Does it get uncomfortable at the ports of poor countries?

[phinz]

St. Thomas is part of the United States of America, which is not a poor country.

Thanks for stating the obvious, though my comment was more towards the "Somebody accosted me and dragged me by the arm" vein. That said, the USVI crime rate is considered high or very high in most categories. Puerto Rico is part of the United States of America as well and their crime rate in most categories is very high, so there's that... Many of their crime statistics per capita are considered to be higher than the stats for Jamaica.

 

[Uncleromulus]

I'm going to leave this here.....
I find it most interesting that many Americans, seem to have painted pictures in their heads about the Bahamas or other similar tropical destinations, of nothing more than pina coladas, white sandy beaches and palm trees. Many seem to forget that actual people live in these countries. People that deal with the same issues as many Americans and have societies with the same social ills as many American cities. I am sure we would all love to live in a perfect world free of beggers, scammers, and criminals and their heinous crimes, but sadly that is not the world we live in.

True--and when folks are on a hard earned and costly vacation they want to get away from all that--not deal with MORE of it.
At least that's how I look at it.
And all the travel ads show are white sandy beaches and smiling locals..which I guess is understandable.

 

[purfectlyweird]

I live in Charleston so I know all about how the tourist industry works. They never notice all the bad things that happen in my city but they do happen. Everyone doesn't care to be happy or helpful to tourist. You're just a dollar sign to most.

 

[tlprice]

You had a large homeless population in Colorado long before your state legalized marijuana.

It has gotten much worse. The shelters are all completely full and overcrowded. There are not enough services available for all of the homeless and they have all just spilled over into and filled up many of the parks now. I'm not trying to be negative. Just stating a fact.

 

[JW9DVC]

This sort of stuff happens here in the United States of America as well. It's become a normal in many states. Los Angeles is very bad and very dangerous depending on where you go.

Travel in groups and you will be fine. Carry small amounts of cash and always have a spare credit card and your passport in the safe. Copies of drivers license in your safe. Always keep money separate just in case on your person.

A simple no works very well.

JW