View From the Wing

Drugs in Foreign Countries
Drugs in Foreign Countries 532 496 Greg Ellifritz

American media has been reporting incessantly about the American basketball player who has been imprisoned in Russia after authorities found some marijuana vape cartridges in her luggage.

This is far from the only case when Americans have been punished in foreign countries even if they did not bring or consume any illegal drugs in the country in question.

 

Read this article.

American Arrested In Dubai For Smoking Pot Before His Trip – In Las Vegas

 

This guy smoked pot legally at home before flying to the UAE.

“The 51 year old was a day into his visit when pancreatitis sent him to the hospital. His urine sample showed traces of pot in his system. And the hospital reported it to police. After 3 days in jail the man is confined to his hotel, pending charges.”

 

You should also read the linked article about the flight attendant going out on a date on a layover in the UAE.  Police raided her date’s apartment and arrested both of them after they found two joints.

 

“People can still be charged and convicted in the UAE even if substances were taken outside the country, “as long as traces are still present in the bloodstream upon arrival in the UAE.”

 

Even worse, you can be arrested for having a speck of weed on your shoe.

Dubai Jails British Man with Bit of Marijuana on Shoe

 

I’ve also seen tourists rounded up in Bangkok bar areas and forced by police to submit to instant urine drug tests.  If any level of drugs is found in the urine the tourist is either arrested or fined.

I don’t care if you use drugs, but I don’t want my readers going to jail.  Be very careful with your drug use if you are going to be visiting Asia or the Middle East.

 

 

Violent Airplane Passenger- When to Get Involved
Violent Airplane Passenger- When to Get Involved 240 135 Greg Ellifritz

Recent news has been full of stories about violent and out of control airline passengers.  It’s fairly common.  People get nervous about flying.  They often use alcohol and drugs to self medicate.  On my flight home from a training class last Monday, there was a passenger in first class (a white male in his mid 60s) who was so drunk he actually fell down on the jet bridge getting off the plane.

 

Other passengers become irate with crowded airports, regular delays, cancelled flights, and mask mandates.  They lose their shit and attack passengers and crew.

 

Take a look at the article below about the passenger trying to open the door and breach the cockpit in flight.  The airline crew beat him over the head with a coffee pot until fellow passengers restrained him.

 

Emergency Landing After American Airlines Crewmember Hit Erratic Passenger With Coffee Pot

 

What would you do if you were on the flight described above?

 

For me, I’m not getting involved if a passenger attacks another passenger or a crew member.  If I am attacked, I’m going to fight.  If the cockpit is attacked, I will fight.

I’m especially worried about the cockpit attack.  If the attacker crashes the plane, we all die.  I also worry that an armed pilot will fire on the attacker.  Where is his backstop?  That’s right, his backstop is all of us riding in the plane.  Less than ideal.  I’ll beat someone’s ass to prevent being hit by a miss or pass through bullet the pilot fires.

Unhappy News
Unhappy News 1280 855 Greg Ellifritz

The US government announced yesterday that all air travelers arriving in the USA after January 26, must have evidence of a negative Covid-19 test within three days of their travel.  It will be a horrible blow to the travel economy and will limit a lot of Americans’ travel plans.

 

U.S. Will Require All International Arriving Passengers To Have A Covid-19 Test

 

 

This is a really poor public policy. The USA has the worst rate of infection of any country on the planet. Who are we “protecting” at home when we bar someone from entry when he is coming from a nation that has a lower infection rate than the USA?
Countries in the developing world do not have the same capacity for testing that the US has. Travelers simply may not even be able to get tests.
I’m in Mexico right now. Currently, without a testing requirement, the labs down here are scheduling PCR tests 7-10 days out. Mexico doesn’t have the infrastructure in place to do them any faster. As soon as the USA implements this requirement on the 26th, there will be massive new demands for testing and no ability to satisfy those demands.
People estimate down here that it may take two to three weeks to get tested after the new requirement is in place.
And keep in mind that I am in a very developed part of Mexico looking at a long wait for a test. How are you going to get tested in rural Uganda or the Peruvian jungle?  I had plans to travel to both of those locations in 2021.  This ruling will either prohibit me from traveling there or force me to stay an extra three days in a big city in one of those countries waiting for my test results to come in.
The requirement will effectively stop any “long weekend” international travel.  It will also make larger families stop traveling internationally.  With the tests costing $100-$150 each way, it gets really expensive to take your spouse and three kids on an international getaway.
What I also find curious is that you will be able to fly with a negative test or proof that you’ve already recovered from a past case of Covid-19.  Having taken both doses of the vaccine isn’t good enough.  What does that say about the government’s true opinion of the efficacy of the vaccination?
The only thing this restriction will do is to further destroy the travel industry and create a huge market for forged testing results.
It’s a good thing I got a six-month travel visa here in Mexico.   I may be stuck for awhile.  That might not be a bad thing.  Overall, people in Mexico seem to be far more sensible about effective precautions than the politicians in the USA.

Faked Covid-19 Tests
Faked Covid-19 Tests 670 300 Greg Ellifritz

Check out the two articles linked below.  There seems to be a cottage industry producing paperwork for fake negative Covid-19 tests.

Passengers Are Faking Negative Covid Tests In Order To Travel

 

95% Of Passengers On One Flight Faked Their Negative Covid-19 Tests

 

I predict that in the future making faked Covid-19 test results and vaccinations will be a profitable enterprise.

 

Besides the fraud, there are lots of other reasons why requiring testing before boarding a flight would be a really bad idea.

Begpacking?
Begpacking? 470 301 Greg Ellifritz

Have you heard of the latest “begpacking” trend?  It’s when a Western tourist runs out of money in a foreign country and sets up as a beggar asking locals for money.  What a strange phenomenon!

 

I can’t say that I’ve seen this more than a couple times in my travels.

 

For more information, take a look at this article that describes the practice in Thailand.

 

Begpacking is shameless behaviour that is outlawed in Thailand and poisons goodwill between cultures

 

“Ignorant, ‘cool’ trend continues

Despite this, this ignorance is now a ‘cool’ trend among hip young millennials some of whom continue to come to Thailand. The activities are insulting to the occupations of Thai men and women as well as their right to a livelihood in their own country, something many of these young people have no understanding of apparently. It also, inherently, deeply disrespectful to the laws of the kingdom.”

 

I haven’t been to Thailand since 2013.  With their crazy Covid-19 restrictions, it doesn’t look like I’ll be going back anytime soon.  I’ll give you a “begpacking” update the next time I make it to Asia.

 

 

Police Extortion in Bali
Police Extortion in Bali 629 357 Greg Ellifritz

Last week I wrote about a Nigerian police extortion effort targeting gay folks.  In this week’s installment of police corruption news, here is a video of a couple traffic officers extorting a bribe from a Japanese tourist in Bali.

 

Police Caught On Video Extorting Tourist In Bali

 

The tourist’s motorcycle headlight didn’t work (during a daytime ride).  The fine for the offense is the US equivalent of $7.  The tourist paid a $60 bribe to get out of the ticket.

 

 

If you want information about how to handle interactions like this, I have an entire chapter on the topic in my book Choose Adventure.

 

 

Pandemic Flight Precautions
Pandemic Flight Precautions 283 178 Greg Ellifritz

I just flew out to Phoenix, Arizona to take a training class.  It was my first flight since early February.  Flying in a mask was strange.  Both legs of my flight were completely full.  The planes and airports seemed exceptionally clean.  I guess it remains to be seen if all of these precautions worked, but I am not ill yet.

 

The rules are constantly changing.  We really don’t know what works best.  Most of us are guessing and trying to establish best practices for keeping healthy.

 

I’ve found the articles below to be helpful.  Read them and get some ideas as to what tactics other travelers are employing.  Take Bruce Lee’s advice.  “Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless and add what is specifically your own.”

 

Flying Isn’t Just a Big Coronavirus Risk

 

If You Have To Fly in a Pandemic, Here’s Where to Sit on the Plane

 

How Rules Have Changed at TSA Checkpoints

 

CORONAVIRUS AND TRAVEL: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW (PLUS RESOURCES)

 

I flew on the 4 biggest US airlines during the pandemic to see which is handling it best

 

TSA Changes
TSA Changes 670 300 Greg Ellifritz

Read

TSA Will Start Taking Your Photo At Security Checkpoints

 

More security theater from our TSA.  Be prepared to be photographed the next time you go through airport security.