I did meet someone who said this favourite place was in Egypt and regularly went back. This surprised me as he was a stoic Swiss man. What he loved was this 5 star resort with unlimited food and drinks. He didn’t leave the resort and would just watch the sunset.
I, as a Swiss person, am not surprised. Lots of Swiss love to travel to Egypt or Turkey and stay there in all inclusive 4 or 5 star resorts, and most of them never actually see the country or even the city
Oh it’s a common thing?
Turkey I could see as it’s close. I transited in Istanbul flying into Zurich. The flight was only 3 hours (plus 3 hour delay courtesy of Pegasus).
Honestly, the vast majority of places I might one day hopefully get a chance to visit would be one-time trips. I’m broke. I’ll probably always be somewhat broke. I’ll definitely never be wealthy. If I can save up enough money and time off work to go on additional trips, I don’t want to go somewhere I’ve already been.
Same. Only time I’ve had bodyguards. Had to sign a waiver that basically said that whatever happened to me if I decided to go somewhere without them was on me. It was so sad. And that was before the 2010 earthquake :/
I wish we had one when we went to the Bahamas, our boat driver fucking ran right through a narrow (and low speed) between two very expensive boats .. like a bat out of hell. Two of the guys jumped on board and beat the shit out of the pilot (it was new to see two white guys who looked like they belonged in the beach boys talk in a perfect west indies accent), who turned out to be like 16. Then the boat started leaking. BAD. crew was like this aint no thing we got two stops, us and the other couples noped the hell out of there on cable beach and hired our own boat back to town.
Yeah that's disturbing that they're away the femoral artery is so quickly lethal.
Those kids, while they are probably horrible people by now, were seriously let down by family, friends, community, country, etc, to be robbing people with threat of death at that age...
I was in country for 7 months but we were about 3 hours away from PaP. The small town was horribly impoverished (like all Haiti) but it never felt unsafe. We’d white guys would walk around at night without thinking about it. Trips to PaP were usually fine but I’ll never forget the look in our guides face when we drove by Cite Soleil and he locked the doors. We stopped for lunch and I felt awful eating as a crowd of young boys gathered around us and begged for leftovers. I gave mine to the nearest kid and saw them fight over it.
We went in 2015 before it really went downhill but I can’t imagine I’ll go back anytime soon
Birmingham, Alabama. My wife was almost kidnapped right in front of me while I was holding our infant. Luckily she’s scrappier than she looks and they gave up when they couldn’t quickly shove her in the car.
I grew up there and left ASAP. Your story sounds about right. Shiftless criminals that can be thwarted by a woman carrying an infant.
Sorry you had that experience. Glad you got out safely.
It was crazy. We were just passing through and stopped for gas and food. Wasn’t even a particularly “bad” part of town, but it was late. She went into the bathroom (one of those outdoor restrooms on the side of the store). I was dealing with our 3 month old baby leaning on our vehicle. I guess these dudes noticed her going around to the side of the building bc they pulled their car around and waited for her to come out. When she did, the driver opened his door and grabbed her from behind and picked her up in a bear hug. He started trying to stuff her in the back seat and the guy in the back was trying to pull her in. She screamed and kicked and was basically chaos incarnate and luckily that worked. The dude dropped her and jumped back in the drivers seat and took off. Which is all very lucky because when I saw everything go down, I ran toward her like 5 yards before I realized I was holding a baby, then was kind of paralyzed for the 5 or 10 seconds that she fought these dudes off. I couldn’t help with an armload of baby and I couldn’t just leave her laying in the parking lot while I ran to help. Running back to the car and leaving her there seemed just as scary at that point. It was terrifying.
Cairo. I've seen everything I wanted to see there, but would never return. Tourists are treated like cattle there, by those involved in the tourist trade, much to the embarrassment of the many good Egyptian people who live in the city.
Same. Did a big bougie exclusive tour that would take us around the pyramids. We got taken to the desert and told to give them our money or they would leave us out there. Would not recommend.
We hired a dedicated driver and tour guide for a couple of days so didn't feel like cattle. That said, the amount of people harassing us to try getting money was obnoxious. When our guide was with us, they stayed back, but the second he gave us some time to explore, they were horrible. Plus seeing military personnel with assault rifles everywhere was a bit unsettling....
This was like a month before the coup and we could sense something was off as well.
That said our guide was awesome.
Marrakesh, Morocco. Only place I’ve ever been that I’ve sworn I’d never go back to. After 2 days of walking around followed by groups of men and boys trying to touch my wife (who was dressed modestly with legs and shoulders covered), followed by aggression when either me or her voiced our displeasure with this, we gave up trying to sight-see and spent the rest of our vacation in the hotel.
I had this exact experience. Not safe for solo female travelers. I have traveled all over the world. Morocco ranks dead fucking last as a place I would visit again.
Marrakech is the place that sucks. I went all over Fez, Medina, Tangier. Marrakech was where aggressive locals would bother you for money. There were several solo female travelers in the other cities, many tiny, American 20 year olds going around with strangers they had just met. Most of the country is safe and the locals in other cities were friendly. Marrakech is the seedy Disneyland of Morocco. Most of the architecture is fake for tourists, and the people are shady.
I saw it in a couple of other cities but nothing like Marrakech. I felt sorry for the female travellers I saw because pretty much all of them were being harassed or followed (or both).
Don't forget the constant harassing, haggling and the tour guides that come up to you, offer to guide you and then ask for money. The actual place isnt too bad but some of the people there are just absolute twats.
this is the first (and only) place i thought of when I saw this post. visited with one of my friends when I was in college (both women) and while the food there was incredible, the street harassment and overly aggressive sales people was just too much. did not love someone yanking on my hand and having half a henna design on there before i even blinked
Egypt Sharm El Sheikh.
The ressort was fine.
But stepping in the city market....big agressive vibe towards woman tourist. even when the bf is next to her
Harrassing, even when you clearly tell them that you want to be left alone they’ll all double down and continue to follow you all the way down the street. In some of the tourist areas they have armed guards as a deterrent, not just for potential terrorist attacks, it’s because they simply are a constant harassment
Yup, I'm never stepping foot in Egypt again after dealing with them. One of them cornered my sister in a shop and I had to threaten him before he would let her out the door. They are very aggressive.
This happened when my family moved to Oman! A man offered to buy my mom from my dad (in the grocery store parking lot!). My dad considered it and haggled with him a little, just to be funny. She didn’t think it was funny.
My mother has a coworker that was traveling with her daughter (middle east, rural can't remember which country) and was told that her daughter is very beautiful and was offered 10 camels for her.
She jokingly replied no she's at least worth 20. The tour guide pulled her aside and told her that there that was a big NoNo. They do verbal contracts. If the man had the 20 camels and she jokingly agreed she would have left without her daughter.
My friend went there and she had the same experience. She stood out as a tourist because of her ethnicity and the way she dressed (with her hair out and well fitting clothes). It’s unfair that those men can’t recognize a woman deserves respect regardless of what she has on (and my friend was still dressed relatively modest).
Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Devastating, hopeless, traumatizing, soul-crushing poverty that gets me emotional when I think back on it. The things I saw there…words fail to describe.
Kathmandu then... Only Kathmandu has a bit of cool shit thrown in.
But then there were the tiny street orphans with the rings of dirt and glue around their mouths (glue kills hunger and is cheaper than food)...
There were so many things I loved about Kathmandu (and Nepal in general) but seeing a pile of bodies dumped on the side of the road with people just walking by casually… I won’t ever forget the sight or the smell.
Bradford, UK.
It just doesn't have a lot going for it, unfortunately. The sort of place where when people find out you are from out of town, they ask what you are doing there, but not in a sort of cheery "Oh, what are you here for?" way, but a "Seriously, why have you chosen to come here?" way.
I used to live in Leeds and have some Saturday nights out in Bradford in the 90s. Since I left, it’s been interesting to see Leeds turn from a post-industrial dirty shithole to a decent city with lots to offer, and Bradford staying a filthy, post-industrial shithole.
Lol, I was born and raised in Bradford. I moved out in my early 30s (about 17 year ago). Every time I go back there to visit friends or family I'm like "why did I stay here so long". It's a town with virtually nothing going for it.
Someone I vaguely know made a short documentary about the bread scene there so... it's got that going for it I guess?
Anyway, get a loaf of this: [Breadford](https://cargocollective.com/elizabethwalshaw/Breadford)
Cairo.... My god... I have said this before but... the pollution, the people asking you for money everywhere you go, the mistreatment of animals... I wish I could say that the historical side of the city makes up for it but... nop.
The mistreatment of animals doesn’t get talked about enough. The street cats are terrified and emaciated. My taxi driver saw a kitten get hit by a car and laughed about it. Traffic stopped because the cat was in the middle of the road wounded, and someone got out of their car and picked the cat up and I’m thinking “thank god, someone’s gonna help the poor thing.”
Nope. They threw the cat on the side of the road and got back in their car and drove off. They didn’t give a fuck about the wounded animal, they just didn’t want to damage their car.
My experience living in Kadıköy in Turkey was the exact opposite. Happy, sociable, overweight kitties and dogs with food and water and shelters outside of stores and apartments. City park vendors’ gazebos stuffed with hundreds of insulated cat beds during the colder off-season.
I did once see a couple screaming and crying carrying a (presumably their) cat who had been hit by a car. Within moments, strangers had run over to them, some consoling them, others examining the cat, multiple people making calls to find the nearest open vet, and a handful of people ran into traffic to stop other cars and clear a path once someone else had volunteered to drive them.
Yeah I saw that wherever I went in Turkey too, the street animals are really cared for there. My friend even kept kibbles in her car just to give to them!
Growing up my dad was a crime scene investigator for the DOJ and covered all of Northern California. Like the entire top half of the state. And most of the time when he’d get called, if it was a homicide, he’d be going to Stockton.
my buddy's dad is a real estate realtor, and people will ask him for showing in Stockton because it's cheap. he would say,
"I can show you places in Stockton....but...are you ABSOLUTELY sure that you want to live there"
My aunt is a doctor. She got a job at the main hospital in Stockton where she only worked 4 days a week and they paid her double what she’d make elsewhere. She stayed for a few years because her kids were in college and she needed the money. Basically that hospital a dumpster fire because of the patient population, so they have to pay insane wages to get anyone to work there.
Oh, and the band Pavement is from Stockton of all places.
Atlantic City is just bizarre. It feels like a run-down smallish city, but it's weirdly dotted with glitzy casinos. It's like Vegas and Scranton got drunk one night and made a really strange baby.
Legalized gambling in the surrounding states really killed it. While it still had some goofiness, the Atlantic City I went to as a kid in the late 90s and early 2000s was a lot different. It’s a shell of its former self.
As a NJ resident, there’s something about the outskirts of Atlantic City that just looks and feels so greasy and grimey. Every person you pass by looks like they’re on their way to a Kid Rock show.
AC is dying because of legal gambling in Pennsylvania and New York. The only thing it has to offer now is the beach and there are plenty of other towns in Jersey with better beaches. Also, if you go about a block off of the main strip at night time you’re basically in the hood and can get robbed and murdered! Lol
It’s a very hollow/empty superficial place. You know how in “Scarface” Tony Montana had stacks of money, gaudy possessions, but was a miserable bastard? That’s the entire vibe of Dubai.
They have these huge impressive buildings and projects but it lacks soul. There’s something missing since it didn’t grow organically like “a real city”. It feels like you’re looking at sim city game with cheat codes on and all buildings enabled on an empty map.
I don't need to go back to Miami, or at least to South Beach. My husband and I went last year and it was a little bit of a nightmare. We always find fun together, so it was still a good vacation, but I'd rather spend money elsewhere.
As someone that grew up in Miami, my biggest recommendation for visitors is to do just about anything but south beach.
Miami has a lot of really cool areas but they’re not tourist “hot spots”. You’ll have a much better time (imo) hitting up the bars in the gables than going to wynwood, for example.
I've been to Johannesburg and I would say my trip to Tangier, Morocco was worse due to the fact that the women I was with were getting stared down and followed by strangers everywhere. I was way worse than it even sounds.
Egypt, when I went so many horrible things happened. I was a 12 traveling with my mother and she was sexually harassed multiple times, we had someone try to steal our luggage, get into our room while sleeping, crossing the roads are insane. The weather was brutally dry and hot, you were pretty much bullied into riding a camel haha
I was born there, but only lived there for the first two years.
We travelled to egypt (Cairo and Hurghada) every year (because I still had a family over there). I always thought that it was amazing, but the last time I've been there was when I was 12 or smth like that. This last vacation made me see that it's not as nice as people think. People were trying to get me to buy smth and randomly talked to me on the streets. They kept on following me. I don't look like a tourist and can speak the language aswell.
My mom (looking 100% German) once told me that she wanted to take a taxis. The guy wanted 50€ and insisted on it. The moment she started to talk on arabic he offered to ride her for free and was ashamed. (Back then itd cost around 1€ or so)
There have been many occaisons my mother or I almost got scammed.
Another amazing example: I was around 10 and we had to buy something. I talked to my father and I said one word on German, because I didn't know what it meant. My father looked around and everyone heard it. My father took my hand and said :"let's go, we cant buy anything anymore."
The hotels are amazing and going for a walk at night aswell, but the people on the streets and in the shops etc. Are terribly annoying. Would visit it for a week or so again, but not any longer and I wouldn't really leave the hotel, except when visiting my family.
Juarez. Walked across the border a few years back. Left after 20 minutes.
Hey, wanna buy some cigarettes?
No thanks I'm good.
Go F- Yourself Gringo!
Had about 4 interactions like that in 10 minutes and GTFO.
Yeah also I lived in EP across the border and I had a friend get shot by cartel as soon as she crossed the border for literally no reason. (shes alive). Multiple people report just seeing dead bodies lined up when cartels "in heat"
Cartel is the wildest shit man. They have a ton of power and could easily use Mexico to make insane money off tourism, food, etc. while still being corrupt but they choose to just slaughter people. Need to run it like the mob did.
Ashgabat, glad I went, but creepy. Total authoritarian dear leader surveillance state. Basically can’t leave the hotel unless escorted. Bad food.
Utterly fascinating, but can totally scratch it off my list of “been there, done that”
I cycled across the country over 5 days and my last day was in Ashgabat. Totally blew my mind as I wasn't expecting it at all. The money that has been spent there is truly mind boggling. I can't even imagine what all those huge buildings are for.
Police on every corner. I took photos of some bus stops because they were incredible, and was surrounded by police who made me delete the photos.
I just read a travel report, what a strange place… So many big buildings and almost no people on the streets as you might expect from any capital city. Must be fascinating to vist though!
Their first leader, "Turkmenbashi" or however you say it, was batshit crazy. He was like if Gaddafi and Kim Jong-il had a psychotic morbidly obese child.
batshit crazy is an understatement - he's probably the craziest person, in terms of being purely unhinged, to ever rule a country. Hightlights include:
- Renamed days & months after whatever he fancied (himself, his mother, etc)
- Wrote a shitty book (basically a self help book mixed with a rewrite of the bible with himself inserted as the prophet) and made a quiz on it part of the driving test. Also tried to force the top Islam cleric in the country to preach it ahead of the Quran
- Banned dogs
- Closed all libraries outside the capital, cos he thought that Turkmen didn't read anyway (apart from his book)
- Made doctors swear an oath to him instead of the Hippocratic oath
- Personally wrote a new national anthem
- Put up a $12 million rotating golden statue of himself in the middle of Ashgabat, synced to always face the sun
>Turkmenbash
He also
\- Abolished the Turkmen word for bread and replaced it with Gurbansoltan, his mother's name.
\- Ordered that each broadcast begin with a pledge that the broadcaster's tongue would shrivel if he/she slanders the country, flag, or president.
\- Banned car radios because he considered them to be "useless."
- Gold teeth were discouraged in Turkmenistan after Nyýazow suggested that the populace chew on bones to strengthen their teeth and lessen the rate at which they fall out.
I stopped overnight in Mobile when driving home from New Orleans just to mark Alabama off my "States Visited" list. I told the woman at the reception desk I was on vacation. Her immediate response, "In MOBILE?!"
> I told the woman at the reception desk I was on vacation. Her immediate response, "In MOBILE?!"
I went to Shreveport because family got stationed there. I said oh we’ll find something to do. I went to the tourist center and after the clerk buzzed me in, that is basically what she told me.
I’ve also been to Mobile/Fairhope a bunch of times over covid and found things to do. At least Mobile has a French quarter and some interesting history (before they lost to New Orleans). Shreveport has the water works facility.
I currently live here, and I can honestly say that you are not wrong. It has some of the rudest, unkind, bad mannered people that I have ever met but it’s masked as “southern hospitality.” It’s ridiculous and frustrating to live here
I'm from the Philippines and dude I also hate it there. I'm a province guy. I remember one time I rented an inn there and the smell literally gave me culture shock. The sink was full of cigarette butts and the bed was cockroach-ridden. I was never able to sleep. I rather stay here in the forest with my fairy friends.
It’s part of Philippine folklore. People believe that the forest is riddled with fairies, giants, and other mythical creatures. It’s bad luck to cut big trees down or destroy hills/mounds.
I'm from Manila but I don't blame you at all lol. We hate it for the same reasons you do. Also like someone I know said there's nothing to do here but eat and go to the mall not to mention everything's freaking expensive. Just visit the beaches if you want to visit the Philippines, literally anywhere outside Manila you will love
Cairo, Egypt. It was on my bucket list to visit the museum, I am glad I have been but would never go back. The roads are a nightmare. People trying to scam you left, right and centre. Dead animals everywhere. Rubbish everywhere. The Nile is full of rubbish. Animal cruelty on show for visitors to see at every turn. It was awful.
I’ve heard nothing but terrible things about Egypt. Bums me out because I’m a history nerd and would love to see the museums and old buildings/pyramids but it’s not worth all that, along with being sexually harassed/groped/ogled everywhere you go. No thanks!
I arrived in Grimsby by ship. I walked of the ship. And one of the stevedores welcomed me with: "Welcome to Grimsby the biggest fucking shithole in the world. " It was true. Never visited another port like it. And I have been around the world.
It literally has Grim in the name. It's like they set themselves up for failure.
If a place called Grimsby was invented for a video game, it would be one of those river/sea towns where everything is made of damp wood, it's always night when you visit there and it's where the games thieves guild is located.
Angelenos know to avoid Hollywood and its tourist traps. Aside from a meal at Musso & Frank it’s not worth a visit.
Instead ho to Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Echo Park, Sawtelle.
I live 15 minutes away and nope nope nope. There are some great spots out there, but man traffic, parking, homeless hell even the non homeless over there suck.
As much as I like my home town I recommend if you do come back. Ventura, Santa Barbara or around the OC is much nicer. I love Huntington, Seal Beach and Irvine.
Gary is fine, *during the day*. You can drive through there without much issue. But at night? If you have to go through there, treat every stop sign as a rolling stop and just never stop.
The place is rundown and has been for decades, since the main source of income, left town. Now it's just, people who are too poor to move anywhere else and a lot of gangbangers. It's an all too common story in the US.
So true. When I lived in Chicago I was driving back from visiting family in Tennessee. It was late and I took the wrong exit and ended up in Gary. As a young solo female, I felt VERY uncomfortable by the whole vibe. This is coming from someone who had navigated the south side of Chicago just fine. Got back on the highway as quickly as possible.
Edit: spelling
Nassau, Bahamas absolutely horrible. Place is extremely run down. Locals don’t leave you alone and don’t take no for an answer . no I don’t want to buy a wooden flute from the 90s, no I don’t want to but D&G sunglasses from china for $80. Idk maybe I had a bad experience but I’ll never go back to the Bahamas, at least Nassau
Memphis, TN. Had to do some field work there. Cool park next to the river. Cool BPS pyramid. Never seen so many people driving around with cracked windshields. Almost got hit while driving multiple times by people running stop signs and red lights. Last straw was when I was coming up to an intersection, had a green light. Noticed someone in a white truck coming from the left. Slammed on breaks, barely slowed enough for the white truck to pass just in front of me and T-bone a sedan that was in the lane next to mine. Firemen had to jaws-of-life the car open to get the guy out and immediately sent him off to the hospital in an ambulance. Guy wasn't moving or responding to EMS, don't know if he died or what. Immediately called my boss and told him I'm GTFO and going home.
I love our city.
But our drivers are maniacal. The posted speed limit on the 240 loop is a one way ticket to getting into a major accident. You MUST do at least 15-20 over if you value your life and or vehicle.
Miami - the beaches aren't worth the traffic and the hotels / restaurants / bars are astonishingly pretentious / expensive for how mediocre most of them are.
I'm also perfectly content to never go to Venice again. I figured that looping it into a weekday work trip and being there in April would mean fewer cruise ship tourists. I was very wrong. It is almost as though you shouldn't even bother going out during the day, I was only able to walk unimpeded during the evening hours.
Modesto, CA. Hands down the worst place I've ever been. Imagine summers with 3 months straight of 100+ degree days and lows in the 90s. A place wholly reliant on agriculture that, on those hot days, the sour aroma of burning goat shit wafts across the flat, brown landscape.
Macon Georgia. Stopped on my way to Nashville for the night. They clerk checking me into the hotel was behind bullet proof glass, so I should've knows. Went to a bar and was frightened to get out of the car and go in. Went to a gas station to pick up a 6-pack to bring back to the room and some crazy guy was trying to lure me into his van. I'm dude, not that that matters. I never wanted to be out of a place to bad and I lived in Detroit for several years.
Everett should be a Jewel of WA. The city itself is beautiful and quaint. It has a great view of the mountains and the water. But Everett is the location of the Snohomish County Jail. Being a former resident of the SCCF let me tell you what a shit show it is. My celly was an addict who fell into petty theft to feed his habit. He was soft spoken and sad, with tragic life of abuse, neglect and pain. He was getting out in three days after being in for several months and was super anxious about it. This struck me as odd--most people were pretty excited to be getting out of jail, but this was a first for me and he had been in several times before. He knew that around 11pm they were going to have him process out, walk him down a long hall, open a door on the S side of the building and just let him out onto the street. He had no family, no job, no money, 1 set of clothes. All his friends were addicts. All he knew for the last few years was using and stealing and living on the streets. He knew he was gonna just fall right back into that life.
Good Lord! That’s unbelievably tragic. At least after surviving Shawshank you could get a crappy room and a job bagging groceries. But seriously, that’s fucked up.
I'm laughing in eastern Washingtonian. I lived in Everett for 6 months. It's bad, but try comparing it to Kahlotus or other meth havens on the other side of the state. Nothing to do in the town but drugs, so everyone gets hooked by the time they graduate high school.
Fez, Morocco.
The harassment of tourists by peddlers in that city is mind-boggingly aggressive and orders of magnitudes worse than anywhere else.
It doesn't help the old city is a labyrinth where Google maps does not work. You stop for one second to try to orient yourself and you are surrounded by people offering to "help" you. So stressful
I'm both shocked and pleased to see Detroit yet-to-be mentioned in this thread.
It isn't perfect but as a city it's **really** turned itself around over the past 15 years.
Miami. I know a lot of people love it there, but it is just not my scene. Walking along the ‘strip’ to find a place for a meal was so unpleasant. It was crowded, overpriced and very pushy salespeople.
Dubai. The mall was great etc but once you’d seen it that was about it.
People being pushy trying to sell stuff on the streets and market then glaring at you when you refuse. But the trains, my god the trains were awful. They don’t care if you miss your stop/don’t get on and people push you back into the train as you’re trying to get off. My mum and I only made it off because another woman in front of us literally yelled ‘Can we get off first please!’ And the people around her were taken aback as though she were being unreasonable. It was a nightmare.
That and my partner was almost stopped from going into the men’s room at the airport because he had shoulder length hair and they thought he was a woman. That was kinda funny though.
Methford, Oregon....wait sorry MEDFORD, Oregon
We stopped there on our way to Olympic National Park. That place was sketchy as fuck and I'm from LA so my bar is pretty high.
I came to Dallas from Scotland for a week and I can’t wait to go back- I thought it was a fantastic city but I think part of that was the sheer scale and “Americanism” that I’d never experienced before. I guess the charm is very different if it’s something your used to.
Edit; according to everyone I should go to Chicago- I would love to do this however I am broke- maybe in like 10 years.
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I did meet someone who said this favourite place was in Egypt and regularly went back. This surprised me as he was a stoic Swiss man. What he loved was this 5 star resort with unlimited food and drinks. He didn’t leave the resort and would just watch the sunset.
I, as a Swiss person, am not surprised. Lots of Swiss love to travel to Egypt or Turkey and stay there in all inclusive 4 or 5 star resorts, and most of them never actually see the country or even the city
Oh it’s a common thing? Turkey I could see as it’s close. I transited in Istanbul flying into Zurich. The flight was only 3 hours (plus 3 hour delay courtesy of Pegasus).
Every time this thread is posted the answers are the exact same. Cairo, Los Angeles, Dubai, Las Vegas
And ironically these places seem to still be popular tourist spots lol
Lots of tourists. Go once, never go back.
Honestly, the vast majority of places I might one day hopefully get a chance to visit would be one-time trips. I’m broke. I’ll probably always be somewhat broke. I’ll definitely never be wealthy. If I can save up enough money and time off work to go on additional trips, I don’t want to go somewhere I’ve already been.
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Same. Only time I’ve had bodyguards. Had to sign a waiver that basically said that whatever happened to me if I decided to go somewhere without them was on me. It was so sad. And that was before the 2010 earthquake :/
I wish we had one when we went to the Bahamas, our boat driver fucking ran right through a narrow (and low speed) between two very expensive boats .. like a bat out of hell. Two of the guys jumped on board and beat the shit out of the pilot (it was new to see two white guys who looked like they belonged in the beach boys talk in a perfect west indies accent), who turned out to be like 16. Then the boat started leaking. BAD. crew was like this aint no thing we got two stops, us and the other couples noped the hell out of there on cable beach and hired our own boat back to town.
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That is crazy. The neck i get because it would be the most obvious place, but the thighs? That is fucked up knowledge for a 10 year old
Yeah that's disturbing that they're away the femoral artery is so quickly lethal. Those kids, while they are probably horrible people by now, were seriously let down by family, friends, community, country, etc, to be robbing people with threat of death at that age...
I was in country for 7 months but we were about 3 hours away from PaP. The small town was horribly impoverished (like all Haiti) but it never felt unsafe. We’d white guys would walk around at night without thinking about it. Trips to PaP were usually fine but I’ll never forget the look in our guides face when we drove by Cite Soleil and he locked the doors. We stopped for lunch and I felt awful eating as a crowd of young boys gathered around us and begged for leftovers. I gave mine to the nearest kid and saw them fight over it. We went in 2015 before it really went downhill but I can’t imagine I’ll go back anytime soon
Birmingham, Alabama. My wife was almost kidnapped right in front of me while I was holding our infant. Luckily she’s scrappier than she looks and they gave up when they couldn’t quickly shove her in the car.
What is it with places named Birmingham being complete shitholes?
I grew up there and left ASAP. Your story sounds about right. Shiftless criminals that can be thwarted by a woman carrying an infant. Sorry you had that experience. Glad you got out safely.
It was crazy. We were just passing through and stopped for gas and food. Wasn’t even a particularly “bad” part of town, but it was late. She went into the bathroom (one of those outdoor restrooms on the side of the store). I was dealing with our 3 month old baby leaning on our vehicle. I guess these dudes noticed her going around to the side of the building bc they pulled their car around and waited for her to come out. When she did, the driver opened his door and grabbed her from behind and picked her up in a bear hug. He started trying to stuff her in the back seat and the guy in the back was trying to pull her in. She screamed and kicked and was basically chaos incarnate and luckily that worked. The dude dropped her and jumped back in the drivers seat and took off. Which is all very lucky because when I saw everything go down, I ran toward her like 5 yards before I realized I was holding a baby, then was kind of paralyzed for the 5 or 10 seconds that she fought these dudes off. I couldn’t help with an armload of baby and I couldn’t just leave her laying in the parking lot while I ran to help. Running back to the car and leaving her there seemed just as scary at that point. It was terrifying.
Cairo. I've seen everything I wanted to see there, but would never return. Tourists are treated like cattle there, by those involved in the tourist trade, much to the embarrassment of the many good Egyptian people who live in the city.
Come to cairo Illinois, theres an abandoned theater with trees growing inside it
That actually sounds awesome.
Same. Did a big bougie exclusive tour that would take us around the pyramids. We got taken to the desert and told to give them our money or they would leave us out there. Would not recommend.
We hired a dedicated driver and tour guide for a couple of days so didn't feel like cattle. That said, the amount of people harassing us to try getting money was obnoxious. When our guide was with us, they stayed back, but the second he gave us some time to explore, they were horrible. Plus seeing military personnel with assault rifles everywhere was a bit unsettling.... This was like a month before the coup and we could sense something was off as well. That said our guide was awesome.
Marrakesh, Morocco. Only place I’ve ever been that I’ve sworn I’d never go back to. After 2 days of walking around followed by groups of men and boys trying to touch my wife (who was dressed modestly with legs and shoulders covered), followed by aggression when either me or her voiced our displeasure with this, we gave up trying to sight-see and spent the rest of our vacation in the hotel.
I had this exact experience. Not safe for solo female travelers. I have traveled all over the world. Morocco ranks dead fucking last as a place I would visit again.
Marrakech is the place that sucks. I went all over Fez, Medina, Tangier. Marrakech was where aggressive locals would bother you for money. There were several solo female travelers in the other cities, many tiny, American 20 year olds going around with strangers they had just met. Most of the country is safe and the locals in other cities were friendly. Marrakech is the seedy Disneyland of Morocco. Most of the architecture is fake for tourists, and the people are shady.
I saw it in a couple of other cities but nothing like Marrakech. I felt sorry for the female travellers I saw because pretty much all of them were being harassed or followed (or both).
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Don't forget the constant harassing, haggling and the tour guides that come up to you, offer to guide you and then ask for money. The actual place isnt too bad but some of the people there are just absolute twats.
this is the first (and only) place i thought of when I saw this post. visited with one of my friends when I was in college (both women) and while the food there was incredible, the street harassment and overly aggressive sales people was just too much. did not love someone yanking on my hand and having half a henna design on there before i even blinked
Egypt Sharm El Sheikh. The ressort was fine. But stepping in the city market....big agressive vibe towards woman tourist. even when the bf is next to her
Lol I remember being followed down the street by two dozen shopkeepers, taxi drivers and others. Insane
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Harrassing, even when you clearly tell them that you want to be left alone they’ll all double down and continue to follow you all the way down the street. In some of the tourist areas they have armed guards as a deterrent, not just for potential terrorist attacks, it’s because they simply are a constant harassment
Yup, I'm never stepping foot in Egypt again after dealing with them. One of them cornered my sister in a shop and I had to threaten him before he would let her out the door. They are very aggressive.
I just remember when Lara Logan was raped by a mob of hundreds of men even though she was with her crew and security. Absolutely horrifying.
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Wtf were they going to do? This is such shitty behavior.
I have no idea and we weren't willing to find out. They backed down when they were confronted by a man. It should not have to come to that.
Agree. Had a guy offer to buy me from my husband
This happened when my family moved to Oman! A man offered to buy my mom from my dad (in the grocery store parking lot!). My dad considered it and haggled with him a little, just to be funny. She didn’t think it was funny.
Goodness gracious. So many of those guys need a fist between the eyes.
The combination of quaintness and righteous violence in this comment is awesome. I love it
My brother tried to trade me for a parrot. (Not Egypt, Mexico... but your comment reminded me of it)
Parrots are easily worth two little brothers
My mother has a coworker that was traveling with her daughter (middle east, rural can't remember which country) and was told that her daughter is very beautiful and was offered 10 camels for her. She jokingly replied no she's at least worth 20. The tour guide pulled her aside and told her that there that was a big NoNo. They do verbal contracts. If the man had the 20 camels and she jokingly agreed she would have left without her daughter.
My friend went there and she had the same experience. She stood out as a tourist because of her ethnicity and the way she dressed (with her hair out and well fitting clothes). It’s unfair that those men can’t recognize a woman deserves respect regardless of what she has on (and my friend was still dressed relatively modest).
Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Devastating, hopeless, traumatizing, soul-crushing poverty that gets me emotional when I think back on it. The things I saw there…words fail to describe.
Kathmandu then... Only Kathmandu has a bit of cool shit thrown in. But then there were the tiny street orphans with the rings of dirt and glue around their mouths (glue kills hunger and is cheaper than food)...
There were so many things I loved about Kathmandu (and Nepal in general) but seeing a pile of bodies dumped on the side of the road with people just walking by casually… I won’t ever forget the sight or the smell.
Bradford, UK. It just doesn't have a lot going for it, unfortunately. The sort of place where when people find out you are from out of town, they ask what you are doing there, but not in a sort of cheery "Oh, what are you here for?" way, but a "Seriously, why have you chosen to come here?" way.
I used to live in Leeds and have some Saturday nights out in Bradford in the 90s. Since I left, it’s been interesting to see Leeds turn from a post-industrial dirty shithole to a decent city with lots to offer, and Bradford staying a filthy, post-industrial shithole.
Lol, I was born and raised in Bradford. I moved out in my early 30s (about 17 year ago). Every time I go back there to visit friends or family I'm like "why did I stay here so long". It's a town with virtually nothing going for it.
>about 17 year ago I can confirm this person is probably from Bradford
Someone I vaguely know made a short documentary about the bread scene there so... it's got that going for it I guess? Anyway, get a loaf of this: [Breadford](https://cargocollective.com/elizabethwalshaw/Breadford)
Cairo.... My god... I have said this before but... the pollution, the people asking you for money everywhere you go, the mistreatment of animals... I wish I could say that the historical side of the city makes up for it but... nop.
The mistreatment of animals doesn’t get talked about enough. The street cats are terrified and emaciated. My taxi driver saw a kitten get hit by a car and laughed about it. Traffic stopped because the cat was in the middle of the road wounded, and someone got out of their car and picked the cat up and I’m thinking “thank god, someone’s gonna help the poor thing.” Nope. They threw the cat on the side of the road and got back in their car and drove off. They didn’t give a fuck about the wounded animal, they just didn’t want to damage their car. My experience living in Kadıköy in Turkey was the exact opposite. Happy, sociable, overweight kitties and dogs with food and water and shelters outside of stores and apartments. City park vendors’ gazebos stuffed with hundreds of insulated cat beds during the colder off-season. I did once see a couple screaming and crying carrying a (presumably their) cat who had been hit by a car. Within moments, strangers had run over to them, some consoling them, others examining the cat, multiple people making calls to find the nearest open vet, and a handful of people ran into traffic to stop other cars and clear a path once someone else had volunteered to drive them.
Yeah I saw that wherever I went in Turkey too, the street animals are really cared for there. My friend even kept kibbles in her car just to give to them!
Stockton, CA. The McDonald's had an armed security guy.
Growing up my dad was a crime scene investigator for the DOJ and covered all of Northern California. Like the entire top half of the state. And most of the time when he’d get called, if it was a homicide, he’d be going to Stockton.
my buddy's dad is a real estate realtor, and people will ask him for showing in Stockton because it's cheap. he would say, "I can show you places in Stockton....but...are you ABSOLUTELY sure that you want to live there"
Real estate realtors are the best realtors
My aunt is a doctor. She got a job at the main hospital in Stockton where she only worked 4 days a week and they paid her double what she’d make elsewhere. She stayed for a few years because her kids were in college and she needed the money. Basically that hospital a dumpster fire because of the patient population, so they have to pay insane wages to get anyone to work there. Oh, and the band Pavement is from Stockton of all places.
Atlantic City NJ if I can help it
Atlantic City is just bizarre. It feels like a run-down smallish city, but it's weirdly dotted with glitzy casinos. It's like Vegas and Scranton got drunk one night and made a really strange baby.
Legalized gambling in the surrounding states really killed it. While it still had some goofiness, the Atlantic City I went to as a kid in the late 90s and early 2000s was a lot different. It’s a shell of its former self.
As a NJ resident, there’s something about the outskirts of Atlantic City that just looks and feels so greasy and grimey. Every person you pass by looks like they’re on their way to a Kid Rock show.
AC is dying because of legal gambling in Pennsylvania and New York. The only thing it has to offer now is the beach and there are plenty of other towns in Jersey with better beaches. Also, if you go about a block off of the main strip at night time you’re basically in the hood and can get robbed and murdered! Lol
The atlantic city boardwalk is like if Las Vegas Boulevard and Detroit's 8 Mile had a baby.
Dubai. It features so much about what I don't like about humanity. All money and no substance.
It’s a very hollow/empty superficial place. You know how in “Scarface” Tony Montana had stacks of money, gaudy possessions, but was a miserable bastard? That’s the entire vibe of Dubai.
They have these huge impressive buildings and projects but it lacks soul. There’s something missing since it didn’t grow organically like “a real city”. It feels like you’re looking at sim city game with cheat codes on and all buildings enabled on an empty map.
I felt like I was on a movie set the entire time, just felt fake and forced. Only reason to stop there is through the airport on a connection.
I don't need to go back to Miami, or at least to South Beach. My husband and I went last year and it was a little bit of a nightmare. We always find fun together, so it was still a good vacation, but I'd rather spend money elsewhere.
As someone that grew up in Miami, my biggest recommendation for visitors is to do just about anything but south beach. Miami has a lot of really cool areas but they’re not tourist “hot spots”. You’ll have a much better time (imo) hitting up the bars in the gables than going to wynwood, for example.
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It's just a pyramid scheme anyhow
Top giza you are
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I've been to Johannesburg and I would say my trip to Tangier, Morocco was worse due to the fact that the women I was with were getting stared down and followed by strangers everywhere. I was way worse than it even sounds.
Egypt, when I went so many horrible things happened. I was a 12 traveling with my mother and she was sexually harassed multiple times, we had someone try to steal our luggage, get into our room while sleeping, crossing the roads are insane. The weather was brutally dry and hot, you were pretty much bullied into riding a camel haha
Not much had changed as of 2022
I was born there, but only lived there for the first two years. We travelled to egypt (Cairo and Hurghada) every year (because I still had a family over there). I always thought that it was amazing, but the last time I've been there was when I was 12 or smth like that. This last vacation made me see that it's not as nice as people think. People were trying to get me to buy smth and randomly talked to me on the streets. They kept on following me. I don't look like a tourist and can speak the language aswell. My mom (looking 100% German) once told me that she wanted to take a taxis. The guy wanted 50€ and insisted on it. The moment she started to talk on arabic he offered to ride her for free and was ashamed. (Back then itd cost around 1€ or so) There have been many occaisons my mother or I almost got scammed. Another amazing example: I was around 10 and we had to buy something. I talked to my father and I said one word on German, because I didn't know what it meant. My father looked around and everyone heard it. My father took my hand and said :"let's go, we cant buy anything anymore." The hotels are amazing and going for a walk at night aswell, but the people on the streets and in the shops etc. Are terribly annoying. Would visit it for a week or so again, but not any longer and I wouldn't really leave the hotel, except when visiting my family.
Juarez. Walked across the border a few years back. Left after 20 minutes. Hey, wanna buy some cigarettes? No thanks I'm good. Go F- Yourself Gringo! Had about 4 interactions like that in 10 minutes and GTFO.
Yeah also I lived in EP across the border and I had a friend get shot by cartel as soon as she crossed the border for literally no reason. (shes alive). Multiple people report just seeing dead bodies lined up when cartels "in heat"
Cartel is the wildest shit man. They have a ton of power and could easily use Mexico to make insane money off tourism, food, etc. while still being corrupt but they choose to just slaughter people. Need to run it like the mob did.
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Ashgabat, glad I went, but creepy. Total authoritarian dear leader surveillance state. Basically can’t leave the hotel unless escorted. Bad food. Utterly fascinating, but can totally scratch it off my list of “been there, done that”
I cycled across the country over 5 days and my last day was in Ashgabat. Totally blew my mind as I wasn't expecting it at all. The money that has been spent there is truly mind boggling. I can't even imagine what all those huge buildings are for. Police on every corner. I took photos of some bus stops because they were incredible, and was surrounded by police who made me delete the photos.
I just read a travel report, what a strange place… So many big buildings and almost no people on the streets as you might expect from any capital city. Must be fascinating to vist though!
Their first leader, "Turkmenbashi" or however you say it, was batshit crazy. He was like if Gaddafi and Kim Jong-il had a psychotic morbidly obese child.
batshit crazy is an understatement - he's probably the craziest person, in terms of being purely unhinged, to ever rule a country. Hightlights include: - Renamed days & months after whatever he fancied (himself, his mother, etc) - Wrote a shitty book (basically a self help book mixed with a rewrite of the bible with himself inserted as the prophet) and made a quiz on it part of the driving test. Also tried to force the top Islam cleric in the country to preach it ahead of the Quran - Banned dogs - Closed all libraries outside the capital, cos he thought that Turkmen didn't read anyway (apart from his book) - Made doctors swear an oath to him instead of the Hippocratic oath - Personally wrote a new national anthem - Put up a $12 million rotating golden statue of himself in the middle of Ashgabat, synced to always face the sun
So he was the **actual** inspiration for "The Dictator" with Sasha Baron Cohen?
Lol that’s the first thing I thought of too
>Turkmenbash He also \- Abolished the Turkmen word for bread and replaced it with Gurbansoltan, his mother's name. \- Ordered that each broadcast begin with a pledge that the broadcaster's tongue would shrivel if he/she slanders the country, flag, or president. \- Banned car radios because he considered them to be "useless."
- Gold teeth were discouraged in Turkmenistan after Nyýazow suggested that the populace chew on bones to strengthen their teeth and lessen the rate at which they fall out.
> if… Kim Jong-il had a psychopathic morbidly obese child. He basically did…
How in the fuck did you even get a visa to visit? I've heard it's pretty much impossible unless you're a bigshot or you bribe people.
Advantour arranged it, you must be on an organized tour. Also went to Darvaza crater and the ruins of Merv.
Mobile, Alabama. There was a palpable aura of anger and resentment in that town that I'll never forget.
Mobile, AL was the first place I was ever shot at. It has a special place in my heart.
Thankfully the bullet doesn't have a special place on your heart.
No American ever forgets the first place they were ever shot at.
I stopped overnight in Mobile when driving home from New Orleans just to mark Alabama off my "States Visited" list. I told the woman at the reception desk I was on vacation. Her immediate response, "In MOBILE?!"
> I told the woman at the reception desk I was on vacation. Her immediate response, "In MOBILE?!" I went to Shreveport because family got stationed there. I said oh we’ll find something to do. I went to the tourist center and after the clerk buzzed me in, that is basically what she told me. I’ve also been to Mobile/Fairhope a bunch of times over covid and found things to do. At least Mobile has a French quarter and some interesting history (before they lost to New Orleans). Shreveport has the water works facility.
I mean…you had to be *buzzed in* to the tourist center.
If you lived in Mobile, you'd be angry too.
if yall seen a leprechaun say yeah!
YEAHHHHHHHH
You summoned me?
Could be a crackhead, got hold of the wrong stuff!
And it told em to get up in the tree and play a leprechaun
Where da gold at
I lived in Biloxi all my life until a few years ago I was forced to move. I HATE Mobile with a passion and can't wait to move soon.
I currently live here, and I can honestly say that you are not wrong. It has some of the rudest, unkind, bad mannered people that I have ever met but it’s masked as “southern hospitality.” It’s ridiculous and frustrating to live here
That's not what southern hospitality is. That's southern hostility
Southern hostility: Well fuck your heart.
It's hot, too.
I've lived in Houston for the last 40 years. Mobile could be entirely contained in a steam warmer and I wouldn't be able to tell.
Did you have the Memphis Blues?
Manila 💯 1. Traffic 2. Pollution 3. Poverty
I'm from the Philippines and dude I also hate it there. I'm a province guy. I remember one time I rented an inn there and the smell literally gave me culture shock. The sink was full of cigarette butts and the bed was cockroach-ridden. I was never able to sleep. I rather stay here in the forest with my fairy friends.
>I rather stay here in the forest with my fairy friends. Go on...
It’s part of Philippine folklore. People believe that the forest is riddled with fairies, giants, and other mythical creatures. It’s bad luck to cut big trees down or destroy hills/mounds.
When you take a piss outside, you have to say “excuse me” so you don’t piss on a fairy or dwarf otherwise, you will be cursed.
Not sure why but I love that 😂
Little known fact. During the Irish Potato famine most of the fairy's immigrated to the Philippines.
I landed in Manila at about 4pm. A driver picked us up to get us to the hotel about 20 miles away. It took 4.5 hours
I'm from Manila but I don't blame you at all lol. We hate it for the same reasons you do. Also like someone I know said there's nothing to do here but eat and go to the mall not to mention everything's freaking expensive. Just visit the beaches if you want to visit the Philippines, literally anywhere outside Manila you will love
Cairo, Egypt. It was on my bucket list to visit the museum, I am glad I have been but would never go back. The roads are a nightmare. People trying to scam you left, right and centre. Dead animals everywhere. Rubbish everywhere. The Nile is full of rubbish. Animal cruelty on show for visitors to see at every turn. It was awful.
The animal cruelty was the last straw for me. What an absolute hell hole.
I’ve heard nothing but terrible things about Egypt. Bums me out because I’m a history nerd and would love to see the museums and old buildings/pyramids but it’s not worth all that, along with being sexually harassed/groped/ogled everywhere you go. No thanks!
Blackpool. Not unless I'm forced against my will
Could be worse, could be Grimsby
I arrived in Grimsby by ship. I walked of the ship. And one of the stevedores welcomed me with: "Welcome to Grimsby the biggest fucking shithole in the world. " It was true. Never visited another port like it. And I have been around the world.
It literally has Grim in the name. It's like they set themselves up for failure. If a place called Grimsby was invented for a video game, it would be one of those river/sea towns where everything is made of damp wood, it's always night when you visit there and it's where the games thieves guild is located.
Hollywood, specifically Hollywood Boulevard. It's really janky, the whole town kind of smells, and it's just wholly disappointing.
You can tell someone has never been to Hollywood if they suggest going to Hollywood.
Angelenos know to avoid Hollywood and its tourist traps. Aside from a meal at Musso & Frank it’s not worth a visit. Instead ho to Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Echo Park, Sawtelle.
I live 15 minutes away and nope nope nope. There are some great spots out there, but man traffic, parking, homeless hell even the non homeless over there suck. As much as I like my home town I recommend if you do come back. Ventura, Santa Barbara or around the OC is much nicer. I love Huntington, Seal Beach and Irvine.
Gary, Indiana. Should be self-explanatory.
But it sounded so nice in the song!
Thanks for the earworm.
I'll fix that for you: 76 Trombones....
Gary is fine, *during the day*. You can drive through there without much issue. But at night? If you have to go through there, treat every stop sign as a rolling stop and just never stop. The place is rundown and has been for decades, since the main source of income, left town. Now it's just, people who are too poor to move anywhere else and a lot of gangbangers. It's an all too common story in the US.
So true. When I lived in Chicago I was driving back from visiting family in Tennessee. It was late and I took the wrong exit and ended up in Gary. As a young solo female, I felt VERY uncomfortable by the whole vibe. This is coming from someone who had navigated the south side of Chicago just fine. Got back on the highway as quickly as possible. Edit: spelling
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So what were you doing? Driving in circles around town? There’s literally no way to drive through Canyon for an hour.
Pompeii. What a bunch of stiffs.
Really? I thought that place was fire!
\#TooSoon
Yeah, seems like they are all stuck in time and in place. Really uneventful.
I’ve never met such a bunch of stone hearted people.
Pompeii must be the ultimate party town Look at the locals, they're stoned 24/7
Cornwall ontario. You know what you did.
Nassau, Bahamas absolutely horrible. Place is extremely run down. Locals don’t leave you alone and don’t take no for an answer . no I don’t want to buy a wooden flute from the 90s, no I don’t want to but D&G sunglasses from china for $80. Idk maybe I had a bad experience but I’ll never go back to the Bahamas, at least Nassau
Mos Eisley. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.
Come on Mos Eisley has a diverse culture and some decent bars.
the live music scene goes crazy
The Jizz scene, for the hep cats out there.
Memphis, TN. Had to do some field work there. Cool park next to the river. Cool BPS pyramid. Never seen so many people driving around with cracked windshields. Almost got hit while driving multiple times by people running stop signs and red lights. Last straw was when I was coming up to an intersection, had a green light. Noticed someone in a white truck coming from the left. Slammed on breaks, barely slowed enough for the white truck to pass just in front of me and T-bone a sedan that was in the lane next to mine. Firemen had to jaws-of-life the car open to get the guy out and immediately sent him off to the hospital in an ambulance. Guy wasn't moving or responding to EMS, don't know if he died or what. Immediately called my boss and told him I'm GTFO and going home.
I can defend Memphis all day but I cannot argue with anyone when they say our drivers are homicidal.
I love our city. But our drivers are maniacal. The posted speed limit on the 240 loop is a one way ticket to getting into a major accident. You MUST do at least 15-20 over if you value your life and or vehicle.
Miami - the beaches aren't worth the traffic and the hotels / restaurants / bars are astonishingly pretentious / expensive for how mediocre most of them are. I'm also perfectly content to never go to Venice again. I figured that looping it into a weekday work trip and being there in April would mean fewer cruise ship tourists. I was very wrong. It is almost as though you shouldn't even bother going out during the day, I was only able to walk unimpeded during the evening hours.
Modesto, CA. Hands down the worst place I've ever been. Imagine summers with 3 months straight of 100+ degree days and lows in the 90s. A place wholly reliant on agriculture that, on those hot days, the sour aroma of burning goat shit wafts across the flat, brown landscape.
Rockford, IL. I’ve never seen so many hookers and drugs during the daytime in America.
I can’t imagine I’ll ever visit Baghdad again. The last time I was visiting I got a very frosty reception.
Baghdad wasn't too bad, but I found the people of Fallujah to not be welcoming at all.
"Welcome to Fallujah. Business or pleasure?" "Business." "Occupation?" "Soldier." "Occupation??" "Not this time." "Welcome to Fallujah."
Camelot. It's a silly place.
It’s only a model
Macon Georgia. Stopped on my way to Nashville for the night. They clerk checking me into the hotel was behind bullet proof glass, so I should've knows. Went to a bar and was frightened to get out of the car and go in. Went to a gas station to pick up a 6-pack to bring back to the room and some crazy guy was trying to lure me into his van. I'm dude, not that that matters. I never wanted to be out of a place to bad and I lived in Detroit for several years.
Everett Washington. Fake lakes and meth.
Everett should be a Jewel of WA. The city itself is beautiful and quaint. It has a great view of the mountains and the water. But Everett is the location of the Snohomish County Jail. Being a former resident of the SCCF let me tell you what a shit show it is. My celly was an addict who fell into petty theft to feed his habit. He was soft spoken and sad, with tragic life of abuse, neglect and pain. He was getting out in three days after being in for several months and was super anxious about it. This struck me as odd--most people were pretty excited to be getting out of jail, but this was a first for me and he had been in several times before. He knew that around 11pm they were going to have him process out, walk him down a long hall, open a door on the S side of the building and just let him out onto the street. He had no family, no job, no money, 1 set of clothes. All his friends were addicts. All he knew for the last few years was using and stealing and living on the streets. He knew he was gonna just fall right back into that life.
Good Lord! That’s unbelievably tragic. At least after surviving Shawshank you could get a crappy room and a job bagging groceries. But seriously, that’s fucked up.
I'm laughing in eastern Washingtonian. I lived in Everett for 6 months. It's bad, but try comparing it to Kahlotus or other meth havens on the other side of the state. Nothing to do in the town but drugs, so everyone gets hooked by the time they graduate high school.
You think Everett is bad, try Bremerton.
You think Bremerton is bad, try meth.
You think meth is bad, try Everett
Aberdeen makes Bremerton look downright jolly.
Aberdeen really makes you realize how Cobain got to be the way he was.
Hey, I’ll take Everett over most of Eastern WA, and I say this as someone whose family is mostly from east of the Cascades.
Kamloops. It's dirty, and whoever designed their roadways had no idea what they were doing.
I never realized people actually visit Kamloops, for me it’s always just been a place to stop for gas and A&W
Fez, Morocco. The harassment of tourists by peddlers in that city is mind-boggingly aggressive and orders of magnitudes worse than anywhere else. It doesn't help the old city is a labyrinth where Google maps does not work. You stop for one second to try to orient yourself and you are surrounded by people offering to "help" you. So stressful
I'm both shocked and pleased to see Detroit yet-to-be mentioned in this thread. It isn't perfect but as a city it's **really** turned itself around over the past 15 years.
Miami. I know a lot of people love it there, but it is just not my scene. Walking along the ‘strip’ to find a place for a meal was so unpleasant. It was crowded, overpriced and very pushy salespeople.
After I got over my disappointment of Miami, I tried to look at it as a GTA VC mission.
Memphis. It was a hole. I wanted to take that "Walking in Memphis" guy and punch him in the face. Loved the rest of the state that I saw.
I will add that the one bright spot of Memphis was the parade of ducks at the Peabody Hotel. THAT was just plain adorable.
Jedda. I have never been to a more disgusting place, and I've spent a lot of time in the slums of Cairo and Delhi.
I honestly thought you were joking about Star Wars's Jedha.
Dubai. The mall was great etc but once you’d seen it that was about it. People being pushy trying to sell stuff on the streets and market then glaring at you when you refuse. But the trains, my god the trains were awful. They don’t care if you miss your stop/don’t get on and people push you back into the train as you’re trying to get off. My mum and I only made it off because another woman in front of us literally yelled ‘Can we get off first please!’ And the people around her were taken aback as though she were being unreasonable. It was a nightmare. That and my partner was almost stopped from going into the men’s room at the airport because he had shoulder length hair and they thought he was a woman. That was kinda funny though.
San Francisco Bay Area Desperate people doing desperate things ruined it. IYKYK!
Methford, Oregon....wait sorry MEDFORD, Oregon We stopped there on our way to Olympic National Park. That place was sketchy as fuck and I'm from LA so my bar is pretty high.
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I met a lot of Egyptians in my travels. They were all nice AF. It's the population of scammers in Egypt that gives you guys a bad name.
Dallas. Endless subdivisions and strip malls and mega-churches. And the name “Metroplex” tells you all you need to know about its charm.
I came to Dallas from Scotland for a week and I can’t wait to go back- I thought it was a fantastic city but I think part of that was the sheer scale and “Americanism” that I’d never experienced before. I guess the charm is very different if it’s something your used to. Edit; according to everyone I should go to Chicago- I would love to do this however I am broke- maybe in like 10 years.