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British Mensa Travel Special Interest Group |
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Taking
the risk People get such odd ideas about faraway places – they might get eaten by head hunters (apart from their heads, of course, which are saved for later), the earth will open up and swallow them, they will be robbed and not just by the taxi drivers, or blown up by terrorists who have already exploded a small bomb, not many hurt, only 1,000 miles away. But have you noticed how everyday-normal everywhere is? It is never as exciting as your fevered imagination has led you to expect. The risks haven’t changed. It’s just that you see, all around you, people living their ordinary lives that take into account that you could step on a landmine if you walk across the field instead of around it, that you could be put into orbit by an exploding volcano but it hasn’t happened in the last thousand years so why would you worry about it now, or you could be vapourised by a terrorist bomb but so few are compared, say, with road deaths. So where is the sensible line between apparent risk and real risk, between fear and recognising likely harm? In my experience, risk is usually very easy to see (e.g. active war zones, including hot border disputes) or completely unpredictable (e.g. stuck for transport and in the middle of nowhere, you have to get in a clapped-out bus that has bald tyres, no brakes and a maniac driving it). Between the extremes of obviousness and unpredictability, there is a middle way: coolly considering the trip without getting sucked into unreasonable ‘it could happen’ fears or being so careless that you walk into real trouble with your eyes wide shut. Once there, taking routine care is sensible. Monitor not only your environment but yourself as well. There have been times when I have thought afterwards: ‘That wasn’t the most sensible thing to do. I won’t do that again.’ And then I do something completely different that is exactly the same: climbing, almost out of control, down to a waterfall and forgetting the whole area was littered with UXO; and then a trip to Java, being so determined to get the volcanic pictures that I forgot the warning that the ground could give way unexpectedly and dump the unwary into scalding water below. Recognise your own safety fault lines and try not to let yourself enthusiastically walk into situations where you are vulnerable. Travel, like the rest of life, can present risks. Almost certainly it will present different, so potentially more visible, risks than the highly dangerous activities centred on your kitchen and your car. In assessing risks, keep your eyes steady but open, take sensible precautions without going over the top. And monitor your actions and environment while travelling but as a ‘background’ activity: don’t let it spoil your trip. Enjoying the ride includes the frisson of going into the unknown. As the self-improvement book says, feel the fear and do it anyway. That’s what I do whenever I order a chilli meal. First published in VISA 89 (Feb 2010) |