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new york

Wherever you go, there you are.

Do you have a friend on your Instagram or Facebook feed who always seems to be traveling? At some point, has their obsessive need to travel ever made you feel suspicious about whether they are doing it to enjoy themselves or just to make people envious on their social media feeds? Have you questioned why they feel the chronic need to get away?

Berg, a TikTok user in New York, has wondered the same thing. But instead of silently thinking it to himself while scrolling through Instagram, he posted about it on TikTok and received a big backlash. In a post from November 2024, he made a bold statement: People who travel too much probably hate their lives.

"I get annoyed by people who brag about traveling a ton," he said in the video, which has over 640,000 views. "Traveling is great, going on trips is great, everyone should explore, but if you are going on like five trips a year then maybe you just hate your life, maybe you just hate your hometown, maybe you just don't know how to have fun or feel important without going to places that other people deem interesting. I don't think there's anything cool about that.”

@cberg24

People who travel too much probably hate their life #travel #life

Berg then speculated that those who constantly travel should focus more on improving their lives at home. "If you can't spend a month in the place that you live without losing your mind, then maybe you shouldn't live there. If you can afford all these trips and you're literally doing it because you need a break from your hometown that often, then move," he said.

Many people in the comments accused Berg of being jealous because, for whatever reason, he isn't out there enjoying the good life.

"Projection will put a spotlight on your insecurities every time, bro. Go on, get a robinhood account, get better at saving, and plan a vacation," one commenter wrote.

"Or… there’s a whole world out there full of different cultures and history that they want to experience???" another added.

"Jealousy is jealousy," a commenter wrote.

Two women taking a selfie on vacationCould Berg be onto something or is he just bitter?via Canva/Photos

However, some people agree that Berg has a valid point. "People aren't getting it. It's escapism, it's avoidant. It's an addiction like any other," one of his most popular supporters wrote.

"They’re eating you up in the comments but I actually think there’s some truth to your point," another added.

"I agree with this! It’s escapism—they’re uncomfortable sitting in the familiar," a commenter affirmed.

Do younger people travel just to post photos online?

While it’s hard to know if people who travel a lot are happy, there is evidence that social media plays a big role in people’s travel decisions, especially with the younger generations. A study by Travel Pulse found that 21% of people aged 22 to 37 stated that their primary reason for travel was to get photos for their social media page. A whopping 61% said they would not travel to a destination if they could not take pictures and post them online. Another study published by PR Newswire found that 36% of millennial-aged travelers confessed to posting misleading information to make their travel look glamorous, and 65% said it was to make friends and family jealous.

Ultimately, people travel for a wide variety of reasons, so it’s wrong to paint them all with the same brush. However, one thing is clear: social media has changed why people travel. So, the next time your frequent flyer friend posts another snap of their latest trip, it’s fair to ask: Are they doing this out of a thirst for adventure or attention?

Family

People are in love with the Tooth Fairy's clever letter to a young girl with a messy room

"The state of your room prevented us from performing a midnight retrieval."

The Tooth Fairy doesn't like messy rooms.

A father from Syracuse, New York, is getting a lot of cheers (and a few jeers) for a letter he wrote on behalf of the Tooth Fairy that he gave to his 10-year-old daughter. The message? Your room needs to be cleaner for us to give you any money.

The situation started after the girl’s parents forgot to help the Tooth Fairy out.

"We had forgotten to play the part of the tooth fairy, and when she woke up in the morning, she was disappointed," the father, who wanted to remain anonymous, told Newsweek. "Since we had been trying to get her to clean her room for a long time, it provided an opportunity to learn a light-hearted lesson."

So, the dad left the young girl a note from the Tooth Fairy on her official letterhead that claimed that her agents couldn’t “retrieve” her tooth on two separate occasions because her room was too messy.


The letter was on official letterhead with the address 100 Castle Lane in Fairyland.

A letter to my messy daughter from the tooth fairy
byu/haggardnarwhal inMadeMeSmile

“The state of your room prevented us from performing a midnight retrieval,” the letter read. “The first attempt almost resulted in tragedy as one of our agents’ shoes got stuck to something icky on the floor. While attempting to free herself, a pile of socks tipped over and nearly suffocated her.”

Given the two previous failures, the Tooth Fairy was forced to have a rare "daytime retrieval" and a "grumpy" fairy named Greta to do the dirty work. Greta was successful and left the young girl some change.

The Tooth Fairy finished the letter with a warm thank you. “We also know that you have a choice when it comes to tooth disposal, and we appreciate the opportunity to meet this need. Kind regards, The Tooth Fairy.”

He later posted the letter on Reddit, where it brought a smile to many people’s faces because of the formal way that it was written. "It is silly to have this image of a fairy in your head that deals with young children and communicates like an adult,” the father told Newsweek.

"This is gorgeous. She will remember receiving this letter her entire life," SuggestionIll2192 wrote in the comments. "This is fantastic! I have a messy kid who I straight up forgot to get the last tooth from. She had to remind me to remind the tooth fairy….Going to use my own version of this with the next one, thank you for the idea!" Seatthetruthadded.

However, some people on the online forum aren’t too happy with the letter, claiming that the parents were manipulating their daughter. "Really surprised people are rooting for turning the Tooth Fairy into a guilt trip for a child," Yadayadabisuqe wrote. "Nothing like shaming your child into cleaning her room. There have to be better way to do that than this," VintageTimex added.

In the end, the girl gets her reward from the Tooth Fairy, but do her parents see any changes in her cleanliness after the letter? "

A lot of people have asked, and the answer is no, the note did not have any lasting cleanliness effects," the father said.

@theblackmanfamily/TikTok

One little girl gives a brutally honest review of New York

Nobody has as much unabashed tell-it-like-it-is-ness as little kids. They simply haven’t grown into their social filter yet, and speak whatever is on their mind…often to quite amusing results.

Hence why people can’t help but laugh at one little girl’s brutal review of New York, all told in real time, thanks to her mom attaching a small camera onto her sweater as they traipse about the Big Apple.

“Mamaaaaa, I don’t like [it] here in New Yooooork. There’s a lot of rubbish,” whines little Jette Blackman, made even more adorable by her Aussie accent.

“You said it’s pretty,” she laments as they jet around Times Square (which, to be fair, does have a lot of trash, and is even bigger eye sore through the kiddie cam). “Mama, don’t lie to me next time — lying is not fun.”

“Look at all the stuff on the floor…there’s so many people here…What’s so stinky?” Doesn’t sound like Jette is gonna want to come back anytime soon.

Well, maybe not. She was impressed by the McDonald’s, which was apparently “copied” from Australia. Who’s gonna tell her?

Luckily, Jette’s harsh critique was not shared by her brother Nimo, who couldn’t contain his delight while exclaiming "it's soooooooo fun!"

Watch the video below:

@theblackmanfamily And this is the honest review of Jette about NY 😁 how did I get all of this? I used the @insta360 GO 3 🤭 soooo good!!! #Insta360 #Insta360FamCam @insta360_official ♬ original sound - The Blackman Family

Despite Jette not having a fun time, viewers fell in love with her commentary. Many even agreed with her assessment of the city.

“The most honest review I have ever seen. God Bless that little angel,” one person wrote.

Another added, “As a New Yorker this is valid.”

One person even said “We need her review for all the cities.” Which might actually be possible, since the Blackman family does travel and cruise to all sorts of places together.

Though Jette isn’t fond of New York, she did seem to enjoy Toronto and Vegas a bit more.

But if you’re still in the mood for Jette’s more, ahem, negative, review,s this one from Universal Studios is equally delightful.

Woman holds new signs walking in New York causing laughter

There's the old cliché, desperate times call for desperate measures and one woman decided it was time to pull out all the stops. Well, sort of. Karolina Geits was annoyed with dating sites when she and her friends came up with the joke of walking around New York City with a sign that reads, "looking for a husband."

The sign isn't something fancy that they printed up at Office Depot or something. It's just a piece of cardboard with black sharpie writing. Geits, who is a model, debuted the sign in July, racking up more than 6.4 million views on TikTok. Since striking virility, she's taken to filming herself with some pretty eyebrow raising signs.

People walking along the streets seem to be a mixture of confused and amused by these silly signs, which sometimes actually result in money. One of her signs, "need money for a Birkin" had onlookers giggling and some folks forgetting they were in New York traffic while craning their necks to...read her sign. I'm sure.


In one video Geits is sitting on a park bench surrounded by balloons designed to look like dogs. While actual dogs stop to sniff the curious pets she's holding the leash to, the model holds up a sign that reads, "these are the only pets I can afford." She doesn't stop at just sitting on the bench with her inflatable best friends, she takes them out into the park for a walk while people look at her confused.

Geits, has a sign looking for a sugar daddy, asking strangers to marry her, and declaring that she is in fact fashion. One of her most recent strolls through New York City looking for a husband garnered more than 11 million views. By the end of that video, some lucky guy swooped her off her feet. Pretty sure they're married now and she's just looking for a spare. They seemed pretty happy together after meeting .3 seconds beforehand.

Commenters can't believe her results.

"If this is the result then I just might try it," one woman writes.

"You know what... This might just work lol," another says.

"At this point I need to do the same thing. Lol," someone comments.

"You know what... let me go get me some art supplies lmao," one person writes.

Well, it does seem to be effective in gaining the attention of attractive men, even the ones clearly sitting with their partners. There were quite a few women gripping their partner's arm and giving them death stares. It's all in good fun, but check out those reactions below.