Book Description

Michael Brein’s Travel Tales Monthly Bookazine Issue No. 8 for February 2015 contains among the best travel stories from Michael’s huge collection of about 10,000 travel tales that he has gathered in interviews with nearly 1,750 world travelers and adventurers during his four decades of travel to more than 125 countries throughout the world. There's not a one of us who hasn't been at some time or other in his or her travel life conned, scammed or hasn't fallen victim in one form or another to some sort of clever ruse or rip off, often perpetrated on unknowing travelers who are well-intentioned, sometimes naive, and often traveling ‘on automatic,’ i.e., not paying close attention to what is going on. Though not usually quite as stark as pick pocketing or out-right theft, per se, these are ‘softer,’ more subtle, and oft, somewhat clever schemes pulled off on unwary travelers. Unfortunately, travel today for anyone, and particularly for relatively naive, younger and inexperienced travelers, has increasing challenges, what with the growing numbers of people relegated to begging, scheming, thieving, and having to do whatever they need to do to survive and get by. All too often, it has just about become almost the norm for people of all persuasions and varieties to try to somehow dispossess unknowing and unsuspecting foreign travelers of their money, passports, personal possessions and effects, and travel accouterments, simply because it's the easiest way for them to get by. It's often easier to steal than to work. And work overseas is not always easy to come by for those who want or need it. And not only are there the usual local legions of pick pockets, thieves, and muggers on the prowl to contend with, that are looking for victims, there are plenty of other fellow travelers guilty of doing such things as well. Often travelers find themselves in difficult and sometimes dire situations, such as running out of money, getting into trouble, contending with being far away from home, maybe even getting strung out on drugs, or just having difficulty surviving. Some of these travelers, as a result, find themselves succumbing to and joining the ranks of con artists and scammers who prey on other travelers and sometimes even the locals. Finally, who has not at one time or another in one's travel life tried to see what they can get away with—perhaps trying to ‘get something for nothing!’ Being far away from home and not normally under the usual familial or social constraints, it is no wonder that there's often a temptation to ‘get away with things’ that one would not normally try at home, but which the more lax foreign environment gives more free rein to. In fact, it is often sometimes simply ‘good sport’ to see what one can get away with without getting caught. Introduction to Travel Tales of Cons, Scams and Other Rip Offs. Part 1 Travel Tales of Cons, Scams and Other Rip Offs is divided into two parts simply because there is so much material. Part 1 appears here in the current Travel Tales Monthly issue No. 8 Feb 2015 and serves as a general introduction to this subject matter. Part 2 The unabridged, expanded forthcoming ebook Travel Tales of Cons, Scams and Other Rip Offs, part of The Travel Psychologist Travel Tales Series, is a larger volume and includes both Parts 1 and 2. Young inexperienced and naive travelers, in particular, and the rest of us, in general, often have a tendency to trust others a little too easily and too quickly. And this is what can get us into trouble. Those who will prey upon us with all sorts of cons, scams, and schemes are often very well-practiced and fairly expert at relieving us from our money, our important papers as well as our important travel things. I have heard hundreds of tales of the innocent as well as the fairly savvy traveler falling victim to an untold number of different cons and scams. There's no doubt in my mind that we can benefit a lot by simply reading and thinking about the accounts of others who have had these bad, unfortunate things happen to them. Mostly your travels will be safe without incident, but bad things, though rare, can happen to anyone at almost any turn along the way. I hope these things don't happen to you, but if they do, I sincerely hope that the travel tales of cons, scams, and ripoffs that appear in these pages will have been helpful to you in some way.