Traveling to North Korea

[Skrmbld]

With everything going on in North Korea, testing bombs and threatening to launch a nuclear warhead to the US, why are people still traveling there? A 21 year old Virginia State college kid was just sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in a North Korean prison for stealing a political sign as a souvenir of his trip. I've never been arrested but I damn sure know if I ever do, I don't want to be in a Mexico or North Korean prison!

Link to story:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35818581

 

[joho75287]

Because you can't fix stupid....

 

[muddinmetal]

I have no sympathy for anyone who is that naive... No different than Russian Roulette to me

 

[Skrmbld]

He was forced to confess that he was attempting to undermine the political government. He really is just a stupid kid who wanted something cool in his dorm room prob to help him get laid. Bet u he will get laid lots in prison, just not the way he was hoping. And we have a POTUS who allows another country to openly threaten the US with a nuclear warhead aimed at Washington DC and do nothing about it. Pathetic.

 

[truckbroke]

He GONE....

 

[joho75287]

Yes our POTUS is a POS... but if you are dumb enough to go to N. Korea as a tourist...you get what you deserve. Sorry no sympathy. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

 

[jimbo0076]

Your a dumbass in my book for leaving American soil right now anyhow unless its your job sends you(military and contract jobs etc) With all the crap going on most of our enemies are looking for any reason :****:

 

[Skrmbld]

Yes our POTUS is a POS... but if you are dumb enough to go to N. Korea as a tourist...you get what you deserve. Sorry no sympathy. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

This is the truth!!

 

[Mongo44]

He was checking out the Bernie Sanders' grand plan! Go communism! What a dumbass.

 

[grcthird]

Your a dumbass in my book for leaving American soil right now anyhow unless its your job sends you(military and contract jobs etc) With all the crap going on most of our enemies are looking for any reason :****:

Agreed, I have no desire to go outside our borders at this time. I might consider going to Canada on a bear hunt again but that would be it.

 

[Bebop]

Your a dumbass in my book for leaving American soil right now anyhow unless its your job sends you(military and contract jobs etc) With all the crap going on most of our enemies are looking for any reason :****:

Pretty big statement. My experience of life proves me otherwise, but what do I know

 

[5BrothersFabrication]

Pretty big statement. My experience of life proves me otherwise, but what do I know

Some parts of Paris and many other European cities are no-go zones because of the muzzies, so you can see why people are reluctant to leave, Enzo.

 

[Elliott]

Pretty big statement. My experience of life proves me otherwise, but what do I know

What do you mean exactly?

 

[joho75287]

I travel internationally for work frequently. In fact I have to go to China in 2 weeks. That said, the places I go in China are areas where there are lots of international folks doing business, and over the past 10 or so years China has become extremely "open". BUT, my head is still on a swivel when I am there and I make sure I stay/go to areas that are known to be safe. I don't wander around looking for trouble and make sure I understand the basic laws about what to do/not do. I also have to travel to Nogales, Mexico frequently... I stay on the US side when I need to go there, as that town is a bit sketchy after dark but I also have to go to Mexicali, Mexico often...I have no issues with that town and drive around and do my thing. When there is significant travel advisories or things going down in the areas I am supposed to go, I will change plans and not go or postpone trips. Being aware of the "climate" is important.

Now, there are places in the US that I avoid like the plague: Inner city Detroit, St Louis, Inner city Baltimore...the backside of DC, South Central LA etc... My point is, I feel safer abroad than I do in a lot of cities in the US, so to say that traveling internationally now is unsafe is a bit inaccurate. Would I go to the middle east, probably not. Would I go to North Korea...Nope...

 

[Bebop]

What do you mean exactly?

Disclaimer : This is my opinion only, and I trust us to be adult enough to keep a good conversation without harmed feelings.

I've been fortunate enough to travel and live in a few countries and continents in my short life. And I always loved my time abroad.

I'm not a US citizen, but I've met US people, great people, almost everywhere I've been to. And, so far, all the people I met never had any trouble. Apart from bureaucracy issues. Bureaucrazy problems, as I like to call them, are part of traveling, sadly, and I haven't figured out how to avoid them.

Now, where do I want to go with that ?

The world is a great place, full of good stuff to do, see, eat, admire and most of all, good people to meet. You guys are good people. I feel truly blessed to know all the people I've met in the Offroad community in the states. But that would never have happened if I stayed home.

The sad part about the world is that you have a few bad worms in the apples (I hope that expression is correct or at least makes sense). Bad people are part of the world. And they will justify their actions with anything because they're searching for justification for their acts that don't make any sense whatsoever. In clearer terms, a ****er is a ****er, and will try to justify its actions with whatever material he has available (religion, cult, drugs, yada yada) so he can connects the dots in his twisted ****ed mind and feel good when he's harming people. And because said ****er claims to be a muslim, it doesn't actually makes him one. Like a pedophile priest (another issue we have in Europe all over the news) claiming he's christian doesn't make him one.

I've been welcomed like a king in the poorest places in Morocco buy people that were probably muslims, and I've been thrown out of a bar in Finland by ****ers that claimed I wasn't aryan (white skin, blond, blue eyes, etc) enough for them. ****ers are defined by their ****ed brains, not by what movement they endorse.

And those ****ers, in my experience are just a minimal part of the world. And letting them take over your life is what they want.

As long as you keep your senses in alert, are seeing clear enough through general BS (media, government, scared sheepish people, lies from that dude you just asked the direction to your hotel, price that dude converted conveniently in USD for you,...) and are willing to open yourself and see what's good in a picture, you'll be fine. And you'll genuinely enjoy traveling.

 

[Bebop]

Some parts of Paris and many other European cities are no-go zones because of the muzzies, so you can see why people are reluctant to leave, Enzo.

I can only talk about the cities or places I've been to. Paris is one of them.

And in my opinion "no-go zones" are not a thing. There is places that I wouldn't want to go at night, and places I wouldn't want to go at all. In fear for my safety. But you have those places in every major city.

In the case of Paris, that "no-go zones" BS was made up by a journalist wanting some crunchy broadcast for the news. And we, as French people, have made fun of that idea many times.

What they were talking about, because they were referring to actual places, is the ghettos we have. Those are sadly real and exist not only in Paris. They're places where people are parked there with no future or hopes for one. They originated from the 70's, after the economic crash when France was rebuilding itself and opened its borders for cheap foreign labor, and put those workers in said ghettos. With no issues whatsoever. But when work stopped coming, in the 90's, **** went south. And it's another testament proving France's big problem with jobs, but I'm side tracking. The vast majority of the crimes committed in those places are drug related, and this is endemic of a bunch of the big cities all over the world.

About the idea of safety in your home, recent events are proving that idea wrong. Them ****ers have no problem coming in to destroy and kill. Or they are already amongst us. I don't see how staying in your country is safer than going abroad. And if you do so, you're doing exactly what those guys want. They want us fearing for our lives as we move and exist. I refuse to give up. I want to also mention that a big majority of the terrorist attacks happen in the Middle East and no one hear anything about that. The terrorists are not the majority, even there.

Now, let's say you're traveling, use your brain. Of course I wouldn't want to go to N. Korea. Or a war zone. Or a ghetto in Paris. But who does that ? You have to be pretty much fearless or kinda dumb to go to those places. And I feel deeply sorry for that guy and his family, but going to N. Korea ? Come on !

The world is an amazing place. With so much to discover. Keeping on the France topic, it's a great country to explore. But don't go to Paris. Or do the Tour Eiffel and the Louvre museum for 2 days and take the train to south of France.
Highly underrated IMO. And I can provide you with all the good places and stuff to do/see.

And if you prefer to stay at home and not move, I'm in no place to judge. This is a free country right ?

But who wouldn't want to explore the oldest city in Europe, admire the view from the top of the oldest basilica in Europe :

And finish the day by eating local food while watching the sunset on the Mediterranean Sea?

 

[Bebop]

Sorry for the long posts guys. I am having trouble sleeping and got carried away. I'm gonna go back to bed, wake her up and play with my GF boobs :****:

 

[joho75287]

Well said Bebop!!
Enjoy your boobie play!!

 

[John Galbreath Jr.]

Bebop, you are a huge asset to this forum. Thanks for participating. Enjoyed talking to you at the HPO Hardline Ride.

 

[Cubby]

Disclaimer : This is my opinion only, and I trust us to be adult enough to keep a good conversation without harmed feelings.

I've been fortunate enough to travel and live in a few countries and continents in my short life. And I always loved my time abroad.

I'm not a US citizen, but I've met US people, great people, almost everywhere I've been to. And, so far, all the people I met never had any trouble. Apart from bureaucracy issues. Bureaucrazy problems, as I like to call them, are part of traveling, sadly, and I haven't figured out how to avoid them.

Now, where do I want to go with that ?

The world is a great place, full of good stuff to do, see, eat, admire and most of all, good people to meet. You guys are good people. I feel truly blessed to know all the people I've met in the Offroad community in the states. But that would never have happened if I stayed home.

The sad part about the world is that you have a few bad worms in the apples (I hope that expression is correct or at least makes sense). Bad people are part of the world. And they will justify their actions with anything because they're searching for justification for their acts that don't make any sense whatsoever. In clearer terms, a ****er is a ****er, and will try to justify its actions with whatever material he has available (religion, cult, drugs, yada yada) so he can connects the dots in his twisted ****ed mind and feel good when he's harming people. And because said ****er claims to be a muslim, it doesn't actually makes him one. Like a pedophile priest (another issue we have in Europe all over the news) claiming he's christian doesn't make him one.

I've been welcomed like a king in the poorest places in Morocco buy people that were probably muslims, and I've been thrown out of a bar in Finland by ****ers that claimed I wasn't aryan (white skin, blond, blue eyes, etc) enough for them. ****ers are defined by their ****ed brains, not by what movement they endorse.

And those ****ers, in my experience are just a minimal part of the world. And letting them take over your life is what they want.

As long as you keep your senses in alert, are seeing clear enough through general BS (media, government, scared sheepish people, lies from that dude you just asked the direction to your hotel, price that dude converted conveniently in USD for you,...) and are willing to open yourself and see what's good in a picture, you'll be fine. And you'll genuinely enjoy traveling.

Well said.