A STUDENT nurse hooked on travelling to the world’s most dangerous places has told how he had tea with the Taliban and met the brother of drug lord Pablo Escobar.
Callum Mills, 29, revealed he’s also been shot at in Iraq — and invited to become a spy.
And he admits his visits to the likes of Syria, Palestine, Somalia, Ukraine, Pakistan, Iraq and the slums of Brazil have made him appreciate his hometown of Coatbridge, Lanarkshire.
He said: “Before this I was like, ‘I need to get out of Scotland. It’s a sh**hole.’ But when you see some places, you realise it’s not that bad.”
Callum started his jet-setting during the pandemic when classes for his nursing degree were cancelled.
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He trekked from Pakistan into Afghanistan — where he was forced to sit in a cage while suspicious locals quizzed him about why he was there.
But after being allowed into the country he ended up chatting with a group which turned out to be Taliban.
Callum said: “They were offering me tea. One said, ‘Add me on WhatsApp and we’ll go out for something to eat.’”
He also called them “nice and friendly”. In Colombian capital Bogota, a gang boss showed him a crocodile he used to torture rivals.
Callum also met the sibling of Escobar, the notorious cocaine cartel boss gunned down in 1993.
And he narrowly missed a similar fate as he sat on a hotel balcony in Baghdad, Iraq.
Callum revealed “two guys in suits” tried to recruit him as a spy as he waited to fly out from London to Pakistan.
He said: “They asked if I’d be interested in keeping in touch on my travels. I said no.”
His filmed adventures have been a hit on his Callum Abroad YouTube channel.
But he told Hot Water’s Green Room comedy podcast not everyone is a fan.
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He explained: “I’m banned from the US.
“They see me as a terror threat because of the destinations that I’ve been to.”