Fear Factor Travel

While recouping on the couch I’ve become a Fear Factor fan. During commercial breaks it occured to me that the fear factor is creeping into what is the world’s most unifying force, travel. The repeat bombings in London today was another attempt to polarize the human race. Places booming with tourism really have little need to sponsor press trips. Fear changes that; a lot of my best trips have been to places that people are afraid of--there are several that come to mind:

Israel- No one understood why I wanted to go when busses were getting bombed. It was such a great trip and I would return anytime.
Jordan- Again with things in Iraq going on, no one understood. The people and places were amazing!
Rio- The equivalent of the urban myth of travel. The lawlessness is nowhere as bad as its reputation, beautiful city worth exploring.
Indonesia- Bombs in Bali, so go to one of the 3,200 other islands.
Guatemala Jungles- Personal fear to overcome--snakes freak me out.

Perhaps there should be a travel fear factor TV show? There certainly wouldn’t be a shortage of contestants.