Today I booked my flight from Chicago to New York for my trip to Kenya. I had a very pleasant conversation with the tour operator in Connecticut and I remembered how much I have loved international travel. I loved my trips to Israel. I have enjoyed traveling in Europe. I appreciated all the travel opportunities working for global 500 technology companies afforded me. Who would have ever thought I would be comfortable walking down the Hauptstrasse in Heidelberg?
Travel is not without its risks. When I was the High Holiday rabbi in Hamln there was a foiled terror attack at the Frankfurt International Airport and a rabbi stabbed walking home from services the week before I flew. I upped my life insurance. My brother thought I was crazy. When I lived in Israel, I spent time in a bomb shelter entertaining young children with every Girl Scout Camp song I knew. When I was in Israel I was the victim of a violent crime.
Domestic travel has its risks too. The day I went to the Mall of America with my mother and my daughter, was the day the London subway had been bombed. The police presence at the Mall and on the light rail in Minnesota was palpable. And yesterday the 9/11 Memorial Museum opened. I knew people on the planes and in the Towers. Risk during travel doesn’t just come from terrorism.
Traveling to Kenya has me spooked. Today, after I got home, I learned that Great Britain has now recalled its tourists. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-27434902 and is suggesting no travel to Kenya through at least October. That Kenya has banned tinted windows on buses. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27401142 . However this ban has angered Kenyans who claim it will do little to prevent terrorism. http://www.nation.co.ke/news/Kenyans-angered-by-tint-windows-ban/-/1056/2314110/-/3qfi9sz/-/index.html
None of these stories are in the American press.
Perhaps the reason I am still going to Kenya is in this story. Young children and the sex tourists in Kenya. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27427630 Really. This does exist. Maybe, just maybe American Jewish World Service with it focus on preventing violence against women, girls and the LGBT community can help. Maybe I can. I hope so. The question: Is it worth the risk?