In Reply to: Traveling as American posted by ackmra on Wednesday, 26. November 2008 at 21:12 Bali Time:
I'm also American, headed to Bali & Lombok over New Year's. You have two things to consider: one is your own feelings, the other is reassuring your parents.
While I agree that most violence is random, there's nothing wrong with making sure you understand the politics of the country you're visiting. I'm bringing my Obama buttons, but I sure don't see them as protection against anything.
10 years ago, my cousin was living in Japan and I made plans to meet him in Thailand. His father, who has never traveled in the developing world, was frantic about the currency collapse and tried to persuade him to cancel so that we would not end up in a revolution. We went and had a great time.
I postponed a trip to Indonesia the next year because of political unrest. Friends were in Sulawesi when Suhartho was overthrown and found it pretty empty but not unsafe. Other friends were in Ubud during the bombings in 2002, and while greatly saddened, were personally not affected.
Assuming you decide to go (and I would, but on my own dime), do what you can to listen to your parents' concerns and reassure them.
Getting a regular e-mail or text may calm their nerves. Or hook them up with the website of a Balinese newspaper, where they can see pictures and read about where you're going. Their fear is from lack of familiarity and stereotypes. Joking about Bangkok or massacres in Mumbai or crime rates in Detroit is unlikely to help your case. You can do a lot to break that down and have a great trip without fear or guilt.