Choosing a study away site or planning your next trip can be quite an exciting — if not slightly stressful — ordeal. I often found myself excitedly contemplating these decisions.

“So where should I go for January Term this year? I hear there’s a great new course in Paris. And that class in Prague! The professor is supposed to be amazing,” I say to myself.

Recently, students who practice the Islamic faith have had an additional layer of worry spread thickly upon their travel plans. Violent attacks targeting Muslims and a rapidly growing Islamophobic sentiment are a heavy burden to bear for a traveler. This is particularly relevant to NYU Abu Dhabi students, who seem to have to make travel decisions every few months. Just as you finish one study abroad application, the next one looms, or you’re deciding where to jet off to for the next break with your friends.

Packing becomes the least of your worries when you’re deciding whether or not to go to a particular country because of your choice of worship, your choice of dress or even the language you are speaking.

“Paris? With everything that’s happening there, are you sure you want that on your list?” These are the types of questions I’ve had to face.

After a year full of devastating attacks and the Burkini ban scandal in France, the voice of reason begins to creep up on me while I’m filling out my J-term application. How would people react to my clothing? What if I speak Arabic on the phone and someone misinterprets what I’m saying? Muslims have even gotten kicked off flights because another passenger felt, in their words, uncomfortable.

For me personally, the stakes are even higher, as I wear an obvious evidence of my faith on my head everyday. It is not something I can, or have any desire to, hide. Violence against women in general is ridiculously prevalent. Imagine the violence inflicted against women who have that added label of being Muslim.

This conundrum presents me with two choices: either I avoid a certain country altogether and pick a place where I feel safer while practicing my faith, or I decide to take the plunge. If I do, I will inevitably have to endure violating stares, racist comments or something even worse. It’s not a pleasant choice to make while my non-Muslim peers are free to decide between Buenos Aires and Prague without a care in the world.

“I’m worried about my choice to go to Berlin next semester. I’ve heard such terrible things about women in hijab not being served in some shops,” a friend of mine confided in me a few days ago. She was convinced that Germany was the place to be for her to have new experiences and an exciting semester. She even looked forward to learning German. It’s saddening to see how her motivation has dwindled because she can not exercise a right as basic as comfortably practicing her religion.

It is unfortunate to see the divisions widening even further. Just as people are instilled with fears about Islam, Muslims are just as fearful of Islamophobia. It is a vicious cycle that will only continue to drive humanity apart. As political figures continue to fan the flames of anti-Islamic rhetoric, I’m not sure what will happen next. I can only hope that Muslims all over the world will continue to have the courage to travel freely and educate others about our peaceful faith, so that we can take a step away from the prejudice and injustice that we as Muslims face in our daily lives.