He Used Google Translate on His Uber Driver. Then He Ran Out of the Car Midway: ‘Don’t Trust Everyone You Meet’
Never split up.
Josh McCarthy (@jmacbackpacks), a traveler from New Zealand, said he escaped “the most terrifying” situation he’s faced in Izmir, Turkey. He alleged that his Uber driver said something that he wasn’t comfortable with, prompting him to escape the vehicle.
“We met this Aussie [expletive], had a couple of beers, and went out to a house gig,” McCarthy told TikTok. But when they got to the house party, the traveler said they were turned away because they didn’t have women with them. But while they were down the street, he met three or four other men who wanted to tag along and look for a bar to go to. Making friends while traveling isn’t unusual, and one incident might even unite two people in one airport, rom-com style.
But that’s not what happened in McCarthy’s Uber ride. The men booked two, and his friend got in one car with two other men. Meanwhile, McCarthy split with his friend and got into a separate Uber with three other men. The fare was ₺800, which was roughly $16 in US dollars. McCarthy alleged the men wanted him to foot the bill for the entire ride, which he refused.
“I gave him 250, give or take, and the driver just takes off and keeps going. And it was at this point that I realized that we were in a bad situation,” McCarthy alleged. He didn’t pay the full fare yet, but the Uber driver had already slammed on the gas. McCarthy grew suspicious of the driver. To make matters worse, he was in another country, with people speaking in another language he didn’t understand.
His Uber driver had something unsettling to say
“I get out Google Translate on my phone,” McCarthy said. He placed it face down on his lap so he could understand the Turkish conversation in the Uber. Unlike this woman from Quebec, who clapped back at another woman’s offensive French, McCarthy had to rely on the translator like a lifeline.
When he pulled up his phone, McCarthy alleged the driver’s words translated to, “This idiot doesn’t know what he’s getting himself into.” At that point, McCarthy knew he had to find a way out of the situation. He waited for the car to slow down. He said, “I’m thinking, I’m going to jump out and just make a [expletive] run for it.” But it didn’t turn into a dramatic chase, unlike this Michigan woman whose driver got pursued by cops.
“Thankfully, the car comes to a relative stop. I just fling the door open, sprint out, and just run until I find a policeman,” McCarthy stated. It’s unclear what happened to the other men he was with on the Uber. The traveler also didn’t give any updates regarding his other friend, who rode a separate Uber. Nevertheless, McCarthy said the experience was “a serious wake-up call” for him.
“Not everyone’s trying to be your friend in these countries—in any country, really,” McCarthy concluded. He believes that because of the hospitality he experienced in Turkey, he briefly had his guard down and almost got abducted by strangers. But McCarthy is not the only tourist who has recently become wary of overly friendly strangers. Another traveler mentioned that she was having dinner near the Eiffel Tower. And then, a suspicious stranger from Paris approached her and offered her a modeling job.
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