It has been ten years since Droose Canlon / Drew Scanlon returned from North Korea

https://www.giantbomb.com/videos/drew-returns-from-north-korea/2300-5929/

It's been exactly a decade since one of the most essential pieces of Giantbomb content. A lot has changed since. Drew ended up doing Cloth Map inspired by this. People have come and gone from GB.

So, after ten years, what are y'alls thoughts on it? For me it genuinely doesn't feel like it's been that long. It's still a singular piece of content for me, something I can always return to.

I remember this. He was mysteriously absent from GB content for a bit and it wasn't really announced that he would be doing anything beyond being on vacation then suddenly he came back and they announced he had just returned from North Korea and I was like "huh, what? how?"

This video was on GB infinite recently. It's still great.

It's a pretty decent video! Drew's approach to other nations was always respectful, a far cry from so many of those youtubers who go to the DPRK just to post sensationalist garbage and gawk at Asians - I always like Drew's travel videos.

That said it's always a bit... odd when Americans visit countries their grandparents' generation committed genocide in like the DPRK or Vietnam, especially one that's been under such heavy and restrictive sanctions from the US for decades.

I remember this being fascinating at the time, especially on this site since it was so unexpected. Back when Drew was this mysterious person with really unique hobbies. I remember him playing MGS with Dan and being surprised that he's actually just a regular dude. I've watched this a few times over the years.

I don't mean this in a negative way at all, but Drew Scanlon definitely isn't just a regular dude.

@dodecalypse: I mean do you think it's weird that Americans visited Japan or Germany after WW2? Especially if it's the grandchildren of veterans, who would care?

I would say North Korea is an odd place to travel to since they're still the same sabre rattling country but hell Vietnam thrives on tourism.

@dodecalypse: Yeah, only Americans commit genocide.

@jagerxbomb: They never said anything about Americans only committing genocide. I would guess they mentioned Americans since they don't tend to stumble upon Belgians visiting Kongo.

That was such an interesting & educational video. I wonder what the state of these kind of travels is nowadays. Things have heated up considerably in the years afterwards.

I went to North Korea two years later because of this video, so I'd say it inspired me. Most interesting trip of my life.

@nuttism: It was a joke that didn't work. My B. Blame the liquor.