Top 10 Causes of Travel Deaths

To date I'd like to think I've been pretty lucky in dodging death on some of my travels abroad and at home. Seeing how I got dumped on by two different birds on two different occasions last year in Tajikistan, for the first time in life and walked away without avian flu I'd count that as a blessing. And yes, I know avian flu is not quite caused by bird droppings landing on your head or Bob Marley sweatshirt, but I still lucked out. You never know. Oh, and then there was just this past Friday while cruising down a snowy I-68 eastbound for work when a snow plow going westbound threw so much slush, ice and salt over on the opposite side of the road that it shattered the windshield (see picture) and left small pieces of glass in my lap, in my boots and in my hair. I got pretty lucky with that one too.

This isn't about my luck though. It is about those who didn't see the coconut falling from the palm while snoozing in Antigua or the poor guy who received one too many mosquito bites in Madagascar and then those ambitious wildlife photographers who got mauled by a Grizzly in Canada. Roadjunky runs a piece from a couple weeks back listing the 10 Leading Causes of Travel Deaths (maybe). According to their humorous report where I'm not sure how they acquired the numbers, falling coconuts claim the lives of about 900 travelers each year, STD's - 360 lives and Civil War - 380 lives. The top three ways to go travelers should beware of are road accidents, murder, and malaria - maybe.

Filed under: Stories, Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania, South America, Antarctica