Confronting Our Greatest Travel Fears

What do you fear? Recently, we’ve had several people ask us if we’re afraid to travel. These are bright, educated people. They question us about whether we’re afraid to travel to the Middle East because of terrorism. Or they have asked if we’re afraid of long airline flights after separatists blew MH17 out of the sky. Or if we’re afraid to travel because of Ebola. It seems like travel fears are everywhere these days. But it made us ask the question, “What are we afraid of?”

We devoted our most recent newsletter to this issue of fear in general, but more specifically travel fears. We’ve both worked in public relations and know how to sell a good story. And fear is one of the best ways to sell. But a life lived in fear really isn’t a life at all.

This made us question our own fears. We’ve also had to confront those things inside us. My fear has evolved gradually. It didn’t used to be this way. There isn’t some horrible incident I can point to. But somehow, over the years, I’ve developed an increasing fear of heights. For a travel blogger who loves to explore the world, it has caused some serious difficulties.

I grew up in the mountains of Colorado. My grandfather and father were rock climbers – scaling cliffs and mountains for sport. When I was very young, I was fearless and took the up the family hobby. There’s nothing that happened to cause this. I never fell. But here it is – I’m afraid of heights.

It comes upon me at weird times. The first time I remember it was walking along the city walls of Ronda, Spain and looking down into the deep gorge. And then there was the time at the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland when Laura climbed over the safety wall to catch that “perfect” shot.

And the time in Northern Ireland when I had to turn back while crossing the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge on a windy day. And yes, even the time at the “knife edge bridge” at Victoria Falls in Africa when I couldn’t see the bottom of the gorge due to the mist.

But there are other times that I expect my fear to kick in and it doesn’t: hot air ballooning over Egypt or Turkey. If you love to travel, climbing church bell towers, views from mountain cliffs, hot air balloon rides, and similar things are the price of entry for amazing experiences. And sometimes I miss out. I don’t know what causes it and can’t always predict when it’s going to happen.

In our newsletter, we asked our readers to do two things. First, e-mail us and tell us about your personal fears. And two, between now and the end of the year, do something that you’re afraid of or get out of your comfort zone.

We received several amazing e-mails from readers about what they fear, perhaps none more poignant than Helen who explained her ultimate travel fear: a fear of flying. It is a major impediment to being able to travel and see the world. In response to our challenge, Helen is addressing her travel fears by flying to see relatives across the country for Thanksgiving. As November rolls around, our thoughts will be with Helen as she makes this journey.

As for me, I recently went out on the roof of a high-rise building in New York City. I got some beautiful views and pushed myself a little outside of my comfort zone. Being comfortable is easy, and I need to remind myself to step out on that ledge and take a little bit of a risk.

Having fears makes us human. It’s what we do with them that defines us.