Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/07/31/here-are-the-places-you-can-tr.html
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I was gonna say Mexico should prohibit US citizens from entering the country and then I forgot that many US citizens originate from Mexico…
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Short list.
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Brazil…
On a per population basis you are making quick ground on the US.
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Oh, god, don’t be stupid Tunisia!
Also, there’s a “North” Macedonia now?
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Japan is letting people from Hawaii visit so there’s that.
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A trademark dispute with Greece made Macedonia change its name to North Macedonia in 2019.
(I’m being snarky but it’s pretty close to the truth.)
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When I worked in TV news back in the 1990s, every single time we mentioned any variation of the word Macedonia we got irate calls from one faction or another about the name. Change it to satisfy one group and another group would call in to complain about that. Rinse and repeat.
It was real PFJ vs JPF nonsense. Between that and the constant wars, I facetiously suggested we change the stylebook to refer to the people of the entire region as generic “Balkans” to reflect their common, ethnicity- and nationality-transcending trait of holding eternal grudges over stupid and petty and near-forgotten matters.
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I can’t help but think (whether it’s true or not) that Mexico is allowing US citizens to enter to show how to take the moral high road when dealing with Donald Trump and his border wall.
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I’d be interested in seeing a similar open travel/restricted travel map for other countries (eg, Sweden, China).
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Interesting that the US seems to be on the verge of joining the list of, as the current occupant of the White House says, “shithole countries” one way or another. /s
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My feeling is Lopez got Zelensky’d and that’s one of the reasons there’s such a divide between the Federal response and the Mexican presidents public statements.
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That’s not entirely accurate. British Columbia (part of Canada) will allow US citizens in under very specific requirements and new, tougher restrictions. Essentially you need to be travelling to Alaska, wear a decal on your car, and report to the government within a certain time frame at the Alaskan border. This was not always so strict, but a lot of people were claiming “going to Alaska” then going camping or other things.
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Pretty clear to me?
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The idea that some countries just require a cash deposit is fascinating.
There are three categories on that map: “no restrictions”, “some restrictions” and “closed”. Canada is listed as “closed” when it should not be.
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Ah, indeed you are correct. I misunderstood what you were indicating was “incorrect” in the OP.
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That area is prime real estate. It’s a fertile crossroads, so it has many ethnicities and religions, and it has historically been comparatively wealthy. Because of these factors–and also imperialism of one sort or another – the Balkans have had near constant warfare for at least a 1,000 years. And in the '90s the region was in the midst of a genocidal war, and it was struggling with the collapse of its former Communist government.
Maybe the people calling up about how their home, or the home of their grandparents/parents, was labelled in the news seemed like idiots. But those little labels can be so very consequential. They often are read as tacit support for one faction or the other, and that can make a real difference to people’s lives and livelihoods.
I feel sort of stupid typing this, because it’s all pretty obvious. But it’s easy to forget that comedy sketches about PFJ/JPF are funny because the stakes are low for the people laughing. I like Monty Python, but at times they’re a bit too smug, privileged, and cynical. We all have dark moments.
They just started a trial for one of the guys behind the genocide back in the '90s.
[edit to fix a typo]
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That degree of freedom seems well earned.
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It’s worth noting that this is not actually a list of places you can travel with a US passport, it’s a list of places you can travel coming from the USA. Americans traveling from, say, Japan to Germany are not subject to any more restrictions than anyone else going from Japan to Germany.
Source: I am an American who (for work reasons) lives in Japan and Germany, splitting my time between the two. Currently my biggest concern is that Japan is screwing things up badly enough that Germany won’t let me in when I go back in a month, since the EU rules are in the context of the infection rates in the country you’re coming from.
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