To be worried about a family holiday to turkey?

[scarednoob]

My dad has booked and paid for us all, so I feel really ungrateful for worrying. And awful for Turkish tourism and people who depend on it that I am feeling this way. But looking at the tragic news, I can't help but worry about going with a baby who will be 8 months old and then nieces/nephews of 7-11.

It's a fancy resort in the touristy part, not Istanbul or Ankara. If we didn't have the baby I wouldn't be worried, but I see everything differently now she's here!

Have you been/would you still go?

I have been, really liked it first time, less so second. I wouldn't go again, but not because of terror threat. I can't stand some of the other holidaymakers.

All the Turkish folk I met were lovely though, and airport security appeared high standard.

Btw - we took DD both times.

Interesting thank you v much.

Agreed, other holidaymakers can ruin a place - I saw a woman in Barbados complaining bitterly that the all-inclusive "only" meant breakfast (unlimited buffet), 11am pool snack, lunch (3 courses), afternoon tea, dinner (3 courses) and drinks. Er... What else is there?!

Where are you going?

I've been twice in the last year and I love it

Antalya - I know it's a long way from the tragic news today, but can't shake the nagging feeling that fancy hotels stuffed full of Brits are a bit of a target?

Interesting - the places we went were stuffed with Brits but many more Russians. With the falling out they have had with the Russians I guess that may have changed.

I get nervous about this kind of thing occasionally, so I know exactly where you're coming from.

The thing is (and this is of course easy for me to say), Turkey isn't really that different to, say, Paris or London when it comes to being a terrorist target. What I mean is, nowhere is safe. It's going to happen again, and it could be anywhere. The best thing to do is therefore to live your life without taking unnecessary risks (don't attempt to travel to Syria , always wear your seatbelt, look both ways when you cross the road, etc etc).

I live in a major city and I freak out about the risk from time to time. What works for me is to logically, sensibly go through the list of risky things I could do. Generally going out in my own city and international travel are fairly low on the list of dangerous activities I undertake.

I went to Turkey a few years back (2ish?) before things really, uh, got like they are now. I would go back. I would also be nervous about it, but I'd reason with myself to remember exactly WHY people choose terrorism as a weapon and do my best to make sure that it's relatively ineffective. That sounds rather patronising, but I had to to the same thing to get myself out of the house with my young children just after the attacks in Paris. I was shaking. I needed to have stern words with myself. It worked - I was so nervous but once I got out there and went hey, life is carrying on and I'm a part of it, it was fine. The risk of terrorism is vanishingly small compared to all the other things that are a danger to us. I'd advise having a read of the psychology behind it, if that helps.

I mean, nothing's impossible, it's not out of the question that I might be a direct victim of terrorism in the future. But I'm sure as fuck not going to make myself an indirect victim in the meantime, IYSWIM?