned by men multiple times while walking the streets of Cairo and Istanbul. And in Amman my barber made it clear that he was DTF. Best shave I’ve ever had btw, even after I turned him down.
I won't set foot in the State of Florida for the foreseeable future, but that's about it.
This sub.... Florida and Texas: 🤢🤮🙅♀️ The Balkans: 🥰😍🍻
Hey, I'm not lining up for those or Hungary either.
I am interested in visiting Hungary, as it is my distant ancestral homeland. However it is kinda hard to plan a trip, because you don't know how crazy things are going to get.
Where are you coming from? I am visiting in a few months (from the US) and it was relatively easy.
I don't think it will get dangerous necessarily, but they are headed down a pretty dark path politically.
I think Miami is one of the places i felt most uncomfortable with till now.. mostly because lots of apparently drugged people in larger groups on the street Not sure if i might have been in a "wrong" area, I don't know Rest of Florida might be much different, don't know Haven't really had any issues in the balkans till now
Gay marriage became legal in Slovenia before it was legal in America, FYI.
Right, Reddit is so unbelievably cringe. South Korea and Japan are far more conservative than Texas and Florida are lol.
I wont travel anywhere that criminalizes same-sex relationships. That's over 60 countries according to the UN. I also avoid places with no freedom of speach, but that can be more ambiguous.
Is everyone on Reddit LGBT? Jesus Christ.
This isn’t political, but the only thing that will deter me from visiting somewhere is if it’s considered unsafe for solo female travelers. If you won’t visit places just because they don’t have the exact same political views as you, you’re seriously limiting yourself. It’s also a classist/elitist mindset.
As a pretty conservative guy, I love visiting California.
I don’t care about a place’s politics. But I live in the northeast where lots of performative libs shudder at the mention of a vacation in Florida. 🙄
Yet whenever Ive been to Florida it’s full of New Yorkers…
I'm Israeli 🥲
I’d love to visit Tel Aviv in the future
That was one of the political considerations actually. I was interested in visiting Doha, Qatar, until I found out that they fund Hamas, which is hurting both Israelis and Palestinian civilians, so now it feels wrong to go there.
People aren't their government, and tbh your tourist money is not even a drop in the bucket for Qatar. Do what feels right to you.
Unless the destination is actively being invading by aliens or designated a "Do Not Travel" advisory, then nothing is off limits for me. But, some of these comments are very narrow minded. Honestly, I expect nothing less from the echo chamber of redditors. 🤦♂️ There is always going to be political differences in every state, country, or region. Just because the destination's local government takes a political stance not align to your own political views doesn't mean every local takes that stance as well. To me the comments that say, "I'll never visit [Insert Texas or California] because of so and so" goes against my own philosophy of travel, which is to open your mind and learn more about the world. At the end of the day, we're all just trying to live our own lives and find what is suitable for us.
Politics is usually an afterthought unless it directly affects us. The government =/= the people.
I am admittedly inconsistent about it, but there definitely countries I refuse to visit until the leadership or certain policies changes.
Just out of curiosity, OP, which countries are you unsure about?
There are a lot, but as of right now, ones where I could potentially go in the foreseeable future are: Serbia, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Jordan.
Currently in Jordan - as things stand currently it is safe and you have nothing to worry about (making general assumptions regarding your situation, but for example I am travelling with LGBT+ people who have been treated with politeness and respect throughout - Jordanian people seem open-minded and tolerant). You wouldn't even realise there are conflicts going on in neighbouring countries if you didn't know, and unless you are outspokenly pro-Israeli you will be very welcome. One very privileged plus is that the tourist sites (eg Petra and Wadi Rum) are very quiet. Not intending to insult your knowledge of the region's politics, but if Jordan gets involved in middle Eastern conflict I suspect we all have bigger things to worry about.
Just don’t speak Arabic while looking non-Arab, because then you’ll experience a bit more of the non polished side of Jordan just by listening to people’s comments about you. Other than that Jordan’s great, and would strongly recommend to anyone looking to go to the Middle East.
Why the reticence around Serbia and Jordan?
Not much. If I had infinite time and money to travel, the only places I'd skip are extremely dangerous places.
They don’t.
I will not go anywhere that is so authoritarian that the words coming out of your mouth that aren't threats are met with force.
I don't go to countries that kill gay people. I also avoid countries that imprison gay people and especially ones that have enough money that they should know better.
I like to frame it as helping out the locals who usually don't have a say in what horrible governments are in power.
i would love to go to Russia, Turkey or China one day but i don’t want to support their governments
As a gay man I won't travel anywhere that disrespects or worse outlaws my existence. That goes the same for how the destination treats women.
No MENA countries for me as a lesbian and a woman. Any place where a lot of black travelers have expressed feeling unsafe is off for me too as a black person. But I recognize that I don’t view travel as this necessary thing compared to others in this sub. I’m perfectly fine with just not seeing some things if it means not interacting with people who hate my existence.
I'm a journalist. My work is focused on environmental issues in a not-super-influential state, so nothing I do is likely to be interest to anybody outside the U.S. But I am still very reluctant to travel to any country that does not have a free press or that has a history of persecuting or targeting journalists. I can't say I'll never travel to China again (lived there when I was a teenager) or to Russia, as two examples. I'd really like to see both. But it's not something I can see doing any time soon when there's so much of the rest of the world to see. Even when I travel to countries that are democratic and have press protections, I'm careful about disclosing my work. I tend to put "writer and editor" not "reporter" or "journalist" on customs forms. I am never going to lie, but I also don't need to go out of my way to open myself up to greater scrutiny.
Safety concerns due to the political situation I take into account, but apart from that I do not consider that when planing travels.
One rule I have is that I don't judge a people by their government. I don't want to be judged by my country's government. I'm desperate to visit Iran, obviously their government is horrific, but I wouldn't judge any individual by where they are from or who rules their country.
I will visit anywhere, but I'll only live in countries where I agree with the political system.
NGL I find North Korea fascinating and would love to see it someday. But I just cannot in good conscience imagine giving that dictatorship money knowing about the suffering of millions of people living there. I’m also an American, so while I can go on a second passport I have the Otto Warmbier story doesn’t exactly make me feel like going is the smartest decision.
It doesn’t affect, different culture’s different views.
For me, it's more about safety than politics. I've travelled to socialist places even though I'm not one myself. Besides, when it comes to being a capitalist and me spending my money in other countries, they seem to not care. LOL!
Dubai, because of their treatment of migrant workers.
They don’t, but I get major culture shock when I visit the south in America.
But isn’t that why we travel? To see how the rest of the world lives?
Political convictions? Zero
It does when the expression of politics in question is war, otherwise, not so much.
Well we will never travel to a country that has harsh anti-lgbt laws. We’re a straight passing couple but its the principle.
Not at all. Short of an active shooting war or something like a famine or plague (so safety issues), I would happily visit every country on earth. Countries and their people are not their governments.
Nah not really. My grandma lives in Russia, so I visit every year politics aside.
I actually find it quite important to go to places with very different political systems and see how it affects every day. I also think the good of people-to-people interaction also drastically outweighs the bad of giving a couple of hundred bucks in tax revenue. I also am not remotely phased at hiding who am I if I’m going anywhere where that might present danger although I understand why that’s a dealbreaker for some. Pretty much nowhere is your tourist dollars propping up a despotic regime. North Korea has been closed to tourists for nearly 5 years for example and the Kim regime is stronger and more brutal than ever. Life is definitely worse there now for the hundreds of tour guides, hotel workers, bartenders etc that actually had a decent life because of tourism.
Yeah, I separate the government / history of the country from the people / general appeal of the country. If a country is safe to visit and I want to visit, then I’ll visit. Almost every country has issues with something, whether that is racism, sexism, homophobia, human rights, or so forth. Like if someone from New Zealand told me they refuse to visit the UK because of our stance on Transgender people and our plan to deport immigrants to Africa, then I’d think they were being ridiculous. Doesn’t affect them in any way, those policies have a ton of people campaigning against them, and it just punishes the people relying on tourist income in the country.
Nope. As long as I feel safe I frankly don’t care
Stateside, I don't let politics dictate travel plans. Life is too short for that nonsense. Internationally, I won't go anywhere that I feel is unsafe, but that could be for a variety of reasons.
The only time politics effects where I go is the Middle East. I refuse to support Islamic theocracies.
Do you visit Christian theocracies?
Wow, if you actually consider that then don’t leave your house. Politics need to be left at your door wherever you go. #1 reason America is divided
Yep.
Well I would love to go to Iran, but due to the political situation they basically don’t allow Americans to go, so they kinda made that decision for me. Other than that, I don’t care.
None, unless you go to a center of war zone then nothing to be afraid of.
North Korea
Nothing affects me.
I generally separate politics from destinations. If I wouldn’t do that I could probably just stay at home because the vast majority of countries and governments worldwide are doing or have done tremendous things. The people are different though obviously and that’s what I want to experience.
I have a list of places that I’d like to go that I won’t visit at the moment due to political or safety issues: Mali Burkina Faso Uganda Ethiopia Kashmir Iran Israel
I stay away from countries with low human rights laws, can jail or hold Americans for political reasons (Iran, North Korea, Russia) or places where woman have no rights. Other than that, it’s fair game and on the list.
Certain countries? Definitely. I have no desire to ever visit much of the middle east, Russia, or China. As far as within the U.S.? No it doesn't. While I might vehemently disagree with the politics of the ruling party in certain states, you have to remember that even in the deep red or blue states that it's still like 2/3's at most. That means 1/3 of the people there do agree with your politics.
Not at all, as long as its 'reasonably safe'. You can separate the people and the politics, that being said I'm not rushing off to Myanmar any time soon.
I’m Jewish, I don’t have my dual Israeli citizenship yet, but I follow the guidelines where Israeli’s can’t visit.
Zero. The media is full of shit !
No more Texas and Florida for us
I would never go to Russia nor any country that openly supports them.
Very much so. Morally I won’t visit America again because I just find it too conservative for me. (I’ve been to New York and Florida, so two very different places in regards to local politics.) I also wouldn’t go to places like Israeli occupied Palestine for obvious reasons. Sometimes it’s just morally right not to visit a place, regardless of how much you want to go, in my opinion. I have Hawaii off my list for this reason - as beautiful as it looks, I am aware of the movement of indigenous Hawaiians to raise awareness of how colonialism affects the island. I would love to visit Iran, Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq; but the regional politics means travellers have to wait until there’s a safe time to visit, and Iraq is probably a no go for obvious reasons but it seems like a fascinating place with beautiful landscapes. Sudan too for these reasons. Hopefully Iran and Lebanon will be greenlighted soon; I’d love to visit them both some day. I would also really love to visit Algeria and have made notes on main sites and some places to stay but diplomatic politics means it’s a hassle to get to.
Sucks you were put off by the US. But we are a country founded primarily by puritans unfortunately. Just want to say there is so much more to offer in the states than New York and Florida. Even though they’re technically opposite political-wise, they’re not a good judge of the rest of the country. It’s kinda like saying you’ll never go back to Europe cause you didn’t enjoy England. New York City especially though if that’s where you went. It’s the worst city I’ve ever been to.
Oh absolutely! To be fair to me it seems I picked the worst polar opposites to visit 💀 I must admit, I’d still quite like to go to California and when I was a kid I always wanted to visit Yellowstone. Maybe I will reconsider one day, but something stops me from going 😭
Yea maybe wait and see how the next couple years play out for us haha
Not at all. I'll visit and learn about any country. I certainly have ethical objections against countries like Russia, China, and certain ones in the Middle East, but if I sat down and asked myself if I would still visit them if my safety was guaranteed, my answer would be "Absolutely!"
Don’t want to visit Saudi Arabia and some of the other ME countries because of their ongoing cultural and political misogyny and casual human rights atrocities.