My wife and I recently flew to New Zealand from London, we opted to avoid a transit via the US. Not just because of the political situation in the country, which isn't ideal, but because our bags wouldn't be checked all the way through. Having to offload our bags and re-check them in either JFK or LAX is a huge pain – travelling via China, Singapore or any of the middle eastern countries is so much more convenient in comparison.
Last time I did this through LAX (flying onwards to Toronto) it was pretty minimal. You pick up your bag, go through immigration, then on the way out of there drop your bag off with an airline agent and on it goes to your destination.
Before the latest incarnation of Trumpistan though.
It's still a pain; and what do you do if your bag and/or the inbound flight are late? Do you leave it behind or wait and risk missing the connection? And of course ~no other countries do that and nothing bad happens.
Musk should have gone after TSA et al first, he could have dismantled the entire rest of the government on the goodwill from that :)
If I didn't live here I wouldn't visit the US either even before all this recent crap. High crime rates, high poverty rates, poor education, expensive, and the 5th highest incarceration rate in the world on par with Turkmenistan and Brazil. 1.5% of the US population is either in prison or on probation and a short step away from prison.
Comparing the US with Brazil, especially with respect to some violence-adjacent statistic, is absurd in a way I don't think anybody from anywhere aside from perhaps South Africa could grasp big is your privilege.
Both Brazil and the US are huge and extremely diverse countries. On both you can see extremes of luxury and poverty. On both you will see violence and police corruption. In the case of the US, it's more heartbreaking because it's a rich country, and you shouldn't see people living on the streets of a place like San Francisco.
There are too many things that "shouldn't" in the US that just are and that is what makes me avoid visiting as often as I once did. The current descent into a quasi-fascist state isn't enticing either.
Brazil, on the other hand, is a poor country with rich pockets (chances are we both grew up in one), and poverty is kind of expected and hard to avoid. At least there (I don't live in Brazil anymore) we see a government dedicated to reducing economic inequality. I hope they succeed.
In the meantime, I guess I'll learn some basic Mandarin and spend more time in China. It's an interesting country that's now opening up to the world and with a lot of new things to be discovered by those who grew up elsewhere.
Yeah, take it from me, NYC and Boston are far more relaxed and friendly than Cape Town for walking or driving around.
But I find the airport border security in CPT Airport much more pleasant. The worst that happens is that they sometimes go through your stuff thoroughly, hoping to ding you some money for "importing" e.g. that second bottle of booze.
In all of these cities, there is crime and violence. Less so in NYC and Boston. In all of them, there are safer places and times, and less safe areas. If you know what they are.
You can't say "USA crime and poverty rates are terrible, therefore Manhattan will be very dangerous" - it just doesn't work that way.
I wouldn't want to roll the dice on being seized at the border by ICE for arbitrary and capricious reasons, detained and/or disappeared, to maybe get sent back to my country of origin.
Because that is a thing that can happen now. If I didn't already live here, I wouldn't come here for any reason.
In Canadian burning man discussion groups, consensus is pretty much that no one is going this year due to the tariff war (well that and criticism of the nonprofit that organizes it) . Out of hundreds who chimed in on the discussion threads, only one said they'd still go this year.
Many people I know have also cancelled travel plans and bookings. There are definitely some undeniable changes in how we're spedning our vacation time.
I guess you include the claims of "Canada is not a legitimate country" and "We will annex you" in the tariff war bracket. Those are the most pointed and serious policies that seem to have hurt the Canada-US relations the most. I think we need to mention them separately, so that it's understood by everyone.
Even if you could organize one with space for 100,000 people, it wouldn't be the same. For one, due to fire bans an effigy burn would be unlikely. And it wouldn't be in the desert which is a big part of it.
I'm not at all against the idea of another 7-day burn with a different name as an alternative to burning man though. Host it in BC where drugs are decriminalized and it'll probably be a lot safer for people too (in terms of legal repercussions).
Well, given Burning Man has grown so big that it is becoming a turn-off for some, and the chaos of people getting stuck for days last year (or was it the year before that), I wonder if the real reason for people deciding to not go this time is really tariff wars, or if that is more of a scapegoat.
"Airline travel between Canada and the US is “collapsing” amid Donald Trump’s tariff war, with flight bookings between the two countries down by over 70%, newly released data suggests."
A friend of mine from Europe was very determined to visit the US this year, travelling through several states, meeting up with me along the way. He would have spent a lot of money here, but now that is not going to happen. Now there is no way he will travel here due to the hostility demonstrated by the current administration. I agree with his decision, he should stay away or risk being incarcerated because of an overzealous immigration gestapo, as has already happened to at least one European tourist. The US has gone mad, with a mad king that seems to hate everyone and everything as well as his deplorable minions.
I would venture a guess that many Europeans share a common, predictable and negative view of what's happening in the states these days, unless they're something like a hardcore Orban or Le Pen supporter.
Entities within entities. I don't think it matters and I don't think it means that the person who wrote it doesn't know or care about the finer details of 'Europe' (I'm from "Europe" myself..)
I could have named the country but I'd rather not provide those details. I'm not sure why you chose to respond to that specific part of my comment, it's rather pointless.
My girlfriend wanted to visit the US once in her life, but we decided to cancel the plans due to the current uncertainty.
A German tattoo artist was detained because she had her work equipment with her. What will happen when I bring my phone and laptop as an IT guy?
IIrc the discussion about this (tattoo) topic made it apparent that, that artist was likely working in the USA before (without permit) and planned to do so again, and had posted so in the web.
But myself I wouldn't go to the USA right now as well. In the case that anything goes wrong, there is likely so much chaos in all the agencies right now, the danger of error is just very high and impact could be catastrophic.
You should always bring a burner device when traveling to a foreign country, US or otherwise
The border patrol can effectively do anything they want, for any reason. If they ask you to unlock your devices, do it. Let them take it away to be imaged. There will be nothing of value on a burner device.
1password has a travel mode which will remove vaults from your devices. Take this one step further and remove everything unnecessary for travel from your devices
I've travelled to 50+ countries and never considered bringing a burner device. This recent US thing of of checking your devices or social media posts and turning back people with wrongthink is kind of novel.
Given that there are precedents of people being detained (for weeks!) for no apparent reason, I assume that the parent is scared that it could happen to them.
A French citizen was denied entry because they found messages criticising Trump on his phone/computer. Not detained for weeks, but could well have been for all we know.
If you come here then, as a foreigner with no rights that will be respected by the current government, you can be snatched right off the street and deported to a prison in a country that's foreign to you.
I have guidance from my company to clear everything from my laptop and mobile when passing those borders. Funny thing is we don't do anything suspicious and its a large US company. They just don't want the liability of client data being copied by an trackable gov process...
Visiting New York for me now would be like a Jew going on holiday in Germany in 1938.
Ultimately my money would be going to a Christian nationalist regime and I have no illusions about what kind of "freedom" the US have in store for the world.
Readit News
Before the latest incarnation of Trumpistan though.
Musk should have gone after TSA et al first, he could have dismantled the entire rest of the government on the goodwill from that :)
Comparing the US with Brazil, especially with respect to some violence-adjacent statistic, is absurd in a way I don't think anybody from anywhere aside from perhaps South Africa could grasp big is your privilege.
There are too many things that "shouldn't" in the US that just are and that is what makes me avoid visiting as often as I once did. The current descent into a quasi-fascist state isn't enticing either.
Brazil, on the other hand, is a poor country with rich pockets (chances are we both grew up in one), and poverty is kind of expected and hard to avoid. At least there (I don't live in Brazil anymore) we see a government dedicated to reducing economic inequality. I hope they succeed.
In the meantime, I guess I'll learn some basic Mandarin and spend more time in China. It's an interesting country that's now opening up to the world and with a lot of new things to be discovered by those who grew up elsewhere.
But I find the airport border security in CPT Airport much more pleasant. The worst that happens is that they sometimes go through your stuff thoroughly, hoping to ding you some money for "importing" e.g. that second bottle of booze.
In all of these cities, there is crime and violence. Less so in NYC and Boston. In all of them, there are safer places and times, and less safe areas. If you know what they are.
You can't say "USA crime and poverty rates are terrible, therefore Manhattan will be very dangerous" - it just doesn't work that way.
E.g., if I had friends in the US, or I wanted to see Yosemite National Park, why would the education system matter?
Because that is a thing that can happen now. If I didn't already live here, I wouldn't come here for any reason.
Deleted Comment
Dead Comment
Many people I know have also cancelled travel plans and bookings. There are definitely some undeniable changes in how we're spedning our vacation time.
Even if you could organize one with space for 100,000 people, it wouldn't be the same. For one, due to fire bans an effigy burn would be unlikely. And it wouldn't be in the desert which is a big part of it.
I'm not at all against the idea of another 7-day burn with a different name as an alternative to burning man though. Host it in BC where drugs are decriminalized and it'll probably be a lot safer for people too (in terms of legal repercussions).
Deleted Comment
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/27/canada-us-flig...
"Airline travel between Canada and the US is “collapsing” amid Donald Trump’s tariff war, with flight bookings between the two countries down by over 70%, newly released data suggests."
Always reminds me how Europe is viewed as a single entity (I guess minus Ireland and England, though)
But myself I wouldn't go to the USA right now as well. In the case that anything goes wrong, there is likely so much chaos in all the agencies right now, the danger of error is just very high and impact could be catastrophic.
Nothing weirder than normal noted in FL except a Cyber truck with "Thank you Elon" taped out on the back panel!
The border patrol can effectively do anything they want, for any reason. If they ask you to unlock your devices, do it. Let them take it away to be imaged. There will be nothing of value on a burner device.
1password has a travel mode which will remove vaults from your devices. Take this one step further and remove everything unnecessary for travel from your devices
If you refuse then they won’t let you in, and you will be banned from ever returning
https://www.eff.org/issues/travel-screening
A French citizen was denied entry because they found messages criticising Trump on his phone/computer. Not detained for weeks, but could well have been for all we know.
Stay the hell away, it's literally 1939 here.
Ultimately my money would be going to a Christian nationalist regime and I have no illusions about what kind of "freedom" the US have in store for the world.