After losing my job, I decided to go on a "one in a life-time" round the world trip with my wife. We spent many hours talking to people (and visiting travel message boards) to help us decide where to visit. Many factors were considered in the determination on where to go.

Though I have to admit that RACISM has had a serious impact on deciding which countries we would visit. Spending the last 15 years living in the Washington DC area has exposed me to people from all over the world. Positive and negative stereotypes were developed through the years. Both my wife and I have strong positive and negative opinions about the culture, lifestyle, behavior and appearance of people from countries outside the USA. These "impressions" really impacted our decision making in our trip planning. The "people of the country" was determined to be more important than tourist infrastructure, costs, flight routes, and attractions of a specific nation.

Have you decided to visit (or not visit) a country because of personal racism?

No. My issue is sexism when travelling to foreign countries as well as cities in the US.

No, not at all. Travel with a closed mind is hardly worth it: it's an awful lot more relaxing and cheaper to stay at home.

So let me get this right.
You are telling us you are rascist and you want to find out if there are others like you here?

I suspect there are but I would be surprised if many admit to it.

As for me personally its something I have never ONCE considered on any trip taken or planned.
What the point of visiting anywhere if you obviousy dislike people and culture in general?
Tell me does your dislike extended to say restaurants? No French, Chinese, Indian, Mexican, Thai or Moroccan etc for you huh?

mike

Yes, all of us are racist to a certain degree. Most of us will pick a vacation destination because we like the people. (Example- Thailand and Bali are popular because their culture encourages smiles and pleasant interaction)

Yes, I like most people and the culture of most countries. So I enjoy traveling. But my negative impression of the people and culture of some countries affects my choices in visiting there.

How many of us will admit to each other we dislike a country and its people because of an experience with others in that country?

This is a Internet message board, be honest now!

Sure this an a internet board where MOST are open-minded people with catholic views.

To desilke people because of their ethnicity or country of origin is indeed racism, but I have always treated people as INDIVIDUALS an outlook if I could be some presumptious would go a long way in alleviating a tremendous number of this planet's problems.

Let me reiterate, THERE IS NO COUNTRY IN THE WORLD THAT I WOULD NOT VISIT BECAUSE OF ITS PEOPLE/CULTURE.

Whether you believe I am being honest I reall dont care one iota.
I do however have a pretty good idea where you stand.

mike

This is a ridiculous post. Now if you had other factors, like security, danger, sexism, smells, etc, etc, Racism ? It does not make sense, it exists in America where you live, now is that why you are fearful? Come on talk to the board, open up disclose your inner thoughts and fears. And I have been following all your other posts very closely.

Same here. If I could, I would visit every country in the world because I love to travel. Unfortunately, I have limited time and money and must carefully choose how to spend it when making travel plans.

Is it racist of me to choose one particular country over another just because I'm more interested in (and expect a more pleasant and enriching experience from) a particular country's people/culture than some other country's people/culture?

If all the Brazilians I've ever met in the U.S. are interesting, fun, beautiful people, would I be racist if I planned a trip to Brazil mainly because I wanted to meet more Brazilians, hoping and expecting they would be like the ones I've met here?

You will find racists everywhere in the world (incl. USA) if you act like one.
One of the strongest criticism of americans (in various parts of the world) has been their arrogance, which it is presumed because of their dollars. If you could understand what the locals say in their language to each other, you will realize this.

Strange post.

To ask a different question, is there place that you would not go in fear of being discriminated against?

For example, I really want to go to Tokyo but have heard stories from co-workers (and others) about overt racism directed toward black people from the Japanese. Now I'm kinda skiddish about going.

I have tried to figure out what the OP is trying to get at and I have given up. The only thing that makes me choose one place over another is my gut feeling about the area (Ivory Coast does not inflict good safe feelings). I have travelled all over and have ran in to some really great people and some people that you could deem shady. These same types of people can be found in any big city...LA, DC, NY...


If you are going to be that closed minded about travel and culture and not want to be freaked out because someone looks different and might be "bad" I agree that you should stay at home...leave these great travel destinations to the rest of us.

As for the OP saying that he is making a "once in a lifetime trip", he really isn't. Think about it...I bet he can't even go to the grocery store...

If you don't want to go to a certain place, don't go. But I think you'll be missing out on a great opportunity to learn about other people and yourself. If you interact with the local people, you will learn that there are good and bad people whereever you go but I believe most people are good. The important thing here is to go with an open mind.

I wouldn't have gone to South Africa prior to 1994, the old Rhodesia, or to Israel. I'd be wary about ging to eastern Euruope still.

I work for a Japanese company, and I am a frequent traveler to Japan. There is a covert racist attitude towards all non-Japanese people, but it is not a hateful kind of attitude. They simply feel (much as caucasians did, and some still do) that they are a superior race. That being said, I can assure you that as a barbarian visitor, you will be treated with respect and dignity. But as a rule, Japanese are private people, and unless they know you personally, you will not feel much friendliness, such as you would get in Thailand.

Regarding the OP's question, I would not discriminate travel based on people, but I most certainly would based on government policies.