Travelers are a naturally adventurous sort. The term “adventure travel” almost seems redundant, to me, as most travel is adventurous. When I think of adventure travel, I think of mountain biking or rafting in a far away land, maybe New Zealand. Not all adventure travel involves outdoor sports in remote areas.
The crew over at www.ComeBackAlive.com, led by Robert Young Pelton, runs one of the coolest and informative sites on the web, for travelers going to “adventurous locations”. Their forum, The Black Flag Cafe, has many active contributors with loads of experience (and opinions) on such places. I am talking about places like North Korea, Cuba, Haiti, Somalia, Afghanistan and other “adventure travel” places.
A recent articleover at MSNBC discussed travel tips for those looking to visit these places. One of those interviewed in the article was a new friend from Matador Travel, Julie Schwietert Collazo, who discussed travel in Cuba. As more people are traveling to these “forbidden locations”, a wealth of information is making it easier for others to do the same.
Travel to “dangerous places” requires a unique type of pre-planning and has many unique health risks. Robbery, kidnapping for ransom, warlords and political unrest are all things to consider. Travelers can pay attention to these things by visiting a few sites:
- US Department of State International Travel
- Australian Smart Traveler
- Canada Travel Reports and Warnings
One last thing to remember is that most insurance providers will not cover your health should you be in an area that is recognized as a “Unsafe travel zone”. Make sure to find out if you are covered, before you go!
Not to toot my own horn, but… I wrote an article about some general tips for traveling to “dangerous” places, which you can find here: http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/tips-for-traveling-in-dangerous-places/
That is a great and informative article! Thanks for sharing that!