?No place is ever as bad as they tell you it’s going to be?

This is a a semi-famous quote From Chuck Thompson’s excellent To Hellholes and Back: Bribes, Lies, and the Art of Extreme Tourism:

If there’s one lesson I?ve prized from my years of travel it’s this: no place is ever as bad as they tell you it’s going to be. Government bureaucrats are more concerned with covering their asses by issuing ludicrous ?warnings? than with disseminating accurate situation reports. And our ?news media? ? if you want to call information largely regurgitated from self-interested corporate and government sources ?news? ? operates pretty much like your one crazy drunk friend, the guy who has a hysterical public reaction to even the smallest events, and gets in a tizzy over every opinion whether he agrees with it or not.

So, the point is (I believe), go where your heart takes you and find out for yourself. Traveling is education. A million people can tell you a million things about a place or a people. The reality is, however, that YOU will never truly know unless you go and see for yourself.

?No place is ever as bad as they tell you it’s going to be?

I went to Morocco last year. I did Marrakesh, As Saouri, Casablanca and ‘Urika (in the Atlas mountains). Upon returning I was often asked, “weren’t you afraid?”, “was that safe?” or some similar query. These questions prevailed mostly due to the misinformation we receive as ‘the public”. Fear is BIG BUSINESS. We are almost always told & taught to fear people and places that are deemed by “them” as undesirable.

I had a ball in Morocco. The people are genuine, warm and friendly. Also, in the bigger cities, the atmosphere is filled with a Parisian sense of style and attitude. The masses in Morocco almost ALL speak fluent French. But, their warm demeanor definitely does NOT reflect the cliche reputation most Parisians have in the US (rude & snobbish).

Bottom line, the quote by Chuck Thompson –

?No place is ever as bad as they tell you it’s going to be?

…are words to travel by, if not live by.