BS BULLETIN:

• A growing crop of American travelers and expats are posting videos praising Poland’s clean cities, affordability and sense of safety.
• American travel influencer Christian Grossi went looking for things to criticize and instead asked whether Poland was a “hidden gem of Europe.”
• The U.S. State Department currently rates Poland Level 1 — “Exercise normal precautions” — and describes its overall crime rate as low.

Something strange is happening to Americans who visit Poland.

They keep wondering why they like it so much.

A collection of videos circulating on TikTok features Americans who have moved to or traveled through Poland marveling at many of the same things: clean streets, public safety, affordable food and transportation, and cities where they say they feel comfortable walking around at night.

One American travel influencer decided to actively search for the downside.

Christian Grossi, who has more than 2 million TikTok followers, recently traveled through four Polish cities and said he was deliberately trying to find something wrong with the country.

He wasn’t having much luck.

“As a tourist, I don’t see any problems here,” Grossi said, before wondering whether Poland might simply be a “hidden gem of Europe.”

Grossi praised restored historic districts, clean streets and what he perceived as relatively little visible homelessness.

Then came the prices.

He reported paying about $3 for coffee, around $8 for a lunch and roughly $20 for dinner at a good restaurant.

A bus trip lasting more than four hours cost him approximately $17.

But safety seemed to make the biggest impression.

Grossi said he saw women comfortably walking through Polish cities late at night and described feeling safe moving around after dark.

That’s one impression that has some independent support.

The U.S. State Department currently gives Poland its lowest travel advisory designation, Level 1: “Exercise normal precautions.”

Its guidance says Poland has a “low crime rate overall,” although it warns that pickpocketing and other crimes still occur, particularly in major cities and tourist areas.

Grossi finally did find something he didn’t like.

People standing on the street trying to lure tourists into clubs.

“They really annoy me,” he said.

When the club promoters are the biggest item on your complaint list, you’re probably having a pretty good vacation.

The videos have now kicked off a considerably more political argument online over why Americans are finding Poland so appealing.

Poland has pursued a much tougher approach toward irregular migration than many Western European governments, while simultaneously accepting large numbers of Ukrainians displaced by Russia’s invasion.

Some commentators argue that Poland’s immigration policies help explain its relative safety and social cohesion. Others dispute that connection and point to a much broader mix of economic, demographic, policing and cultural differences between Poland and the United States.

The viral videos themselves can’t settle that argument.

But they do pose a question Americans might find more interesting than another vacation recommendation:

If visitors keep noticing the same things abroad — safe streets, clean cities and reasonable prices — what are those countries doing that we aren’t?

DBS WIRE SOURCES:

• Twitchy — Americans are moving to Poland for safety, but they’re celebrating policies they won’t admit work
• Onet — American traveler visits Poland and struggles to find anything wrong with it
• WP Turystyka — American traveler evaluates Poland and finds only one downside
• U.S. State Department — Poland Travel Advisory