Travel Environs

Geopolitics and Travel

When I launched this newsletter back in December, I had done a rough sketch of content ideas and themes for the first few months.

February was meant to be a post on different types of “slow travel” trips I’d love to plan or take myself.

However, the state of the world in the past month has me reflecting on the unavoidable intersection of travel and geopolitics.

So if you’re in a pensive mood, or perhaps looking for some hope, bear with me. If not, come back in a few weeks for your regular dose of travel inspo.

Before I could sit down to hit “publish” on the morning February 28, I—like the rest of Americans—awoke to a geopolitical development that made posting my planned “Five Types of Trips I’d Love to Take” seem tone deaf.

The truth is, as this month and this war with Iran has carried on, I’ve struggled with when and what to post. Even when an active conflict doesn’t bring it to the forefront, my mind is constantly swirling with thoughts and nuances and ideas of how politics informs travel. This reflection is just the latest.

Personally, I was halfway through planning my own trip that included a stopover in Istanbul. My first thought was selfish—oh, probably should put that plan on pause—followed by an immediate self-admonishment for that being my first thought. That hesitation or fear I feel to travel or make future plans right now is so minuscule compared to that of those living in the Gulf Arab states booking flights not for leisure travel, but to escape, which pales in comparison to that of the Iranians living under direct threat of being bombed and having to choose between fleeing and being completely cut off from family or staying and trying to survive together.

And — I’m annoyed/sad/frustrated (consults the Wheel of Emotions) that my husband and I might not get to take that trip and experience a new-to-us part of the world and that millions of other people are probably rethinking plans to visit a new-to-them part of the world because I deeply believe in the power of travel to reduce global conflict.

Travel, especially immersive travel, helps us understand how deeply interconnected the world is and dispel harmful stereotypes that push us apart while revealing similarities in the human experience that bring us closer together. That is what underlies my travel philosophy and the experience I strive to provide in designing trips for fellow travelers.

So, yes, on a micro level, geopolitical conflict disrupted my personal travel plans. But on a macro level, it has disrupted millions of opportunities for connection that could help prevent the next one.

I do not have answers to these questions or any groundbreaking solutions to deeply complicated conflicts. But, as a lifelong student of international relations and diplomacy, I do believe in the power of travel as a source of good, and that is what I’ll continue to work toward.