So you are flying to your cruise, which leaves from Greece and visits several exotic ports in Europe and Asia. You are then flying home from South Africa.

If you were to die during this vacation, what is the most probable reason?

Bug bite/bee sting?

a bit morbid question but I would think... suicide

According to the CDC, "Road traffic crashes headed the list of causes (34%), followed by homicide (17%), and drowning (13%)".

So just as it is in the U.S., you are more likely to die in a traffic accident.

Something to think about the next time you get on that tour bus or hail a taxi in Mexico. Do you ever wonder about the licensing standards or safety inspections used in other countries? It can often follow along with the overall well-being of the country. Who do you think has to meet a higher standard to be licensed, a motor coach driver in the UK or one in Jamaica? Which coach is more likely to have routine maintenance?

This also includes getting hit by a vehicle while trying to cross a street.

I have wondered about the licenseing process in mexico. I have always said that in cozumel that traffic laws are only a suggestion. I am surprised more people are not killed there.

Two places I've been where the traffic has to be seen to be believed. Naples, Italy. Athens, Greece.

There are no doubt many places where knowing someone, paying a bribe, or both, has allowed someone to start being a driver-for-hire with no standards or testing.

Rome traffic is also intimidating, at best. If you are crossing a street and a car is coming right at you, you'd better not slow down or stop or start back to the curb. The driver has calculated your speed and if you keep walking without faltering, the driver will miss you by a few inches. If you change speed or direction, you're in big trouble.

They don't drive in Rome; they aim!

We took a cab in the DR. The deal was brokered for round trip, with a prearranged pick-up time before we left. The driver didn't speak English.
There were only 3 families on the beach, and the same hawkers kept coming back again and again. One woman asked for our towels for her baby. After about an hour, my husband was fit to be tied, so we ended up hitching a ride on one of those rickshaw motorcycles. It was a sheet metal cart and the hole in the floor let you see the potholes as you bounced through them! I was terrified to get stuck in some of the neighborhood we went by, and petrified to stay on it! We did make it back safely, but it was quite and adventure!!

When we stopped here in April, it was highly suggested that pax take an NCL shore excursion as we were told the local drivers posed a danger to those walking to the town and train station. I figured it was a way to sell more excursions. And, then I saw it. http://cruise-chat.com/groupee_commo...s/icon_eek.gif I would have been very nervous, especially as our son can't walk quickly, even though we are accustomed to dodging wrong-way traffic in Boston.