I
know this sounds like a silly common sense type of suggestion, but it makes perfect sense. The news is depressing,
however one must keep in mind while you’re off vacationing in (insert exotic dream destination here), escaping the
(insert adjective, follow with noun) realities of day-to-day life that the rest of the world is still functioning. And
the headlines are sometimes mind numbing – Konica Minolta decides to stop making cameras, Jet Airways takes over Air
Sahara, terrorists blow themselves up in shopping malls, protests go on another day in Ivory Coast, Bin Laden worries
officials, while Albert Brooks tries to uncover what makes Muslim people laugh. What gives? If you’re planning a trip
to a hostile destination chances are you’ve been reading the paper, but every traveler even those headed to friendly
Turks & Caicos or Norway should check the local news.
Over the last few weeks I’ve been doing a ton of
reading on all the fetes, beach happenings, past band launches, happening in Trinidad in preparation for my trip that I
have forgotten to check back into their everyday reality. Tourists will soon flood the streets wearing gorgeous and
skimpy two piece costumes (myself included), dancing to the sounds of steel bands and DJ’s forgetting all their own
worries while someone on the island is left pondering a recent murder of a loved one, a family member injured or killed
while cutting grass and the list could go on. After reading only a portion of the news in the Trinidad Express my vacation high came back down and sunk pretty low making
me well aware that the place I’m heading might be close to paradise, but no where near perfect. My point – don’t rely
on guide books to tell you everything about people, culture, or events taking place. Reading the local newspaper isn’t
going to keep you protected from all the country or world’s wrong doings, but it will keep you well advised when
deserting your own place back home.