Hey steveggetit and Flyertalkers,

Thanks for the advice about the Middle East. I fully agree that one must be very careful in almost any country around the world. Each country has different rules and as visitors, we must choose to abide by them if we wish to visit.

I have probably stopped in Doha, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi at least 20 times in the past 20 years. All of these places are famous for their less than welcoming attitude toward gay people, women, public displays of affection... VPNs are even illegal in Dubai if they are used to commit a crime. Using Grindr there is probably a crime since they block the app. But over time, I have met many wonderful people in these places. Often the locals are much more at risk that I am. With the foreigners, they mostly kick you out of the country. But the locals, often face much harsher consequences.

When I travel I do my best to educate myself about how things really work. Then I use risk assessment to decide what I am going to do. This means that in Copenhagen and in Tokyo, I don’t jaywalk. I patiently wait with everyone. In Dubai it means that will use a VPN to use Grindr. But in the end I don’t meet up with many people there because I have lots of requirements before we can meet.

When I travel and meet strangers, I always ask for links to their LinkedIn or Instagram prior to meeting in person. If they aren’t willing to share that, I don’t meet them. The nice thing of meeting people through CouchSurfing is that people get references from other community members. If they don’t have any references, I don’t meet them.

Back in 1985, I was performing a concert tour with a stop in Moscow. Our visit was very restricted and monitored. But we met a fun, young couple of college students like us at a local cafe. We were staying at huge Rossia Hotel next to Red Square where each floor had a monitor person watching everything. We thought it would be fun to dress them in American clothes and sneak them in! It worked and we had a super fun party in our room with six of my friends. Yes, we took some risks. But was it worth it? ABSOLUTELY. It’s a memory that I will never forget.

As I have written, I have a couple of goals this year. One is not to break my hip. That would not be good. Next is I want to stay out of prison. But I will definitely take some risks along the way.

We as travelers by nature are adventurers. Things do sometimes go badly. But other times, we encounter magical experiences that shape who we are. I encourage everyone to learn as much as you can about things before you arrive in a strange, new land. Then exhibit caution as you go have new experiences. Then take some risks but please, stay our of jail!