They're also not the nicest countries in the world to visit
September 4, 2015 7:14 PM Subscribe
What's the point of this? To brag about how much money he had for bribes, to show off how sneaky he was?
posted by Windigo at 7:38 PM on September 4, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by Windigo at 7:38 PM on September 4, 2015 [4 favorites]
I would guess the point is to talk about the fact that he has visited every country and share some road stories about trying to get into some of these places. I'm not sure it is meant to have a larger point, exactly.
I just posted it because I thought the details were interesting, particularly the armed guards and the fact that Nauru didn't want tourists because they were making more money detaining refugees.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:41 PM on September 4, 2015 [17 favorites]
I just posted it because I thought the details were interesting, particularly the armed guards and the fact that Nauru didn't want tourists because they were making more money detaining refugees.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:41 PM on September 4, 2015 [17 favorites]
Thought this was interesting, and then I read his comments at the end of the article and the reviews of the book. I don't think the MeFi audience would be enjoy it much. (Hint: he says everyone will like it if "they are not an ultra-feminist"). Still interesting post, jacquilynne, it was cool enough to want to learn more!
posted by blahblahblah at 7:41 PM on September 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by blahblahblah at 7:41 PM on September 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
Yeah, having read the comments from the author, I might regret posting this a bit. He seems to be kind of a jerk.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:53 PM on September 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by jacquilynne at 7:53 PM on September 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
From the comments:
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:22 PM on September 4, 2015 [10 favorites]
I've been condemned by some readers of my book as a macho pig and an old goat just because I enjoy the company of much younger and beautiful women and married one 49 years my junior. So I wanted to give such potential readers a fair warning.So warned, and much appreciated.
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:22 PM on September 4, 2015 [10 favorites]
That Saudi Arabia story about the consular officer pissed me off. I once found a young Saudi dude's passport on the street one night in an area of town known for serving lots of naughty naughty not good alcoholic drinks, and I actually made an effort to make sure it got back to the right guy. Makes me almost wish I hadn't bothered and let him deal with his own country's customs and immigration. There are few governments that piss me off as much as theirs.
posted by Hoopo at 8:23 PM on September 4, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by Hoopo at 8:23 PM on September 4, 2015 [3 favorites]
This article from the Daily Mail (of all places) has a lot of his photographs—a girl riding a disproportionately large camel in Mongolia, temple monkeys in India, debris remaining from World War II in Kiribati.
posted by Rangi at 8:37 PM on September 4, 2015
"With the exception of the few truly weird countries (like North Korea and those in the midst of famine or war) people around the world are pretty much the same in terms of their love for their families and children, their desire to be happy, and their hope to live in peace and have a better life.Also, learn from his experience and do not eat anteater: it tastes "like a burger marinated in formic acid."
"The main differences I observed were that people in the very poor countries were far more able to get along on less than citizens of the rich countries ever could."
posted by Rangi at 8:37 PM on September 4, 2015
This guy does seem like a real jerk, but this was worth it just to learn about Nauru, which I'd never heard of and which is completely fascinating, between the guano riches and the use as an Australian refugee internment camp.
posted by lunasol at 9:01 PM on September 4, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by lunasol at 9:01 PM on September 4, 2015 [2 favorites]
...and the fact that Nauru didn't want tourists because they were making more money detaining refugees
Sounds like they didn't want the tourists taking pictures of refugee camps. And since there isn't much else to see there, that's what tourists would most likely do.
posted by Kevin Street at 9:04 PM on September 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
Sounds like they didn't want the tourists taking pictures of refugee camps. And since there isn't much else to see there, that's what tourists would most likely do.
posted by Kevin Street at 9:04 PM on September 4, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'd certainly be surprised if they're giving out visas for Nauru right now, with all the abuse allegations at the camps.
posted by the agents of KAOS at 9:08 PM on September 4, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by the agents of KAOS at 9:08 PM on September 4, 2015 [3 favorites]
"I completed a 50-year mission: I had officially, and legally, visited every recognized country on earth. This means 196 countries."
It reminds me, not exactly, of this article I saw last week. The tone is kinda different, though. (Also, where it says it took them a decade, that refers only to the last 224 places.) "Hoover residents Bob and Phyllis Henson had just about accomplished a goal more than a decade in the making – they had traveled to 323 of the 324 countries and territories in the world. But checking the last one – war-torn Libya – off the list would not be easy. Last November, 80-year-old Bob and 79-year-old Phyllis called a friend in bordering Egypt and asked for help. The trip would be completely clandestine."
posted by bentley at 9:14 PM on September 4, 2015
It reminds me, not exactly, of this article I saw last week. The tone is kinda different, though. (Also, where it says it took them a decade, that refers only to the last 224 places.) "Hoover residents Bob and Phyllis Henson had just about accomplished a goal more than a decade in the making – they had traveled to 323 of the 324 countries and territories in the world. But checking the last one – war-torn Libya – off the list would not be easy. Last November, 80-year-old Bob and 79-year-old Phyllis called a friend in bordering Egypt and asked for help. The trip would be completely clandestine."
posted by bentley at 9:14 PM on September 4, 2015
I was interested in the sort of people like this author, who had been to every country. I reached out to the local Travelers Century Club (membership requires 100+ countries visited) and they invited me to their meeting, despite not qualifying. It was quite interesting, the demographics were as one would expect (one man had a full time driver) and the older the guy the more he bragged or one-upped the last story-teller. The thing about it was they had been to so many places so long ago (since they could be my grandparents), that I wondered what would be left to explore when I'm their age.
Many had visited far out/hard to reach places through the military and I was a bit jealous that it was so easy for them to travel in the Middle East back during the hippie trail days though Iran to India. To be honest, they also solved the problem of "hard countries to visit" by throwing money at the problem. They were fascinated that a woman under 30 could do so much alone (Sudan denied me a visa too but I didn't push it). This article seems to focus on visas, but so many places, especially the tack-on territories, require private transport to reach that at the end it's all about funding.
posted by Bunglegirl at 9:42 PM on September 4, 2015 [13 favorites]
Many had visited far out/hard to reach places through the military and I was a bit jealous that it was so easy for them to travel in the Middle East back during the hippie trail days though Iran to India. To be honest, they also solved the problem of "hard countries to visit" by throwing money at the problem. They were fascinated that a woman under 30 could do so much alone (Sudan denied me a visa too but I didn't push it). This article seems to focus on visas, but so many places, especially the tack-on territories, require private transport to reach that at the end it's all about funding.
posted by Bunglegirl at 9:42 PM on September 4, 2015 [13 favorites]
Podell's adventures have seen him . . . unable to furnish the required proof to the Egyptian police that he was not Jewish
That's why I always carry mine with me!
posted by 3urypteris at 10:44 PM on September 4, 2015 [6 favorites]
That's why I always carry mine with me!
posted by 3urypteris at 10:44 PM on September 4, 2015 [6 favorites]
> What's the point of this? To brag about how much money he had for bribes, to show off how sneaky he was?
Right?!
I understand that the point of this article was to talk about the restrictions rather than the visits, but he gives off such a dismissive air about the actual locations visited. Egads, as youth is wasted on the young, money is wasted on the privileged. I'm not asserting that it's inappropriate to grouse about the administrative hell of securing a visa, but...was it worth it at all for him?...besides making a checkmark on his list...?
Also: Oh, sweetie, if you think these restrictions are meanie mean jerkface jerky, you should try being FROM one of these countries trying acquire a travel visa to the US for completely reasonable purposes.
posted by desuetude at 11:59 PM on September 4, 2015 [10 favorites]
Right?!
I understand that the point of this article was to talk about the restrictions rather than the visits, but he gives off such a dismissive air about the actual locations visited. Egads, as youth is wasted on the young, money is wasted on the privileged. I'm not asserting that it's inappropriate to grouse about the administrative hell of securing a visa, but...was it worth it at all for him?...besides making a checkmark on his list...?
Also: Oh, sweetie, if you think these restrictions are meanie mean jerkface jerky, you should try being FROM one of these countries trying acquire a travel visa to the US for completely reasonable purposes.
posted by desuetude at 11:59 PM on September 4, 2015 [10 favorites]
unable to furnish the required proof to the Egyptian police that he was not Jewish
The Egyptians didn't require any such thing of me, although they were confounded over why I was applying for a tourist visa at their embassy in Beijing, and made it as annoying as possible for me to actually get the visa. Arbitrarily closing the embassy early was particularly fun, as was refusing to give my passport back to anyone except for me in person after they'd delayed the processing beyond the time I could stay there to wait for it.
The Americans are really, really bad though. Their basic assumption is that the USA is so amazing that anyone who applies for a visa obviously will want to stay there and live there illegally, leaving their families, jobs, education in progress, etc. to do so. The USA is also in the habit of denying visas completely to nationals of some countries as an unwritten policy. Imagine the fun of being from Senegal and having your visa application denied again and again (of course they keep the application fee), only to be told by the sympathetic visa officer that you should stop applying because the regulations are meaningless, and that you will never, ever be approved.
posted by 1adam12 at 12:52 AM on September 5, 2015 [9 favorites]
The Egyptians didn't require any such thing of me, although they were confounded over why I was applying for a tourist visa at their embassy in Beijing, and made it as annoying as possible for me to actually get the visa. Arbitrarily closing the embassy early was particularly fun, as was refusing to give my passport back to anyone except for me in person after they'd delayed the processing beyond the time I could stay there to wait for it.
The Americans are really, really bad though. Their basic assumption is that the USA is so amazing that anyone who applies for a visa obviously will want to stay there and live there illegally, leaving their families, jobs, education in progress, etc. to do so. The USA is also in the habit of denying visas completely to nationals of some countries as an unwritten policy. Imagine the fun of being from Senegal and having your visa application denied again and again (of course they keep the application fee), only to be told by the sympathetic visa officer that you should stop applying because the regulations are meaningless, and that you will never, ever be approved.
posted by 1adam12 at 12:52 AM on September 5, 2015 [9 favorites]
I'd certainly be surprised if they're giving out visas for Nauru right now, with all the abuse allegations at the camps.
Well this year, the cost of a journalist visa in Nauru increased from $200 to $8,000, so that gives you an idea of what's going on over there.
posted by Jimbob at 1:29 AM on September 5, 2015 [5 favorites]
Well this year, the cost of a journalist visa in Nauru increased from $200 to $8,000, so that gives you an idea of what's going on over there.
posted by Jimbob at 1:29 AM on September 5, 2015 [5 favorites]
One of my colleagues is in the adventurers club (or whatever it's called), and he does come off as somewhat jerky/colonialist. However, after we've become FB friends, and I see his posts about tea with Siberian tribal folks or Yemeni ladies, I have realized that the tough-guy attitude is something he puts on for publicity, because the people who buy his books and pay for his lectures want "colonial guy". I don't know, what he does as a publicist is not OK, never. But he is clearly a decent person when he actually travels. (his FB is not a marketing space)
posted by mumimor at 5:06 AM on September 5, 2015
posted by mumimor at 5:06 AM on September 5, 2015
Yes Nauru is your standard dysfunctional banana republic. A friend did work on extracting the remaining superphosphate from the Island.
Long story but the country was bequeathed enormous wealth from their fertiliser exports. All the wealth was held by the chief (he flew everywhere in a DC7). Need some crayfish for a wedding? just fly to Brisbane and pick them up.
The upshot was all the "birdshit" money was squandered and the chiefs' mansion was burnt down in 2001 by angry villages.
All water has to be imported to the Island. Not exactly a tropical paradise.
posted by Narrative_Historian at 5:15 AM on September 5, 2015 [3 favorites]
Long story but the country was bequeathed enormous wealth from their fertiliser exports. All the wealth was held by the chief (he flew everywhere in a DC7). Need some crayfish for a wedding? just fly to Brisbane and pick them up.
The upshot was all the "birdshit" money was squandered and the chiefs' mansion was burnt down in 2001 by angry villages.
All water has to be imported to the Island. Not exactly a tropical paradise.
posted by Narrative_Historian at 5:15 AM on September 5, 2015 [3 favorites]
I highly recommend the book 'The Size of the World' by Jeff Greenwald. Greenwald travelled around the world on a limited budget without using airplanes. He was able to get into some pretty difficult countries, including Saudi Arabia.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 7:12 AM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 7:12 AM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
+1 on the USA visa policy in general. However, I don't recommend trying the "Why the HELL would I want to stay more than a microsecond longer in your gun-ridden madhouse god-kennel of a country than I absolutely have to?" line during the interview.
(On the other hand, I have had excellent service from the US Embassy in London over journalist visas, far more so than other countries. One of my old colleagues, who is a Muslim from a family expelled by Idi Amin, was recognised as such from his name by the interviewing embassy official while sorting out his I visa, and was surprised by her detailed knowledge, interest and friendliness towards him over it. But then, he is an intensely charismatic chap...)
posted by Devonian at 7:13 AM on September 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
(On the other hand, I have had excellent service from the US Embassy in London over journalist visas, far more so than other countries. One of my old colleagues, who is a Muslim from a family expelled by Idi Amin, was recognised as such from his name by the interviewing embassy official while sorting out his I visa, and was surprised by her detailed knowledge, interest and friendliness towards him over it. But then, he is an intensely charismatic chap...)
posted by Devonian at 7:13 AM on September 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
Much as it might be a pain in the ass and a slight pain in the wallet, I can't criticize countries that implement "visa reciprocity fees" for U.S. visitors that match the fees charged by the U.S. for foreign nationals.
posted by drlith at 7:18 AM on September 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by drlith at 7:18 AM on September 5, 2015 [2 favorites]
I, too, applied for a Russian visa in 2010. I tried to do it on my own for a few days before giving in and paying a visa procurement company to provide me with hotel invitation letters. Maybe I'd been dealing with Chinese bureaucracy too long, but it didn't seem that bad. It just made me appreciate all the countries I'd been able to flit in and out of with my US passport and middle- class money.
Watching my Somali friend apply to get a visa to the UK to visit her dying mom (and wait and wait for it) had already presented that lesson, anyway.
posted by MsDaniB at 7:48 AM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
Watching my Somali friend apply to get a visa to the UK to visit her dying mom (and wait and wait for it) had already presented that lesson, anyway.
posted by MsDaniB at 7:48 AM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
There was an Icelander who visited every country on Earth. He was, if I remember correctly, a doctor and had worked for an international agency or a non-profit. After he'd visited the last country, he passed away only a few later. He wasn't very old, in his late sixties, I believe. On the one hand it was sad that he died relatively young, but it was nice that he'd lived long enough to fulfill his dream.
posted by Kattullus at 8:12 AM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Kattullus at 8:12 AM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
This American Life once did a long story on Nauru. It was one of the first stories I told my now-husband when I saw the globe in his room. It worked for me.
posted by lauranesson at 8:47 AM on September 5, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by lauranesson at 8:47 AM on September 5, 2015 [5 favorites]
Just last night I met a guy who'd recently visited Eritrea. They don't grant tourist visas either.
This guy was American, and clearly curious, observant, and thoughtul; but yes it was money that got him in, lots of it. He'd accompanied a Japan-Eritrea sports-goodwill mission, funded privately by a Japanese friend of his insisted on bringing along "communications support", i.e. an international crew of friends/experts to play with antennas and make radio contacts from the roof of the Intercontinental Hotel.
posted by tangerine at 11:38 AM on September 5, 2015
This guy was American, and clearly curious, observant, and thoughtul; but yes it was money that got him in, lots of it. He'd accompanied a Japan-Eritrea sports-goodwill mission, funded privately by a Japanese friend of his insisted on bringing along "communications support", i.e. an international crew of friends/experts to play with antennas and make radio contacts from the roof of the Intercontinental Hotel.
posted by tangerine at 11:38 AM on September 5, 2015
I highly recommend the book 'The Size of the World' by Jeff Greenwald. Greenwald travelled around the world on a limited budget without using airplanes.
Yes, this is a great book! Out-of-date enough that you wouldn't use it as a how-to, but a great book about traveling cheaply and slowly, and the joys therein.
All water has to be imported to the Island.
Why is this? Wikipedia tells me people have been living there for 3,000 years, so it can't have always been the case. Did they destroy all the drinking water through mining guano? Or just too many people living there now?
Anyway, apparently there are about 10,000 people on the island. Which basically makes it one of those super-corrupt small towns where everything is run by a few families, except that there's no state or federal government to occasionally keep things in check, and no way to get out. Lovely.
posted by lunasol at 12:01 PM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
Yes, this is a great book! Out-of-date enough that you wouldn't use it as a how-to, but a great book about traveling cheaply and slowly, and the joys therein.
All water has to be imported to the Island.
Why is this? Wikipedia tells me people have been living there for 3,000 years, so it can't have always been the case. Did they destroy all the drinking water through mining guano? Or just too many people living there now?
Anyway, apparently there are about 10,000 people on the island. Which basically makes it one of those super-corrupt small towns where everything is run by a few families, except that there's no state or federal government to occasionally keep things in check, and no way to get out. Lovely.
posted by lunasol at 12:01 PM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
Lack of money for capital projects and ongoing costs. Nauru has 4 RO desalination plants and an evaporative plant but there are distribution problems and operating costs are high (though the evaporative plant is making use of waste heat from the power plant). Historically they have also made extensive use of rainwater collection with a system of collection and retention but the subsidized desalination water allowed those systems to deteriorate (and no funds to rebuild) and the rainfall is highly variable both over the course of the year and year to year (they had a three year drought in 2003-2005).
posted by Mitheral at 4:52 PM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
Most houses were built by NPC or the government and generally include guttering and rainwater tanks of various materials (concrete, galvanised iron, steel). Since the commissioning of the large desalination plant, much of the guttering and tanks have been allowed to deteriorate. This was a reasonable response to the situation that: (1) the phosphate mining and processing operations made the roofs dusty; and (2) high quality desalinated water was readily available either free or at a minor cost. To provide a cost comparison, new guttering and a 20 kL water storage tank costs about AU$7,000 (installed) per house; the equivalent to the cost of over 4,600 kL of desalinated water delivered by government truck (a supply sufficient for one household for 50 years).It's unclear from the PDF I linked but I think the large amounts of imported water was because it was a back haul of the phosphate shipping process and isn't a significant factor anymore. IE: essentially all water is now sourced locally.
posted by Mitheral at 4:52 PM on September 5, 2015 [1 favorite]
His discussion with the officials who wanted bribe money cracked me the heck up. He kept it going way longer than any reasonable person would have. I particularly liked the guffaws of laughter that accompanied his request for a receipt.
Really there are only a few lines of protest one can put up to a bribe request, but after "why do I have to pay this" and "I will only pay this at a legitimate bank", if the officer is completely intransigent, you really have to weigh what is worth more, your money or your time/goal of entering every country on Earth. You alone will not change a corrupt system by having to leave without paying a bribe, and to be honest I'm kinda surprised he hadn't come to that realization sooner.
posted by chainsofreedom at 6:36 AM on September 6, 2015
Really there are only a few lines of protest one can put up to a bribe request, but after "why do I have to pay this" and "I will only pay this at a legitimate bank", if the officer is completely intransigent, you really have to weigh what is worth more, your money or your time/goal of entering every country on Earth. You alone will not change a corrupt system by having to leave without paying a bribe, and to be honest I'm kinda surprised he hadn't come to that realization sooner.
posted by chainsofreedom at 6:36 AM on September 6, 2015
I'm surprised he didn't get a passport from a country other than the US. So many countries let grandchildren, etc get passports, and he has financial resources, so I presume he could find one if he wanted one.
posted by The corpse in the library at 2:58 PM on September 6, 2015
posted by The corpse in the library at 2:58 PM on September 6, 2015
I, too, applied for a Russian visa in 2010. I tried to do it on my own for a few days before giving in and paying a visa procurement company to provide me with hotel invitation letters.
Same! We did so well at first, even living successfully through the "Sorry, we only accept applications filled out in BLACK ink not BLUE ink, back of the [long, chaotic] line with a new form to fill out!" skill test, only to find that they didn't accept our invitation letter from our hotel, despite three tries of different letters with different tourism registration numbers.
We ended up giving up and using a visa procurement company whose card the consulate *happened* to have handy to give to us, and whose offices were a big room of empty cubicles and then four people working in one closed office who helped us with a letter we paid $75 each for. But in the end the consulate was nice and didn't make us pay the rush fee (we had been trying for weeks) and gave us our visas (as well as our passports, which they had to take to process the visas) on the DAY we were leaving on a three week long trip, of which only two days were to be spent in Russia (St Petersburg). So many heart attacks.
posted by urbanlenny at 12:10 PM on September 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
Same! We did so well at first, even living successfully through the "Sorry, we only accept applications filled out in BLACK ink not BLUE ink, back of the [long, chaotic] line with a new form to fill out!" skill test, only to find that they didn't accept our invitation letter from our hotel, despite three tries of different letters with different tourism registration numbers.
We ended up giving up and using a visa procurement company whose card the consulate *happened* to have handy to give to us, and whose offices were a big room of empty cubicles and then four people working in one closed office who helped us with a letter we paid $75 each for. But in the end the consulate was nice and didn't make us pay the rush fee (we had been trying for weeks) and gave us our visas (as well as our passports, which they had to take to process the visas) on the DAY we were leaving on a three week long trip, of which only two days were to be spent in Russia (St Petersburg). So many heart attacks.
posted by urbanlenny at 12:10 PM on September 8, 2015 [1 favorite]
Interesting article but I believe that there are many parts in the developed nations which are very hostile. So as a reader I respect sites like theatlantic.com but as a thinker they must share the reasons which made these nations hostile. Though a nice shared...
posted by jatinchhabra at 6:06 AM on September 14, 2015
posted by jatinchhabra at 6:06 AM on September 14, 2015
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