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Travel guru Rick Steves: Don’t be terrorized by deadly Brussels attacks
Mar 25, 2016, 12:16 PM | Updated: Mar 27, 2016, 9:17 am
Rick Steves donated an apartment complex worth $4 million to the YWCA. (KIRO Radio)
(KIRO Radio)
Don’t let the terrorist attacks that killed 31 people and wounded 270 deter you from traveling.
That’s the message travel guru Rick Steves sent not long after the bombings at the Brussels airport and subway on Tuesday.
Since then, the US State Departmentissued a Europe Travel Alert for US citizens traveling to Europe.
Related: Terrorist attacks in Brussels confirm we’re living in a ‘bomb factory’
“Terrorist groups continue to plan near-term attacks throughout Europe, targeting sporting events, tourist sites, restaurants, and transportation,” the department said.
The travel alert expires on June 20.
Steves points out the keyword: “alert.” It isn’t a warning, he said, which is reserved for “serious business.”
“It means, essentially, ‘Don’t go there,” Steves wrote on Facebook.
But that’s not the case for alerts, Steves is quick to point out. Alerts, he says, mean “be careful.” Alerts are issued for short-term events that the US State Department wants travelers to know about. An alert can be issued for things such as strikes, demonstrations, or other disturbances; even health alerts. A warning, on the other hand, is when the department wants people to “very carefully” consider whether they should go to another country at all.
“Also, at frightening moments like this one, keep in mind that there’s an important difference between fear and risk,” Steves wrote. “As the State Department recommends, while you’re traveling, be vigilant. Be aware. Exercise caution. But at the same time, don’t be terrorized. That’s exactly the response the terrorists are hoping for.”
Steves argues that Brussels and the rest of Europe could be safer than they were before the attacks. Since the bombings, Belgian prosecutors confirmed three people were detained in counter-terrorism raids in Brussels.
Still, Americans will cancel their trips after the latest attacks that ISIS claimed responsibility for, Steves says.
That’s easy to say, but will he continue to travel? Of course.
“As for me, I’m flying to Lisbon in 10 days,” he wrote. “And later this summer, I’m booked to fly out of the same Brussels airport that today is a shrine of grief and tragic bloodshed.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
