Please keep in mind that the impressions posted here are often subjective and that, among other things, people's different circumstances play a large role in their perception of other people's lives.
Also, please use words that do not promote hatred when posting.
For example, statements such as "[city] is like this because people from [origin] live there" should be avoided. The social circumstances of a city/district
etc. can be emphasized without mentioning the origin of the inhabitants. Mentioning it does not change anything and, as already mentioned, circumstances are often perceived subjectively according to one's own world view.
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I grew up right on the Switzerland/Liechtenstein border. There's a small sign on the bridge, other than that you'd barely know you've crossed an international border.
But I've travelled a fair bit and have come across some really horrible ones. Some of the worst ones have been:
- Spain/Morocco - chaotic, very harsh border guards, massive queues.
- USA/Mexico - Getting into Mexico is super easy. Getting back into the US is hell.
- Vietnam/Laos - Got turned away at two border crossings before I finally got across on the third one after doing an 800km detour on my bicycle.
- Thailand/Cambodia and Cambodia/Vietnam - Chaotic and practically impossible to cross without lots of bribing officials.
- Montenegro/Croatia - Very harsh and slow border guards. Schedule several hours for that crossing.
- Mongolia/Soviet Union - Why do one border check when you can do three or four and make sure everyone spends hours there, unpacking and repacking their luggage several times.
- Romania/Moldova - Chaotic, unpredictable and with some absolutely nonsensical rules you need to follow to be able to cross the border.
- Nigeria - Your border crossing experience depends entirely on the current mood of the border guard.
I feel really sorry for the people who have to make any of these border crossings daily for work.
I live in Tijuana, Baja California, México which border San Diego, California, United States.
To cross de border you have to make a line, depending on the Time of the day, the day itself and if you are crossing by car or walking it can take minutes to hours. After the line you need to pass an inspection, the customs official ask you things like where are you going, how many days will you stay in the U.S, what are you bringing from México; to more complex questions like where you work, your address in México. They can inspect your vehicle, your belongings, your cellphone even.
If you pass the inspection they let you pass and you just have to put your stuff in a X-Ray machine.
I live not far from Polish-Czech border. Here's how the border crossing looks:
https://preview.redd.it/qcldc7b3z99d1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c1f838a34c69a166d0f40f7be5b10a1300b2678f
Well, I live on an isolated, desolate rock in the middle of nowhere (Iceland), so we don't exactly have borders. But you can take your car on a ferry to mainland Europe tho. Just super expensive. On my bucket list to try that tho
Yeah if you want to take the ferry to Denmark it's about 600 euros if you take a small compact car. Meanwhile you can often find flights from here to Denmark for 50-150 euros
Central Asian border crossings can vary from time to time in how they function. Corruption is better in every border than it was a decade ago, but paying bribes is still common. Occasionally conflicts happen which lead to borders being closed for some period of time. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan borders were closed for about 3 years and only recently reopened. During the time of Karimov, Uzbekistan had extremely strict border control for everybody (no longer the case).
Personally, I have not had any issues or been asked for bribes using the borders except when I wanted to go to Afghanistan from Termez, Uzbekistan. Many people go back and forth constantly, every few weeks.
There is also the border with China (Xinjiang) which has gone through a similar process of being strictly closed to once again being open now.
I used to live in the US state of Washington and would go up to Vancouver, Canada a lot. Crossing the border could take minutes or up to an hour depending on traffic. Typically, going into Canada they ask you a few questions and then you're on your way. When returning to the US, more or less the same thing, but the US border patrol seems bit more strict and will ask you a bit more questions. And that's coming from a US citizen. I get what they're doing, but I'm literally a US citizen coming home, chill out.
That’s funny, because the Canadian border patrol would ask me a few questions, but I never felt like it was an inquisition. Though one time, a Canadian border officer asked me why my wife’s last name wasn’t the same as mine, and I was like uh because it’s the 21st century? I guess it really depends on the individual and what kind of day they’re having.
I live in New York, very close to the U.S./Canada border. Once I went to Canada to go to Ikea. I spent like $700 and was paranoid they'd charge me duty. Here I was, with a car full of Ikea purchases, and the Canadian border agents didn't even ask for my receipt!
I've heard that in many places, they conduct basic security checks. The reason I specifically mentioned the Himalayan region is because of a place called Jhulaghat, where half of the market is in India and the other half in Nepal, divided by a river. They are connected by a very old wooden bridge that simply says 'Welcome to Nepal'. Many local Nepali people also use this bridge daily to commute to nearby Indian villages for work.
Edit: This was like 10-15 years ago. Things might have changed now.
Edit1: The place has changed a lot from what I saw when I was there haha. https://maps.app.goo.gl/91aDwq4Hnod1WeKi6
I live close to the Italian-Swiss custom of Bizzarrone and unless the border is patrolled for some reasons, you practically just drive in and you're on the other side.
Same with the other bordering countries since we're all Schengen de iure or de facto.
Living in Italy, we usually cross borders quite easily in Europe. The only weird experience I had was when I had to cross the border between Slovenia and Croatia and Google maps made me climb a super steep hill on a dirt road that was supposed to get me to Croatia. I thought I was just crossing a normal border because everything is quite relaxed in the Schengen area. However, I found myself in front of a giant gate covered in barbed wire.
The actual border was not far from there but I had to turn around and take a parallel road that was paved and safe 😂
I found out after a bit of research that the mountain road that connected the two nations was mostly used by farmers but human traffickers found out about it and people would smuggle illegal immigrants using it. The guy responsible for all of this was Italian 💀
Swede here - crossing the border to Norway we didn’t even have to stop, just a nod from the customs dude as we drove past.
Fun fact, in Haparanda on the Sweden/Finland border there is a golf course with 9 holes on each side. As a Swede you have to tee-off from the Finnish side and finish ‘at home’ and vice versa for Finns.
You can with all honesty tell people you shanked your tee shot into another country….
It's rather funny from Polish perspective, because on one hand you have the Schengen area countries so basically no borders, and on the other hand you have Russia, which is almost impossible to enter, Belarus which no thinking person with a functioning brain should enter, and Ukraine which is at war with the two in question so lol
singapore here. if i cross the border/causeway bridge i'll end up in malaysia, specifically the city Johor Bahru.
many singaporeans head there for a short day trip/weekend getaway. the exchange rate between singapore dollars and malaysian ringgit is kinda crazy at the moment, so many locals are flocking there to get their groceries, eat at nice cafes, and even pump some petrol.
you can get there by bus, car, or even a short 2 minute train ride, but during busy periods (weekends, for example) the roads going in there get quite congested and you'd have to queue for some time to get your passport stamped.
i've been there a handful of times with both friends and family. it's quite fun, but i'd imagine as a malaysian it's quite crazy with the inflated prices and all.
Well, I don't think I'd go out of my way in crossing boarders. The ones I know are pretty nice people. ;)
But, if you're talking about international **borders**... that's also cool. I live in a Schengen country, so I can just travel all I want within the Schengen area.
My mother's hometown is Dandong, a city on China-North Korea border, probably one of the strictest borders in this world.
There're 2 bridges on Yalu river. One got destroyed during Korea civil war, and another new one built right next to it. It's still in use, although I didn't see anyone passing during my visit.
At night you can see one side full of lights and other side in total darkness. Even the bridge too, only Chinese half has lights on it.
The official border is the center line of Yalu river. However sometimes when Chinese tourist boats got to the other side of river, nothing happens if it doesn't reach the land.
It's easier for Chinese citizens to apply for NK visa than from other countries, but I didn't dare to do that.
Thank you for sharing! How do you imagine North Korea to be? And if you say you don't dare, what is it which makes you feel insecure? (it's probably a lot, I'm just curious for your pov)
It’s like China in the 60s, famine, socialism and very poor. According to the newly built buildings in Sinuiju maybe they have enough food now. But rumors around are pretty insane, that NK people who leave may get prisoned or shot after repatriation.
I also heard about two tourists who spoke some bad things about Kim Jong Un privately in the hotel, got a serious diarrhea for a week while others in the group didn’t. And they don’t have internet there(only available in certain hotels I think), impossible to contact family and friends back home. Once I went hiking in the mountains without signal already worried them a lot.
Tbh there’s not much to see either. Only certain areas are available for tourists. You’ll never know how people in other places live.
Thank you! Interesting train of thought. Yes, it doesn't sound like a place where someone would go to voluntarily. I was wondering if they are a bit nicer to Chinese people than to others since they are 100% dependent on China but obviously they're not 💀
We got a pretty laid back terrestrial border crossing too. Depending on the season and the crossing point, the waiting time can vary, but personally I never had to wait more than 30 minutes.
However, if you're a truck driver.... well, that's a different story. Waiting times can be measured in days.
Hopefully we can join Schengen soon. It became much simpler after we joined it by air and sea. Basically, any flight to a Schengen state is like a domestic flight nowadays.
The border I cross the most is between Finland and Estonia in the Baltic Sea. Both are Schengen countries so usually there isn’t passport control (there may be in some unusual circumstances), usually you just walk off the ferry past some customs officials/dogs. I’m not actually sure of the Estonian side but in Helsinki there’s usually a few people just standing in a corner who will check people they deem suspicious. I remember going to Estonia before it was an EU member and it always took a long time, though it was actually probably more like an hour at most.
I'm in the south of Spain. From here you can hop on a ferry to Morocco without much hassle (people from Spain only need to fill out a simple form on board and that's it). We can drive to Gibraltar, no hassle either, just show your passport. And we can go to France, no gate, no inspection, but it takes a long drive (9-10 hours) to get there.
I live in the Netherlands, about 30min drive from the border with Germany. Most people here get their groceries and fuel in Germany because it's cheaper.
There are lots of roads crossing the border, some highways but also lots of small roads and even footpaths and cycling paths. The main roads have signs announcing that you're entering a different country, and the larger roads also have signs informing you about the speed limits of different roads in the country you're entering. In some places there are still old buildings that used to be border checkpoints, they're just sitting there abandoned or they've been repurposed for something else.
It's happened several times that I plotted the shortest route from one place near the border to the other and the app sent me through Germany. It's easy to cross the border without noticing, especially on the smaller roads. The only thing that can be difficult is keeping track of how fast you're allowed to go.
This is the same throughout most of Europe. I love taking holidays by car or campervan, because you can just drive in a direction you like and visit the countries you like, without having to do a lot of planning and preparing beforehand.
Right before the pandemic, I travelled by bus from Spain to Germany, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and a bunch of other countries.
Nothing happens. However, those who forget turning off Roaming when entering Switzerland might have to donate a kidney to pay off for the surprise phone bill they are going to get.
I wouldn't be returning home anytime soon if I crossed the border.
I live in Paju South Korea, just below the DMZ. I did go apple picking in the DMZ though, which was nice.
*Borders
Great Britain is an island comprising England, Scotland and Wales. I’ve crossed all borders many times but as we’re all part of the United Kingdom, the only acknowledgment is a ‘Welcome to…’ sign. I do like that crossing over to Wales, signs and road markings become bilingual in English / Welsh eg with *SLOW* and *ARAF* painted on the roads.
I’m from Australia so we only really have State borders and these are really only for geographic purposes. I live on the border of New South Wales and Victoria and during Covid, there were some very strict requirements to cross the border (as in many other parts of the country/world) but now it’s as if there are no borders (at least physically)
I’m American. The only time I even had to consider our border was when my family drove from Virginia to Quebec when I was a kid. Otherwise all the border crossings I’ve been involved in have been on planes and cruise ships.
I did do a lengthy trip to Europe about 20 years ago, but that was mostly in Schengen Area countries (which were less extensive at the time - we had to show our passports to get into the Czech Republic and Hungary, which are open now.
Living in the Schengen area makes it very easy. I live 30 minutes away by car form the border with Spain and I already crossed it by train, by car and walking. Nothing too exciting, just some signs saying that you're entering a different country.
Lived some time in France and went to Luxembourg very often. I noticed that I was crossing when my phone rang with a sms saying that I was in another country. Just that!
edit: typos
Living in Germany 25km from the Czech border it is very common for people to cross, fuel up, buy cheaper cigarettes, alcohol, fashion and much more.
At roads crossing the border you will have 3-4 police officers on the German side mostly just waving cars through that cross back into Germany. They only pull out some every now and again who look suspicious to them or they've run the plates and theres somthing that came up.
Crossed into the Czech Republic and back about 20 times now and always got waved through.
Generally at border crossings and within 50km of a border crossing like where I live police can pull you over without having to have a reason. It's a Allgemeine Verkehrskontrolle (general traffic stop) but if you drive a car with local plates that almost never happens.
I live on mainland Britain so I never have to cross a land border... Unless you count the England / Wales border which is like having no border at all. It's just a sign on the road which is easy to miss.
I regularly take the ferry to Ireland though to visit family every year, but again there's not much border control at either port. They might ask to see ID (never happened to me personally) and will do a quick inspection of the exterior of the car.
As someone from Schengen, I thought the US-Canada Border Controls were very strict when I was crossing them as a kid.
Edit: And as a German we have it especially easy to cross borders I think. We drove to Croatia once and one of the borders still had controls and they wanted to see our passports but one of us didn’t find hers, but they just waved us through regardless.
Funny enough, as an American living in Europe and having traveled around the world, the US/Canada border is the one that's given me the most hassle. Most other places are pretty much just interested in stamping me through, and at the most asking me how long I'm staying, whereas the Canadian border has given me a full interrogation every time (though at least one of those was brought upon ourselves when my friend announced that our destination was Tim Horton's)
Going from NY to Quebec there was barely any wait and the Canadian crossing guard was laid back and didnt spend much time with us. Coming back into NY from Quebec took forever. There was a huge line and drug sniffing dogs came and checked our car (this was despite us being Americans just trying to come home).
I remember when I was a kid in the 90s, if you lived in a US state that bordered Canada you didn’t need a passport to cross. I think it’s changed since then.
I live in Vienna Austria, you take a local train and get off it in Bratislava Slovakia, which is like 50 or 60 km away, and no one will care for you going from one country to another. Both cities basically share a metro area.
You can also cross the border by car, bike, ship or on foot and all you'll see is a sign saying "Welcome to Bratislava".
What is it like living in the 'most livable city'? Do you believe the title holds true, or do you think there are cities better than Vienna in terms of quality of life?
The title holds true if you are an expat business(wo)man sent here by an international corporation, or a diplomat or something like this. Afaik that's the target group which was interviewed by the "Economist" for their ranking.
For us mortals Vienna is a fine place to live too, the city is well governed, public services are very good, metro and trams go everywhere, it's also a beautiful city and full of history. It's far from perfect tho, housing market is tough (even if still better than elsewhere), the health system is in decline, and recent immigration waves brought us lots of folks which should better have stayed at home. The Viennese also aren't exactly famous for being kind and friendly people, people can be rude, and many just avoid talking to strangers so it's quite hard to find friends if you come here from outside and are not an university student.
Having lived in Frankfurt and Berlin before I can say that Vienna has the best governance of the three (and Berlin the worst, by far), it's less business-y than Frankfurt and less hipster-y than Berlin and that's good, it's a beautiful city even if the grumpy Viennese don't always appreciate it ;) We do have our problems but I think most of it is still better than in other European cities of similar size.
Crossing borders in parts of mainland Europe is no more eventful than crossing a state or provincial border in North America. It feels weird just crossing on your own with no one caring.
US/Canada is definitely not "chill" compared to Europe, but it's "chill" compared to hostile border crossings in parts of Africa, eastern Europe, and the middle east.
Laid back??? As someone who’s crossed the borders of 100 different countries, Canada-US is non-standard and non-chill. IMO the Canadians are actually worse, and in less justifiable ways.
There’s not as much variation as you’re imagining. For most countries it’s pretty much the same, unless you’re talking Schengen or Canada/US or a super strict outlier. There are some pain in the ass visa on arrival/evisas but not really “strict” per se.
Please keep in mind that the impressions posted here are often subjective and that, among other things, people's different circumstances play a large role in their perception of other people's lives. Also, please use words that do not promote hatred when posting. For example, statements such as "[city] is like this because people from [origin] live there" should be avoided. The social circumstances of a city/district etc. can be emphasized without mentioning the origin of the inhabitants. Mentioning it does not change anything and, as already mentioned, circumstances are often perceived subjectively according to one's own world view. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/howislivingthere) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Living in the Schengen Area of Central Europe it’s like not having borders at all.
Same and it still feels weird entering countries without having any border controls.
I wish I lived in mainland Europe🥲 Iceland fucking sucks
Why do you think we have all these pools? Practice swimming to escape.
Exactly!
Just swim bro its easy
And still half of the ignorant people asks for borders to close because of mAss MiGraTioN
I grew up right on the Switzerland/Liechtenstein border. There's a small sign on the bridge, other than that you'd barely know you've crossed an international border. But I've travelled a fair bit and have come across some really horrible ones. Some of the worst ones have been: - Spain/Morocco - chaotic, very harsh border guards, massive queues. - USA/Mexico - Getting into Mexico is super easy. Getting back into the US is hell. - Vietnam/Laos - Got turned away at two border crossings before I finally got across on the third one after doing an 800km detour on my bicycle. - Thailand/Cambodia and Cambodia/Vietnam - Chaotic and practically impossible to cross without lots of bribing officials. - Montenegro/Croatia - Very harsh and slow border guards. Schedule several hours for that crossing. - Mongolia/Soviet Union - Why do one border check when you can do three or four and make sure everyone spends hours there, unpacking and repacking their luggage several times. - Romania/Moldova - Chaotic, unpredictable and with some absolutely nonsensical rules you need to follow to be able to cross the border. - Nigeria - Your border crossing experience depends entirely on the current mood of the border guard. I feel really sorry for the people who have to make any of these border crossings daily for work.
Wait, Spain and Morocco has a border? I know they are very close but aren't they separated by the ocean? You would need to take the ferry right?
Yes, there are two Spanish enclaves in North Africa, Ceuta and Melilla. Both have land borders to Morocco.
That's interesting. Thanks for the information.
Well, "ocean"... It's a strait of maybe 15 km on the narrowest point. You can see the other side if the weather is good.
There are also multiple land border where you can see the other country in even very foul weather
I live in Tijuana, Baja California, México which border San Diego, California, United States. To cross de border you have to make a line, depending on the Time of the day, the day itself and if you are crossing by car or walking it can take minutes to hours. After the line you need to pass an inspection, the customs official ask you things like where are you going, how many days will you stay in the U.S, what are you bringing from México; to more complex questions like where you work, your address in México. They can inspect your vehicle, your belongings, your cellphone even. If you pass the inspection they let you pass and you just have to put your stuff in a X-Ray machine.
I live not far from Polish-Czech border. Here's how the border crossing looks: https://preview.redd.it/qcldc7b3z99d1.jpeg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c1f838a34c69a166d0f40f7be5b10a1300b2678f
Well, I live on an isolated, desolate rock in the middle of nowhere (Iceland), so we don't exactly have borders. But you can take your car on a ferry to mainland Europe tho. Just super expensive. On my bucket list to try that tho
How much is the fare? Is it much cheaper to fly and use mass transit or rent a car when you are there?
Yeah if you want to take the ferry to Denmark it's about 600 euros if you take a small compact car. Meanwhile you can often find flights from here to Denmark for 50-150 euros
Central Asian border crossings can vary from time to time in how they function. Corruption is better in every border than it was a decade ago, but paying bribes is still common. Occasionally conflicts happen which lead to borders being closed for some period of time. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan borders were closed for about 3 years and only recently reopened. During the time of Karimov, Uzbekistan had extremely strict border control for everybody (no longer the case). Personally, I have not had any issues or been asked for bribes using the borders except when I wanted to go to Afghanistan from Termez, Uzbekistan. Many people go back and forth constantly, every few weeks. There is also the border with China (Xinjiang) which has gone through a similar process of being strictly closed to once again being open now.
Just crossed from kyrgyzstan to kazakhstan overland, it was very easy
I am literally on the bus right now from Bishkek to Almaty 😭
Yeah thats what I did. Dont worry the roads get immediately better once you cross the border. Also enjoy the beautiful views of steppes
I have done this before, I am from Bishkek, dw. Glad to hear they finally finished the construction on the highway in the Kazakhstan side.
I used to live in the US state of Washington and would go up to Vancouver, Canada a lot. Crossing the border could take minutes or up to an hour depending on traffic. Typically, going into Canada they ask you a few questions and then you're on your way. When returning to the US, more or less the same thing, but the US border patrol seems bit more strict and will ask you a bit more questions. And that's coming from a US citizen. I get what they're doing, but I'm literally a US citizen coming home, chill out.
Funny. I’m Canadian and I find the Canadian border officers ask stricter questions to me than the U.S. ones do
That’s funny, because the Canadian border patrol would ask me a few questions, but I never felt like it was an inquisition. Though one time, a Canadian border officer asked me why my wife’s last name wasn’t the same as mine, and I was like uh because it’s the 21st century? I guess it really depends on the individual and what kind of day they’re having.
I live in New York, very close to the U.S./Canada border. Once I went to Canada to go to Ikea. I spent like $700 and was paranoid they'd charge me duty. Here I was, with a car full of Ikea purchases, and the Canadian border agents didn't even ask for my receipt!
I've only crossed the India Nepal border in the Himalayas and you have to just cross the bridge and you enter the Nepal side of the market.
They don't have border controls?
I've heard that in many places, they conduct basic security checks. The reason I specifically mentioned the Himalayan region is because of a place called Jhulaghat, where half of the market is in India and the other half in Nepal, divided by a river. They are connected by a very old wooden bridge that simply says 'Welcome to Nepal'. Many local Nepali people also use this bridge daily to commute to nearby Indian villages for work. Edit: This was like 10-15 years ago. Things might have changed now. Edit1: The place has changed a lot from what I saw when I was there haha. https://maps.app.goo.gl/91aDwq4Hnod1WeKi6
Interesting, thank you! Yes it looks cool!
I live close to the Italian-Swiss custom of Bizzarrone and unless the border is patrolled for some reasons, you practically just drive in and you're on the other side. Same with the other bordering countries since we're all Schengen de iure or de facto.
Living in Italy, we usually cross borders quite easily in Europe. The only weird experience I had was when I had to cross the border between Slovenia and Croatia and Google maps made me climb a super steep hill on a dirt road that was supposed to get me to Croatia. I thought I was just crossing a normal border because everything is quite relaxed in the Schengen area. However, I found myself in front of a giant gate covered in barbed wire. The actual border was not far from there but I had to turn around and take a parallel road that was paved and safe 😂 I found out after a bit of research that the mountain road that connected the two nations was mostly used by farmers but human traffickers found out about it and people would smuggle illegal immigrants using it. The guy responsible for all of this was Italian 💀
Swede here - crossing the border to Norway we didn’t even have to stop, just a nod from the customs dude as we drove past. Fun fact, in Haparanda on the Sweden/Finland border there is a golf course with 9 holes on each side. As a Swede you have to tee-off from the Finnish side and finish ‘at home’ and vice versa for Finns. You can with all honesty tell people you shanked your tee shot into another country….
It's even in another time zone! (or at least it was when I was there in the 90s)
It's like driving to the next town but with a different language and cheaper stuff
It's rather funny from Polish perspective, because on one hand you have the Schengen area countries so basically no borders, and on the other hand you have Russia, which is almost impossible to enter, Belarus which no thinking person with a functioning brain should enter, and Ukraine which is at war with the two in question so lol
What's the problem with crossing the border to Belarus?
I mean overall it's no biggie you just need to have a valid passport, but being in a country openly hostile to Poland is just stupid in my opinion.
singapore here. if i cross the border/causeway bridge i'll end up in malaysia, specifically the city Johor Bahru. many singaporeans head there for a short day trip/weekend getaway. the exchange rate between singapore dollars and malaysian ringgit is kinda crazy at the moment, so many locals are flocking there to get their groceries, eat at nice cafes, and even pump some petrol. you can get there by bus, car, or even a short 2 minute train ride, but during busy periods (weekends, for example) the roads going in there get quite congested and you'd have to queue for some time to get your passport stamped. i've been there a handful of times with both friends and family. it's quite fun, but i'd imagine as a malaysian it's quite crazy with the inflated prices and all.
So you just cross the bridge normally? No checking or anything?
they'll check the cars i think (i don't drive in so i'm not sure), and they scan bags
Well, I don't think I'd go out of my way in crossing boarders. The ones I know are pretty nice people. ;) But, if you're talking about international **borders**... that's also cool. I live in a Schengen country, so I can just travel all I want within the Schengen area.
My mother's hometown is Dandong, a city on China-North Korea border, probably one of the strictest borders in this world. There're 2 bridges on Yalu river. One got destroyed during Korea civil war, and another new one built right next to it. It's still in use, although I didn't see anyone passing during my visit. At night you can see one side full of lights and other side in total darkness. Even the bridge too, only Chinese half has lights on it. The official border is the center line of Yalu river. However sometimes when Chinese tourist boats got to the other side of river, nothing happens if it doesn't reach the land. It's easier for Chinese citizens to apply for NK visa than from other countries, but I didn't dare to do that.
Thank you for sharing! How do you imagine North Korea to be? And if you say you don't dare, what is it which makes you feel insecure? (it's probably a lot, I'm just curious for your pov)
It’s like China in the 60s, famine, socialism and very poor. According to the newly built buildings in Sinuiju maybe they have enough food now. But rumors around are pretty insane, that NK people who leave may get prisoned or shot after repatriation. I also heard about two tourists who spoke some bad things about Kim Jong Un privately in the hotel, got a serious diarrhea for a week while others in the group didn’t. And they don’t have internet there(only available in certain hotels I think), impossible to contact family and friends back home. Once I went hiking in the mountains without signal already worried them a lot. Tbh there’s not much to see either. Only certain areas are available for tourists. You’ll never know how people in other places live.
Thank you! Interesting train of thought. Yes, it doesn't sound like a place where someone would go to voluntarily. I was wondering if they are a bit nicer to Chinese people than to others since they are 100% dependent on China but obviously they're not 💀
Borders*, and unfortunately because I’m from the US, it’s a heavily policed and militarized experience
depends which side of the us tbf
Not really, no. I’ve had wild border experiences entering and leaving on either side
What sort of wild experiences have you had crossing into Canada?
Generally very hostile Border Patrol folks and being detained (not arrested, just made to wait for a really long time)
We got a pretty laid back terrestrial border crossing too. Depending on the season and the crossing point, the waiting time can vary, but personally I never had to wait more than 30 minutes. However, if you're a truck driver.... well, that's a different story. Waiting times can be measured in days. Hopefully we can join Schengen soon. It became much simpler after we joined it by air and sea. Basically, any flight to a Schengen state is like a domestic flight nowadays.
The border I cross the most is between Finland and Estonia in the Baltic Sea. Both are Schengen countries so usually there isn’t passport control (there may be in some unusual circumstances), usually you just walk off the ferry past some customs officials/dogs. I’m not actually sure of the Estonian side but in Helsinki there’s usually a few people just standing in a corner who will check people they deem suspicious. I remember going to Estonia before it was an EU member and it always took a long time, though it was actually probably more like an hour at most.
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This sounds wonderful! How is Lesotho? What were your impressions?
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Interesting, thank you!
I met their king once, he was a nice chap
Wow that's cool! How did that happen?
I was at an event at which he was on a panel and he stayed after to shake hands and take pictures. Very nice guy. Generous with his time.
Great to hear!
I passed the border between South Africa and Lesotho near Ladybrand and was a very flat border. No "1km up mountain" xD
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I been in Semonkong , Malealea and Roma
I'm in the south of Spain. From here you can hop on a ferry to Morocco without much hassle (people from Spain only need to fill out a simple form on board and that's it). We can drive to Gibraltar, no hassle either, just show your passport. And we can go to France, no gate, no inspection, but it takes a long drive (9-10 hours) to get there.
I live in the Netherlands, about 30min drive from the border with Germany. Most people here get their groceries and fuel in Germany because it's cheaper. There are lots of roads crossing the border, some highways but also lots of small roads and even footpaths and cycling paths. The main roads have signs announcing that you're entering a different country, and the larger roads also have signs informing you about the speed limits of different roads in the country you're entering. In some places there are still old buildings that used to be border checkpoints, they're just sitting there abandoned or they've been repurposed for something else. It's happened several times that I plotted the shortest route from one place near the border to the other and the app sent me through Germany. It's easy to cross the border without noticing, especially on the smaller roads. The only thing that can be difficult is keeping track of how fast you're allowed to go. This is the same throughout most of Europe. I love taking holidays by car or campervan, because you can just drive in a direction you like and visit the countries you like, without having to do a lot of planning and preparing beforehand.
Right before the pandemic, I travelled by bus from Spain to Germany, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and a bunch of other countries. Nothing happens. However, those who forget turning off Roaming when entering Switzerland might have to donate a kidney to pay off for the surprise phone bill they are going to get.
I wouldn't be returning home anytime soon if I crossed the border. I live in Paju South Korea, just below the DMZ. I did go apple picking in the DMZ though, which was nice.
*Borders Great Britain is an island comprising England, Scotland and Wales. I’ve crossed all borders many times but as we’re all part of the United Kingdom, the only acknowledgment is a ‘Welcome to…’ sign. I do like that crossing over to Wales, signs and road markings become bilingual in English / Welsh eg with *SLOW* and *ARAF* painted on the roads.
Although the "Welcome to Scotland" sign is about 20 times bigger than the signs on Schengen area borders.
I’m from Australia so we only really have State borders and these are really only for geographic purposes. I live on the border of New South Wales and Victoria and during Covid, there were some very strict requirements to cross the border (as in many other parts of the country/world) but now it’s as if there are no borders (at least physically)
Well, there are the fruit inspection posts when you drive too and from WA. I think even Vic to SA has them too.
What is a border? (European)
I’m American. The only time I even had to consider our border was when my family drove from Virginia to Quebec when I was a kid. Otherwise all the border crossings I’ve been involved in have been on planes and cruise ships. I did do a lengthy trip to Europe about 20 years ago, but that was mostly in Schengen Area countries (which were less extensive at the time - we had to show our passports to get into the Czech Republic and Hungary, which are open now.
Living in the Schengen area makes it very easy. I live 30 minutes away by car form the border with Spain and I already crossed it by train, by car and walking. Nothing too exciting, just some signs saying that you're entering a different country. Lived some time in France and went to Luxembourg very often. I noticed that I was crossing when my phone rang with a sms saying that I was in another country. Just that! edit: typos
Im from Israel… depends on which border
England to Scotland and Wales - nothing changes except the road signs.
Living in Germany 25km from the Czech border it is very common for people to cross, fuel up, buy cheaper cigarettes, alcohol, fashion and much more. At roads crossing the border you will have 3-4 police officers on the German side mostly just waving cars through that cross back into Germany. They only pull out some every now and again who look suspicious to them or they've run the plates and theres somthing that came up. Crossed into the Czech Republic and back about 20 times now and always got waved through. Generally at border crossings and within 50km of a border crossing like where I live police can pull you over without having to have a reason. It's a Allgemeine Verkehrskontrolle (general traffic stop) but if you drive a car with local plates that almost never happens.
From Romania-Hungary you get your documents checked at the border and that's it. The other european countries where I went don't check anything
I live on mainland Britain so I never have to cross a land border... Unless you count the England / Wales border which is like having no border at all. It's just a sign on the road which is easy to miss. I regularly take the ferry to Ireland though to visit family every year, but again there's not much border control at either port. They might ask to see ID (never happened to me personally) and will do a quick inspection of the exterior of the car.
As someone from Schengen, I thought the US-Canada Border Controls were very strict when I was crossing them as a kid. Edit: And as a German we have it especially easy to cross borders I think. We drove to Croatia once and one of the borders still had controls and they wanted to see our passports but one of us didn’t find hers, but they just waved us through regardless.
Kinda wet, mostly. There’s the one in Northern Ireland that’s getting a little spicy again. Was a bit hot there in the 90s.
Funny enough, as an American living in Europe and having traveled around the world, the US/Canada border is the one that's given me the most hassle. Most other places are pretty much just interested in stamping me through, and at the most asking me how long I'm staying, whereas the Canadian border has given me a full interrogation every time (though at least one of those was brought upon ourselves when my friend announced that our destination was Tim Horton's)
Going from NY to Quebec there was barely any wait and the Canadian crossing guard was laid back and didnt spend much time with us. Coming back into NY from Quebec took forever. There was a huge line and drug sniffing dogs came and checked our car (this was despite us being Americans just trying to come home).
Portugal, just drive to Spain. Usually it's a bridge over a river.
The Polish border is 80 kms away. There are basically no border controls.
I remember when I was a kid in the 90s, if you lived in a US state that bordered Canada you didn’t need a passport to cross. I think it’s changed since then.
Mexicans need visa to visit US however passport isn't needed if you're going to stay in the border area.
I live in Vienna Austria, you take a local train and get off it in Bratislava Slovakia, which is like 50 or 60 km away, and no one will care for you going from one country to another. Both cities basically share a metro area. You can also cross the border by car, bike, ship or on foot and all you'll see is a sign saying "Welcome to Bratislava".
What is it like living in the 'most livable city'? Do you believe the title holds true, or do you think there are cities better than Vienna in terms of quality of life?
The title holds true if you are an expat business(wo)man sent here by an international corporation, or a diplomat or something like this. Afaik that's the target group which was interviewed by the "Economist" for their ranking. For us mortals Vienna is a fine place to live too, the city is well governed, public services are very good, metro and trams go everywhere, it's also a beautiful city and full of history. It's far from perfect tho, housing market is tough (even if still better than elsewhere), the health system is in decline, and recent immigration waves brought us lots of folks which should better have stayed at home. The Viennese also aren't exactly famous for being kind and friendly people, people can be rude, and many just avoid talking to strangers so it's quite hard to find friends if you come here from outside and are not an university student. Having lived in Frankfurt and Berlin before I can say that Vienna has the best governance of the three (and Berlin the worst, by far), it's less business-y than Frankfurt and less hipster-y than Berlin and that's good, it's a beautiful city even if the grumpy Viennese don't always appreciate it ;) We do have our problems but I think most of it is still better than in other European cities of similar size.
Just gonna leave this scene here: https://youtu.be/03Tr8OX28Vw?si=Oiaoj-nkaJ1hSHjy
Canada also has a border with France with St-Pierre et Miquelon;)
As Mexican the border with the US is quite strict. The ones with Guatemala and Belize are more laid back as far as I know.
I mean you just... pass? Except for Ukraine, I imagine it's more difficult now.
Crossing borders in parts of mainland Europe is no more eventful than crossing a state or provincial border in North America. It feels weird just crossing on your own with no one caring. US/Canada is definitely not "chill" compared to Europe, but it's "chill" compared to hostile border crossings in parts of Africa, eastern Europe, and the middle east.
Laid back??? As someone who’s crossed the borders of 100 different countries, Canada-US is non-standard and non-chill. IMO the Canadians are actually worse, and in less justifiable ways. There’s not as much variation as you’re imagining. For most countries it’s pretty much the same, unless you’re talking Schengen or Canada/US or a super strict outlier. There are some pain in the ass visa on arrival/evisas but not really “strict” per se.