Looking at the World Through Anxious Eyes

Skift launched the latest edition of our magazine, Travel in an Age of Permanxiety, at Skift Global Forum in New York City in September. This article is part of our look into the current state of the traveler mindset through the lens of the pervasive state of anxiety felt worldwide. Download the full version of Skift’s Travel in an Age of Permanxiety magazine here. Travel has always been an unpredictable activity. Somewhere around the world, thousands of miles from the safety of home, the unknown becomes known and anything can happen. This can be thrilling or uncomfortable, enriching or life-threatening. Part of the fun is not knowing what will happen, yet this sort of uncertainty can mar your travel experience even if nothing goes wrong. There is an often irrational feeling you get when traveling that the world is a dangerous place, and the violent events you hear about on the television or see online will happen to you. Your mind tells you to worry, even if you are completely safe. You’re more likely to win a lottery jackpot than be the victim of a terrorist attack in most places, for instance, but you wouldn’t know it by the anxiety you feel walking the streets of another country. The world has embraced travel like never before in recent years. In the first four months of 2017, destinations received 369 million international tourists according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, a six percent increase over the previous year. International tourist arrivals totaled 1.235 billion in 2016, and the growth in global tourism shows no sign of slowing down