Taken

Have you ever dreamed of traveling all over the world? I've certainly did. I've always dreamed that one day, I'll be going places, heaving a backpack (or not), and having the adventure of a lifetime. More than that, I've always wanted to travel SOLO. Yeah. I want to experience being lost in a whole, new place, alone to discover and feel new sensations. But I recently found that traveling solo is not so nice as it seems.

All because of the movie Taken. My family and I watched that on Saturday night. At first I thought it was just some ordinary action flick with big guns and loads of special effects. But papa insisted that we must definitely watch this film before we do any traveling. And he was right.

The movie was very thought-provoking. It showed a very widespread problem in the world today: human trafficking. Imagine arriving in the country you've always wanted to visit (say, France) and then poof, you get kidnapped and drugged and made into a prostitute. Seriously. It was terrible. The women in the movie looked so lifeless, numb, and zombie-like, that for a moment the bubble of my dream was popped. I didn't know traveling could be so dangerous, especially when you're a woman.

I like how the story turned out, though. I really admire the father, a former spy, who did everything and more to search for his daughter. He had guts. It was pretty cool, though there were lots of violent scenes. Most of the film was shot in France and it showed the bad sides, so it's pretty scary because I wanted to go there too someday.

So now, what to do? Did that movie just kill my dream? Apparently not. Instead, it made me realize the dangers of traveling solo and gave me loads of advice. For one, I should really learn self-defense before I travel. Then I should definitely: be in my right senses. Be alert. Never share taxi rides wih complete strangers. Don't give too much information. Be cautious. Have some fighting moves up your sleeve. Consider everyone a suspect.

Okay. Now I'm suddenly paranoid. But hey, what's the harm? Better be safe than sorry. And where's the fun in life when you don't take risks? I don't want to jump into danger, but to tell the truth, traveling just got spicier. You decide in what way.