In a previous ADVENTURE forum we asked, "Are danger-ridden destinations worth the risk?" The current issue's "Alive in Kyrgyzstan" answers that question with a resounding yes and no.
The article examines the case of four twenty-something Americans who, on a climbing trip in the Kyrgyz Republic (formerly Kyrgyzstan), were kidnapped by armed rebels, only to escape by shoving a captor to his presumed cliff-side death.
That was before they dodged close-range machine gun fire—and before they returned home to a flashbulb frenzy and a million-dollar bidding war for their story. On The A-Team this would be the part where Hannibal says, "I love it when a plan comes together."
But this isn't TV, and the planned book and movie on the Kyrgyz "adventure" may inspire others to venture into unstable environments, places where the "plan" quite often comes apart. Which brings us to the question:
Does the dramatization of outdoor-survival stories encourage reckless risk-taking?
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U.S. State Department Travel Warning for the Kyrgyz Republic