Member-only story
I Recently Got Kidnapped In The Dominican Republic
And Booking.com did nothing about it
As I am writing this story, I am becoming more and more aware how lucky I have been. I could have been raped, abused or worse — murdered. Fortunately, they ‘only’ stole $2,000 dollars, simply because my intuition told me to run before they locked me inside.
I am a long-term traveler (over 10+ years full-time) and have been in gnarly situations before. But never would I have thought that by simply booking an apartment on Booking.com, my life could have been in danger.
Here’s what happened.
The apartment reservation
I had planned a month-long workation (I work online) to the Dominican Republic. Since I had a late arrival in the capital city Santo Domingo before traveling to my actual destination (Cabarete), I searched on Booking.com to book a place to stay for that one night.
I soon found a good deal — a whole apartment for only $35 dollars per night in a nice neighborhood, close to the city centre. It had 5 reviews with an excellent rating of 9.6. I was stoked, so I booked it. Here you can see the confirmation:
