{"id":541,"date":"2025-06-12T12:00:23","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T12:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.agencywebdesigners.com\/?p=541"},"modified":"2025-06-12T14:27:36","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T14:27:36","slug":"travelers-prepare-for-globe-trotting-challenges-under-trump-administration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.agencywebdesigners.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/12\/travelers-prepare-for-globe-trotting-challenges-under-trump-administration\/","title":{"rendered":"Travelers prepare for globe-trotting challenges under Trump administration"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beatriz Meehan, 68, remembers traveling to Rome, Italy, two decades ago. Back then, she was left with the impression that the locals loved Americans, she said.<\/p>\n

After visiting Europe again in March, she no longer feels the same way.<\/p>\n

The Colorado Springs resident and her husband spent a week in Barcelona, Spain, where they planned to hike the mountain of Montserrat and visit the famed Santa Maria de Montserrat abbey to light holy candles for her granddaughter and her home country, she said.<\/p>\n

A Latina who\u2019s fluent in Spanish, Meehan sparked several conversations with people she met along the journey. Her taxi driver noticed the couple was American and compared the U.S. to his motherland, which is a dictatorship, Meehan said. \u201cYou\u2019ll get used to it,\u201d he told her.<\/p>\n

Once at the abbey, Meehan realized she hadn\u2019t purchased an advance ticket, so she faced a lengthy queue. She said she pleaded her case to a guard.\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m from America, and I need to light a holy candle because of Trump,\u201d she told him.\u00a0At that, the guard escorted her past the line. \u201cHe said, \u2018And light a big candle. Your country\u2019s in trouble,’\u201d Meehan added.<\/p>\n

Colorado travelers like Meehan believe they are facing complications and negative interactions abroad due to President Donald Trump\u2019s approach to foreign affairs. In just four months, he has proposed seizing control of Greenland, the Panama Canal and Canada; sparked a global trade war through his inconsistent use of tariffs, with a focus specifically on China; and deported migrants to at least eight countries in Central and South America.<\/p>\n

Some are concerned about how they\u2019ll be received as Americans by government officials, locals and even other tourists, while others have already noticed tension on trips abroad this year.<\/p>\n

Erin Morris, 45, is a U.S. citizen who has resided in Denver for seven years. She lived abroad in her youth, then spent a decade in Costa Rica. But while she has felt some unease in the past, those experiences are \u201cnothing like this,\u201d Morris said. \u201cThis is totally different.\u201d<\/p>\n

And they came from an unexpected place: Canadians traveling in Mexico. \u201cThere are a ton of Canadian ex-pats where we were, and they are really upset and very vocal,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve never interacted with Canadians who are angry before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morris said they seethed about Trump\u2019s tariffs and his jabs at Canada.\u00a0\u201cThe sentiment was mostly: they feel like they\u2019ve been a good ally and a good friend to the U.S., and that they don\u2019t deserve to be treated like that,\u201d Morris said.<\/p>\n

Jill Collins, 42, has traveled to 73 countries, globe-trotting as far as Kazakhstan and Georgia. In March and April, the Denverite visited Hong Kong, China and Japan with her husband.<\/p>\n

He is a New Zealand citizen, while Collins holds both Austrian and American passports.\u00a0\u201cWe intentionally traveled under my Austrian passport for this trip because of that rhetoric\u201d by Trump, Collins said. \u201cIf I didn\u2019t have another passport, maybe I wouldn\u2019t have gone to China this trip.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the airport, Chinese customs officers had travelers hold their passports above their heads. Collins believes that happened so officers could easily see which countries people hailed from. Afterward, \u201cthe only people they pulled aside were people with U.S. passports,\u201d Collins said.<\/p>\n

After discussing the experience on a tour, Collins said her guide confirmed that the few Americans coming to China are being held at the airport with no explanation for extended periods of time.<\/p>\n

In other conversations with hotel staff and tour guides, \u201cthey actually seem to feel a little bit sorry for us,\u201d Collins said. \u201cThey make comments like, \u2018It\u2019s affecting us, too, and we\u2019re in it with you.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

\"Danya
Danya Strait at her apartment building in Denver on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (Photo by Hyoung Chang\/The Denver Post)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Denver resident Danya Strait, 37, fielded frantic questions about the U.S. from foreigners when she spent a couple weeks in Berlin, Germany, earlier this year for a work trip.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt definitely felt a little bit like 2016 and \u201917 or going way back to the early 2000s when Bush was in office, and we kind of felt like we had to tell people we\u2019re Canadian, not American,\u201d Strait said.<\/p>\n

The discourse with her foreign colleagues \u201cwas a lot of like, what is even happening in your country right now?\u201d Strait said. \u201cQuestions around: Do you guys think you might want to, like, live abroad and not be there anymore?\u201d<\/p>\n

The experience overseas gave her some pause. She wonders whether criticisms of the federal government will impact her passage through U.S. Customs and Border Protection ports of entry. Strait also fears whether her access to other countries will eventually be limited as a U.S. citizen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just nervous that other countries are gonna stop letting us in, especially if there becomes a greater exodus in people wanting to leave the U.S. altogether,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Travel agent Celine Kirk, 29, said she\u2019s \u201cseeing a lot of fear in the consumer,\u201d and has been taking extra steps to prepare her clients for how to travel under Trump.<\/p>\n

For instance, in China, Kirk recommends embodying the \u201cquiet tourist\u201d archetype: speaking less loudly, not being on the phone constantly and respecting local cultures.<\/p>\n

While that is good advice for travel at any time, Kirk said it\u2019s especially important under the current administration. That\u2019s compared to former President Barack Obama\u2019s two terms when \u201cvery friendly\u201d tourism policies existed between China and the U.S., Kirk added. Then, \u201cit was a little more comfortable than during the previous and current Trump administration,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Kirk\u2019s Arvada-based company, Trek It Travel Agency<\/a>, helps people book everything from $500 weekend trips to a $60,000 cruise along the Panama Canal. That one has left some clients with concerns after the Trump administration\u2019s talk of controlling the Central American waterway.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s also seeing an uptick in would-be travelers apprehensive about visiting Mexico due to the recent focus on the U.S.-Mexico border.\u00a0\u201cThe biggest thing is perceived safety,\u201d Kirk said. \u201cPeople see news about the border and think it is a reflection of the whole country and have a hard time separating the border from heavily tourist-reliant areas like Los Cabos and Canc\u00fan.\u201d<\/p>\n