So, I turn nineteen next Monday, and the weekend after that, my friends and I are planning on driving a half hour from where I am in Ohio up to Windsor, Ontario, just to celebrate and go out drinking and stuff. Since we're going to be staying the night, and will most likely be exploring in Detroit the next day, I was wondering about exploring some places I heard about in Windsor before I go back.

Is it a bad idea to go exploring in another country? Are the laws different there? Will I get deported, or not allowed back in to Canada if I get caught? Should I just forget about it, and explore all day in Detroit instead? What experiences have you guys had exploring across borders? Tell me your thoughts on this.

Exploring in Canada is a lot smoother on the legal side than in the U.S. (well, at least in the Quebec Province). I don't know for the rest of Canada, especially Ontario, but I'm sure you can get out of trouble easily if you get caught by police in Ontario.

Happy exploring, and happy birthday!

Isn't the stereotype that Canadian cops are pushovers compared to American cops? Also, if you live in Ohio, is it even really worth thinking of Canada as another country? There are parts of your own country that are farther away and have a more removed culture from Ohio.

Posted by Steed Isn't the stereotype that Canadian cops are pushovers compared to American cops? Also, if you live in Ohio, is it even really worth thinking of Canada as another country? There are parts of your own country that are farther away and have a more removed culture from Ohio.

Yeah, that's all true. What I'm really concerned with is international law, and what would happen if I were arrested for trespassing in another country. Would I face consequences when I returned to America, and would I be banned from returning to Canada at a later date? Once my friends and I are nineteen, we plan on going to Canada once or twice a month.

Posted by vokapolis Yeah, that's all true. What I'm really concerned with is international law, and what would happen if I were arrested for trespassing in another country. Would I face consequences when I returned to America, and would I be banned from returning to Canada at a later date? Once my friends and I are nineteen, we plan on going to Canada once or twice a month.

I doubt any charges would follow you back to the US, but they might interfere with future visiting plans. But hey, you'll be 21 in a couple years, so no big loss.

Just don't park outside of official parking zones when in the cities. I learned this the hard way (and totally by accident) when I visited Toronto.... I had to sleep in my car, and wait like 8 hours before the courts opened the next day so I could go pay the $60 fine! And as I walk in and take a seat in this huge building down-town, having parked out front, I waited about an hour before they told me my "ticket was cancelled" for some reason. Yay! That was a huge relief!

So I head outside to leave, tired, having almost no sleep, and what do I see???? A nice, yellow strip tucked lovingly under my driver-side windshield wiper. In my rush to pay my ticket off, and my lack of sleep and extreme frustration, I had unknowingly parked in a handicapped spot. The nice officer was standing near my car ticketing some vehicle that fell pray to his ticket book, as I approached and (probably more rudely then I meant too....) informed him that I had only parked out front so I could pay my OTHER ticket off just a short while ago. He looked at me with a smile, and said I'd better move my car, because he'd already called a tow-truck to remove it! Ya. At that point I rushed back inside (after moving my car) and waited another 30 minutes or so to pay off this new ticket....

To my horror, I read the little yellow strip of paper, and it said I owed the Canadian courts $450 for parking in a handicapped spot. Well I got to the counter to pay the man, and he told me the ticket had not been processed, I would have to come back a few days later! (I wasn't able to stay in Canada for "a few more days") So.... I decided, I was leaving, ticket or no ticket. I called the Toronto court after I made it home and discovered (only a few hours later) that the officer had apparently made a mistake writing it, so that ticket was thrown out as well.....

MORAL OF THIS STORY? Don't park in handicapped spots if you visit Canada while exploring.

Posted by theshadow_razor Just don't park outside of official parking zones when in the cities. I learned this the hard way (and totally by accident) when I visited Toronto.... I had to sleep in my car, and wait like 8 hours before the courts opened the next day so I could go pay the $60 fine! And as I walk in and take a seat in this huge building down-town, having parked out front, I waited about an hour before they told me my "ticket was cancelled" for some reason. Yay! That was a huge relief! So I head outside to leave, tired, having almost no sleep, and what do I see???? A nice, yellow strip tucked lovingly under my driver-side windshield wiper. In my rush to pay my ticket off, and my lack of sleep and extreme frustration, I had unknowingly parked in a handicapped spot. The nice officer was standing near my car ticketing some vehicle that fell pray to his ticket book, as I approached and (probably more rudely then I meant too....) informed him that I had only parked out front so I could pay my OTHER ticket off just a short while ago. He looked at me with a smile, and said I'd better move my car, because he'd already called a tow-truck to remove it! Ya. At that point I rushed back inside (after moving my car) and waited another 30 minutes or so to pay off this new ticket.... To my horror, I read the little yellow strip of paper, and it said I owed the Canadian courts $450 for parking in a handicapped spot. Well I got to the counter to pay the man, and he told me the ticket had not been processed, I would have to come back a few days later! (I wasn't able to stay in Canada for "a few more days") So.... I decided, I was leaving, ticket or no ticket. I called the Toronto court after I made it home and discovered (only a few hours later) that the officer had apparently made a mistake writing it, so that ticket was thrown out as well..... MORAL OF THIS STORY? Don't park in handicapped spots if you visit Canada while exploring.

Haha, thanks for the tips! I'm pretty sure I'll be alright with that stuff when I go.

I was actually planning on posting something along these lines in the next week or so, So I'm going to jump on the bandwagon, as it were..
I'm coming from Canada into the US (Maine, Mass, NH mostly) and was wondering the same. Most of the locations I'm looking to explore I either have a local coming with me or have permission from the owners, but I'm wondering what happens down there. In NS, it's pretty lax from what I've seen so far...

Posted by Elle I was actually planning on posting something along these lines in the next week or so, So I'm going to jump on the bandwagon, as it were.. I'm coming from Canada into the US (Maine, Mass, NH mostly) and was wondering the same. Most of the locations I'm looking to explore I either have a local coming with me or have permission from the owners, but I'm wondering what happens down there. In NS, it's pretty lax from what I've seen so far...

I've never explored in New England, but from my own experience in the Great Lakes states, unless you're making a whole lot of noise, of flashing your lights out of windows at night, there's very little chance that you will be confronted by anybody.

There are some precautions that you should take in the small chance that you do get arrested though. I'm assuming that a lot of these laws are the same in other states, as well as Nova Scotia, but where I live in Ohio, criminal trespassing is a class 4 misdemeanor. This can technically get a person up to 30 days in jail, but is almost never more than a fine. This doesn't mean that the cops won't try to put any charge they can on you. In order to make it so that trespassing is the only charge that they can possibly get me on, I set myself some rules.

1. Never make your own entrance, always go in through a way that is already open. This is to prevent a "breaking an entering" charge.

2. No tagging, spray painting, or breaking anything. For one thing, it's a pretty dickey thing to do, and you could get charged with vandalism, destruction of property, or criminal mischief.

3. Do not take anything from the building. You could be charged with theft, or burglary.

4. Do not carry any items that could be "evidence" for any of these charges. Don't have any paint in your bag, no tools, and especially no crowbars. Also, I understand if you would want to, just for safety, but I usually don't carry any kind of weapon, because they can get you that too. Usually all I have in my bag is flashlights, extra batteries, food, water, and this special climbing rope that I have with a loop at the end for descending floors or elevator shafts.

I hope this stuff helps you out! Following these rules, I've only been arrested twice in the last 4 years, but I've never been sentenced to anything more than a hundred dollar fine. Also, with just a class four misdemeanor, you shouldn't have any trouble crossing the border in the future. Have fun on your trip to America! I hope you explore some really awesome places.

Thanks so much for your reply! I really appreciate the help -- Most of this is already common practice for me when exploring, so I'm glad I'm on the right track!

Point is, no matter where you go, don't be stupid.

I'm from Finland (Northern Europe, not the Finland in the States) and our laws for urbex depend on the owner of the property. So sometimes you gotta be sneaky, but the worse case scenario is that a security guard comes and shows you off.

In Riga, Latvia, urbex is actually forbidden due to the dangers it has caused - people get drunk, get into abandoned high rises and fall off the rooftop. Elsewhere in Latvia we never really thought about the whole thing - and our local guides didn't say anything. Latvia is a really interesting place to explore due to its past under the Soviet Union.

In Estonia I don't remember even thinking about the laws - we made the rules as we went and enjoyed the rotting Soviet era architecture. Ex-Soviet Union countries: highly recommended for urbex as there are TONS of ruins, the distances are usually short and the laws / attitudes towards urbex are pretty nonexistant.

Here in Canada (QC) I haven't done urbex - yet. I'm looking for buddies to go explore with me so feel free to msg!

Just prepare yourself for the general lack of anything interesting to explore (relatively speaking) vs on your side of the border.

Posted by yokes Just prepare yourself for the general lack of anything interesting to explore (relatively speaking) vs on your side of the border.

^^

Unless you like cranes and rooftops.

He's going to Windsor... Not much of either

Posted by kid775 In Riga, Latvia, urbex is actually forbidden due to the dangers it has caused - people get drunk, get into abandoned high rises and fall off the rooftop.

People don't fall of rooftops here. They fall into elevator shafts. Some cases are related with geocaching, with extreme climbing series. And yes, geocachers put treasure boxes in elevator shafts. The problem is, many people are trying to do geocaching without being prepared. Also, not prepared for exploring (lack of flashlights, etc)

correction - people get into abandoned high rises and rooftops to become drunk because it's prohibited to drink in public place (streets,parks and what so ever).So they go to abandoned places while being sober, thinking logically about "awwww this is a good spot" but not thinking about how to make way back.

I've spent the last 2 1/2 weeks exploring in France including some relatively high risk locations. It's my first time doing this internationally. My experience has been good, but with no close calls due to local support and lots of practice not getting caught. Go ahead and do it, but make sure not to add vandalism or other offenses to your trespassing. Yeah, maybe you get a ticket, maybe you get sent home. Don't worry too much / accept the repercussions and do it anyway.
-free

Unless you're vandalizing something of great significance then I think you'll probably be fine. Trespassing is a pretty low level crime and I don't think a big deal would be made out of it unless you B&E. Just be careful, I have friends who live in Detroit and depending on where you are it's quite sketchy.

Australis has a healthy scene.
The U.S. $ is currently strong against the Australian $.
And I'm here.

Necropost on a thread that's a year old.

Makes no sense.

What is orange?