Lisbon: A Look Beyond the Negative Hype

Feb 03, 2025

A few weeks ago, the YouTuber known as “Backpacker Ben” released a 27-minute video complaining about how awful Lisbon has become. He showed it as dilapidated, trash-riddled, dangerous, criticized the hotels and the food—really just a stream of negative commentary. The most memorable part was his claim that Martin Moniz plaza is a “no-go zone,” supposedly filled with violent African migrants.

Ben isn’t just some random YouTuber. He has 360,000 subscribers on YouTube and thousands more on Instagram. His video made me think about what it means to be a good traveler. In my opinion, there aren’t many rules, but one of the most important is this: don’t trash the country you’re visiting—especially not in a lazy, clickbait-y way. That seems obvious, right? There’s simply no need to disrespect your host.

I find Ben’s behavior rude. He’s a visitor from Britain, so he doesn’t truly understand what it’s like to live here. Of course, I have my own opinions about certain places I’ve visited in Africa—places I probably wouldn’t rush back to. But imagine if I went to Malawi and spent the whole time bad-mouthing it online. People actually live there, it’s their day-to-day reality, and my careless words wouldn’t just vanish once I left.

Personally, I think Lisbon is lovely. I’ve been staying with my new friend, Seth. Seth first reached out to me while I was stuck in Djibouti. He was worried about Jan and I sailing near Yemen right after October 7th. Fast forward to a few weeks ago and Seth was messaging again, inviting me to his place in Lisbon.

For me, one of the best parts about social media is the real-life connections it creates. Meeting people from the internet, learning about their homes on a deeper level—that’s the real experience. Seth took me to the Plaza, the “no-go zone” that Ben mentioned, and we spent a couple of hours sipping takeaway beers and people-watching. We felt perfectly comfortable. Yes we saw a few groups of migrants, but they were friendly, we said hello, shared a few laughs. Plenty of young gals walking through by themselves too. It was nothing like the way Backpacker Ben described it.

Over the past few days, crashing with Seth has reminded me how grateful I am for this community of like-minded travelers and supporters online. It’s amazing how a few messages can lead to real connections around the world. If any of you are in the cities I’ll be visiting, let me know. I’d love to meet up for a beer, share a few miles, or even just say a quick hello.

Cities Along Our Route

Lisbon, Portugal
Valencia, Spain
Barcelona, Spain
Marseille, France
Nice, France
Genoa, Italy
Rome, Italy
Naples, Italy
Bari, Italy
Thessaloniki, Greece
Istanbul, Turkey
Ankara, Turkey
Cappadocia, Turkey
Tehran, Iran
Mashad, Iran
Kabul, Afghanistan
TBD on the rest…

In other news, I found a bike for my mom today—the Decathlon Elops 900E (E for electric). She is coming Wednesday morning then we should be cruising out of here by Saturday or Sunday. Take a seat ladies and gentlemen, this is going to be a good one.