Not since my late teens and a visit to Tijuana and the Mexican border towns have I traveled outside of the country, mainly because my DH refuses to do so. IMO, while the headline grabbers such as this story are rare, I always assumed that if one left the US to travel anywhere, they were pretty much on their own.
No countries have embassies that usually help out in emergencies. You're not on you're own. And obviously traveling to North Korea was not a smart move but to never travel outside of the country due to fear? Really? That's sad. How about Canada?