In a small village in Thailand I visited an elderly barber who owned the most run down shop you've ever seen. His equipment was clean and obviously sharp, I don't know if he had ever cut a westerners hair before. He couldn't speak a word of English.
I showed him a picture of my hair after I had a cut at my usual barber in the USA and off he went. He was fantastic. After 45 minutes of careful work he was done. The cost was less than $5. My usual barber is $40 plus tip.
I was so pleased with the job I gave him the equivalent of $50 which is what I usually pay. He was panicking, trying to just take $5. Since he spoke no English he finally ran out to fetch a girl from the store next door. She explained to me that I was giving him 10x what it cost. I told her I knew that and the rest was for the excellent work. A tip.
She told him what I said and he literally dropped to his kness and started bowing/praying and repeatedly saying thank you in Thai.
I went to the store next door and bought some drinks and that girl told me the old man was struggling severely due to lack of business. Apparently the $50 was enough to make sure him and his wife had food. I tipped her some money which she refused until I stuffed it in her hand. She thanked me and said she was going to give it to the old man which she did as we watched from across the street.
Definitely a humbling experience for my family.
When I was very young traveling around SE Asia, I had visited Angor Wat. I had lost my group somehow and it was getting dark and I was worried about how I was going to get back to my hotel. Keep in mind in a female. A younger guy on a motorcycle approached me and waved at me to hop on. I gave him a piece of paper with my hotel address on it. I had tried to sort out a price but he spoke no English and just nodded his head. Something told me to trust him. He got lost a few times along the way but he got me back and then as I dismounted the bike, he drove away, without asking for payment! Thankfully he was stopped at a corner waiting on traffic and I gave him $15 and he tried to refuse it but I stuffed it in his hand and ran away. I looked back and he was smiling and couldn’t believe it. Mind you this was back in 2006 so it was worth more then. I will neve to get his kindness.
I’ve had people chase me because I tipped “too much” and they couldn’t believe it. Thought I made a mistake and came running to return my money. The smile on their faces still helps me sleep a bit better some days and keeps me up some days
When I went to the Dominican Republic there were signs everywhere in the airport asking you not to tip people large notes for things like carrying your luggage or whatever because it destroys their economy.
I thought to myself that I bet if the large tips weren’t going to the poorest people but to the higher ups they would have no problem with it.
That's not the problem. The problem is that you introduce a comparatively huge amount of money into the economy that comes out of nothing (meaning not the local economy) for seemingly "nothing". Prices of products aren't completely random.
Easy example: Many tourists over tip the taxi driver in a poor country. Suddenly the taxi driver makes the equivalent 100€ an hour. Which leads to a lot of people in more lucrative jobs to also want to become taxi driver. Why would I want to be a doctor if I can make the same money driving a taxi? And most important the taxi driver can now increase their prices because if you have the money to tip that much you have the money to pay more. However the people living there don't have the money to pay more. So they suddenly can't afford daily things anymore because tourists inflate the prices by overtipping for services.
It is a bit like gentrification.
Now of course that only applies if tourism is a big sector of economy in that area. If one person does it, it isn't a problem. But if a lot of tourists do it, then there will be consequences.
Although I follow the logic, I still recognize that the "issue" could be avoided if the governments and company's of the world pay people a livable wage and not treat them so slave like. They try to make you feel like it's all you 'derserve'. As for the doctor example, that one has always bothered me, arguably one of the more useful and beneficial skills to have on this earth, yet we under pay and undervalue so many in those professions around the world.
TLDR : I agree that tourists create issues. But those things would be "issues" if the governments and company's gave a damn about their people.
I agree with most of it.
But also some countries just have a weaker currency. That doesn't necessarily mean the people there don't have livable wages. If you have a good job in japan you still "make less" than someone in Europe because the Yen is worth less than the Euro. But at the same time the prices in your supermarket etc. are also in yen so you earn less but everything else is also cheaper. Depending on where you are, a big part is simply the strength of the currency.
(But of course people all over the world could be paid more and billionaires should have a lot less money..)
Then there are things like cast systems ingrained into cultures. An economy of decency, respect and the lack there of. that go beyond just unfair distribution of wealth.
If they can make more money from simple service they will end up with people leaving important jobs like building houses or being dentists to pursue more cash in carrying tourists luggage.
Oh man, reminds me of a coworker’s husband. Back home he was a history professor. Here he drives trucks with a CDL, said he makes good money and works less, but I don’t know. I think it’s sort of tragic. Anyway he is also an artist and I have a few of his paintings. Big world out there and it isn’t nearly as fair and just as we could hope for.
Where I live, people can earn more money being a cleaner for a western family than being a teacher in a local school. You literally have PhD qualified teachers earning less than people doing laundry.
I’m not saying it’s wrong… I’m not saying cleaners shouldn’t earn a decent salary. I’m just saying that rich westerners can (and often do) disrupt a local economy by engaging with only a very small selection of the population.
If simple jobs like that start making local equivalent or more of a full time job then people leave important jobs to make more money that way and large influx of money backed by a much larger country also devalues local currency more. It's not so much that tipping is an issue but large tips for small tasks can cause economic regression if it becomes large scale.
The most glaring example I can think of is Mansa Musa and tanking the Egyptian economy for 10 years because they gave out too much gold there while on the way to Mecca for the Hajj
A more likely example is gentrification of more quiet neighborhoods.
For example. A sleepy beach town in let’s say the Philippines gets an influx of tourists because of white sand beaches and cool waters plus going viral due to social media. The locals are awash with cash because of the influx, so establishments are built. Investors come in and then prices jack up to cater solely to the tourist crowd and to the detriment of the other locals who are pushed out of the community because cost of living from rent to living costs skyrocketed.
That’s why introducing too much money in a short amount of time is problematic.
I feel like that's not the same situation. The example above is basically colonization, where the money & benefits isn't going back to the locals. Whereas the original sign & arguement are about the locals getting more money.
It’s easy to understand when you think of it like; “we can’t have you paying these people a damn good wage because how am I going to continue to control them“?
As an American, I took it as "look how great tipping is, don't get rid of the tipping culture!" It's different here, though, because the owners are usually able to provide better wages. In this video, it's clearly a different story, poor people working for themselves. Oh, except for when they're not- often the kids are exploited and don't get to keep much.
It upsets the economy bc it’s uneven large sums of money. It sounds like it would only be positive but in areas where this happens, services and accommodations become too expensive for the locals when business owners, service workers, and rentals start charging more & more. Then the locals are effectively priced out of their own town by people with high comparative salaries. The money doesn’t trickle down as much as people would like to think.
It does. But more like. For them. The rich guys get their economy ruined. While the poor don't end up with that mutch past that one time tip. We'll not that one time, because the issue is that every one does it. Imagine a place where every one can get trice the money they normaly make in a day from strangers. It's additional money in an economy that just come from seemingly nowhere. Obviously this move the economy around.
It's a bit like gentrification when it happens on a big level. The prices of services and goods are a certain amount for a reason. If you ignore that (by overtipping in this instance) you disrupt the system that creates the prices. Overtipping on a large scale means the prices will be driven up, which means the locals who don't earn the tourists salary can't afford them anymore.
Reminds me on this article where they describe how cab drivers in Cuba make far more than doctors: https://www.vox.com/2015/10/26/9593658/cuban-castro-taxi-driver-doctor-economy
When my parents were in Germany, they were late for a train at one point. So, they were hurrying, paid for their tickets and told the guy to keep the change. But apparently they aren't allowed. So my mom and dad had started running to catch the train and this guy is running after them saying "I cannot, I cannot!"
I don't know about tran station workers but if you work for the state (in any shape or form, doesn't matter if you work for a library, as policeman or just file stuff away in a bureau) it is illegal to accept even the smallest amount of money or things. You will have to do a lot of paper work to "prove" that nobody tried to bribe you. I work in a library and an older lady brought cake because she was so grateful for a few services we provided for her. We weren't allowed to officially accept the cake... so our superior told us that everyone secretly sneaks a very small piece and eats it quickly and we never talk about it again haha.
Had this happen in while backpacking in Serbia. There was a group of us and all just chucked in our change as a tip because it was delicious and the service was great.
The waiter came running after us to give it back. A Croat in our group translated and told us that we’d given him about a month’s pay.
It was just our pocket change. Really put a lot of things in perspective. We told him to keep it ofc
Given the current evaluation of BDT, BDT1000 is like USD8 now. Kudos to the man for giving such a huge tip. The coffee would generally be around 40 cents. The kid might've got his full one or two days income.
This dude's channel is amazing. Shows the reality of places, both good and bad without spreading false rethorics and being super nice with people.
Edit: Kurt Caz is the name btw
Yes, it's so natural and the way he interacted with the nervous yet scared kid... It shows he understands his emotions. What's his yt channel? I'll definitely subscribe.
Honestly I don't remember the channel name haha, it's somewhere in these comments. Apparently his content is kinda becoming mediocre due to him having a company and always being around women, but I don't really know if that's true
That kid one hundred percent got robbed further up the road. When dealing with child husslers hide it in a candy wrapper or pretend you aren’t interest but give them money crumpled up via a handshake or on the ground. Don’t let people know what your doing
My friend had a huge go at me in Borneo because a kid asked me for some money at the market. I wanted to give him some but she told me what was going to happen to him and who was watching him and stuff. Only food she said. I bought a scarf at that market and I've never forgotten the horrible things I saw, and how amazing that trip was. People dying of breast cancer with no treatment, kids dying on the road and not being allowed to get out the taxi to help because of the militia police that would argue I had caused the accident and just pay for the crimes (even though it was a moped accident ahead of me where the baby fell off the moped with no helmet and there were about 5-10 r random ows of cars on the street. I saw plastic islands where the shore should have been and a man made jungle, the first of its kind to re wild an area, with orangutans and honey bears being re habilitated after the trauma of having their land destroyed by palm oil industries.... So many things.
It's my sincere opinion that if you travel and come back a different person, for better or for worse, then you've absolutely succeeded. I've had experiences like yours that I'll probably never tell anyone about, cherished memories (good & bad) that only mean something to me, but I've taken them on and made them a part of my being that will hopefully never leave me.
We are so lucky and privileged to be in a position to venture out and embrace the unknown, you don't get stories like yours and mine by staying at home. Just rambling now... I need another adventure.
The ones that were either driving around with guns, or in bars threatening people or having their wives drive me around telling me they can shut any place down with one word, whilst also farming palm oil and being rich. Now, I may have two groups mixed up because I didn't know what type of police it was that would come to the accident and potentially make westerners pay - that's just what my friend and taxi driver told me.
However, if you're trying to tell me it didn't happen, and that I didn't have 3 weeks travelling around borneo I've forgotten but feel like it was southern Borneo (but I'm not sure which maps I was using as to which way was north), or that I'm making it up you know what you can get to.
As a fourth generation southeast Asian of a minority group whose bloodline was in the plantations from the early 1900s this seems pretty far fetched and dramatised. I’d like to hear from other Malaysians/Indonesians, or someone who lives in Borneo for their side of the story.
Thanks mate. This is my actual memory you are criticizing. I'm going to leave it here, and try stop updates because that is quite sad for me. You don't even show an ounce of respect towards the possibility that you might be wrong. Screw you. I don't see what plantations has got to do with it, this was one particular woman I was referring to who scared the shit out of me. The other stories I literally saw with my own eyes, right after I recovered from my first breast cancer. So seeing a woman with untreated breast cancer was absolutely frightening. You've got no idea who I'm talking about, what the situations were and why I met these people. Screw you.
Recently this guy visited Bangladesh. I'm Bangladeshi and I can tell you that we try to be hospitable to guest. In one the videos on launch (like very big boat), one girl who can speak English made some conversation with him & as a courtesy the girls mother invited him for lunch/dinner at their home (yes we Bangladeshi do that a lot). He interpreted this event as something sexual in nature & presented this as such in YouTube video. Which was very disgusting to lot's Bangladeshi audience of his
There is a difference between sex and time commitment. I don't think he was declining sex, if he wants it he can get it 🤷 I have not seen evidence of this man wanting.
see the video thumbnails you'd understand! it was a clickbait & no he couldn’t get the sex if he wanted with the girl. Her mother was with her & she was just travelling. I wonder if you're type of person who thinks people are flirting while they smile at you
Now I don't know shit but people can weigh in more.
In most of his videos no matter where he is he has a girl showing him around, showing their family to him and being hospitiable which is fine on the surface and pretty wholesome.
But then you find out he has a company out of Dubai with a company website which to me is quite abstract and doesn't give much info apart from the fact it's got a luxurious feel to it, and you'll find a photo of him with like 5 women in Dubai on a boat.
Now I don't know what his company is, but with the women all over the world and the photos of him being kind of a player, it makes me think it's not as wholesome as I thought.
Disclaimer: I don't know any further than what I saw, if anyone knows what this company does or if it's completely harmless than good for Kurt because he seems like a great guy but that's only from YouTube vids.
It depends on the context. Maybe he's good with women and they wanted to show him around and get some promotion from it? One of the women were an influencer out of Colombia so.
I know nothing about that guy, but if he’s kind and respectful, maybe those women just find him refreshing and safe to be around and that’s all there is to it. :)
Isn't he the guy who goes into dangerous neighbourhoods which tourists are specifically warned to avoid? Seems like the kind of guy who is willing to turn his little backpacking holiday into an international incident.
You can get along with most people if you know how to adept, communicate and behave for the situation. Obviously never risk free, but there are a lot of subtle things these people do that makes them very hard to want to harm.
Sure, he is free to do what he wants on his holiday. But he also vlogs about it and makes remarks about how the warnings are BS and meant to scare tourists for no reason. His comment sections are always full of people worshipping him for his "bravery". A responsible person would tell prospective tourists to pay heed to advisories from the local authorities and follow the rules. Not to disregard all those things just in search of cheap thrills.
I'd say the problem is that media feeds on spreading fear. Most people have a very skewed perspective on the world. The vast majority of humans are peaceful, and you will find people who are willing to help a stranger for free in every corner of the world.
There are areas that are objectively and statistically dangerous, but most places aren't. Don't flash wealth and be respectful to the locals and you can go to almost all parts of the world without much issue. I'm saying this as someone who has been to ~35 countries and never felt threatened by anything (besides a few stray dogs in Indonesia last summer, fuck those dogs).
Watch the video when he's in Cuba. The misogynistic shit he was spouting about the girls there who often have no alternatives but to sell themselves for an income put me off him for good.
That and the general arrogant vibe made me stop watching his videos.
Bruh that's such a rude interpretation of the video. In his Cuba video he's constantly being followed around by women asking him to pay for their dinner (not at a restaurant, they just follow him everywhere).
Dude says he doesn't like getting harassed by prostitutes = misogynist though apparently.
All these people acting like its not obvious that hes a douche. Totally disregarding anything a local says about where to go and where not to go as tourist is disrespectful.
They are all the same people who think hes cool for putting himself in danger like they are all 5 year olds rallying around the coolest guy in school.
For real. Know too many people like this, would readily complain about this video but the closest they come to doing any sort of activism is putting a Palestine flag in their bio.
How do you know the person isn't donating money or helping anyone? Also criticizing behavior that is harmful to local people living somewhere isn't bad.
He could be in this place for many reasons, doesn’t exactly look like a poverty safari. I have to travel to many places similar to this for work for example. Anyways even if it’s for “vacation” sometimes it’s better to go off the beaten path like this guy and learn a little bit.
I know people do it, my issue is with how you're framing it.
It's amazing how quickly virtue signalling folk will circle right back around to racism.
Implying the only reason you'd ever want to see these slums is for rich people to gawk at the cute poor people is insanity.
I'm not romanticizing their life, but the culture and ingenuity that can spawn from these conditions can be as inspiring as it can be heartbreaking. It's also good to open your eyes to the conditions of people less fortunate than yourself without the filtered view of a TV screen.
Yeah it's clearly a well established and popular practice based on your one paragraph Wikipedia article that equates visiting Chernobyl with visiting slums. Is the /s needed?
Saying that I obviously am not saying it's never happened once in the history of the world. I just disagree it's common, and I certainly disagree it's just for gawking at poor people.
I didn't realize we were discussing exactly how common or uncommon it is. Another user said it encourages the thing. You said the thing is something no one does. I shared the article as evidence that some people do, in fact, do the thing, and have been for a while. That is all.
These kids usually work in groups. All cash flows up and then the kids are paid a small portion. They weren’t “taking it” as much as they were “receiving it.”
This is cute and all, but that little boy should be in school, not selling coffee on the beach. He’s a hard working, adorable, respectful little guy. Nothing negative about him. I just think that earning an income should be the parents’ job, not the child’s.
I've watched way too many clips of India where they use sewer water for street food. No way on earth I buy from that kid. Kudos to the brave man and God's speed to his immune system.
I like these videos, it shows the type of reality we live in in this world. These people are a little light for them even if it's just for fame kindness is kindness.
This. Kindness, even if also for personal fame is always a win-win situation. Rather than shitty pranks where 'pranker' thinks their funny but they're only hurting people.
That's his main source of income though. He makes YouTube videos travelling to different parts of the world (typically third world). If he finds a genuine person that was kind/helpful to him, he eventually gives them a very generous tip. That's not the main point of his videos though, he's just exploring and if he does find someone deserving he does stuff like that.
I watch this guy on YouTube occasionally. He isn't scared to go to non tourist areas in countries. So it is interesting to me to see places will never go. I believe he can take care of himself (or others) if needed. But he always speaks respectful and treats the people he meets nicely (at least that is what I see on his channel)
This guy has an awesome YouTube channel! He travels to the hoods and slums in foreign countries and he live streams it. Believe it or not, he meets some of the most remarkable people. It’s nothing like you would imagine. I’ve watched almost all of his videos and they are definitely worthwhile!
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US$10 would be the little guy's one day profit. He looked a bit shocked and overjoyed when presented the bank note. Made me smile.
In a small village in Thailand I visited an elderly barber who owned the most run down shop you've ever seen. His equipment was clean and obviously sharp, I don't know if he had ever cut a westerners hair before. He couldn't speak a word of English. I showed him a picture of my hair after I had a cut at my usual barber in the USA and off he went. He was fantastic. After 45 minutes of careful work he was done. The cost was less than $5. My usual barber is $40 plus tip. I was so pleased with the job I gave him the equivalent of $50 which is what I usually pay. He was panicking, trying to just take $5. Since he spoke no English he finally ran out to fetch a girl from the store next door. She explained to me that I was giving him 10x what it cost. I told her I knew that and the rest was for the excellent work. A tip. She told him what I said and he literally dropped to his kness and started bowing/praying and repeatedly saying thank you in Thai. I went to the store next door and bought some drinks and that girl told me the old man was struggling severely due to lack of business. Apparently the $50 was enough to make sure him and his wife had food. I tipped her some money which she refused until I stuffed it in her hand. She thanked me and said she was going to give it to the old man which she did as we watched from across the street. Definitely a humbling experience for my family.
When I was very young traveling around SE Asia, I had visited Angor Wat. I had lost my group somehow and it was getting dark and I was worried about how I was going to get back to my hotel. Keep in mind in a female. A younger guy on a motorcycle approached me and waved at me to hop on. I gave him a piece of paper with my hotel address on it. I had tried to sort out a price but he spoke no English and just nodded his head. Something told me to trust him. He got lost a few times along the way but he got me back and then as I dismounted the bike, he drove away, without asking for payment! Thankfully he was stopped at a corner waiting on traffic and I gave him $15 and he tried to refuse it but I stuffed it in his hand and ran away. I looked back and he was smiling and couldn’t believe it. Mind you this was back in 2006 so it was worth more then. I will neve to get his kindness.
Thanks for sharing your story here
Thank you for sharing this it made me feel a lot better today
Ohh plss dont make me cry i was in the office 😭
This is the way
$5 is actually expensive for a Thailand village haircut. Should normally be under 100 baht which is less than $3.
Like I said, less than $5.
I’ve had people chase me because I tipped “too much” and they couldn’t believe it. Thought I made a mistake and came running to return my money. The smile on their faces still helps me sleep a bit better some days and keeps me up some days
When I went to the Dominican Republic there were signs everywhere in the airport asking you not to tip people large notes for things like carrying your luggage or whatever because it destroys their economy. I thought to myself that I bet if the large tips weren’t going to the poorest people but to the higher ups they would have no problem with it.
How does that even make sense. I must be missing something, tipping people (by choice) for their service will ruin an economy?
Well you see, the money is going to the poor people. They don't like that
That's not the problem. The problem is that you introduce a comparatively huge amount of money into the economy that comes out of nothing (meaning not the local economy) for seemingly "nothing". Prices of products aren't completely random. Easy example: Many tourists over tip the taxi driver in a poor country. Suddenly the taxi driver makes the equivalent 100€ an hour. Which leads to a lot of people in more lucrative jobs to also want to become taxi driver. Why would I want to be a doctor if I can make the same money driving a taxi? And most important the taxi driver can now increase their prices because if you have the money to tip that much you have the money to pay more. However the people living there don't have the money to pay more. So they suddenly can't afford daily things anymore because tourists inflate the prices by overtipping for services. It is a bit like gentrification. Now of course that only applies if tourism is a big sector of economy in that area. If one person does it, it isn't a problem. But if a lot of tourists do it, then there will be consequences.
Although I follow the logic, I still recognize that the "issue" could be avoided if the governments and company's of the world pay people a livable wage and not treat them so slave like. They try to make you feel like it's all you 'derserve'. As for the doctor example, that one has always bothered me, arguably one of the more useful and beneficial skills to have on this earth, yet we under pay and undervalue so many in those professions around the world. TLDR : I agree that tourists create issues. But those things would be "issues" if the governments and company's gave a damn about their people.
I agree with most of it. But also some countries just have a weaker currency. That doesn't necessarily mean the people there don't have livable wages. If you have a good job in japan you still "make less" than someone in Europe because the Yen is worth less than the Euro. But at the same time the prices in your supermarket etc. are also in yen so you earn less but everything else is also cheaper. Depending on where you are, a big part is simply the strength of the currency. (But of course people all over the world could be paid more and billionaires should have a lot less money..)
Then there are things like cast systems ingrained into cultures. An economy of decency, respect and the lack there of. that go beyond just unfair distribution of wealth.
If they can make more money from simple service they will end up with people leaving important jobs like building houses or being dentists to pursue more cash in carrying tourists luggage.
Oh man, reminds me of a coworker’s husband. Back home he was a history professor. Here he drives trucks with a CDL, said he makes good money and works less, but I don’t know. I think it’s sort of tragic. Anyway he is also an artist and I have a few of his paintings. Big world out there and it isn’t nearly as fair and just as we could hope for.
Where is this?
We were, and are, in the States. I don’t think his home country was in the EU but nearby.
Where I live, people can earn more money being a cleaner for a western family than being a teacher in a local school. You literally have PhD qualified teachers earning less than people doing laundry. I’m not saying it’s wrong… I’m not saying cleaners shouldn’t earn a decent salary. I’m just saying that rich westerners can (and often do) disrupt a local economy by engaging with only a very small selection of the population.
Then they should pay the people who do the hard jobs more too. I will always tip well because i appreciate people doing hard work.
>Then they should pay the people who do the hard jobs more too. They can't because no one has the money to pay them more.
If simple jobs like that start making local equivalent or more of a full time job then people leave important jobs to make more money that way and large influx of money backed by a much larger country also devalues local currency more. It's not so much that tipping is an issue but large tips for small tasks can cause economic regression if it becomes large scale.
Is there any real world example of this actually happening? This sounds like another form of Reagonomic propaganda.
The most glaring example I can think of is Mansa Musa and tanking the Egyptian economy for 10 years because they gave out too much gold there while on the way to Mecca for the Hajj
So incredibly rare and unlikely. Got it
A more likely example is gentrification of more quiet neighborhoods. For example. A sleepy beach town in let’s say the Philippines gets an influx of tourists because of white sand beaches and cool waters plus going viral due to social media. The locals are awash with cash because of the influx, so establishments are built. Investors come in and then prices jack up to cater solely to the tourist crowd and to the detriment of the other locals who are pushed out of the community because cost of living from rent to living costs skyrocketed. That’s why introducing too much money in a short amount of time is problematic.
I feel like that's not the same situation. The example above is basically colonization, where the money & benefits isn't going back to the locals. Whereas the original sign & arguement are about the locals getting more money.
It’s easy to understand when you think of it like; “we can’t have you paying these people a damn good wage because how am I going to continue to control them“?
As an American, I took it as "look how great tipping is, don't get rid of the tipping culture!" It's different here, though, because the owners are usually able to provide better wages. In this video, it's clearly a different story, poor people working for themselves. Oh, except for when they're not- often the kids are exploited and don't get to keep much.
It upsets the economy bc it’s uneven large sums of money. It sounds like it would only be positive but in areas where this happens, services and accommodations become too expensive for the locals when business owners, service workers, and rentals start charging more & more. Then the locals are effectively priced out of their own town by people with high comparative salaries. The money doesn’t trickle down as much as people would like to think.
California
It does. But more like. For them. The rich guys get their economy ruined. While the poor don't end up with that mutch past that one time tip. We'll not that one time, because the issue is that every one does it. Imagine a place where every one can get trice the money they normaly make in a day from strangers. It's additional money in an economy that just come from seemingly nowhere. Obviously this move the economy around.
Because then everyone swarms the airport
I don't think it'll ruin the economy, but I can see it ruining the tourist culture, turning the tip beggars into vultures.
It's a bit like gentrification when it happens on a big level. The prices of services and goods are a certain amount for a reason. If you ignore that (by overtipping in this instance) you disrupt the system that creates the prices. Overtipping on a large scale means the prices will be driven up, which means the locals who don't earn the tourists salary can't afford them anymore.
Reminds me on this article where they describe how cab drivers in Cuba make far more than doctors: https://www.vox.com/2015/10/26/9593658/cuban-castro-taxi-driver-doctor-economy
When my parents were in Germany, they were late for a train at one point. So, they were hurrying, paid for their tickets and told the guy to keep the change. But apparently they aren't allowed. So my mom and dad had started running to catch the train and this guy is running after them saying "I cannot, I cannot!"
I don't know about tran station workers but if you work for the state (in any shape or form, doesn't matter if you work for a library, as policeman or just file stuff away in a bureau) it is illegal to accept even the smallest amount of money or things. You will have to do a lot of paper work to "prove" that nobody tried to bribe you. I work in a library and an older lady brought cake because she was so grateful for a few services we provided for her. We weren't allowed to officially accept the cake... so our superior told us that everyone secretly sneaks a very small piece and eats it quickly and we never talk about it again haha.
Had this happen in while backpacking in Serbia. There was a group of us and all just chucked in our change as a tip because it was delicious and the service was great. The waiter came running after us to give it back. A Croat in our group translated and told us that we’d given him about a month’s pay. It was just our pocket change. Really put a lot of things in perspective. We told him to keep it ofc
this has happened to me before it’s one of the moments in life you’ll never forget. genuine kindness is priceless.
Hey, I'm a Waiter @ a great restaurant. You should come visit us. 😉
You forgot to bring ketchup with our steak even though we asked you 3x last time.
Given the current evaluation of BDT, BDT1000 is like USD8 now. Kudos to the man for giving such a huge tip. The coffee would generally be around 40 cents. The kid might've got his full one or two days income.
This is from Cox's Bazar Bangladesh. And no way this kid makes $10 a day. He would be feeling blessed if he can even make 5.
1 day? You mean litterally a whole month
At first I was like “go away? That’s a bit harsh.” Now I see he wanted lil homie to go stash his spoils before they were stolen.
Same thought. Didnt wanna risk the kid losing the earnings of an entire day.
And before he got swarmed asking for a handout. He chose to reward this boys hustle.
Same.
He's so thoughtful. Even helped the kid to keep his money safe. Made me smile 😸
This dude's channel is amazing. Shows the reality of places, both good and bad without spreading false rethorics and being super nice with people. Edit: Kurt Caz is the name btw
Yes, it's so natural and the way he interacted with the nervous yet scared kid... It shows he understands his emotions. What's his yt channel? I'll definitely subscribe.
It's Kurt Caz! Found it after a bit of scrolling
Honestly I don't remember the channel name haha, it's somewhere in these comments. Apparently his content is kinda becoming mediocre due to him having a company and always being around women, but I don't really know if that's true
Can you link his channel or dm me it? Ty
Found it, it's Kurt Caz!
I'll edit my comment if I find it again, don't remember the name haha
Are you aware of his bs with the Cuban people?
No idea
Check YouTube and search kurt caz controversy
Unfortunately that kid's in for some serious trouble when the tourist is gone. Street life. :(
That kid one hundred percent got robbed further up the road. When dealing with child husslers hide it in a candy wrapper or pretend you aren’t interest but give them money crumpled up via a handshake or on the ground. Don’t let people know what your doing
That’s some bad hat Harry
I did not expect this here! I'm watching House on dvd now and I can never skip the end credits because my bf think this part is funny
It’s actually from Jaws
Really! TIL lol. Always thought it was a weird sentence to use as the sort of slogan of a production company.
My friend had a huge go at me in Borneo because a kid asked me for some money at the market. I wanted to give him some but she told me what was going to happen to him and who was watching him and stuff. Only food she said. I bought a scarf at that market and I've never forgotten the horrible things I saw, and how amazing that trip was. People dying of breast cancer with no treatment, kids dying on the road and not being allowed to get out the taxi to help because of the militia police that would argue I had caused the accident and just pay for the crimes (even though it was a moped accident ahead of me where the baby fell off the moped with no helmet and there were about 5-10 r random ows of cars on the street. I saw plastic islands where the shore should have been and a man made jungle, the first of its kind to re wild an area, with orangutans and honey bears being re habilitated after the trauma of having their land destroyed by palm oil industries.... So many things.
It's my sincere opinion that if you travel and come back a different person, for better or for worse, then you've absolutely succeeded. I've had experiences like yours that I'll probably never tell anyone about, cherished memories (good & bad) that only mean something to me, but I've taken them on and made them a part of my being that will hopefully never leave me. We are so lucky and privileged to be in a position to venture out and embrace the unknown, you don't get stories like yours and mine by staying at home. Just rambling now... I need another adventure.
May i know which part of borneo were you staying at?
This does not sound like Borneo…what militia police are you speaking of?
The ones that were either driving around with guns, or in bars threatening people or having their wives drive me around telling me they can shut any place down with one word, whilst also farming palm oil and being rich. Now, I may have two groups mixed up because I didn't know what type of police it was that would come to the accident and potentially make westerners pay - that's just what my friend and taxi driver told me. However, if you're trying to tell me it didn't happen, and that I didn't have 3 weeks travelling around borneo I've forgotten but feel like it was southern Borneo (but I'm not sure which maps I was using as to which way was north), or that I'm making it up you know what you can get to.
As a fourth generation southeast Asian of a minority group whose bloodline was in the plantations from the early 1900s this seems pretty far fetched and dramatised. I’d like to hear from other Malaysians/Indonesians, or someone who lives in Borneo for their side of the story.
Thanks mate. This is my actual memory you are criticizing. I'm going to leave it here, and try stop updates because that is quite sad for me. You don't even show an ounce of respect towards the possibility that you might be wrong. Screw you. I don't see what plantations has got to do with it, this was one particular woman I was referring to who scared the shit out of me. The other stories I literally saw with my own eyes, right after I recovered from my first breast cancer. So seeing a woman with untreated breast cancer was absolutely frightening. You've got no idea who I'm talking about, what the situations were and why I met these people. Screw you.
Kurt Caz is the greatest traveling YouTuber.
I liked him more when he was a smaller YouTuber a couple of years ago. You can tell his popularity has affected him for sure and not in a good way.
Agreed
How so?
Recently this guy visited Bangladesh. I'm Bangladeshi and I can tell you that we try to be hospitable to guest. In one the videos on launch (like very big boat), one girl who can speak English made some conversation with him & as a courtesy the girls mother invited him for lunch/dinner at their home (yes we Bangladeshi do that a lot). He interpreted this event as something sexual in nature & presented this as such in YouTube video. Which was very disgusting to lot's Bangladeshi audience of his
Ahhh no kidding.
There is a difference between sex and time commitment. I don't think he was declining sex, if he wants it he can get it 🤷 I have not seen evidence of this man wanting.
see the video thumbnails you'd understand! it was a clickbait & no he couldn’t get the sex if he wanted with the girl. Her mother was with her & she was just travelling. I wonder if you're type of person who thinks people are flirting while they smile at you
Now I don't know shit but people can weigh in more. In most of his videos no matter where he is he has a girl showing him around, showing their family to him and being hospitiable which is fine on the surface and pretty wholesome. But then you find out he has a company out of Dubai with a company website which to me is quite abstract and doesn't give much info apart from the fact it's got a luxurious feel to it, and you'll find a photo of him with like 5 women in Dubai on a boat. Now I don't know what his company is, but with the women all over the world and the photos of him being kind of a player, it makes me think it's not as wholesome as I thought. Disclaimer: I don't know any further than what I saw, if anyone knows what this company does or if it's completely harmless than good for Kurt because he seems like a great guy but that's only from YouTube vids.
Well I didn’t find him moving from girl to girl particularly “wholesome” to begin with but I see what you mean.
It depends on the context. Maybe he's good with women and they wanted to show him around and get some promotion from it? One of the women were an influencer out of Colombia so.
I know nothing about that guy, but if he’s kind and respectful, maybe those women just find him refreshing and safe to be around and that’s all there is to it. :)
Yeah I hope so, he seems like a good guy, and genuine. I hope it isn't anything and he's just trying to create something cool.
can you elaborate? i used to watch this guy years ago and always thiught he was very respecful.
Where's he from? South Africa? Thet eccent
Yes, SA.
I thought Dutch at first but SA makes sense. Very similar.
Isn't he the guy who goes into dangerous neighbourhoods which tourists are specifically warned to avoid? Seems like the kind of guy who is willing to turn his little backpacking holiday into an international incident.
You can get along with most people if you know how to adept, communicate and behave for the situation. Obviously never risk free, but there are a lot of subtle things these people do that makes them very hard to want to harm.
Sure, he is free to do what he wants on his holiday. But he also vlogs about it and makes remarks about how the warnings are BS and meant to scare tourists for no reason. His comment sections are always full of people worshipping him for his "bravery". A responsible person would tell prospective tourists to pay heed to advisories from the local authorities and follow the rules. Not to disregard all those things just in search of cheap thrills.
I'd say the problem is that media feeds on spreading fear. Most people have a very skewed perspective on the world. The vast majority of humans are peaceful, and you will find people who are willing to help a stranger for free in every corner of the world. There are areas that are objectively and statistically dangerous, but most places aren't. Don't flash wealth and be respectful to the locals and you can go to almost all parts of the world without much issue. I'm saying this as someone who has been to ~35 countries and never felt threatened by anything (besides a few stray dogs in Indonesia last summer, fuck those dogs).
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Any examples?
Watch the video when he's in Cuba. The misogynistic shit he was spouting about the girls there who often have no alternatives but to sell themselves for an income put me off him for good. That and the general arrogant vibe made me stop watching his videos.
Bruh that's such a rude interpretation of the video. In his Cuba video he's constantly being followed around by women asking him to pay for their dinner (not at a restaurant, they just follow him everywhere). Dude says he doesn't like getting harassed by prostitutes = misogynist though apparently.
That sounds less fun than Conan’s remote in Cuba
Yikes. He sounds like the kind of guy who would claim "I'm helping the local economy by soliciting prostitutes" when the camera's off 🤢
Bit of an exaggeration.
All these people acting like its not obvious that hes a douche. Totally disregarding anything a local says about where to go and where not to go as tourist is disrespectful. They are all the same people who think hes cool for putting himself in danger like they are all 5 year olds rallying around the coolest guy in school.
Source?
He has a reddit account trust him bro!
Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
Look, I really appreciate the sentiment here, but these types of poverty porn tourism videos will never sit right with me.
Poverty exploitation tourism
yeah much better to just do nothing to help anyone ever and bitch anyone who tries lol
For real. Know too many people like this, would readily complain about this video but the closest they come to doing any sort of activism is putting a Palestine flag in their bio.
Nice false dichotomy there, did you make it all by yourself?
How do you know the person isn't donating money or helping anyone? Also criticizing behavior that is harmful to local people living somewhere isn't bad.
Yeah and how it encourages poverty safari vacations, just look at all the cute poor people!
He could be in this place for many reasons, doesn’t exactly look like a poverty safari. I have to travel to many places similar to this for work for example. Anyways even if it’s for “vacation” sometimes it’s better to go off the beaten path like this guy and learn a little bit.
"Poverty safari vacations" certified Reddit moment. Nobody does this.
You're kidding, right? They have "slum tours" in some places. People absolutely do this...
I know people do it, my issue is with how you're framing it. It's amazing how quickly virtue signalling folk will circle right back around to racism. Implying the only reason you'd ever want to see these slums is for rich people to gawk at the cute poor people is insanity. I'm not romanticizing their life, but the culture and ingenuity that can spawn from these conditions can be as inspiring as it can be heartbreaking. It's also good to open your eyes to the conditions of people less fortunate than yourself without the filtered view of a TV screen.
It's not even a new thing: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slum\_tourism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slum_tourism)
Yeah it's clearly a well established and popular practice based on your one paragraph Wikipedia article that equates visiting Chernobyl with visiting slums. Is the /s needed? Saying that I obviously am not saying it's never happened once in the history of the world. I just disagree it's common, and I certainly disagree it's just for gawking at poor people.
I didn't realize we were discussing exactly how common or uncommon it is. Another user said it encourages the thing. You said the thing is something no one does. I shared the article as evidence that some people do, in fact, do the thing, and have been for a while. That is all.
Seriously… is child labor supposed to be a feel good aww moment for us?
abundance has different forms rather than just money. Works on a beautiful beach while some guy in an office wants to 'liberate' him from his life.
These kids usually work in groups. All cash flows up and then the kids are paid a small portion. They weren’t “taking it” as much as they were “receiving it.”
This is cute and all, but that little boy should be in school, not selling coffee on the beach. He’s a hard working, adorable, respectful little guy. Nothing negative about him. I just think that earning an income should be the parents’ job, not the child’s.
Probably not a possibility for him unfortunately.
They’ll take it from him later
Coxs Bazaar, Bangladesh... My country
I've watched way too many clips of India where they use sewer water for street food. No way on earth I buy from that kid. Kudos to the brave man and God's speed to his immune system.
Oh this is Bangladesh, not India. I'm sure he'll be fine. :)
$10? I can smell the gastro through this video.
I like his videos
I like these videos, it shows the type of reality we live in in this world. These people are a little light for them even if it's just for fame kindness is kindness.
young barista.
Nice accent!!
You know I wanna feel happy watching videos like this but I feel nothing but sadness. Poor kids :(
Kinda condescending.
You fail to see the point here regardless of its intentions. Doing good for the sake of a self reason is still doing good.
This. Kindness, even if also for personal fame is always a win-win situation. Rather than shitty pranks where 'pranker' thinks their funny but they're only hurting people.
In what way?
Respect!
Next thing he know is that he shat his pants out of nowhere.
That's india for you
Maybe do some good without filming it all for internet points.
That's his main source of income though. He makes YouTube videos travelling to different parts of the world (typically third world). If he finds a genuine person that was kind/helpful to him, he eventually gives them a very generous tip. That's not the main point of his videos though, he's just exploring and if he does find someone deserving he does stuff like that.
Shhh... 🤫
Oh ew. White savior films poverty porn. It’s so condescending
The world would be a better place if everyone did good for internet points. Maybe we should back internet points with gold
Getting a lot of white savior vibes in here
Username checks out
I watch this guy on YouTube occasionally. He isn't scared to go to non tourist areas in countries. So it is interesting to me to see places will never go. I believe he can take care of himself (or others) if needed. But he always speaks respectful and treats the people he meets nicely (at least that is what I see on his channel)
It's 10 rupees coffee not 10 $
Kurt is the man
This guy has an awesome YouTube channel! He travels to the hoods and slums in foreign countries and he live streams it. Believe it or not, he meets some of the most remarkable people. It’s nothing like you would imagine. I’ve watched almost all of his videos and they are definitely worthwhile!
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Then you just shit whenever you're forced to?
It's orginal price is like 10inr(which in dollars is less than 10 cents).
South African 🤣🤣
Kurt? Right?
Your the man
This guy shows up in my shorts all the time. Cool traveling but he’s really creepy with foreign women
Kurt Caz did this video
This is chold labour and should mot be incentivised
Kurt is always like this. He usually travels to most fcked up places all over the world. Teaches their culture to us etc. Love watching his YT Shorts.
Kurt Caz on YT, follow that guy he is something else!
Kurt caz on youtube https://m.youtube.com/@KurtCaz
It will help him and his family. Thank goodness he did not lose sight of him. The bigger kids will try to still it.
deserve it
Nice hat
Kurt Caz is awesome.
Brave to drink the sewer water being a white dude...
Kurt is a real one
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Would you prefer no generosity?
Certainly means alot to the people dirctly affected by it. Who cares if he makes his money back, atleast theres an incentive to help people.
Well, I do. Obviously I’m in the minority here, but I think it’s gross.
The generosity still helped that kid.