Travel in the Time of Trump

 

Trump featured on the cover of a Mexican newspaper 

The year was 2017, and my husband, Tom, and I were in Myanmar, floating along the Irrawaddy River from Mandalay to Began.

Donald Trump's harsh immigration policies and his "Muslim" travel ban were just starting to take hold.

American travelers like us were finding it hard to muster a sense of pride as he upended the reputation of the United States as a country welcoming all.

What should we do? I asked myself. 

The situation today is far worse than it was then, given arrests, deportations, cuts in U.S. aide overseas and threats against Canadian and European allies. But the answer is the same: Keep on traveling. 

Real Americans, the ones who make an effort to get to know people of different religions and cultures, whether at home or abroad, are our country's best ambassadors. Now, more than ever, our country needs us. 

As travelers, it's our job to show the world that Donald Trump's and Elon Musk's rhetoric, policies and attitude do not reflect who we are - as a people or a country.

This is not to say that we shouldn't take the normal precautions to stay safe and minimize problems. Nor does it mean we shouldn't expect not to be questioned about what is going on with the U.S. Trump's  picture appears on the front pages of papers everywhere, accompanied by stories written in a language that we might not understand.

I do believe, however, that if anti-American sentiment builds in countries popular with travelers, it most likely will be directed towards the U.S. government rather than individual travelers, given people in many parts of the world don't admire their own leaders.

So, what can we expect? Some hassles, to be sure if the Trump administration impose new rules or bans on travel for citizens of other countries. Being revived in a long- dormant rule that Canadians staying longer than 30 days in the U.S. must register and be fingerprinted.

European countries participate in the same visa waiver program for Americans as the U.S. extends to European citizens. If Trump is serious about stopping immigrants from entering the U.S., will he begin requiring our allies to apply for visas?  

As always it pays to be aware of our surroundings, make efforts to blend in, follow local customs and check U.S. State Department travel advisories.

What I refuse to buy into are scare tactics about the "dangers" of travel due to expected or perceived anti-American sentiment. Unfortunately this is a narrative gaining traction, manly as a result of media reports not based on actual examples, but rather what might or could develop.

Most disappointing are some recent reports by Christopher Elliott, a traveler consumer advocate whose columns I usually admire.

His latest, accompanied by a cartoon of a group of men dressed in black staring down a tourist, began with a story of a guy who visited İzmir, Turkey who suddenly found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.

He'd taken a casual stroll through the streets of the coastal city on a Saturday morning, but when he turned a corner, he was confronted by a group of young men who looked like they were up to no good.

"American!" one of them exclaimed. Another one shouted, "Donald Trump!"

 "I was the guy," Elliott wrote. "And, say experts, if you're not careful, it could happen to you."

The first red flag in this story was the line "experts say. The second is what Elliott characterized further down in the story as a "small disclaimer." 

"Although my would-be assailants made references to my nationality, that wasn't the real problem. I didn't have a clue where I was going and ended up in the wrong part of town. Many, if not most, incidents of anti-American behavior are the result of ignorance," he acknowledges. "There are places foreign visitors should avoid, and knowing where those places are is more important than ever."

Fair point, but hardly enough to raise the question, as he did in a previous column, "is it safe to go ANYWHERE?"

Elliott admits that "it is difficult to measure anti-American sentiment in a systematic way. It's more of a feeling -- the stares, the hostile reception, and perhaps more confrontations about U.S. foreign policy," he says.

Not to seem naive, which by now you may think I am, but this sounds like a self-fulfilling prophecy - the psychological phenomenon that occurs when a person's expectations lead to their own actions, which then make those expectations come true.

So back to the question, what can we do other than pretend we are Canadian? 

We can work harder than ever when to connect with people living and working in the countries we visit. We can support them by booking local experiences, hotels, B&Bs etc. that are owned by locals rather than chains owned by U.S. companies. 

My husband and I will be traveling in Spain and Morocco this year.  Besides signing up for some small-group walking tours led by locals in Fes, Tangier and Rabat. I've booked a dinner with a Moroccan family in Fez through the website eatwith.com. The riads (traditional Moroccan courtyard inns) we booked are family-owned. In Spain,we will spend five days helping Spanish professionals improve their conversational English through a program called VaughanTown set up by Vaughan Systems, the largest language training service in Spain.

I will also be traveling on assignment soon in Vancouver, B.C. No doubt I will see signs in the  liquor stores notifying customers that no American products are being stocked. Maybe I'll go to a cafe and order a Canadiano instead of an Americano. 

When I'm not traveling, I volunteer at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, guiding passengers to their gates or solving any problems they might have.

"Thank you for being nice,"  a woman said to me the other day.

 Perhaps that's the best advice of all.