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1970-01-01

The entire 50 years is showing here. Seems like some of these tips are good, and some are awful because they're outdated. Don't crash random weddings if you're not able to pay your way out of trouble. Sketchy plans do result in kidnappings. Truly professional tour guides are wonderful assets that will 10X both your trip and your knowledge in any city.

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True. Had a friend head to Central America to surf (I don't recall which country). The first cab he hailed took him to an alley where others were waiting and he was robbed of his passport, cash.

End of trip.

Please don't interpret this as my painting the whole of Central America as dangerous. This is anecdotal but perhaps a cautionary tale? I suspect if he had not grabbed a cab but rather found a bus or some other sort of mass transportation his whole trip could have turned out wonderfully.

That just sounds like terrible luck to be honest.

Catching a cab from the airport in a new country after a flight is a pretty common thing to do no matter where you're going. Depending on flight length you might well be too tired to really navigate public transport in a new city in a foreign language.

There's not a lot to learn from that.

In certain countries I will always ask the hotel to get a ride for me from the airport, and I will not hail a random cab.

Certain countries? Maybe. I have ordered a hotel limo in Bangkok but certainly not the norm and probably a bit extravagant.

Countries where you're likely to be kidnapped (or driven to a bad neighborhood, and charged a lot of money to get back, etc.). Russia, Brazil, Mexico, etc.

I don't travel to Russia anymore, and won't go to Rio or Mexico City without private security.

If I felt that way about a country, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't travel there.

Nope nope nope, With a decent head on your shoulders you can safely do all kinds of unusual that idiots would otherwise end up very troubled by. I've known plenty of people that get themselves into trouble through foolishness and folly, while more wise operators finds only un-regrets. Like how in the winter some people freeze to death and some people ski, you know?

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