Issue link: https://bluemagazine.uberflip.com/i/25179
letter: : I first became acquainted with Robert Young Pelton, not in a war zone or other dangerous locale, but instead through buying his book, The World's Most Dangerous Pktces, in a local bookstore. Although I have read many conventional and unconven- tional travel guides, his book called out to me as a much-needed approach. Years later, in the planning stages for blue, I attended a travel conference where Robert happened to be speak- ing about a recent war-zone trip. You see, Robert has a personal mission to visit the world's most dangerous and least visited places. That is his current passion-his way of life. While most of the media find him all too easy to summarize in sensational cliches: war zone seeker, etc., when you talk with Robert directly, a more complex viewpoint comes to life. "I had a career once and I chucked it. I travel to these places because our society is get- ring more and more isolated from reality due to affluence and other factors. We say we travel, but really we are talking about prepackaged tourism," he says. "If I were to have my wish, people would travel to the world's least visited places, and then when they got home they could make more informed decisions on politics and other matters, they would truly understand poverty, war and other social problems." Someone in the group asked, "AIe you afraid of danger in your travels?" and he replied, "I am not afraid of danger, I am afraid of living miserably." I jotted down that quote and have carried it around in my mind ever since. Since joining blue as our Editor-at-Large he has covered the war zones in Algeria, Afghanistan, Chechnya, and in this issue, Colombia ("The Sound and the Fury," page 33). Now blue is getting similar inquiries from the media: "Why are people interested in traveling to dangerous places, or even reading about them in blue?" The questions make me think back to Robert's answer. We live in a world where seat belts and air bags protect us from accidents caused by our own drunk driving, where health insurance protects us from the cancer of our own cigarette smoke, and suburban sprawl segregates us from the reality of city life. Credit cards protect us from bankrupcy, the inevitable side effect of our "invest- ing" habits, and other spending excesses. Prenuptual agreements and other legal constructs even protect us from the people we supposedly trust the most. Recently a radio interviewer asked me if I had ever been afraid on my travels. I had a different answer from Robert. For me, fear is a part of travel itself. If I had never known fear, I would never have known life. AIny Schrier amy@bluemagazine.com