Repost This ArticleHere at Matador, we’re all about transparent travel.
Photo: mihalorel
We want travelers to blog about their journeys, share their photos and videos, and engage in passionate conversations about your favorite (and least favorite) places and experiences.
We want you to tell us where you are and what you’re doing on Twitter or on Facebook.
But just be sure you’re not giving us too much information.
Our friends over at Wend Magazine blogged earlier this week about an American couple who got caught grilling an iguana (a protected species) and cleaning a less than legal-sized conch in The Bahamas.
It wasn’t because the cops or wildlife protection police happened upon the couple as they fired up the barbie.
No… it was because the couple decided to post photos of their culinary adventure on Facebook. Before you could say “Well done, please,” Bahamian authorities saw the photos and swiftly arrested the couple.
Photo: ZoZ
According to the Bahamian newspaper, The Freeport News, the couple posted bail in the amount of $500 each, and were scheduled to appear in court on February 10. The online version of the newspaper has not yet reported the outcome of the court appearance.
Lesson?
There is such a thing as too much transparency. If you’re doing something stupid on your vacation, think twice before sharing the evidence online.
Julie Schwietert
Julie Schwietert Collazo is a writer, editor, researcher, and translator currently in New York, formerly of Mexico City and San Juan. She is Matador's managing editor and is the lead faculty member of MatadorU's travel writing program.
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All in all, a great reminder to think twice before posting anything that could be potentially construed as questionable! How sad…
Great thought provoking article. I've _never_ understood why people break the law and then talk to the press about it. I guess it just plays on people's desire to brag about having gotten away with it. Just goes to show, the only way to keep a secret is….big surprise…to not tell anyone!
It can affect your job, too; my contract in Japan wasn't renewed because the company didn't like the way I talked about cultural differences on my blog.
I'm still amazed that people post in a very public manner about the things they do that could be questionable: Whether that's getting too drunk and messing around with someone they shouldn't or committing a crime. Does everyone forget that social media is just that? Social?
Questionable? How about illegal and damaging to an irreplaceable resource? Freaking idiots. Getting caught is the least of their problems.
Allow me to clarify…I wasn't talking about what these idiots did…clearly they're off their tree…it was a general statement…that if you have pics of something that could possibly be interpreted as illegal, better think twice about posting them!