We've heard a few on our travels. Like people in Thailand telling us the Full Moon Party had been cancelled! Or that Macchu Picchu is going to close in 4 years time due to too many people so get in now!!!
* What urban myths have you heard on your travels?
* Did it prompt you to change your travel plans as a result?
Let's share and be merry!
Mike and Sarah :-)
Reply to this Hello Mike and Sarah 😊
When I was 19 my mother tried to put me off travelling. She said I would end up being robbed and left holding the baby by my macho Australian boyfriend. My ex wasnt macho, nor did he rob me and there was no baby for me to be left holding. :D It didnt prompt me to change my travel plans because I presumed rightly that my mother was being her usual over protective and dramatic self where my boyfriends are concerned.
Mel
Reply to this I agree with Mel. i think the dangers about being robbed, mugged, "ripped off" are the biggest. They generally don't cause me to change my plans unless it's a personal story from someone i trust that has recently been to a destination. But then i guess that's not a myth!
The biggest myth for me was about France, and in particular Paris. I have heard so many people say that especially if you do not speak French, the people are rude, they dislike Americans and it makes it uncomfortable to travel there. I went to Paris in April, and i found the people warm, friendly, helpful and overall just wonderful - especially in Paris! I do not speak more than about 3 words of French either. In fact, Paris is probably tied for my favorite city overall and I cannot wait to go back to France. i have to say, i didn't alter my plans but i was a little nervous because some of these stories were coming from good friends who had been there. I am so glad i went with an open mind and didn't let their precautions sway my travel plans or opinion of the country.
Reply to this Apparently, Venice is sinking into the sea. So, how long do we have to get there before that happens? :D
I heard some weird rumours last year, that women are not allowed to travel independently in Iran. Although some Iranians do have some strange attitudes towards women, we(well foreign women at least) can travel alone and independenly in Iran. This rumour did not put me off gong to Iran.
And there are other scare mongering rumours about travelling as a lone women, even if she just wants to go to Spain, France.... Those did not put me off travelling alone either.
Reply to this LOL Mel I have heard the Venice one too. And California is breaking off from the coast of the U.S. I'm sure there may be some truth behind these, but it seems a bit extreme that people rush there in case it happens in their lifetime.
Even with the arctic, there are all these people saying you should travel now because with global warming the glaciers are all melting and who knows how long it will still be the arctic. Now there is truth to this in general - global warming is causing some glacial melting, but i think we all have plenty of time to plan a trip to Antartica before it becomes a tropical island :-)
Reply to this And there is the myth that travelling costs a lot of money.
And the one that says that those who travel are throwing away all their security.
And the one that your relationship is on the rocks if you are not travelling with your partner. And one I get a lot is that my partner is getting the rough end of the stick while I irresponsibly swan around the world. Such nonsense. It does not follow that one partner has to be put upon if the other does things they want to do.
And there is the myth that your travel years are over once you have a mortgage and kids.
Reply to this Agreed Mel! For the first two, it all depends on how you travel. You CAN spend a lot of money but you don't have to. For me, i feel more like I'm throwing money away if i'm just stashing it and not using it to enjoy my life. I hate to think this way, but i could be hit by a bus tomorrow and all that saved money probably goes to the state since i'm not married and have no kids.
As for travel without your partner, I think that a trip without your partner every now and then can be good for the relationship. It's great to get away with "the girls" or "the guys (for guys)" every now and then, or even to travel by yourself or with your child. My mom and i did two weeks in Europe in the spring. Bottom line was we wanted to go, I had a conference and dad didn't have the time off from work.
As for the mortgage and kids, my parents didnt really travel until they had us! We were interested in it and they wanted us to experience the world and so they started traveling with us. My brother and I both had a passport before either of them did!
Reply to this I actually find the rude French thing to be true to some degree. I also love Paris and love many French people I've met over the years. But if there's anywhere that I've encountered people (not all of them, but some) who were prone to be rude (esp to Americans)...it was Paris.
Otherwise I'd agree with the safety thing. Everyone knows that all the people in Africa have machine guns, right?
As an American, one of the things that I discovered to be a myth was the prediction/expectation by many that I'd get a lot of grief from everyone simply for being American. In my 11 months I hardly encountered anyone who had much to say about it. There was the occasional drunk 19 year old or the Nepali Maoist rebel (but I'm not sure that counts) who went off on some anti-American thing a bit, but in general people were willing to see me for me, not through a political lens.
Reply to this Marc, perhaps I was just very lucky to have a great experience in France. I was also only there a week so who knows what i might have encountered if I stayed longer.
I agree with your statement about people being not being so anti-American. I think it also depends on your attitude when traveling. When I travel, i try to blend as much as i can with the local culture, so perhaps they respect my efforts. I think if people run around talking about how great America is and waving the flag (obviously this is an exaggeration, I don't know anyone who runs around waving a flag when they travel) then I think you are more likely to hear some anti-American sentiment. Also, when I travel, I find a lot of people ask what I think of our current president. If I share their opinion, which I generally do, they seem to open up a bit more and be more friendly. Interestingly, when I traveled to several countries in Asia for school we had to go to the embassies and consulates. We asked the employees there to tell us honestly what the general thought about America/Americans was in their country. Out of 4 countries, the only one that said they really liked us was Thailand. The others said more or less that they liked our business coming there but not our politics or our government. So I guess they felt that anti-american sentiment a bit, but were just courteous enough not to express it publicly. I also think people are able to seperate individuals from our government and politics. They may not necessarily like what's going on at the head of our country, but they understand that it doesn't represent us as individuals.
Reply to this Oh I just thought of another one, and I think it's almost a travel myth in reverse - something I warn people about when traveling that they don't believe and is actually true. My dad is one of the guiltiest offenders of this :-) Some people refuse to believe that you cannot drink the water and eat just any food off the street in certain countries. They are convinced they are not going to get sick or that "they'll jsut deal with it". I have seen people hospitalized and had clients have to cut their trip short because they got sick from the food. Similarly, people don't tend to believe that they need vaccines for certain places. Instead of just sucking it up and getting the vaccine or taking the medicine (e.g. anti-malarial) they insist they are not at risk or are just going to take the chance. Luckily, I don't know anyone on whom this has backfired yet, but it can certainly happen.
Finally, when we had to go to Asia for school (as mentioned above), people did not believe what we told them about the "eastern toilets". We warned them that these are often holes in the ground so to speak and that western toilets might be tough to come by outside of major hotels and restaurants (even in the Embassy they were this way). No one believed us and then were horrified when they encountered it for the first time.
I guess it's all about knowing when to listen to people and when it is a myth :-)
Reply to this A disturbing one I regularly hear from travellers is that things are no so bad in certain countries. They go to a country which is known for its human rights abuses and they then decide that because they themselves did not see any atrocities happening in broad daylight in public that these things do not happen there. All the Western media reports, the Amnesty reports, the UN reports are all telling lies because this particular traveller did not see any public beatings, torturings, rapes......
Reply to this And the myth about the rainy seasons in certian countries: People think it rains non stop and that going to that country at that time of the year is out of bounds. The truth is that it often rains just as much during Summer time in their own country. :D
Reply to this Very true! although i must stay, i went to Costa Rica in the rainy season in august, and it was pretty bad. Torrential downpours every day from about 1 PM - 7 PM. But i might have just really hit a bad spell. We were also down there when hurricane Felix walloped the Caribbean, so that probably had a big effect on what we got in Costa Rica. But other places, it's really not all that bad.
Reply to this I used to hate France and how rude the people were there. I always had bad treatment nad snide comments when ever I went thru there, but I finally went back this past Janurary and boy was I surprised. The people were unbelievably friendly and helpful. Only one time was there an attempt to rip me off and that was by an taxi driver that drove me to Orly at 3 in the morning when there was no other way to get there. He tried to get me for a 15 Euro tip on top of the tip I was going to give him ( and I tip generously) I did protest that one. The french were welcoming to an American for once since WWII. LOL
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