Travel in the Worlds Safest Countries

Spoiler Alert: The US is Not One of Them

Travel touches and instructs us in very profound ways.

At times it brings us to tears.

Nothing in my travels has touched me more deeply than Berlin's Solpersteine's or "stumble stones".

The 10 cm X 10 cm "stones" are actually concrete or brass ingots permanently embedded in sidewalks at the front doors of buildings throughout Berlin. The program has grown with stones actually now found in many cities.

The locations are frequently located at the front doors of the building (or where a building used to be).

Each stone lists the name(s), birth date(s), abduction date and (if known) the location and date of their murder by the Nazi's

These stones represent the souls of Jews, Sinti / Romani (gypsies), Jehovah's Witnesses, gays, African's, the developmentally or physically disabled, Freemasons, Communists, and the many Protestant / Catholic humanitarians who died in attempts to save others.

So as America reels from moral revulsion in the realization that there are those who freely claim racial superiority, embrace Nazi symbolism and now feel emboldened to openly march in our cities, all I could think of were those stones.

You see, I believe anyone with any human dignity at all visiting Berlin will come away unable to rationalize the moral obscenity of the Hitler / Nazi regime.

Yet, our daily newspapers underscore how our nation is (as one of my more astute friends noted recently) "tribalizing" under the influence of tell-me-only-what-I-want-to-hear media. Shouting and violence is replacing civil discourse as America convulses in a national nervous breakdown.

So what does this all have to do with travel?

Well, over the past couple of years many friends have told me they are limiting vacation options to the US citing the horrific attacks in Paris, Brussels, Istanbul, Nice, Manchester and now Barcelona.

And, while I completely understand their fear, I question the basic assumption that we are safer limiting travel to the US.

So I researched how countries stack up when independently evaluated for safety and peacefulness. And, in doing so, I assumed (hoped) the US would rank somewhere toward the top of the list.

The most comprehensive evaluation I found was research conducted annually by international / independent think tanks that collectively issue a report entitled the Global Peace Index (GPI).

The GPI assesses crime rates, terrorist acts, violent demonstrations, relationships with neighboring countries, rates of militarization and overall political stability / effectiveness in 167 countries.

So in 2017 if you want to travel to the 25 safest and most peaceful nations in the world (according to the  GPI) you should consider visiting:

1. Iceland  

2. New Zealand

3. Portugal

4. Austria

5. Denmark

6. The Czech Republic

7. Slovenia

8. Canada

9. Switzerland 

10/11. Ireland and Japan (a tie)

12. Australia

13. Bhutan

14. Norway

15. Hungary

16. Germany

17. Finland

18. Sweden

19/20. Belgium and Netherlands (another tie)

21. Singapore

22. Mauritius

23. Spain 

24. Chile

25. Romania

Most of the rankings did not really surprise me.

Then, I looked down the list for other favorite destinations: Italy ranked 38, the UK 41 and France 51.

The US didn't make the top 25, 50, or even the top 100. It ranks 114 (out of 167).

So while there are awesome and amazing destinations to visit and cherish in the United States, there are safer and more peaceful places to visit.

So resist the temptation to dig a hole and climb in; go explore.

Be "of" the entire world. Be touched. Think on your own.

Roadboy's Travels © 2017