Why do so many people move to the Falkland Islands? (2009) • Hacker News Board

Re: Why do so many people move to the Falkland Islands? (2009)

#211

Post by asdff » Wed, Aug 18, 2021, 4:59 PM UTC

saiya-jin wrote: post #8

ceilingcorner wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, Croatia is already turning into a country-sized tourist trap. It is really a shame considering how beautiful the area is.

It was turning into tourist trap 20 years ago, the last time I visited. I think places like Italy or Greece offer more for same money (or even less). For balkan experience, Montenegro is a fine less spoiled option (depends on location obviously).

Croatia is significantly cheaper than Italy or Greece. Every meal you eat will be under $10 USD, good seafood too. The booze is stupidly cheap, bottled beer is like half the price of bottled water iirc and everyone was drinking openly everywhere on the street at all hours. Accommodations at excellent hotels were cheap. Getting around the country was cheap (we took a bus and stopped along dozens of cities along the coast). The most expensive part is airfare, but after that, it's cheaper than probably most of europe and certainly any city in the U.S. in terms of having a vacation. When I visited there were few Americans, but so so many Australians I couldn't understand it. I guess they know about it there moreso than the US.

Re: Why do so many people move to the Falkland Islands? (2009)

#212

Post by arcticbull » Wed, Aug 18, 2021, 4:59 PM UTC

chrisseaton wrote: post #67

arcticbull wrote: post #12

Always been on my list to visit as a subject of Her Majesty, along with St. Helena, Ascension, Tristan da Cunha and Pitcairn.

Very unlikely you’re a ‘subject’ - that’s a very specific legal status designed for complex internationality edge cases which almost nobody uses any more.

Yeah, haha, I'm a British and Canadian dual-national, so in the post-1983 world, I'm a British Citizen and a Commonwealth Citizen. I was using it as an archaic turn of phrase rather than referring to the specific status. You did lead me down an interesting rabbit hole!

Re: Why do so many people move to the Falkland Islands? (2009)

#213

Post by skrtskrt » Wed, Aug 18, 2021, 5:01 PM UTC

BurningFrog wrote: post #159

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #120

Don't go. My young friend went on contract for a year, doing fishery research. After a few months they said "We aren't going to pay you any more. You can't leave because the boat won't come back until {whenever}. And if you say anything, we won't give you the recommendation you need as a young researcher doing a PhD." She had to stay for months working for nothing. It's slavery, and they know it, and that's how it wo…

This says more about conditions for PhD students than about the Falklands.

Academia is a ridiculous racket at this point.

The ratio of people that can make a living doing research to people that are entering PhD programs is way, way off, which naturally produces a zero-sum hypercompetition "market" among PhD students that can only end in "success" by people able and willing to work crazy hard for no money for years on end - aka the already-rich, the desperate true believers, the delusional, or some combination of those three.

To make things worse, all the money in universities is being sucked up by the explosion of the self-licking ice cream cone of middle management catering to the "student experience" or whatever else.

Look up the absolute explosion of management salaries in universities in the last 20 years.

Re: Why do so many people move to the Falkland Islands? (2009)

#214

Post by arcticbull » Wed, Aug 18, 2021, 5:01 PM UTC

BoxOfRain wrote: post #92

arcticbull wrote: post #12

Always been on my list to visit as a subject of Her Majesty, along with St. Helena, Ascension, Tristan da Cunha and Pitcairn.

I'd love to visit all of the British Overseas Territories at some point, although I doubt I'll cross all of them off my list as a few of them are effectively off-limits to civilians.

That's why I left BIOT/Diego Garcia off the list haha - I've no interest in a mandatory visit to Gitmo shortly thereafter.

Re: Why do so many people move to the Falkland Islands? (2009)

#215

Post by asdff » Wed, Aug 18, 2021, 5:06 PM UTC

randomopining wrote: post #157

higeorge13 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the whole Med has become like this. Travel is so mainstream nowadays (at least before covid), same with people buying properties in foreign countries.

Yeah I think internet + Airbnb really opened some spots up. Like in the 90s, how did you find new spots? Mostly word of mouth on the ground I would assume. Less/no remote workers constantly traveling and sharing their opinions, etc.

In the 90s you went to a travel agent who arranged your airfare, lodging, even cab fare in between. You wouldn't find like an airbnb setup so easily, but Croatia is absolutely full of hotels even to this day. Honestly even today its easier to just pay someone to do that for you than fuddle with half a dozen websites to do the same on your own time.

Re: Why do so many people move to the Falkland Islands? (2009)

#216

Post by triceratops » Wed, Aug 18, 2021, 5:06 PM UTC

sidewndr46 wrote: post #185

b112 wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You've just sparked a new form of gene propagation. Imagine being a sperm donor, but in dozens of countries. Now your progeny will have a large range of citizenship, and locations, from which they may thrive during disaster. Better than sailors and ports, for one can travel, experience sunny and interesting destinations, make a deposit, and... success! I see a new startup, which combines cruise ships and pre-arranged…

That isn't distinctly different from marriage fraud, or whatever the US government calls it now. As a US citizen, you can basically jump start the immigration process by just having a recognized marriage to a foreigner. It's pretty messed up in my opinion and encourages bad behavior on the part of both parties.

What's the alternative though? US citizens with non-American spouses would have to leave the US or live apart from their spouse. Assuming the spouse couldn't independently qualify for permanent residence or a work visa.

Re: Why do so many people move to the Falkland Islands? (2009)

#217

Post by phillc73 » Wed, Aug 18, 2021, 5:16 PM UTC

randomopining wrote: post #196

phillc73 wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

LTE mobile data

Awesome. I've been to Croatia twice. Which area? The islands south of Istrian peninsula? They seem pretty chill.

Yes those islands, but some of them like Krk and Rab are very, very touristy. Other places which require a ferry to reach, like Cres for example, not so bad.

Re: Why do so many people move to the Falkland Islands? (2009)

#218

Post by JoeAltmaier » Wed, Aug 18, 2021, 6:22 PM UTC

dasudasu wrote: post #145

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The recommendation, remember? The research? She was a PhD student.

Employers can pull the "non recommendation" thing anywhere under any circumstance. Why would this occurrence be at all special? That’s like saying they got mugged by someone, don’t go there.

The boat - she was trapped. Elsewhere you can find another position, move, change schools, something.

Re: Why do so many people move to the Falkland Islands? (2009)

#219

Post by nradov » Wed, Aug 18, 2021, 7:03 PM UTC

pessimizer wrote: post #176

b112 wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It would. And after their hold on her was over, she should have screamed to the hills. While I get the reluctance, at the same time, not yelling about it means others get burned. That's just plain wrong.

Whistleblowing can severely hurt you, from destroying your career to killing you. People who demand it blindly probably haven't ever had to make a hard choice about it. I recommend against it in almost all cases for people I care about, because people have this natural infatuation for victims that is obviously prurient (whether it's love, reverence, hate, or even disgust) and you yourself are going to end up the cent…

In the book "Close Calls" by Stratis Kas, Dr. Sonia Rowley tells a heartbreaking story of having to endure constant sexual harassment from one of her colleagues during a field research expedition. She was already a PhD and nominally in charge but decided not to blow the whistle because that would have set her research back by years. It's never an easy decision.

https://stratiskas.com/closecalls/

Re: Why do so many people move to the Falkland Islands? (2009)

#220

Post by sbacic » Wed, Aug 18, 2021, 7:32 PM UTC

asdff wrote: post #210

sbacic wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm sure that can be alleviated with with and good leadership, however. I very much doubt it - one of the reasons we are in this mess is some 80+ years of human capital devastation - we have nowhere to draw experts or leaders from anymore.

My cousins who were college educated in Zagreb or Split are finding work in Germany. The brain drain is real. I can't help but think that balkanization seriously killed the economy there and nipped in the bud any hope of strong private industries investing and establishing themselves in such a tiny place. More Croatians live in Germany than Croatia today, because Germany did the opposite and unified, and brought on e…

Balkanization had nothing to do with it - the problem was that communism valued loyalty over ability and promoted people according to that principle. After Yugoslavia fell apart, the new political parties, both ruling and opposition, simply changed colors while maintaining the same patterns of behavior.