# Cancelled my trip to Europe and my friends are curious as to why, what to tell them? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 6, 2013, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelled-my-trip-to-europe-and-my-friends-are-curious-as-to-why-what-to-tell-them/662811 "2013-07-06T20:03:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Curious\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Curious\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Curious_Man)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2013, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelled-my-trip-to-europe-and-my-friends-are-curious-as-to-why-what-to-tell-them/662811/1 "2013-07-06T20:03:19Z")
So for July my friends and I were planning to go to Sweden, Denmark, France, and Germany for about 2 weeks. Now these are two of my friends who like me and have already been to Sweden and Germany before. My friends are partiers and they said stuff about hooking up with European girls and all that. Now I had to cancel the trip because I look kinda ethnic (like Kal Penn from harold and kumar). Didn’t tell them that is why I cancelled the trip, told them I would be busy. Like even though I have managed to turn my life around in the US and date attractive women, I have a fear of traveling to other countries. In my experience as a tourist, I look to travel, see a new country, and most importantly hook up with women in that country. Yet I have heard that European women hate anyone that looks Brown due to the issues with Islam going on so I had to cancel my trip. How can I best tell my friends? I told them I was busy but they keep bothering me about it. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2013, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelled-my-trip-to-europe-and-my-friends-are-curious-as-to-why-what-to-tell-them/662811/2 "2013-07-06T20:06:56Z")
I’m curious why you agreed to the trip in the first place if you had that concern. But I don’t see any reason not to just be honest. And I don’t normally think of those countries as being especially racist, but maybe some locals can chime in on that subject. If your friends look like you, have already done this, and want to go again, I’m not sure why you think it will be an issue. I think you’ve been warned about over posting on this subject, so you might want to,tread carefully. ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2013, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelled-my-trip-to-europe-and-my-friends-are-curious-as-to-why-what-to-tell-them/662811/3 "2013-07-06T20:08:01Z")
You have friends? ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2013, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelled-my-trip-to-europe-and-my-friends-are-curious-as-to-why-what-to-tell-them/662811/4 "2013-07-06T20:12:55Z")
You should tell your friends that you are an idiot. That should cover most bases. ---
**Author:** ![nicole1912](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9de0a6/32.png) [@nicole1912](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nicole1912)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2013, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelled-my-trip-to-europe-and-my-friends-are-curious-as-to-why-what-to-tell-them/662811/5 "2013-07-06T20:35:35Z")
You cancelled your holiday, that you had presumably been looking forward to going on, because you think that the girls in the countries you’d be visiting won’t like you because you’re Indian? Because they’ll mistake you for some sort of Islamic terrorist (I guess? I can’t see what else “issues with Islam” might refer to in a European context) and so won’t want to hook up with you? I just want to check I’ve understood this properly. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2013, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelled-my-trip-to-europe-and-my-friends-are-curious-as-to-why-what-to-tell-them/662811/6 "2013-07-06T20:38:43Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > You should tell your friends that you are an idiot. That should cover most bases. Yup, you don’t have to worry about the details of some cover story you made up. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2013, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelled-my-trip-to-europe-and-my-friends-are-curious-as-to-why-what-to-tell-them/662811/7 "2013-07-06T20:47:15Z")
> [@Curious\_Man](#): > > Now I had to cancel the trip because I look kinda ethnic (like Kal Penn from harold and kumar). Didn’t tell them that is why I cancelled the trip, told them I would be busy. > . As I recall, Europe is full of people who “look kinda ethnic.” I don’t think it would be a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2013, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelled-my-trip-to-europe-and-my-friends-are-curious-as-to-why-what-to-tell-them/662811/8 "2013-07-06T21:15:17Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > As I recall, Europe is full of people who “look kinda ethnic.” I don’t think it would be a problem. But do they date Indian men? And who wins, the lion or the tiger? ---
**Author:** ![Curious\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Curious\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Curious_Man)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2013, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelled-my-trip-to-europe-and-my-friends-are-curious-as-to-why-what-to-tell-them/662811/9 "2013-07-06T21:17:13Z")
> [@nicole1912](#): > > You cancelled your holiday, that you had presumably been looking forward to going on, because you think that the girls in the countries you’d be visiting won’t like you because you’re Indian? Because they’ll mistake you for some sort of Islamic terrorist (I guess? I can’t see what else “issues with Islam” might refer to in a European context) and so won’t want to hook up with you? > > I just want to check I’ve understood this properly. ya pretty much ---
**Author:** ![qubed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f07891/32.png) [@qubed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qubed)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2013, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelled-my-trip-to-europe-and-my-friends-are-curious-as-to-why-what-to-tell-them/662811/10 "2013-07-06T21:22:33Z")
This is just… so weird. Even if your premise were true, there’s a million other things to do in Europe. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2013, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelled-my-trip-to-europe-and-my-friends-are-curious-as-to-why-what-to-tell-them/662811/11 "2013-07-06T21:26:15Z")
You should tell your friends the truth. Tell them what you wrote in your OP. Seriously. ---
**Author:** ![colander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@colander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colander)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2013, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelled-my-trip-to-europe-and-my-friends-are-curious-as-to-why-what-to-tell-them/662811/12 "2013-07-06T21:32:55Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > You should tell your friends the truth. Tell them what you wrote in your OP. > Seriously. I agree. It is good to be honest with ur friends ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2013, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelled-my-trip-to-europe-and-my-friends-are-curious-as-to-why-what-to-tell-them/662811/13 "2013-07-06T21:51:12Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > You should tell your friends that you are an idiot. That should cover most bases. Don’t insult others outside of the Pit. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2013, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cancelled-my-trip-to-europe-and-my-friends-are-curious-as-to-why-what-to-tell-them/662811/14 "2013-07-06T22:06:39Z")
> [@Curious\_Man](#): > > Yet I have heard that European women hate anyone that looks Brown due to the issues with Islam going on so I had to cancel my trip. [moderator warning] **Curious Man** , you have been warned repeatedly about continuing to start threads on this topic. I’m closing this down. Your posting privileges are under staff discussion. [/moderator warning]