Let’s face it – we all like to have a drink and sometimes we like to party extra hard when we experience the excitement of a new destination. Unfortunately there are a few downsides to getting blotto in Absurdistan. Besides the obvious safety concerns, there can be problems with local etiquette, getting in trouble with the law or just generally making an ass of yourself. These are the rules you really should consider when you’re about to hit the town a little hard.
Don’t Carry More Than You’re Willing to Lose – If you’re going to get robbed or simply drop something in the street or otherwise lose it, it will probably happen while you are pissed. When you’re getting ready for the evening (or perhaps breakfast for some of you) then only take with you what you can afford to lose. For most of us that means leaving the passport and the Rolex in the hotel safe.
Never Fight With the Locals – The thing about us pampered Westerners is that we have a rose coloured view of fighting. Queensbury Rules and all that. In a lot of the places that we Dark Nomads travel, the locals have no such compunctions. A fist fight is as good as a knife fight is as good as a gun fight in many places of the world. For example, Leeds football fans, who were used to nice polite football hooliganism, found out the hard way in Turkey that Galatasaray fans were just as happy to start killing them. Don’t find this out the hard way.
Tell Someone Where You’re Going – It’s a pretty basic safety measure, but just leave a voicemail with a friend or drop someone an email telling them you’re going out and you’ll contact them in the morning. That way at least the police will have a lead to track down your decomposing body.
Don’t Get Lost – Seems pretty simple, but it’s easy to get all turned around in new places and hemispheres. I usually try to find one of those free little tourist maps if there is one available and just put it in my back pocket. But nothing is worse than stumbling out of some dingy bar in the wee hours with no idea where you are and no taxis to hail.
Know the Local Scams – If you’re going to get scammed then you’re going to be making it a hell of a lot easier for scammers when you’re pissed. If you know the local scams you will be able to avoid them more easily. For example, you probably don’t want to get into an unregistered taxi in Lima when you’re drunk as they have a nasty habit of robbing tourists and sometimes worse. Oh, and that really hot girl who loves your drunk, overweight, bad breathed self – well just don’t go there.
Don’t Break the Law – A drunk foreigner breaking the law is at the very bottom of the food chain when it comes to the police departments of the world. If you act like a tool and start breaking the law, you will pay one way or another. And no, you don’t get a free lawyer and you don’t get a phone call.
Never Drink French Beer – That stuff is just piss.
Enough said.
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[...] You Got Drunk – When you’re drunk, you make poor decisions. When you’re drunk, bad guys know that you will make poor decisions. We’re not saying don’t get drunk, but you do need to be prepared when you get drunk overseas. [...]
I might be too radical, but getting drunk is a total lost of dignity.
Some people like a little lack of dignity every now and then!