[imagesource: RT / Facebook / Miles Le-vesconte Routledge]

For most of us, Afghanistan would be very near the bottom of any list of preferred travel destinations, especially over the past few days and weeks.

You’ve most likely seen the horrific visuals from Kabul’s airport yesterday, which have been confirmed by a South African contractor waiting to be evacuated.

However, 21-year-old British student Miles Routledge isn’t most of us, and he actually flew into Kabul last Friday, in what can perhaps politely be described as an ill-advised holiday.

The Telegraph reports:

He chronicled his journey on the online forum 4chan, joking that he would be “goofing off and soaking in the sun”. At first, he appeared to dismiss the security threat posed by the advancing Taliban insurgents.

“The reason I came is because of the news,” he said in one post.

Mr Routledge, from Birmingham, claimed to have researched the 10 most dangerous countries in the world when planning the trip earlier this year. He has previously visited Chernobyl, the scene of the world’s worst nuclear disaster.

To each their own, I guess.

Routledge has gained a large following online, posting videos to Twitch on Sunday, claiming he narrowly escaped a run-in with the Taliban.

It should surprise nobody that a fellow student at Loughborough University, where Routledge is studying physics, described him as a “massive attention-seeker”.

Mr Routledge posted other updates on his Facebook page where he spoke more candidly about the “anarchy” unfolding in Kabul and the psychological toll it had taken on him. He said he was in a “bit of a pickle” after flights were cancelled.

He also claimed his tour guide was “fearing for his family”, adding: “His only crime is going the extra mile and saving my life.”

Routledge, via his Facebook account, then kept everyone up to speed with the latest developments.

Late Sunday, he said he was in a “safe house”, and asked that people “please consider the people who live in Afghanistan as they’re doing so much worse”.

He has now left Kabul, posting this at around 3AM South African time:

At around 1PM South African time, he posted that he had touched down in Dubai, giving thanks to the British Army.

Here’s the thing – once the 15 minutes of media fame die down he may well regret his holiday.

One person on social media dubbed him “the living personification of UK gap year culture” and it’s tough to disagree.

He has also been widely criticised for revealing the name of the interpreter who helped him, which could endanger the man’s life, as well as that of his family.

Some argue that naming the interpreter makes it easier for the Taliban to hunt him down, due to his having worked for the government.

Either way, he may have some stories to tell years down the line, but he’s also put himself under the intense spotlight those 15 minutes of fame bring with them.

This video has been widely shared, tracking his movements, as well as shedding more light on the possible danger he may have put the interpreter in:

[source:telegraph]