US Government Travel Information

[potatopie]

I just stumbled upon this page: travel.stat.govlinkhttp://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/country.html....

Don't know if I'm just late to the party, but it gives really in-depth and accurate (IMO) information about each country. Kinda nice before you go somewhere. No need to buy the Lonely Planet first! I think I'll be using this next time DH suggests a little adventure.

[GilliC]

You mean travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/country.html ?

I've used it for visa information in the past.

But the Safety & Security section makes me laugh. It makes every country in the world sound like the most dangerous place on earth. For example, the first sentences about Norway are:

In July 2011, Norway suffered two sequential terrorist attacks by a right-wing extremist against government buildings in Oslo and a youth camp, leaving 77 dead. In a separate case in September 2012, Norwegian courts upheld the convictions of two men resident in Norway suspected of planning attacks and having links to al-Qaida. Like other countries in the Schengen area, Norway's open borders with its Western European neighbors also allow the possibility of terrorists entering/exiting the country with anonymity. Be vigilant with regard to your personal security.

ZOMG! Terrorists! Scary place!

Read between the lines: "Don't walk around screaming 'Islam sucks!' and think twice about the risks before attending any local political rallies."

[potatopie]

ha! i was wondering what it said about other countries. and I mostly skimmed the SA one. though I did see them mention the rape rate of the country followed by, "though foreigners are not targeted, some are raped". that's a weird thing to say. I mean, certainly at some point terrible things happen, but they don't need to put that into every travel warning.