A Journey to Italy and the Impact of Political Tensions on Travel
A year ago today, I was on vacation in Italy with my wife. We took a ferry from Sorrento to Capri, then rode in a vintage Fiat convertible taxi to the Anacapri Cable Car. From there, we boarded an alarmingly unsecure ski lift that took us to the top of the island. At the summit, we were surrounded by the blue waters of the Mediterranean and the Italian mainland in the distance. It was my first trip to Italy, and it turned out to be an amazing experience.
Would I do it again now? Normally, with no hesitation. But these aren’t normal times. My worry is not getting let back into the country if I leave because I’ve written critically about the Trump administration. Australian journalist Alistair Kitchen said border agents at Los Angeles International Airport detained him after they looked up his writing about pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University.
Sure, this is one documented case, so maybe the risk is as low as riding the ski lift on Capri, but it’s in the back of my mind. And I’m not alone.
“The United States has become a pariah destination for many foreign travelers,” and “it is also a harrowing time for Americans to travel abroad,” Jeff Greenwald, executive director of Ethical Traveler, said in his Open Forum on Thursday.
President Donald Trump’s tariffs and threats have turned off many people in other countries, and accordingly, there’s been a drop in tourism to the U.S. this year, Greenwald noted. Most Americans traveling to other countries may get some pointed questions about what’s going on in the U.S. with Trump. But Americans shouldn’t let their anxiety or the Trump administration’s policies stop them from traveling abroad or in the U.S., according to Greenwald.
“As our country becomes more polarized, people are getting increasingly siloed and apprehensive about venturing beyond their comfort zones,” Greenwald told me in an email. “Travel can serve as an antidote to some of these fears – many of which are being exaggerated by a leadership eager to divide us.”
Meeting people from different countries and cultures can be a bridge. “Travel is a powerful form of diplomacy and a tool of self-transformation,” Greenwald said. “So much of what we believe is based on the stories we tell ourselves – or the stories we’re told by others.”
One way to write new stories, Greenwald said, is to get behind the “media curtain” and “explore new places, and listen to people, listen is the keyword here, whose lives are very different from our own.”
The takeaway: There is more that unites us than divides us.
“People the world over, even in places we’re being coerced to distrust, are by and large kind, generous and as concerned about their own lives and the well-being of their children as we are about our own,” Greenwald said.
Are you hesitant about traveling? What’s holding you back? If you have been traveling, what’s it been like? Submit a letter to the editor or an Open Forum about your experience.
Questions, let me know at [email protected].
