I've ended up in plenty of situations over the years that could have ended very differently. Especially in foreign countries when wandering by myself and not knowing the areas. There are always bad people in the world and there will always be violence so the only thing we can really do is try to be smart in our actions and be aware of our surroundings.
Travelling is such a brilliant experience that it would be a shame for people not to take on the adventure because at the end of the day you could die in a car crash so life is far too short to not do what you want to.