22 - Mistaken for a Murderer and the Chinese Jewel Scam

Submit your travel story - https://notsobonvoyage.com/submit/Connect with us on IG - https://www.instagram.com/notsobonvoyage/We’ve got a real mixed bag of stories this week! We kick off the episode with some crazy travel stories from in the news. First off, Jules tells Christine about another travel booking company that has closed its doors and left its customers stranded. One day they were booking flights and the next day their website and social media vanished!Then we chat about the great travel debate: to recline your airplane seat or not? This debate is sparked by a recent video that has been circulating in the news of a woman who reclined her seat and the disgruntled man behind her who retaliated by repeatedly punching her headrest. Whose side are you on?For her main story, Christine tells the story of a Chinese jewelry store that is scamming tourists out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Told in the Medium article "How We Got Scammed Out of $100,000 in Shanghai,” Christine tells the story of Amanda and Monica Shih and the details of how a Chinese-American tour group could get swindled by a fake jewel scam.Then Jules tells the story of Ben from the travel blog Elephant Atlas (http://elephantsatlas.com/). Ben is an Aussie traveler who bought a beat up old van in Alberta, Canada and drove it across the border into the US. Things were going smoothly until he found himself pulled over by police with guns drawn. Welcome to the United States Ben!