You may have seen the screeching online about the two German teenage girls who were denied entry, detained, and deported in Hawaii. The girls posted their own side of things on r/backpackers. And as one person on Reddit noted, they did basically everything they could to raise red flags to immigration:
Basically they only booked for a few days out of their planned trip, with the intention of booking additional as needed. However, they didn’t have the funds on them or something (it’s not clear, they were just asked about how they were going to pay) and when asked how they’ll cover the expense they said they work through virtual employment internationally. They also didn’t have a return flight/connecting flights within the US booked, but they did have an onward flight to Asia booked. This flagged them as coming to the country to work illegally and they were deported as a result.
But of course leftists on Reddit and X are still crying about it.
backpackers are really some of the worst tourists you can get
Are the like hippies that think rules shouldn’t exist and everyone is secretly best friends and bad people don’t real?
Yes, born into well off families ($1-10 million range) live in gated communities and believe everyone deep down are good people. These are the people that go and backpack the most dangerous places in the world to prove a point only for them to prove another point entirely.
I don't know why people go backpacking in foreign countries. I do backpacking in the actual wilderness because I'm not a pussy
My newlywed cousin and her husband spent 2 years backpacking in New Zealand for their honeymoon. They planned for 1 year, but it was too much fun!
This was back in the 80's, and yes they had ALL their permits and paperwork in order. They'd work odd jobs, wash dishes, shovel dirt, you name it. Sometimes trade work for lodgings & so forth.
She went on to be an ER doctor back in Canada... he raised the kids :>