This article from Travel + Escape brought me back to a website I admire called Uncornered Market. Daniel and Audrey have been traveling the world (7o countries and counting) for five years.
In a series of posts, they write about their travels in Iran, a country that fascinates me in part because the media (and government) in the United States have generally vilified it.
I love how Daniel and Audrey dispel the myth that it’s dangerous to travel to Iran, and that the Iranian people might be hostile to Americans.
In their article Traveling to Iran as an Americans: All You Need to Know, they write:
Iranian people were often shocked to discover that we were American and that we were able to get a visa to their country. Once this fact set in, they often went over the top in welcoming us — everything from cordial greetings, to smiles, hugs, gifts and invitations to homes — especially when our guide was out of sight. We joke that it’s the closest we’ve felt to being rock stars.
Most important is their view on how important it is to experience something before judging it:
It’s one thing to read and form opinions; it’s another to experience something firsthand. Ask difficult questions that challenge your assumptions and you’ll find out more about what you are made of.
