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In the course of traveling, the foreign policy of the United States tends to have a large impact, both in policy (i.e. where you can travel to with or without a visa), to the questions and reactions of locals when you visit.
In your experience, how has the foreign policy and actions of the US affected your travels, if at all?
My travels have not been affected by US foreign policy. I think travel would only be affected depeneding on where you are going and what you are doing. For example, studying somewhere for a year or just staying somewhere for a long time might bring customs and visa issues. Also, I’ve mainly stayed in Europe for travels so elsewhere I do not know if there are issues with the US. Usually, the longer the stay somewhere the more likely you will run into issues.
The first time I experienced the effects of US foreign policy on my travel was when I did a Rotary Exchange in 2010. My top three country choices to live in were, in order, Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador. The Rotary program would not let me travel to Colombia or Venezuela due to safety reasons at the time. They did not give me specifics and instead sent me to Ecuador.
However, I did have the chance to travel to Colombia very recently with a Fulbright grant and this time, my travel was positively impacted by US foreign policy. Because of the close relationship between the US and Colombia and the Colombian Ministry of Education’s strong desire to promote bilingualism throughout the country, I was able to live and work there for 10 months. Colombia is very open to foreign English teachers (there are numerous programs bringing teachers there from all over the world) so if the United States and Colombia did not have an amicable relationship, I most likely would not have had the chance to go there with Fulbright, or with any program for that matter. Also, something interesting to note is that almost every Colombian student of mine had the dream of traveling to the United States whether it was to go to Disney or learn English or make money. They have, in general, a very positive view of the US and were always very interested and excited to learn about my life and American culture.
America’s foreign policy affected me quite a bit when I went to China last summer. The biggest difference was freedom or censorship. While I was a student, I mainly went to China for ministry purposes. China says it has freedom of religion, and everyone I encountered there believed such, but that’s completely false. We couldn’t mention anything related to Christianity for risk of catching attention and possibly getting kicked out of the country.
China also censors everything. It’s terrifying to know that there are people monitoring social media posts and deleting “negative” opinions. Freedom of speech was something I’ve taken for granted!
In regards to Americans, the students I met were decently-versed in news and loved America, or the popular western representation of it. One student was really concerned about the racial issues (riots/ unrest) that were going on. On the other hand, I had a friend who believed that the show “Modern Family” pretty much represented America…
American Foreign Policy can be very strict when it comes to customs and traveling. Travelers have to be very wise and do research with what they can take home as what they think are souvenirs. Luckily when I traveled back from Mexico and Europe none of my items were confiscated but my travel buddies had certain items taken: a small sword from Sicily, certain tequila and food from Mexico and even a fruit soda from Rome. If you cannot properly explain each of your items, they can be taken away very easily depending on the American officer working with your luggage.
My family and I always check the news before we make plans to travel somewhere. We also make sure we have text alerts on our phones about breaking news and emergencies. But other than that foreign policies haven’t affected our travels.
One of the first times I encountered the foreign policy of the United States was when I studied abroad in Havana, Cuba. For any American citizen to travel to Cuba, they need a Visa. I was able to study and live in Cuba on a student visa, otherwise the other reasons for getting a visa include religious or research reasons. Relations between Cuba and the United States have been extremely rocky since the Cold War, and have only recently began to improve since 2015 when President Barack Obama met with Raul Castro at the Summit of the Americas in Panama. This marked the first meeting between a U.S. and Cuban head of state since the two countries severed their ties in 1961.
While in Cuba, the foreign policy of the United States affected my time there in numerous ways. Upon arriving to the airport in Havana, we were briefed with what to say to the Cuban customs officers to avoid any complications. While in Cuba, we were required to carry around our carnet, which was our Cuban ID at all times whenever we left our residency. At any time during the day, a Cuban police officer could ask you for your ID card so it was necessary to make sure we had it on us at all times. The embargo has affected Cuba in numerous ways. There is very limited internet and phone access and on any given day you could go to a grocery store or market and find little to no food on the shelves. While there, I was able to talk to my parents maybe once a week on the phone if I was lucky, and was able to get internet access about once a month. It was difficult for parents to visit their children who were studying there due to the travel restrictions and visas. Living there, I was somewhat in a bubble and had little information as to what was going on outside of Cuba.
After finishing my time in Cuba, many people asked me if the Cubans disliked Americans and if they treated us poorly while we were there. This was absolutely not the case. Despite all of the turmoil between the United States and Cuba, the Cubans were very welcoming and so kind. Whenever I talked to a Cuban and they found out I was from the United States they immediately asked me a million questions and were so interested in what I had to say. Many Cubans I met had family somewhere in the United States, and had the dream to eventually move there as well.
