Miles Routledge
- Miles Routledge, 21, flew into Kabul, Afghanistan when the Taliban took over the city.
- Over the next week, Routledge became a viral phenomenon after posting about his experiences online.
- Here's a timeline of Routledge's self-described "adventure" and the criticism he's faced.
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Miles Routledge captured the internet's attention after he decided to take an impulsive trip to Afghanistan right at the start of the Taliban's takeover.
According to a now-deleted post from Routledge on the 4chan forum, he arrived in Afghanistan on Friday, after the coalition government fell to the Taliban. He had also posted about his visit on Facebook and other social media platforms.
After spending a few days in the country, he landed in Dubai on a military evacuation flight on Tuesday, according to footage he shared (but has since deleted) on social media, and has since been quarantining in the United Kingdom.
While Rutledge visited the country for a vacation and was able to leave when the country became unsafe, many Afghans haven't been afforded the same opportunity. Approximately 330,000 Afghans have been displaced this year, with over half fleeing since the United States withdrew its military in May, according to The New York Times, citing United Nations data.
The student has also received a wave of backlash from critics and appeared to delete footage he posted of his return on Facebook.
Here's a timeline of how Routledge's saga.
2019: Routledge visited Chernobyl
Miles Routledge/4chan
The 21-year old Loughborough University physics student has been a fan of traveling to dangerous locales, telling Input Magazine in an interview that he traveled to Chernobyl in 2019.
Per a report from the Independent, Routledge shared several Facebook updates about his trip. The posts appear to have since been deleted, Insider previously reported.
August 13, 2021: Routledge traveled to Afghanistan
On August 13, Routledge landed in Kabul. He told Input that he spent roughly $1,500 on a visa and flights and was seeking "adventure" when he booked his trip.
"I hate lying around on a beach so I wanted to do something a little bit different. After graduating I'll have a full-time job and maybe a family so won't have the opportunity to do things like this again," Routledge told the Times. "I thought [Afghanistan] looked quite nice, the food seemed amazing and it was dirt cheap."
Routledge posted about his arrival in Kabul on August 13 on a now-deleted 4chan thread, Input reported. Originally, commenters doubted that he was actually in the country, but after posting images of his plane ticket, his story started to seem more believable.
"If they invade Kabul tomorrow, I'll buy a ticket to Turkey and then wait in the airport and depart to another country, then the adventures happen all over again," Routledge wrote on 4chan, according to Input.
August 14, 2021: Routledge said he 'knew s--- hit the fan'
The first signs of danger started to appear on Sunday, he said. Routledge told Input, "that's when I knew s--- hit the fan."
That day, the Taliban, an Islamist militant organization, overtook Kabul as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani left the country.
According to his interview with Input, Routledge said he saw people firing AK-47s into the air while others frantically tried to take their money out of banks. He told Input he bought a burqa to hide his identity and tried to visit a number of embassies, none of which were open.
August 15, 2021: Routledge said he made it to a safe house
After failing to find consular support at the Kabul airport, Routledge said he made it to a United Nations safe house, he later said in an interview with Insider.
"I was just goofing off in Afghanistan," Routledge said on an August 15 Twitch live stream. "I want the kids to know I did something interesting in my life and this is definitely on the list."
August 16, 2021: Routledge made it out of Afghanistan and into Dubai
After making it to the Kabul airport, he boarded a British military plane that he said was mainly full of aid and charity workers, military personnel, civil servants, and other foreigners.
On Tuesday, the plane landed in Dubai, and Routledge told Insider he was immediately put on a plane back to the UK, where he said he is currently quarantining in a hotel.
The Independent reported that Routledge shared a 17-second video to Facebook of what appears to be him on a military plane. Footage of his evacuation was since shared on several other platforms.
After his arrival back home, critics were quick to point out his privilege
Some on Twitter accused the student of taking a spot from some of the many Afghan citizens that are still stuck in Kabul.
Journalist Julian Hoez tweeted that "he took a slot that a far less privileged Afghan citizen could have used to escape, while others criticized him for going to Afghanistan amid its humanitarian crisis "for fun."
-Lorna Russell (@lornrussell) August 19, 2021
-h g s (@HGSbitchin) August 19, 2021
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