Anecdote: 1st few days in 3 mo China trip: In 2011, before I left for China, a friend and I had invited three young Chinese girls working on a student exchange visa in our Jackson Hole resort town if they would like to visit Yellowstone National Park for the day. 

While roaming the park one girl asked me what my opinion was of China.  I told her, as honestly as I could.  "US President Reagan had once described Russia as “the evil Empire.” and I, at that  moment, thought of China as the ‘evil Empire's brother.’ To me, China was scary.

Arriving in Beijing's airport terminal & a few days later in Tiananmen Square I realized I was surrounded by 1000s, if not millions of Chinese people, but none of my fears materialized over the next 3 months. 

Other excuses easily arise: too expensive, too lonely by myself, and I'm too old. We easily imagine the many unforeseen, hidden dangers lurking in strange foreign countries that the unethical mass media's frightening anecdotes scare us with. 

      Plato Quote: “We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men (adults) are afraid of the light.”—  

I. Travel Fear:    
    INTRO:    
Generally, travel fear is a product of 1) lack of 'safety' knowledge & experience AND 2) our natural intelligent prudence.

If you scuba dive without lessons or travel to NE Myanmar now (12/12/23), you are a fool because each is very, very dangerous.

Specific travel fears: fear of unknown, loneliness, too expensive, or disruptive of our existing life.

Anecdote: Mexico was too scary:  For decades, I was too afraid to travel very far into Mexico even tho I spent winters within 50 mi of border & regularly visited my Mexican dentist in Agua Prieta..

Anecdote 1: Mexico City‘s The Zocalo’s panic attack: The Zocalo, Mexico City’s main square, is now what once was the Aztec’s main ceremonial center,  ancient Tenochtitlan.

Immediately after I had unpacked in my hotel a block off Mexico City's historical Zocalo district, I began my usual walkabout [YT LINK]  this huge historical square.

Almost immediately I was near-paralyzed with raw gut-wrenching fear of paranoia. I almost ran back & jumped in bed, seriously, but, instead, I just kept walking.

It was not my first visit to a foreign developing world city, BUT within a ½ an hour, the fear had melted away almost unnoticed & … never returned again —  anywhere. Go figure.

Why was I so afraid in Mexico City?  3 reasons I think: 
    1) I had disrupted my predictable & contented USA life.
    2) Cultural shock literally. 😀
    3) Main Stream Media’s hyperbolic-driven fear of Mexico.

Anecdote 2: Foreign Travel fears: 25 years ago an young woman employee of my Jackson, WY’s Planning Dept. had just returned from many months solo Mexican travel. Curious, I asked, “If she had been afraid.

She responded, “I didn’t feel afraid until I crossed the border back INTO the ”USA.”

II. Travel’s Knowledge & Skills:
Raw fear seems at its maximum when we are most ignorant of what we fear. Fear of loneliness, travel costs, dangers of the ‘unknown’ … drive our foreign travel fears. 

 Fear's best antidote is knowledge, training & experience because .... when we grapple with what we are afraid of by learning about it, we dilute that fear.. 

Anecdote:  My scuba diving fear: At 45 I had always been afraid of what seems like scuba diving's absurdity, but I had bought a large sailboat with accompanying fantasies & scuba diving seemed a necessary part of that experience.

I visited scuba shops, read scuba literature, & then signed up for lessons including an ocean dive which, in sum, left me confident to later scuba dive with friends.   I had gained the knowledge, training & experience to reduce fear down to a rational prudent level.

My Takeaway Lesson:
                  Ignorance & imprudence.      =    paranoia's fear; ....
while,..... knowledge & acquired skills     =    confident, prudent

Quote: “I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone, there will be nothing. Only I will remain.” (Frank Herbert) (Note: I have used this quote for more than 50 years to overcome my fears.

    A. Knowledge & Skills Examples:
 Example 1: Am I too old to foreign travel?
    Absolutely NOT

        Please SEE my Benchmark Boundary 'How To' tutorial
     https://scottsolotravels.com/about-scott-fld/about-scott-bb/

These should be links

       Then, SEE my "Age-by-decade" post for your age group.    
             https://scottsolotravels.com/about-scott-fld/about-scott-s-
decades-1-8/

Example 2: How do I book a big bus tour or cruise?
    Google Search: “European bus tours” or “European cruises” near-infinite options.
        Please SEE Large Bus Touring: my complete 'How To' tutorial:
        Please SEE Ocean Crusing:      my complete 'How To' tutorial

Bus Tour & Cruises are extremely easy. Peruse their online offerings for sites, experiences & amenities that fulfill your desires within your time /$ budget and book it.     Pack & arrive on time.

Probably, you must also book your to/from flights AND pre-tour lodging on both ends, if necessary, and get a Passport & necessary vaccines, if any, pack what they tell you to and you are ready to go. 

Remember, you're not their first customer, they can solve most pre-trip issues by email & personally once you are in their care.

Example 3: How do I protect my money from pickpockets &
    thieves when walking about in a foreign country?

        Please SEE: my Pickpockets: Hidden Money 'How To' tutorial:  https://scottsolotravels.com/blog/post/safe-5-soft-crime/  

Example 4: How do I protect myself from harsh & soft criminals?

Whether a 1^st time large bus tourist, cruiser or an aspiring Independent Traveler, my website’s Solo Travel main heading section can teach you all the knowledge I can think of about foreign travel.  
                         Just search for what interests you. 

   Please SEE my Main Headings: 
        ... "Solo' for 17 complete Travel  Factor's     'How To' tutorials

        ... Resources > Travel Safety's dropdown menu: for my 7                  
                detailed accumulated safe travel ‘knowledge' posts
                AND my illustrating Anecdotes.

              These 7 posts include criminal body risks (harsh &
               soft), and transportation risks & variety of travel scams etc.                           
             https://scottsolotravels.com/blog/categories/travel-
resources/travel-safety/

         ... Resources >Travel Health covers my 'travel health'
             knowledge & strategies
              https://scottsolotravels.com/blog/post/travel-health/

         ... Resources >  Documents, equipment, itineraries and
             travel writings                                             https://scottsolotravels.com/blog/categories/travel-resources/travel-safety/

    Example 4:   How to avoid travel mistakes, etc.?

After 20 years SIT (solo independent travel) traveling all over the world from 1st World nations like England -- to -- 3rd world developing, dictatorial, poor nations like Myanmar, I have yet to suffer anything other than minor, easily resolved inconveniences or petty crimes like attempted pickpockets & taxi scams. 

Anecdote: Guatemala van’s radio theft attempt:  on 3 month roadtrip through Mexico, Guatemala and Belize in my small van RV, while I roamed around a small town, someone broke in through my small front window to steal my stereo, which in those days could be removed.

The only evidence was the broken window, the missing radio, and the blood all over the window and the seat. A further irony, a few days later, I found the radio underneath the seat where he had dropped it. Apparently, my thief had suffered his own karma.

After 20 years SIT (solo independent travel) traveling all over the world from 1st World nations like England -- to -- 3rd world developing, dictatorial, poor nations like Myanmar, I have yet to suffer anything other than minor, easily resolved inconveniences or petty crimes like attempted pickpockets & taxi scams. 

Anecdote: Guatemala van’s radio theft attempt:  on a 3 month roadtrip through Mexico, Guatemala and Belize in my small RV van, while I roamed around a small town, someone broke in through my small front window to steal my stereo, which in those days could be removed.

The only evidence was the broken window, the missing radio, and the blood all over the window and the seat. A further irony, a few days later, I found the radio underneath the seat where he had dropped it. Apparently, my thief had suffered his own karma.

Miscellaneous Safety Notes:  
     -- Youth hostels are closely monitored 24/7.
     -- Tour & cruise companies take almost full professional control of you & your experience’s safety. Pack your bag, show up on time at start point and that’s it. They take care of everything including things you haven’t thought of yet and may never notice.
     -- Finally, modern internet, cellular, cell phone technology and their apps (Google Maps/Apple Maps, Uber, & HostelWorld) make almost all foreign travel much easier & safer. 

                          Remember, we are NOT their first travelers.

    B. Traveler’s loneliness:   
        Fear: Many fear the loneliness of foreign travel as I did until my middle 40s.

Anecdote 1: Dating Game early return: At 28, I won the Dating Game TV show 3 times including an all expense paid trip to Italy; extending my trip 2 weeks to SIT (solo independent travel) several other countries. 

Yet, I returned early because I felt too soulless & lonely without a romantic partner. (Nature & society conspired). Sadly, even my 'free  trip' did not inspire foreign travel..

Anecdote 2: Jilted roadtrip to Vancouver’s  Expo 86’: At 46, an ex-girlfriend jilted me 1 week before our planned ‘reconciliation’ camping roadtrip to British Columbia,‘Vancouver Expo 86’.

After my early European return from my ‘lonely’ Dating Game trip, it simply did not occur to me to travel alone.  But, hurt & indignant, I went alone anyway.

The trip was fantastic: the Expo, friends along way, hiking & site seeing, but most of all, … I really enjoyed that SIT (solo independent travel) ‘in-the-dirt’ travel mode, thereafter, intentionally & happily traveling  ‘solo' independently everywhere with a freedom & flexibility that had become so precious to me. 

The great irony is that big bus travel & cruise ship traveling surround you with dozens (or 1000s) of people & opportunities to meet & make new friends.  After a few days of constant interaction, you may be hard-pressed to find your feared ‘loneliness’ because human interaction is the overwhelming norm. 😀

        Knowledge & Skill’s Solution:
Search Google for big bus tours and cruises that offer a travel experience you might enjoy. These companies are used to helping solo travelers ‘hook up’ thru shared room accommodation & multiple interacting group activities. Making new friends is one of a tour or cruise’s great benefits for all travelers, often enabling future travel trips together.

Anecdote: Sally: I have a friend who buys a Guidebook, books her flight, starts reading the guidebook during flight, finds lodging when she arrives sometimes late at night & next morning decides what to do each day. She makes friends easily and pairs-up fast. 

Create your own style of travel!

You would have to be a raging introvert, probably irascible and cash-loaded to purposely avoid people when foreign traveling. 😇

    C. Physical Condition:    
        Fear: Some may fear they are NOT super fit, or even healthy enough or too disabled to travel? 

        Knowledge & Skills Solution: Foreign travel includes all viable travel options ranging from aggressive athletic adventure tours to disabled-specific bus tours & cruise options. Remember our society & businesses are mandated to support the handicapped, but …. are you willing to at least explore the options? 

Searching Google will expose all these options & the companies that can address your concerns, fulfill your requirements & offer the skills necessary. You have only to make the effort.

Anecdote:  Capability options: You may not be powerful enough to hike UP a steep Alps mountain, but like I, at 76, you might hike DOWN. Other wise, take the Jungfrau Railway to Jungfraujoch outlook, Europe’s highest, spectacular views. 

OTOH, If you can’t or don’t want to travel you can watch my travel videos as I do now after post-prostate cancer. 

My Youtube Channel:  <@scottsolotravels>
— GO TO Playlists.

    D. Financial ability?: 

        Fear: Financial insecurity is a legitimate, ever-present human fear in today's world of inflationary price increases and expanding enticements that require money, including vacation, education, cars, and food.

Anecdotal Experience: The US Air Force Academy:, and my father paid for my college education (dubious achievement on my part.) After college, broke and in debt, I fought mightily from menial work to corporate positions and heavily encumbered real estate investments to hopefully someday be free from financial fears. Even now such insecurity haunts my dreams regularly.       Really!

        Knowledge & Skill’s Solution:

In my life experience, the only possible cure for financial insecurity fears is the knowledge, skills and tenacity required to earn money & invest profitably. 

From my 20s thru 40s, I was too financially insecure for any imagined foreign travel’s costs even tho, in retrospect, I had the money & but lacked the incentive to research foreign travel (no Google either) even tho I had been to Rome on a free Dating Game TV contest trip. 

The sad irony IS that I had the freedom, & the money to independently travel the world as I did later in my 60s & 70s.                        
                              Ignorant LOST opportunity.

Today, with little money, marginal knowledge & skills anyone can foreign travel. Innumerable economy European big bus tours & cruises afford all the opportunity to travel. 

The courageous, imaginative of most ages can work themselves around the world endlessly teaching English, writing a blog or working in hostels.                  I have seen it and envied them.

Many young backpackers and I stay in hostels, buy food at public open markets & cook together in hostel's common kitchen & dining area to save money and …. for conversation with usually much younger & interesting folk than I.

Presumably, you have some money squirreled away or something to sell or you would not have read this far. Some I have met had just enough money for airfare from home to a foreign hostel & find work.
              I envied them thjeir confiodence & courage.

FIT (free independent travel) while requiring the most courage, is the least expensive, greatest bang for your dollar. 

        TRAVEL KNOWLEDGE: My Anecdotes are true ... soley mine. Their purpose is two-fold: 
     1) give you even more tidbits of travel knowledge, and
     2) add credibility to my advice generally.     It AIN'T made up. 🤣

I hope you read these post & gain your foreign travel confidence

   C. Are Bus Tours & Cruises ???

III. How do I decide to travel?
Now, since you have read this far, for whatever reason, you apparently have decided to investigate the possibility of travel. Don’t be alarmed if your travel thoughts seem vague and too general.

Some, like myself, never thought of serious foreign travel until my late 50s even though I had been abroad. Others, perhaps yourself, may have always harbored a desire to travel, but never got around to seriously considering where, how or what to see & do.

Still interested enough to explore travel? If so: ............, start with my homnw page and follow its built-in links to go deeper if ypu like.      
     

      Especially look at :  (Jarom I need LINKs here)
        ... "Solo' for 17 complete Travel  Factor's     'How To' tutorials
        ... Resources > Travel Safety's dropdown menu:                           
             https://scottsolotravels.com/blog/categories/travel-
resources/travel-safety/
         ... Resources >Travel Health
              https://scottsolotravels.com/blog/post/travel-health/