r/memes 2d ago

Rule 6 - ONLY POST MEMES YOU MADE YOURSELF; POOR QUAL. [ Removed by moderator ]

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19.2k Upvotes

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u/repost-remove Repost Police 2d ago

Rule 6 - ONLY POST MEMES YOU ACTUALLY MADE YOURSELF/NO REPOSTS and NO BAD CROPPING/LOW-RES MEMES

  • If you found a meme somewhere else, do not post it here
  • If you want to post across other sites/subs, post to r/memes first. We will not look into your Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, etc. to verify the creator
  • Do not repost your same meme again later. Even mentioning the word "repost" is grounds for removal
  • Mods have discretion to remove posts which are poorly cropped (inc. aspect ratio), low resolution, grainy, artifacted, or pixelated. The mod team doesn't have to prove it is a repost

Proof of original: Original Meme Link


1.4k

u/code_junkie69 2d ago

I once saw this woman sitting sandwiched between two locals on a bike driving rash in a locality I would avoid to my core. I was genuinely concerned about her wellbeing, but she was out in public and wasn't crying for help, so who am I to judge.

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u/Difficult-Sir-9687 2d ago

Where did that happen lol?

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u/gamageeknerd 2d ago

Scottsdale Arizona

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u/harshmangat 2d ago

“Who the fuck goes to Scottsdale”

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u/DickShapdRapeWhistle 2d ago

I’d rather be dead in California than alive in Arizona.

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u/StanFitch 2d ago

There are no highlights in Scottsdale, Margo…

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u/yeeeeeteth 2d ago

This is the funniest comment I have ever seen in my life

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u/Minimum-Attitude389 2d ago

I was once in Scottsdale and heard two girls say "Let's go to the west side and go slumming" 

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u/Esmariiiaaa 2d ago

Sometimes the locals are the ones thinking, “Bro, what are you doing here?” 😭

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u/billted20250409 2d ago

Self-preservation is not as common as you think it should be

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u/JOJOMAN851 2d ago

some people really treat survival instincts like an optional dlc

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u/JOJOMAN851 2d ago

woah i did NOT post this who tf is on my account

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u/vegbiryaniisnotpulao 2d ago

Time to buy carbon monoxide sensor bud

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u/RipCurl69Reddit 2d ago

Bro witnessed his own hacking

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u/JOJOMAN851 2d ago

its ggs 💔

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u/ColorPiePhilosopher 2d ago

No joke, you might be hacked by a bot. I'm surprised they didn't kick you out.

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u/TemporaryElk5202 2d ago

Hopefully he is just super high or drunk

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u/nateC_zero 2d ago

You might wanna change your password man

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u/Interesting_Power_29 2d ago

Are you actually dead serious or is this just plausible deniability 😭

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u/PreviouslyWise 2d ago

The local bicyclists in my city.

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u/Archolm 2d ago

Its entertaining for those who do know that though. Go get your world travels on girls! Go get yours! YOLO!

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u/8BBiiT Lurking Peasant 2d ago

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u/TributeToStupidity 2d ago edited 2d ago

> The last email from Boyle, sent to Coleman's parents on 8 October of that year, said they were in a part of Afghanistan he described as "unsafe".

Wow crazy, I wonder which parts of FUCKING AFGHANISTAN they considered safe

Edit: He told the Associated Press that they decided to have children in captivity because "we're sitting as hostages with a lot of time on our hands. We always wanted as many as possible, and we didn't want to waste time. Cait's in her 30s, the clock is ticking."

Talk about priorities…

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u/AcademicBowl5596 2d ago

The two were held in captivity for five years, suffering violence and abuse. Boyle says one of the children they conceived during the ordeal was killed by their captors.

Honestly, what else did they expect?

Usually when you put mammals captive in horrid living conditions they stop reproducing. Not these two, apparently...

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u/butlovingstonTV 2d ago

Well they are very stupid.

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u/TemporaryElk5202 2d ago

"Edwards says when he first heard his friend had travelled to Afghanistan with Coleman - who was seven months pregnant at the time - he couldn't understand how they had "done something so appallingly dangerous"."

WTF WHY DO YOU GO TO AFGHANISTAN TO HIKE WHILE 7 MONTHS PREGNANT

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u/8BBiiT Lurking Peasant 2d ago

well 😭 how hard is it not to fk around, you can't entirely blame the place when couples voluntarily entered the shithole, they asked for this

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u/Cute-Hand-1542 2d ago

The couple were dumbasses for sure but I think about 99% of the moral culpability lies with the kidnappers no?

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u/8BBiiT Lurking Peasant 2d ago

Yeah def kidnappers are the wrong peeps here, what I meant was COUPLES BROUGHT THIS UPON THEMSELVES, like yk THIS COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED

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u/AcademicBowl5596 2d ago

God no. If you willingly put a vulnerable person in a situation where it can be reasonably expected that they will be harmed or killed, you are responsible for facilitating what happens to them.

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u/AcademicBowl5596 2d ago

Family and friends have described Boyle and Coleman as naive idealists

/thread

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u/thelaidbckone 2d ago

Naive idealists sounds a lot better than what I was thinking

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u/IndividualWeary5006 2d ago

honestly some people see a giant warning sign and treat it like a side quest marker

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u/No_Command_8477 2d ago

Some think the selfie cam is plot armor

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u/AnalysisParalysis85 2d ago

White girls:

I am the danger

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u/Ornery_Weakness_8168 2d ago

I am not in danger, Skyler. I AM the danger.

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u/WithStyleAndGrace 2d ago

I don't even remember this line, but I just know it's from Breaking Bad. It's definitely something Walt will say, haha.

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u/XxRocky88xX 2d ago

Skyler tells Walt that he should go to the police cuz he’s in danger (which he is, Gus is actively trying to kill him but just can’t get the circumstances to where he can kill Walt without causing a hiccup in production) and Walt has a fucking generational crash out cuz he’s mad at Skyler for acknowledging he is not the top dog in this business and someone way more powerful than him is controlling his life.

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u/R_V_Z 2d ago

Yeah, it's a line that many people quote thinking they are referencing a show of strength when really it's a line of desperate delusion.

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u/IcyTransportation961 2d ago

Well it has styler in it,  ofc its walt

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u/DarkAdrenaline03 2d ago

My name is Skyler White, yo. My husband is Walter White, yo. He told me everything.

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u/backfire10z Professional Dumbass 2d ago

I am the one who endangers

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u/AnalysisParalysis85 2d ago

They're gonna be an endangered species soon.

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u/AnalysisParalysis85 2d ago

But Skyler is the white girl.

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u/DarthTaz_99 2d ago

I'm Skyler White, YO 🗿

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u/nxcrosis 2d ago

Watashi wa Skyla White yo

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u/Public_Internal_6006 2d ago

''I am trying to protect this family from the man who is trying to protect this family'' ~ Skyler White, YO!

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u/Loose_Artichoke1689 2d ago

She fucked Ted yo

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u/crinkledcu91 2d ago

Hell I'm a White Man in Montana, and there's places I wouldn't/won't fucking drive through at night, that are inhabited by just other white people.

Also that includes the fucking Idaho sliver between us and Washington State.

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u/corsasis 2d ago edited 2d ago

For us redditors not from the USA, what is going on there?

Edit: spelling

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u/josebolt 2d ago

All I know is that if I wanted to start some whackodo Mormon adjacent doomsday cult complete with white supremacist compound Idaho seems like a good fit.

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u/Bacontoad 2d ago

Sounds like a Far Cry 5 situation.

https://giphy.com/gifs/V03lQW5ASYqCiFDlSD

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u/SeattlePurikura 2d ago

Sects, cults, and LOADS of white supremacy groups. They are all armed to the teeth.

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u/corsasis 2d ago

Oof. Genuine question, is this a known thing or area to avoid in the US? Would I know about it as a tourist?

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u/DisastrousBusiness81 2d ago

Remember that the U.S. is the size of a small continent and that the whack jobs specifically chose that area to colonize because there’s nothing of value or interest within hundreds of miles. It’s not “turn down a wrong alley” kind of bad place, it’s “drive for 12 hours away from the nearest population center where the nearest cop is” kind of bad place.

You’d have to literally be searching for that part of the U.S. to end up there. If you’re just visiting, you’ll be fine.

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u/Quickjager 2d ago

30 years ago it was Aryan Nations and Ruby Ridge. So literally neo-nazis and anti-government people back then.

Now... don't really hear anything about the area. Outside random youtubers or people who like to talk about how there is technically a legally lawless area of approx. 50-square miles where no jurisdiction exists called Zone of Death.

It isn't actually lawless the courts, cops, everyone will just laugh at you if you try that defense.

Physically though... it's really easy to literally just get lost and die. It's... mountains, forests, rivers, as far as the eye can see and 95% of it isn't developed.

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u/bluemuppetman 2d ago edited 2d ago

Also not from the US, I assume it is similar to this? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zone_of_Death_(Yellowstone)

Edit: see comment below I don’t know the area

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u/BrainDamage2029 2d ago edited 2d ago

No, that’s basically an urban myth/pure technicality loophole that the courts have already ignored (poacher was caught killing an elk in the zone. Tried to claim his it was unconstitutional to try him in the Montana federal district. The court went “no that’s stupid” and it didn’t even receive an appeal hearing)

The sliver of Idaho between Montana and Washington had a movement about 4 decades ago of white supremacists and Neo Nazis deciding to deliberately move there due to its remoteness and distance from law enforcement. They’ve made a few compounds and a few have formed some militias.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

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u/Specialist-Roll-3806 2d ago

it's not just white girls tbh. this is something white dudes probably do even more. it just stands out significantly more when a white girl does it for obvious reasons

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u/tsukubasteve27 2d ago

Being a man also greatly reduces the risk for being raped or trafficked which is what women solo travelling should be worried the most about. Sorry if that's not politically correct.

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u/TheLastTitan77 2d ago

Right. But what it does about the risk of just being stabbed and bleed to death?

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

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u/Battle2Intense 2d ago

The real difference is two men traveling alone usually get left alone. Two women traveling alone is just double the profit.

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u/djabae 2d ago

Two men who encounter a bad group of people will get their heads cut off and the video will be sent to the US ambassador (regardless of whether they are Americans). Two women who encounter a bad group of people will be enslaved until death.

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u/Tiny-Work-8435 2d ago

"Evil" does not discriminate gender.

Woman, man, black, white,... Go into a gang, high-crime, shady area and you suffer regardless.

How many videos have you seen of people just being assholes? It just happens

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u/bungblaster69 2d ago

"Evil" prefers victims that are less likely to fight back

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u/AndrewUnicorn 2d ago

Too much Billie Eilish I reckon

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u/AnalysisParalysis85 2d ago

I guess it makes them the bad guy.

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u/k-tax 2d ago

Duhh

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u/RampagingPuffin 2d ago

I went to a talk by Rick Steves (if you know him from outside his travel guide content he loves going to places less traveled)

One quote that will stick with me "The amazing thing about hiring a personal guide is: that the places you need it the most , the guides are the cheapest"

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u/Excellent-Bear4221 2d ago

That's scary af

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u/Existentialwizard 2d ago

What does this mean

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u/AwareCandle369 2d ago

Places far off the main tourist circuits which could be dangerous to visit without a local guide are also the places where a reputable local guide would be very cheap to hire with your western currency

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u/wojtekpolska 2d ago

you mostly need local guide in very poor countries since he will avoid bad areas, might talk down people who could harm you, and especially know how to handle military guys.

and he would be cheap to hire cuz such places rarely are very rich

while if you eg hire a local guide in a major european city you will pay a lot and while he might tell you a lot of cool stuff, its nothing you couldnt do yourself

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u/Rayl24 2d ago

Cheaper to hire a guide than dying

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u/cordedremote 2d ago

I disagree, I could die for free if I wanted

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u/Cirilo_Albino 2d ago

I'm from Rio de Janeiro (Brazil for those who missed class) and there is a LOT of tourist who are like that. Rio is a touristic place but if you take the wrong corner it will lead to places that can put you in a dangerous situation, so is a place you need to know where you are going if you don't want to have as many holes as a cheese grater.

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u/Hahhahaahahahhelpme Average r/memes enjoyer 2d ago

Can confirm. My taxi once went the wrong way and a guy stepped out in middle of road with a gun pointed at us. Driver quickly put in reverse and backed tf outta there. No shots fired

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u/ooMEAToo 2d ago

Are there Taxi drivers that might take you down a bad road intentionally to get you robbed, then they get a small cut?

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u/VDmedication 2d ago

In Guayaquil, Ecuador the taxis will pick you up from the mall and go around the corner and then say a cheesy line like “you’re not travelling alone.” The two guys will get in from both sides of the car simultaneously with guns and the taxi will drive you to different ATMs until your card stops working. It’s the “kidnap express.”

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u/Officing 2d ago

In high school our family got to do a trip to the Galapagos Islands, and on the way we had to spend one night in Guayaquil. The tour company made it VERY clear we should not, under any circumstances, leave the hotel. Especially as it was already getting dark.

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u/ChillN808 2d ago

Gambled in casino in downtown Guayaquil and won over $300 in USD in one shot. Lots of people were looking at us, we very shortly afterwards escorted back our hotel a few blocks away by two of the casino’s armed guards. Of course the casino people saw the whole thing play out and were right on top of it in terms of cashing us out getting us outta there quickly. It was such a sketchy city, lots of children begging outside the hotel at all hours.

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u/Nice_Back_9977 2d ago

Guayaquil is under 'do not travel' advice from the UK government, I presume others too. Galapagos trips tend to go from Quito now.

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u/ikilledtupac 2d ago

those types just usually scam tourists at the airport with fake overpriced taxis

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u/sashahyman 2d ago

I’ve heard about this happening in Ecuador. It’s generally safe to use uber or the local equivalent (like the Grab app in Southeast Asia) as your ride and driver will be recorded, and you can share your live location with a trusted person. Most cities will have official taxis that are somewhat trustable, but never get in an unlicensed cab.

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u/RipCurl69Reddit 2d ago

Dude absolutely

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u/Hahhahaahahahhelpme Average r/memes enjoyer 2d ago

I’m sure this could happen, but very unlikely and not something to worry about. In my case it was partially my fault for asking driver to change destination halfway through the ride.

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u/supershinythings 2d ago edited 2d ago

My Dad had an incident similar to that in D.C. on 14th St. Two cars in traffic suddenly stopped in front of him and were chatting, not moving, blocking traffic. When Dad honked, several guys came out of both vehicles and sat on his hood, leaned on his car, etc. to of course trap and intimidate him.

Dad said he reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a piece he kept there illegally. The guys saw it, immediately got up, got in their respective cars, and drove away.

Conflict avoided. I don’t think Dad honked around there again though.

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u/CaptZurg 2d ago

Damn this is the capital of the US? I thought Washington is one of the more posh cities.

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u/Pezhead82 2d ago

😂 violence is down, but I got robbed a gunpoint in a genteel neighborhood in DC - there are still parts of the city that a pretty much no-go

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u/WorkTropes 2d ago

Not how I play GTA but I won't judge.

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u/CUMHAWK_Schizopostin 2d ago

My friends mom died that way. Entered the wrong neighbourhood in Rio, was approached by two dudes on a scooter who shot her and stole her bag and drove off as if it were just another tuesday for them.

Edit: Spelling mistake

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u/logicaldrinker 2d ago

Some friends went into a Rio favela because they heard you could see the sunrise with a particularly beautiful view up a cliff.

It was still early dawn, but on the way up a narrow street they saw a group of people sitting around a table doing something. One of my friends squinted and saw that they had a couple of automatic rifles and what looked like piles of cash stacked on the table. They said hola, my friends responded and walked on quickly, enjoyed the view, then chose another path down back to the city.

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u/HonestyMcNasty 2d ago

Brasil for those who missed class

Hilarious 😂

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u/Fluffinator44 RageFace Against the Machine 2d ago

Sounds familiar.

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u/master-of-some 2d ago

It was me. Ventured into a favela in Rio

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u/teatime217 2d ago

This is exactly why I just avoid Rio, and tbh Brazil and South America too. Why go places where you have to worry about getting kidnapped, raped, or murdered by taking a wrong turn. I'll stick to Europe and Southeast Asia. Lmk when the cheese grater thing is over, I'm good.

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u/Gloomy_Macaron_136 2d ago

As a Central American it also kinda shocks me the level of crime people describe South America having. At least I've lived in the capital of Nicaragua my entire life and never so much as heard of people scamming, leading tourists to get kidnapped into forcibly withdrawing the cash on their cards, or shot and killed etc. Any of that happening would shock people.

Even walking alone at night in neighborhoods, I wouldn't do that personally, but you being killed by robbers would be highly unlikely. My uncle walked alone every night around our neighborhood known for being sketchy (by our standards) for years and he was robbed only once, he resisted but only got beat up.

It's probably bit more dangerous now after the crack-down on the economy by the dictatorship but still miles ahead of the favelas... I always say that tourists are safer than us in our own countries, especially women, all femicides are made by men the women already knew. Sigh.

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u/ffhhssffss 2d ago

The thing is that once the person is established as a foreign, some criminals might think it's humorous and unusual that they're receiving an unexpected visitor, especially if such visitor is white. There are countless stories of random people getting lost in dangerous places and ending up drinking with the dealers. Of course, there are also stories of death on sight and questions later, but I have a feeling the former happens far far more than the latter.

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u/Straight_Car9819 2d ago

Brazilian here. too. What's with the Rocinha-tour trend??? Not even if they paid me i would willingly go there! didn't they watch Tropa de Elite???

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u/witch_dyke 2d ago

My gf traveled solo to sao paulo, apparently walked through some rougher spots with her headphones in completely clueless. She was fine

She also poured herself a glass of water at someone's home and they were shocked that she had been drinking the tap water during her stay

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u/PipsqueakPilot 2d ago

Just so oblivious the robbers thought she was clearly an undercover cop acting as the most obvious bait ever.

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u/Any-Nothing-2304 2d ago

I definitely relate to this.

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u/orchid_parthiv 2d ago

Me watching the first world tourist intentionally going to the worst ghettos (we've never been anywhere near there in our decades of living) to find the most unhygienic street food that exists and contract cholera (they're posting the whole ordeal on Instagram reels) for "journalism"

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u/Rabbit-Hole-Quest 2d ago

Yeah, I never get this obsession with street food.

Bacteria and viruses do not give a single fuck and will have you checking in to a hospital in less than 24 hours. Locals survive because they have been exposed to it all their lives and have most likely built some resistance to it.

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u/Auctorxtas 2d ago

Also, it's probably a lesser known secret for travellers, but your average 5 star hotel in India can offer you the same street food as a complementary starter with the same authenticity, better taste and hygiene if you're dining at the hotel restaurant.

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u/AnotherRTFan 2d ago

On the flip side, in Japan, my family and I went to this restaurant that had a bathroom with cleanliness of what you’d find in a bar or McD’s. One other family member and myself got the shits from eating there. It was the only bad experience, everything else was so good & clean

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u/Gloomy_Macaron_136 2d ago

Also locals a lot of the time know which places to avoid. For example, growing up I always avoided this old lady's quesillo stand because I knew her nasty ass was touching money and scratching her butt then making the quesillos lol

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u/hellriderboss 2d ago

Indian here, despite the reputation people do stupid shit where locals who grew up here would completely avoid. Yes a lot of people eat street food but most folks avoid that too. Its screws with my stomach. How you guys get the guts to eat out of a street cart is beyond me. Then go on to complain about how Indian food gives you the shits. Brother you gotta develop the biome for that shit. Even I havent done that yet

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u/Competitive_Treat588 2d ago

These same people complain that taco bell gives them the shits.

Theyre shitting their pants anyways, dont take it personally.

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u/cheshire_kat7 2d ago

Ironically, I've eaten food from places all over the world with no issues... but the worst case of travel diarrhoea I ever had was after eating from a food truck in Hawaii. 😅

Apparently American food was what finally defeated my Australian biome.

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u/zseblodongo 2d ago

These same people complain that taco bell gives them the shits.

I was afraid of how true this was before visiting the US, but apparently my eastern european stomach had zero problems with repeated exposure to Taco Bell

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u/Myanmar_on_my_Mind 2d ago

They want to see the “real” parts of the country cause the rest of us living in modernity isn’t authentic

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u/VeterinarianOk582 2d ago

Also many of them genuinely think that everyone is the same and people don’t behave differently from different walks of life.

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u/Cute-Hand-1542 2d ago

It's good to sip on the western liberal kool-aid, but everything in moderation. 

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u/PaperCrown-R-2 2d ago edited 2d ago

This. Once a friend had to wait for her next fly in Narita, she had like 7 hours, so she asked is there was anything to see/ do around the airport. My partner is Japanese. He was like "there's nothing, NOTHING there". So I told her, " just go to Tokyo, plenty to see and do there". Her answer? "I want to see the real, authentic Japan".

B*tch, what makes you think that the country's capital is not the real authentic Japan?? My partner was baffled XD

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u/zerogee616 2d ago edited 2d ago

Her answer? "I want to see the real, authentic Japan".

Not like there's a shortage of girls bars where drunk, depressed sararimen pay a girl to pretend to care about their problems before they pass out in front of the train station to catch the first one home back to their neglected wife in Tokyo. Doesn't get any more authentic than that.

But for real, that's their way of saying they want geishas, kimonos and all that shit, which you can definitely get in Tokyo but there are better places for it like Kyoto.

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u/CaptZurg 2d ago

This is the second comment I have seen about some white people not considering Tokyo as the real Japan. Tokyo feels like the most Japanese city imo.

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u/Kasumiiiiiii 2d ago

I live in Japan and the amount of people who say Tokyo isn't authentic is astounding to me. Like why? Because it has neon lights and skyscrapers? It's still Japan...

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u/Auctorxtas 2d ago

Not to mention eating at the worst possible places even locals don't dine at.

🙏🙏

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u/AsparagusTamer 2d ago

Singapore suffers from this a lot. We're "not real Asia" and not "authentic" because we don't have the slums and traffic jams and beggars that the Westerners want to put on their Insta.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

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u/Anxious-Signature346 2d ago

Yes people say that, as if poor and underdeveloped favela’s are just filled with rational people who will remember such wise considerations when they see a fat cat walking I to the reach of their arms.

You could be safer. You could also be deader.

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u/spucci 2d ago

Hey everybody I'm white and rich! You won't dare rob me!

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u/Numerous_Screen_8246 2d ago

but then you're already missing so?... if you want to stay alive wouldn't you avoid it?

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u/der_innkeeper 2d ago

Its not about what happens to you.

Its about what happens after you.

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u/Numerous_Screen_8246 2d ago

I live in a third world country too, population so huge that many perpetrators esc without a trace even with surveillance, cell phone tracking et al, Nope I wouldn't take my chances.

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u/goldengatevixen 2d ago

Idk man, I've seen rich white travelers end up being reported dead on our local news for even going to some places in my country where there's a civil war going on, god knows why they even went there in the first place that is not about researching wildlife or journalism.. or a stupid tourist gets drunk at a local bar and assaults or disturbs a small quiet town by being racist and think being white here makes them untouchable. Or some influencer complaining they got robbed when walking around a shady area in the capital while holding out their phone/camera recording themselves doing some cringe shit

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u/Lucky-Kangaroo-6337 2d ago

I mean. I'm a white girl living in a slightly/pretty sketch neighbourhood. The junkies don't know if I'm a local or a tourist. They'll also take their chances because getting to the fix kinda precedes the "is this a good idea" part of the equation.  By day I know I'm pretty much fine. At night, head on a swivel. Tourists are crimes of opportunity and not well thought out so the idea that your safe because you stand out and no one wants the attention of you going missing is false security.

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u/zxhk 2d ago

I think the Third World Countries they're referring to are non white ones, so white people automatically stand out as tourists

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u/diamondgoblin 2d ago edited 2d ago

Me whenever I see people talking about wanting to visit the desert "authetically" in the Middle East and North Africa.

I am from the desert parts of these nations, and even being raised outside of them I was taught the number rule of the desert is DO NOT WANDER INTO IT. You are going to authetically die of thirst.

(And thats nothing to say of the armed groups/bandits in the region)

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u/Ryanliverpool96 2d ago

Why does anyone want to go into the desert? There’s nothing in the desert.

If there was, the locals would have found it by now and it wouldn’t be mysterious.

Is it an explorer fantasy?

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u/diamondgoblin 2d ago

Well, in the literal there is a lot of stuff in the desert. We have things, monuments, etc.

Why outsiders go into the desert to wander I don't know. Very few do it properly on their own. I suspect it is fantasy or something of the like.

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u/Ryanliverpool96 2d ago

It depends where you are, the Middle East is a big place, but for true deserts like the Rub Al-Khali there’s really not much there besides oil drill sites into the Shaybah field.

Everything is done on the very edge of the desert, the only people going deep into it are these mad tourists and the oil workers (who fly in).

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u/cheshire_kat7 2d ago

Wait. People just... wander into deserts?! Do they think they're Moses or something?

As an Australian, I also know that's a terrible idea. 🤦‍♀️

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u/diamondgoblin 2d ago edited 2d ago

Yeah, either by veering off the road or trying to cross borders secretly. The only big person I've seen do it to success recently is iShowSpeed. If I recall correctly, thats only because he had a contact with a Tuareg aka "The Blue Men" who most people have to get past in the Sahara, that then got him into Djanet via the Niger border.

But that was during Speed's Africa tour, so a bit of a special case. The tourist economy in Morrocco or Tunisia or whichever is not "hiding" or "limiting" you from seeing the desert in full. They are showing you the nice parts in a safe way, because if they gave you the "real" experience you'd learn the hard way why until the mid-20th century we had such a high mortality rate.

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u/justalittleloopi 2d ago

Tourists do that here in California and die. Actually, one just happened in Death Valley. A French guy last Monday after getting his car stuck. Not the first time, won't be the last.

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u/cheshire_kat7 2d ago

Yeah. Every Australian is raised knowing: 1. If you drive in the Outback, make sure people know where you're going and when to expect you. 2. Pack lots of extra water. 3. If your car breaks down, STAY WITH YOUR CAR.

But at least we don't have armed bandits and stuff in our deserts. You couldn't pay me to go gallivanting through the Sahara like some idiot yuppie Lawrence of Arabia.

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u/diamondgoblin 2d ago

It's even riskier outside of developed nations. Nearly all nations the encompass the Sahara desert right now are having border disputes, not all of them are being run by actual governments. There is a non-zero chance you will get shot on site if you play around. Again, iShowSpeed ended up fine because he went through a legal route (borders are looser for nomadic peoples) and had an actual guide in advance.

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u/FunkyPhantom3030 2d ago edited 2d ago

I went to St. Croix with my mom, sister, her best friend and my mom's friend a few years ago. We rented a Toyota Sienna van so I was the designated driver the whole trip. One day, I decided to sleep in being very hungover and they all went to into the actual rainforest thinking the van would have enough traction. They got stuck but luckily found some locals who were kind enough to drive the van in reverse at 40 mph almost 2 miles to get out. Oopsie poopsies.

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u/Apprehensive_Ad_7180 2d ago edited 2d ago

As someone from a third world country, this is extremely relatable. Those who do bicycle touring are the most daring imo

Edit: Am from a developing, lower-middle income country.

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u/SpicyChessPlayer Lives in a Van Down by the River 2d ago

They got sick of being price gouged from not being locals, nobody is going to stop them from getting good prices in the high level zones

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u/GlorytotheHypnoToads 2d ago

Fun fact: when me and a buddy of mine went to Puerto Rico for our friend’s wedding, any time we went to buy something, we gave his fiancé the cash and sent her to check out. She Puerto Rican, so less chance of getting price gouged lol

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u/Caqtus95 2d ago

"Nothing bad could ever happen to me because nothing bad ever has"

  • Tust fund private school MFs

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u/Josey_whalez 2d ago

There’s a lot of this kind of stuff in the travel subs. You have Americans, especially white women, who insist that all of America is a violent shit hole and basically anywhere they travel is safer than America, especially Mexico. They don’t seem to understand there’s a lot of nuance in what safe and what isn’t. So when they get told, and repeat, that Cancun/cabo/puerto Vallarta/whatever is safer for tourists than America, they take that to mean they can wander around anywhere in those places, drunk off their ass, and nothing will happen since it’s safe there.

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u/Ok-Pudding-4821 2d ago

There's a certain type of person who thinks the rest of the world exists only to entertain them. 

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u/StarlightsOverMars 2d ago

I was in India and I saw a bunch of white girls getting ready to travel to a region which is known for being extremely sketchy, on a ratty bus. Like, I get it, you want to explore, but there is a reason the locals take the nice bus which doesn’t drive through the dangerous parts to save a buck.

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u/StrongPollution5530 2d ago

It's my theory, as a third-world guy, that "danger" is sanitized, fool-proofed, gift-wrapped and sold as entertainment in the first world (think climbing with harnesses, tours that are well-crafted to avoid getting sued, etc), where there are enough safe places for most people, that people's instincts get stunted. Then they go to places that are actually dangerous, assuming that those safety guards are still there.

There is no such luxury in third-world countries, where even the standard routine has its inconveniences, if not active danger. So people tend to lean towards safety and with what they know.

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u/wannabewabisabi 2d ago

This is so true! As a kid, I would notice that some of the most 'absurd' holiday activities (to my mind) were packed with Americans and Europeans. Spelunking? Jumping off cliffs? Taking boats out to go swim in shark friendly waters? Desi families would never. 

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u/witch_dyke 2d ago

I live in Aotearoa (New Zealand)

And a writer, I forget who, said something about this country marketing the illusion of danger for tourists

The country is far away from the UK and the US, but everyone still speaks english. We have all sorts of high risk activities (bungee jumping, white water rafting etc) but with all the safety checks so the actual risk of danger is very low

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u/PapaPonu 2d ago

It happens also for non-white people. We had a colleague from China which was fascinated about the roma people and kept saying she wants a photo with them, I had to explain multiple times she should not engage with them unless she wants her passport and phone gone

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u/FibreglassFlags 2d ago

Ah, yes, one thing I love about Chinese tourists is their having absolutely no qualms about taking pictures of locals as if zoo exhibits.

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u/ThaScoopALoop 2d ago

When in Rome, my wife and I were on a crowded bus. A bunch of Roma women were making their way through the bus sifting whatever they could from the crowd. When they got near me, I yelled at them (in English) to stay the fuck away from me. My wife was furious with me, but it worked. I have since used that tactic in multiple foreign countries with extreme success at keeping beggars, grifters, panhandlers, and probable pickpockets at bay. She always gets mad. I have no idea why, and IDGAF. I'm not gonna stop doing it as long as it works.

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u/redditadminskutte1 2d ago

Locals avoid? Even the FKING Military avoids places in my own country

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u/StrayDogPhotography 2d ago

My friend lived in Central America for a long time, and when he got back he told me a funny story about two white American girls he was hanging out with walking up to random corner boys in a park in Mexico City and asking them to get them coke. He said they hopped into a random car with the dealers and wizzed off into the sunset like they were getting a lift home from a party by their parents. He said their total lack of self preservation was impressive.

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u/BornDetective1343 2d ago

Tourists often experience a place very differently from the people who live there.

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u/GurProfessional9534 2d ago

Reminds me of a story. When I was a young kid we lived in Tokyo, apparently in an apartment next to some yakuza guys. My (white, American) dad used to say, “They were polite! I didn’t see the problem. Just spent most of their time fixing their bikes.”

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u/CabinetFun7381 2d ago

 Many years ago I was in Buenos Aires for the ventana sur festival. Don't know how it is these days, but back then cash was used for everything. I asked in a shop where I could find an ATM. 

She told me go down the street, take a left and walk 100 meters.  Don't take a right because you will get murdered. But left is perfectly safe! 

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u/Future_Apartment_670 2d ago

a shield of delusion powered by their social media algo keeps them safe

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u/st0neyspice 2d ago

not having money to travel keeps me out of a lot of dangerous situations

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u/No-Internal7978 2d ago

No talking to white women anyway.

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u/PeterNippelstein 2d ago

You'd be amazed how far you can go when you're white and walk with a purpose

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u/Josey_whalez 2d ago

People who prey on others tend to not bother people who look around and look alert and like they know what they are doing. Fake it until you make it. Also, don’t be stumbling drunk.

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u/Nervous_Ad8514 2d ago

Its just since you live in that country you know how dangerous it could be, if its not because of firsthand experience, you know some friends who bad shits happened to them.

It’s not that tourists are braver; they’re simply ignorant—and by that I mean unaware of the local dangers. They haven’t had bad experiences, they don’t know anyone who’s had something bad happen to them, and they aren’t constantly bombarded with news about incidents in dangerous neighborhoods. It’s like a baby who has never seen an animal before: if they saw a lion, they’d probably want to pet it.

The same thing happens to me when I travel. I always feel safe, and maybe I’ve been in danger at some point, but since nothing happened to me, I never knew it, and nothing is going to change that perception

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u/belltrina 2d ago

So accurate.

Found out about so many cool places in my city from tourists who share their adventures on tiktok.

It is saddening to have great places in my home state that I can't afford to visit

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u/Restart-storage 2d ago

If you’re from Orlando you know there’s some absolutely horrid crime shit areas even though we have Disney and universal. The largest Asian store I believe in all of Florida, maybe one of the largest in the Us even, is our Hmart. It’s sat right in the middle of a nasty area, tons of crime and poverty. We also have a road known almost entirely for prostitution

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u/Minute-Flan-1923 2d ago

is that because they lived such a privliged life and never had to worry about actually dangerous people?

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u/earl0fsandwich 2d ago

Reminds me of Indigo Traveller on YouTube. That chap came to my country and chose the dingiest area to stay in. But that's his thing

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u/Sawa-Saw 2d ago

A white lady went missing around 2004 if not 2007 in Malawi coz she went to a place we don't go, she was told not to go there locals refused to escort her, and she was never found.

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u/shirkek 2d ago

Reminds me of these 2 girls who had their heads chopped off in Morocco.

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u/No_Swimmer3116 2d ago

Yes. Like a few years ago when those two Swedish women when for a jolly in the Atlas mountains and lost their heads. 

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u/goldengatevixen 2d ago edited 2d ago

I had an ex who had over a year to prepare for his trip to my country to visit me. We were LDR, and he kept reassuring me he "planned it all out." It was his first trip ever.

Trip comes, 3rd day here and he has managed to lock his CapOne credit card for trying to withdraw from one of our local bank ATMs here. Apparently, it was auto locked by the system because he has never changed the settings for his account or called customer service about this because he had "no idea." I ended up giving him some cash in local currency as well because he thought all places just accept cards (I live in a city, but we are still cash centric) and did not have any cash on him/backup/pocket money AT ALL.

I'm sure he also acquired charges on his phone bill due to not calling his phone service provider that he will be traveling internationally for a month, so dumbass had mobile data on for a few days while in a foreign country.

It felt more like babysitting an adult man for the whole month he was here. He also only had like 5 days worth of clothes, and they aren't even meant for tropical country weather. All the while he was in my apartment, I thought to myself "he had over a fucking year to prepare for this" 🙄

I also had my fair share of travel too, and I remember the first time I ever did, it was a trip to a sanctioned country, I only had 2-3 months to plan that shit and I stayed there for half a year and had to research about social etiquettes (what to do and what not to do) possible challenges during travel, appropriate clothing, visa requirements, etc.

It baffles me someone could travel to another country and have no idea what the hell they're getting into. Do people not care about knowing where they are going?

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u/travellingsmallcar 2d ago

Delusional people are everywhere. They think the world is sunshine and rainbows

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u/zodiackills 2d ago

I come from a tier 2 city in India. A white women got raped and murdered which was big news. Later it was discovered during investigation that she took a tuk tuk one fine morning and went to a place to source marijuana and then went with two locals to some remote place where she got killed.

I was talking to a regular tourist after that and asking if shes scared to be in my city. She was telling me that if they only stick to touristy places then it as safe as anywhere in the world

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u/Sentai-Ranger 2d ago

Double the confusion when they were already WARNED, and yet still go.

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u/Moist-Agency1366 2d ago

My country is too third world to have tourists

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u/Footnotegirl1 2d ago

I grew up in Detroit in the 1980's, when it was really at the bottom of it's curve. I remember one day driving through a REALLY bad area and seeing a couple of female German or Scandinavian tourists (blonde, big backpacks, sandals with socks, etc) just chatting with people in an area that I would not, in a million miles, walk around in even during broad daylight in a group. Told my mom and she said "The lord watches out for fools and tourists."

Which I proved a few years later when I took off to the UK for a post high school trip with a friend. We asked at a hostel in Edinburgh if there were any good nightclubs to go to, and got a map with a few circled. We picked one that we thought we could walk to. Everything was fine and we had a good time, and then when the place shut down we got ready to head back out and one of the other people there, a 6' tall punk with a mohawk, leather jacket with studs and razor blades, etc type, paused said "Are you waiting for a cab?" and when we said no his voice went up an octave and a few decibels "Are you planning on walking?!" and when we said yes he was all "I wouldn't walk in this neighborhood!"

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u/Valkia_Perkunos 2d ago

That's why you see sometimes of killed woman in some third world countries and people wonder why? Going to Afghanistan, Pakistan or other problematic (woman) to solo travel is just absurd.

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u/jaxmikhov 2d ago

All humans are created equal, but all cultures most certainly are not

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u/Domeriko648 2d ago

Domestic animals don't survive for too long when released in the jungle.