I make a living out of things that are low risk but have high variance. As do you most likely. And I don’t like the stories coming out of the US right now. This is worse than driving into the US with a trans pride sticker on my truck.
I’d like to see the sample size in this analysis.
Grandchildren graduations: Texas high school in May; Idaho college in July. 
1 Like
Yes. Learning to not let truly frightful 1:500, 1:1000, 1:5000, etc. results get to me was a necessary survival skill.
In fairness, I’d be leery if those were the odds of being snatched and sent to El Salvador. I’m also frustrated that it’s difficult to determine what the actual denial rate is, or that I’m concerned that some of the things I say online might come back to bite me if Big Brother notices and links them to my meatspace presence.
But since 9/11, the US border guards have turned away people whose social media profiles they found troubling…if they noticed, or people whose entry paperwork was not perfect. Sometimes they even held them in detention until things could get worked out.
That sucked too…but it didn’t stop (most) people from coming to the border pre-Trump 2.0.
What I’m suggesting is that I’m not altogether certain whether the border has gotten “worse” in that regard, or if the stories of such encounters, which have been told online all along, have just gone viral in the current climate.
(If I were a gambler, I’d bet on “a little of both”).
There are certain plenty of reasons to avoid visiting the US right now, and I understand, support, and perhaps even encourage folks making that choice.
But I do also think that if the border had become, say, an order of magnitude worse for professionals traveling on business or ordinary tourists to cross, there would be MANY more stories of detentions/rejections being told.
Depends. Usually, Americans would get a lot of leeway in Europe if there is an altercation, but that is unlikely to be the case anymore in a few select countries.
See Denmark:
1 Like
I assume the Uber driver’s account of the confrontation was different than the two Americans!
1 Like
I’ll probably take another beach trip to coastal GA sometime before June.
Will probably rent a lake house for a bit this summer.
Will probably go to Germany this fall/winter to visit family, details TBD.
just applied for my passport renewal
1 Like
My wife and I, along with about 30 other family members from Canada and the US, will be going to the UK in August for my London daughter’s civil ceremony. Most Brits won’t be able to tell whether our family members are American or Canadian except for my Texas BIL. His accent is pretty conclusive.
I didn’t use a translate app on my last trip but will definitely try one out next time. Here’s a quick guide to the Apple app. It may not be the best one out there, but it’s pretty incredible what it can do. You can also very quickly change to a new language if needed.
I particularly like the face to face feature (8:35).
Some suggested Canadian destinations this summer.
Our national and provincial parks are still fully staffed.
2 Likes
Oh, how provincial
Our parks may only have people collecting park fees.
We’ll be lucky if the gate is open.
2 Likes
It will be uber busy at our parks this season so will be interesting how it plays out.
1 Like
I don’t think so, I would think a lot of people would avoid going. Lack of tours, security, not everything available…
I go camping. I do not go camping at campgrounds.
There’s 10 billion acres of land where I can pick the best campsite that I want, for free. Without the filthy bathrooms and loud neighbours.
You just go out and shit on your own country?
Moose out front has been fired.