Regarding safety in other countries.
When we travel, I read up on the area in more detail once we have nailed down the area we are going to visit. Generally, I read the news in that area as part of my routine, but I will start trying to find out more about the area as our plans solidify. How to use public transport, where are markets, places to eat, things to see, etc. Google Earth/Maps is very helpful. Even better is Street View.
Street View will show you people on the street. How they are dressed? Are there old people and women out walking alone? Is there trash on the ground? Graffiti? Groups of men standing around? Barbed wire and/or other security fences? Bars on windows and doors?
Now, some places might not have Street View, but many places do.
Once in Amsterdam, we got on the correct bus by number but it was going in the wrong direction. Eventually, it went where we wanted to go but it was an education.The kids picked up on the difference in people getting on the bus, how they behaved and sat. It was much different than other buses we had been on and we were using the busses every day. Had a similar experience on buses and trains last trip.
We have spent more time walking around Dublin Ireland than we have any US city. Only a few times did my spidey sense increase. Today, I would not return to Dublin like we have in the past. What has happened in the last couple of years is shocking and astounding. The Irish leadership is letting in huge number of illegal young men into the country. They are encouraging this influx of unemployable men into the country. If I show up at the airport without identification, I will be put back on the next plane flight back to the country I came from. This is not happening in Ireland to certain groups.
As a result, there are tent encampments where we have walked. Woman are getting attacked and some killed. Children in front of school have been knifed. One boy was "attacked" in a bathroom. A man snatched a baby out of the stroller while the mother was standing there talking to a neighbor. The man had "plans" for the baby. Men have been killed in their homes. I think tourists have been attacked but much of this is not getting covered in the main stream media. Some of the violence has taken place in locations we have walked by.
What is happening in Ireland is not really being covered by the main stream media because the government funds much of the media and I suspect for other reasons. A select group of people in Ireland are making millions of Euros off this migration. When the politicians leave Irish government they will likely have a future in the EU government. The illegals are getting free housing, food, money and health care while thousands of Irish are homeless, waiting for housing and healthcare. Elderly people have been kicked out of their nursing homes, scores of care givers fired, so illegals can be housed. The local communities are protesting, attacked by riot squads, beaten and pepper sprayed. There have been protests in Dublin where tens of thousands attended and the media said there were hundreds....
One of the politicians said that they will talk and listen to locals people's concern's but nobody can veto the placement of unknown, unemployable, young men in their town or neighborhood. In other words you can complain, we will nod our head but these men will be placed in your town. In some towns, there will be more illegals than locals. This will destroy the economies of towns dependent on tourists.
People are using words with powerful historical meanings. If the politicians do not stop this fast, there will be wide spread violence in Ireland. Building's are already being burned to stop placement of these illegals in some places and this will continue. Many people have lost all respect for the Garda, aka, the Guardians of Peace(Police) due to their unbelievable use of force on protests. They have pepper sprayed members of the press and local politicians. I really think there will be serious violence if the government does not stop what it is doing.
My long winded point, is to research where one is going, but be careful with the main stream media, use other sources of information on the Internet, and surprisingly, YouTube can be very informative. Very little of what I said about Ireland is covered accurately by the Irish Press, or other other new sites, but one that I know about.
