No, your summer vacation isn't going to kill you
In This Commentary
- A reader questions whether to cancel a long-planned Danube river cruise after alarming travel headlines trigger second thoughts.
- The commentary separates broad travel anxiety from specific risks, including airline instability, geopolitical fears and anti-tourism protests.
- The larger question is whether travelers should rely on verified destination guidance or let news-driven fear decide the fate of a paid vacation.
Cindy Rubin is afraid to travel.
She and her husband have saved for the trip of a lifetime, a Danube river cruise in September, followed by a week in Croatia. Then she heard about the hantavirus outbreak on a recent cruise and the arrests of crew members for possession of child sexual abuse material. And she started having second thoughts.
“Would you cancel this trip?” she asked.
Rubin isn’t alone. Less than 1 percent of respondents to a recent survey by Global Rescue (in other words, almost no one) said their concerns about personal safety abroad have abated since last year. A slim majority (56 percent) said they’re more concerned, and the rest said nothing changed.
I get a version of Rubin’s email every day, and they all share a new kind of dread. Travelers aren’t asking me how to plan a trip. They’re asking permission not to take one.
Call it the summer of fear, the rolling, low-grade panic that sets in between booking a vacation and boarding the plane, fed by headlines, group chats and one too many late-night doomscrolls.
They’re worried about airline bankruptcies and unsafe travel conditions. And they think everyone hates them. Let’s go through each one of these fears.
“My airline is going to go bankrupt mid-trip”
Spirit’s recent collapse spooked everybody. I wrote a commentary calling for new passenger protections because the federal safety net for stranded passengers is hopelessly broken.
But a broken safety net is not the same thing as “every airline is about to fold.”
Delta, United, American and Southwest are not Spirit. The big carriers are still profitable. The ultra-low-cost carriers, the bare-bones airlines like Frontier and Allegiant, are the ones to watch. If you booked one of them for summer, buy a real travel insurance policy, pay with a credit card and stop worrying.
“It’s too dangerous to travel”
Geopolitical anxiety can have a ripple effect across a map. A conflict on one side of a continent does not make the other side dangerous, but travelers conflate them anyway.
I’ve heard from readers who backed out of their vacation in Portugal because of the war in Ukraine. That’s more than 2,000 miles away. Think of it as canceling your trip to Los Angeles because of something happening in Boston.
Here’s a little perspective. The Institute for Economics and Peace publishes an annual Global Peace Index, measuring countries across several safety, conflict and militarization indicators. The United States ranked an unimpressive 128th out of 163 countries in its latest edition, behind South Africa, Kenya and Uganda. The countries along Rubin’s Danube route (Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia) all ranked dozens of places ahead of us. Austria came in fourth.
So when you cancel a European vacation out of safety concerns and stay home instead, you’re moving in the wrong direction. The State Department posts country-specific advisories with the real trouble spots. Truth is, the world is bigger and safer than your news feed makes it look, and parts of it are safer than your own neighborhood.
“Everyone hates American tourists”
I’ve spent most of the past year living outside the United States, including stretches in cities that have made the protest-against-tourists headlines. Here’s what I’ve observed, in person, in cafés and on trains and at hotel front desks from Barcelona to Sydney: nothing. Not a sneer, not a cold shoulder, not even a muttered comment.
The anti-American protests are aimed at policy: short-term rentals hollowing out neighborhoods, cruise ship crowds overwhelming small ports, housing costs nobody can afford, and, of course, U.S. politics. The protests aren’t aimed at the polite American couple looking for the cathedral.
Be a decent guest, learn “please” and “thank you” in the local language, and you’ll be fine.
The price of being afraid
These fears may be irrational, but they have a cost.
Every traveler who cancels a paid-up trip out of vague dread loses money. Every traveler who sits at home instead of boarding the plane loses the trip itself: the meals, the conversations, the photos.
The world in 2026 is no more dangerous than it was in 2016. By most measures, it’s less so. What’s changed is the volume of the noise around you.
Which brings me back to Rubin.
No, Cindy, don’t cancel. Your ship is safe, and so is your route. Go. Eat the schnitzel. See Croatia. Don’t forget to send me a postcard.
Your Voice Matters
Travelers often face expensive choices after frightening headlines, even when the actual risk to their itinerary is unclear. This story raises questions about what suppliers, insurers and public agencies should disclose before fear becomes a cancellation decision.
- Should cruise lines be legally required to report recent onboard health incidents before final payment?
- Should travel insurers be legally required to flag fear-based cancellation exclusions in plain language?
- Should travel sellers be required to link official advisories at booking and before final payment?
What you need to know about travel safety this summer
Quick answers to the most common questions about whether it is safe to travel right now, how to judge real risk versus headlines, and how to protect your trip.
Is it safe to travel this summer?
By most measures the world in 2026 is no more dangerous than it was a decade ago, and in many ways it is safer. What has changed is the volume of alarming headlines. Much of Europe ranks higher on the Global Peace Index than the United States, so canceling a European trip to stay home may actually move you toward more risk, not less.
Should I worry about my airline going bankrupt mid-trip?
The major U.S. carriers, including Delta, United, American, and Southwest, remain profitable. The higher-risk segment is the ultra-low-cost carriers such as Frontier and Allegiant. If you booked one of them, buy a real travel insurance policy and pay with a credit card so you have recourse if the airline runs into trouble.
How do I judge whether a destination is actually dangerous?
Separate the country from the region. A conflict thousands of miles away does not make an entire continent unsafe, the way an event in one city would not make another city across the country dangerous. Check the State Department’s country-specific advisories, which flag the real trouble spots, and consult the Global Peace Index for a country-by-country picture.
What is the Global Peace Index?
It is an annual ranking published by the Institute for Economics and Peace that measures countries across safety, conflict, and militarization indicators. In the latest edition the United States ranked 128th of 163 countries, behind much of the Europe that many anxious travelers are afraid to visit, with Austria placing in the top five.
Do locals really hate American tourists?
Anti-tourist protests abroad are generally aimed at policy issues like short-term rentals hollowing out neighborhoods, cruise crowding, and housing costs, not at individual polite visitors. Being a considerate guest and learning a few words of the local language goes a long way toward a warm welcome.
Should I cancel a cruise because of an outbreak I read about?
A single incident on one ship does not mean every sailing is affected. Before canceling a paid-up trip, weigh the actual risk against what you lose. For coverage questions, review your travel insurance options before making a decision.
What does canceling a trip out of fear actually cost me?
Every traveler who cancels a paid-up trip out of vague dread loses money, and often the trip itself, including the meals, conversations, and memories. If something does go wrong on a trip, knowing how the consumer complaint process works can help you recover far more than canceling preemptively would.
Elliott Report
This story was originally published May 24, 2026 at 5:30 AM.