Why I Travel To F*cked Up Places

This week while perusing my YouTube explorer feed, I saw a video that nearly rocked me out of my chair.

Piers Morgan, the modern day Jerry Springer, had invited on three well known travel YouTubers - Arab, Harry Jaggard, and Seal on Tour - to discuss his feelings about the controversial nature of traveling to Afghanistan.

All three of them had published long-form YouTube vlogs detailing their trips to Afghanistan in the last year or so. Arab’s vlog series is what inspired me to visit - I went with the same guides he did.

Piers’ critique focussed mainly on the way the three vloggers portrayed Afghanistan. His position was that they had cast an undeservedly favorable light on the Taliban regime, one that’s policies are in many cases cruel and inhumane.

You may or may not have noticed the wording I chose to use in the previous sentence. “in many cases cruel and inhumane,” as opposed to “absolutely barbaric.” While it’s not technically wrong to use the latter verbiage, it is less precise.

I might describe the specific practice of not permitting girls to attend school beyond primary level as barbaric, but use different words to describe other policies.

I felt the discussion between Piers and the three content creators was imprecise on both of their parts. Piers is near intentionally imprecise as a part of his long established communication style, while the three younger men failed to harp on the true core of the matter.

Piers did not like the way they portrayed Afghanistan.

The young men then explained why they portrayed it in the way they did - mostly the truth that accounts for their style of work, and partly disingenuous in one specific case. Arab’s content is particularly over the top sarcastic, humorous, and edgy. I simultaneously enjoy his content, and also believe that he sometimes takes his theatrics too far.

The discussion ended surly, as Piers threw out his final barbs, and the YouTubers headed back to the modern media space.

But it got me thinking - what might I have said to some of his questions, under the assumption I could keep my cool well enough to provide articulate and thoughtful responses.

For example, why do I elect to travel to places that many consider dangerous?

I wholeheartedly will not allow apprehension or unsubstantiated fear to deter me from traveling to places I want to visit.

Why do I want to visit them at all?

Well, I would answer that question with another - who can possibly learn a great deal about countries such as Ethiopia, South Africa, Colombia, Afghanistan, and Iraq, and not have a spout of inspiration erupt from within them to go and visit these lands?

That is a kind of person I am genetically different from.

As far as accounting for the risks of traveling to certain places, there are several ways I go about it.

I find other people that have been and extensively documented their time in country. I absorb their content, and often contact them directly.

I do this for at least half a dozen people on average, per county I visit.

That is the way to get the information you need to visit anywhere.

While someone that knows nothing of the world outside of what CNN, FOX, and NBC have prescribed to them, there is a world of nuance in deciphering ways to visit the wildest corners of our planet.

When I started making social media content, I decided that my rule for visiting countries for the purpose of enhancing my chances of success in my content, was that I would not visit places I didn’t actually want to go.

But if I want to visit a country, and am comfortable actually going there, then it is a wonderful side effect that some countries make for better viewed content.

In sum, most people’s problem is not that they don’t understand why people like me go to “scary” places, it’s that they truly have terrible or nonexistent communication and listening skills. You don’t have to be interested in going yourself, to understand why I am.

I don’t let the first bout of fear and nerves overtake me.

I do my research, and speak with experienced contacts.

I execute my plans with precision, and am to-date - undefeated.

As a great traveler once said:

“If you don’t go, you’ll never know.” - Jacob Templer

Sincerely,

Jacob

P.S. I love the rush of rain that’s come to Miami recently, but I do not love the mosquitoes it brings.