Shocking Statistic: 80% Of Paths Report Regular Beatings

A study released this week revealed some sobering findings that might make you think twice about the way you travel: 4 out of 5 paths are reportedly beaten regularly. Read that again. 4 out of 5.

It’s eye-opening stats like this that show us how far we still have to come as a society. It honestly feels wrong to even be having this discussion in 2017. We’ve come a long way from the days of travel agents and guided tours. But five star reviews on TA don’t come out of thin air. And every time you follow in those footsteps, an innocent path pays the consequences

The study even showed that the U.S. appears to have the most path violence per capita of any country, with the average American rarely making it past #5 in lists of top 20 must-see attractions. And while we all know that it’s sometimes necessary to give a path a gentle nudge in order to reach further flung destinations, like a shipwrecked sex doll freighter in the arctic circle or a local fruit stand in an undetonated minefield, full-on path beatings are just unacceptable in any circumstance. The next thing you know we’ll revert back to the 1920’s and be traveling on cruises. You heard me right, CRUISES.

Path violence is woven into our country’s DNA. From Thomas Jefferson citing Madame Tussaud’s as his favorite Parisian attraction, to not being able to find one legitimate pornography theater in today’s Times Square, paths have been seen as collateral damage for far longer than most Americans are comfortable admitting.

The question remains, is it too late? What can we do? You can definitely do your part by being responsible and substituting touristy restaurants with foraging, farming, and starvation. But perhaps the simplest and most powerful course of action is just share your own path abuse stories in the hope of raising awareness and starting a dialogue. So, in the spirit of opening the floodgates, here is mine:

I once visited a deserted monastery at the edge of an active volcano in Brunei. It wasn’t on any map, no one had ever heard of it, and I only knew it existed because of a vision I had after a local shaman poured fermented ox milk directly into my open eye. I got there via a combination of hitchhiking, base jumping, krav maga, and discovering human flight. When I finally found it, I had a broken arm, an infant son, and Japanese encephalitis. The monastery was also kind of basic and disappointing. It remains one of my favorite travel memories to this day.

A year ago I revisited the site, excited to recapture some of the magic of my first journey. When I got there I was shocked to see the same path I took all those years ago beaten within an inch of its life. It was almost unrecognizable. It was swollen, it was discolored, and it had a KFC with western toilets. Sure, the previously impoverished surrounding area is now thriving with the influx of visitors, but at what cost? Are we willing to sacrifice a pristine path for something as fleeting as quality of human life?

I’m not saying I have all the answers. But it’s something to think about next time you book a convenient chain hotel instead of sleeping on a public bathroom changing table under a blanket of locally used coffee filters.