To think this has to be a hoax?

[Sashimimimi]

British student went to Afghanistan on holiday Is now trapped in a safe house and has ‘accepted death’. He’s been live blogging about his situation on 4chan. Incel types hailing him as a legend.

AIBU to think this is has to be a windup?

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/brit-student-22-stuck-afghanistan-24768024.amp

@Qwerty789

Arrested? For what?

@PlanDeRaccordement

Lots of victim blaming here. Do we say this about murdered solo female travellers? That they’re idiots for being female and travelling alone to....well anywhere....and end up raped and dead on a beach? Or at a hotel?

Victim blaming? Don't be ridiculous! He's no victim....and yes I would blame a murder "victim" who went to a known murderers house, walked in and said "please murder me", and paid to be murdered.

(Your comparison is extremely insulting if you were unaware)

[quote Lavender24]@Qwerty789

Arrested? For what?[/quote]
Being a massive twat, wasting resources, costing the government lots of money, depriving someone actually worthy of it of a seat on a rescue flight, glamorising terrorism....I imagine there are charges of some kind available.

How is what he doing anything different from a journalist? Except he’s not getting paid to do it, and they are

That cannot be a serious question, can it? You don't seem quite that stupid.

Whilst journalists are paid to do this they go in to provide a service which is historically important.

Some self serving student -whether on holiday for the "experience " or to create self fame that now requires extraction from a dangerous situation is a twat.

Holidaying as an experience in a warzone is ridiculous and an insult to people whose lives he has come to gawp at. Creating your own fame off the backs of these people is no better, his tour guide fears for his life now for helping him.

He has no business being there. Obviously hope he gets out alive and that his being there costs no-one else's life in the process.

Also journalists go in with proper organisation.

he's just as worthy as anyone! he doesn't deserve to die because he made a choice to travel somewhere

The 22-year-old Loughborough University undergraduate has said he likes to explore the "worst places in the world", including a trip to Chernobyl two years ago

Not much sympathy here, I'm afraid. He knew the risks and still went. And during a pandemic.

@gardeninggirl68

he's just as worthy as anyone! he doesn't deserve to die because he made a choice to travel somewhere

No, he isn't. If there is a building on fire, who is more worthy of being saved..the children trapped on an upper floor or the twat who saw the building on fire and walked in to have a look around and post selfies smiling at the flames?

@maddening

Also journalists go in with proper organisation.

Not always. They often go even when told not to.

@Sashimimimi

its a wind up how?

Going to Afghanistan for a holiday seems implausibly stupid and reckless. Plus he’s apparently said he’s looking forward to doing interviews if he makes it out alive. It just doesn’t make sense.

I would say that looking forward to being alive to do interviews does make sense, is that what you mean?

I don't know if it's hoax but if he planned his trip months ago how could it be? He sounds like an immature selfish young man who doesn't care for his own safety and is enjoying his 15 minutes.

kids in a burning building is a stupid comparison, not even worth bothering to answer tbh!

anyway, he's there now so hoping he gets back home ok...

@OhWhyNot

It was foolish to go but of course I have sympathy for him

Years ago I was in Cambodia at the time you were advised to only go to some ares. We were in a safe place but told that the Khmer Rouge fractions were further along our planned trip and advised by military (lots of military stops) to turn back. Incredibly a number decided to brave it out as they had come across the world and were not going to allow their trip to be spoilt

In my late teens I was in Turkey with a friend on a six months temporary passport you could get from the post office back then.

She had called me up a few days earlier to say her friend had to back out of their plans and offered me her ticket which would cost just £100 all in so next thing I was on a plane and flying out there.

Dalaman airport resembled a disused warehouse like something from Robocop and scared me shitless but once we were through checks and in our hotel, I thought all was fine and we had no worries.

Couple of days in we borrowed two horses from a ranch owner my friend new and he let us just tack them up, take them out and told us not to work them too hard, let them rest up in the shade / have a drink and make sure we sorted them out and put them in the stable when we got back.

Not a word of warning or mention about staying away from certain areas, the need to stick rigidly to paths and trails and we ended up on a military base, surrounded by armed soldiers shouting and yelling and neither of us could understand a word each other was trying to say.

They made us get off the horse, follow them for about a mile along this trail that suddenly had snow on the ground and we were left standing there, shitting bricks and trying to apologise for having gone off track for I'm not sure how long but it felt like forever.

Fortunately the horses saved us I think. They figured two young girls wouldn't be up there spying and trying to get into a military base on horseback but I didn't even know the country was stilli in a fragile state and the surrounding areas of the busy tourist resorts had armed solidiers carrying guns and whack loads of ammo.

When I think back it seems astonishing how naive and clueless I was but then again, it's even more amazing that nobody thought to mention it when we were given two horses to piss off with for a day and right at the foot of a mountain that was also a heavily guarded military base.

He sounds like an immature selfish young man who doesn't care for his own safety and is enjoying his 15 minutes.

Tbh that’s the bit that makes me think it’s a windup. That just strikes a very odd note.

He may well have planned to go and booked his flights and then not actually gone but just posted all this stuff instead for attention.

I've always wanted to go, but self preservation kicks in. The only people I've known to go are young men with young man invincibility syndrome. They've all had a great time though. I don't really doubt that this lad is out there.

He's only 22; it's not that odd for people so young (and the brain doesn't fully develop/at least the parts responsible for decision-making, according to scientists) to do silly things. If he was like 40 or something then yeah, I would have little sympathy. But at 22, he's just a kid - at least not long into adulthood so I do have sympathy. The things people do in their 20s. There but for the grace of god go I....

Mixed feelings about this. I certainly don’t wish him any ill, but I find going to somewhere like Afghanistan to be titillated by the proximity to war and atrocity that local people have no choice but to live in rather revolting. I don’t think this is so unusual - there are travel agents that organise trips to places the FCO advise against all travel to. Some are primarily to places that are interesting in themselves, but unfortunately suffering instability, but others are destinations precisely because of the danger and edginess. I’m afraid that just seems like dipping into other people’s misery for entertainment to me. You can go on itineraries where you meet murdering gangsters in Central American prisons.

Appreciate there is no distinct line between learning about history and society when travelling and just getting your kicks from dark tourism, but I’m pretty sure this guy is way over it!

So I hope he gets back, but also that he doesn’t manage to cash in on his tasteless holiday. Comparing him to professional journalists is ridiculous - think i prefer to get my insights off the likes of Lize doucet than some self-serving thrill seeker. As for comparing him with women who get murdered and raped abroad - no comparison at all. Women travel alone for all sorts of reasons, but I’m pretty certain none of them is the thrill of the danger of being hurt or being somewhere where other people are hurt!

*brain doesn't develop until 25 that should read.

@gardeninggirl68

kids in a burning building is a stupid comparison, not even worth bothering to answer tbh!

anyway, he's there now so hoping he gets back home ok...

Its a good comparison and you won't answer because you know I'm right.

If he doesn't get home safe it's nobodies fault except his. Stupid fucker.

[quote Sashimimimi]British student went to Afghanistan on holiday Is now trapped in a safe house and has ‘accepted death’. He’s been live blogging about his situation on 4chan. Incel types hailing him as a legend.

AIBU to think this is has to be a windup?

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/brit-student-22-stuck-afghanistan-24768024.amp[/quote]
It’s not a wind up but to be honest it is clear from his ramblings that he needs support with his mental well-being.

I used to work with a guy like that. He always went on holidays to places that were unstable and got off on the danger. He went to Afghanistan in the late 1980's.

He was a prat.

@JammyDozen

Mixed feelings about this. I certainly don’t wish him any ill, but I find going to somewhere like Afghanistan to be titillated by the proximity to war and atrocity that local people have no choice but to live in rather revolting. I don’t think this is so unusual - there are travel agents that organise trips to places the FCO advise against all travel to. Some are primarily to places that are interesting in themselves, but unfortunately suffering instability, but others are destinations precisely because of the danger and edginess. I’m afraid that just seems like dipping into other people’s misery for entertainment to me. You can go on itineraries where you meet murdering gangsters in Central American prisons.

Appreciate there is no distinct line between learning about history and society when travelling and just getting your kicks from dark tourism, but I’m pretty sure this guy is way over it!

So I hope he gets back, but also that he doesn’t manage to cash in on his tasteless holiday. Comparing him to professional journalists is ridiculous - think i prefer to get my insights off the likes of Lize doucet than some self-serving thrill seeker. As for comparing him with women who get murdered and raped abroad - no comparison at all. Women travel alone for all sorts of reasons, but I’m pretty certain none of them is the thrill of the danger of being hurt or being somewhere where other people are hurt!

100% agree. It's utterly revolting.

What a fuckwit.

I remember meeting a very laid back traveller in Thailand in late 1999 who told us of his plans to head to East Timor. I gulped and asked him if he'd read the papers lately? He just sighed and said he didn't really believe in keeping up with the news. I wished him well and hoped he didn't get his head didn't part from his body. No idea what happened to him.

Why is it relevant that he booked it in May? Afghanistan was still not a safe place in may and assuming he hasn’t been there since may and does an iota of research on his holiday destinations he could have easily known there would be some level of unrest and cancelled his holiday rather than go ahead with it like!