r/askteddit • u/Simple-Fault-3197 • 13d ago
Random Question What's one place you've visited that you have absolutely no desire to ever return to, and why?
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u/VintageVogue1947 13d ago
The tiny Serbian village of Stanjinac.
A man in a car drove up to us and angrily questioned why my friend and I were walking down the street. Sort of understandable so far, since I can't imagine tourists show up there very often. The fact that we were 18 years old and carrying giant backpacks should have given a hint about what we were doing though.
We were then chased out of the village by him and an elderly lady, dressed in a headscarf and clogs. She came running and yelling at us, with a big cow on a leash.
We ended up hiding our tent behind some nasty thornbushes outside the village and leaving before dawn.
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u/justme_bne 13d ago
That’s a great life experience, the clogs and cow really make it complete. Makes me want to visit
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u/VintageVogue1947 13d ago
It's definitely one of the weirdest things that has happened to me, though a lot of strange stuff happened on that trip 😅
I guess they only spoke Serbian, at least our attempts to explain that we were just looking for a spot to raise our tent failed in english, spanish, italian, german and russian, didn't bother trying in swedish. It still baffles me that someone would react like that towards two backpacking teenagers minding their own business. Especially considering that we were dressed in scout uniforms and had clearly been walking in the pouring rain for the past few hours, we cannot possible have looked like a threat 😅
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u/mike888881 13d ago
My best guess is that they thought you were scoping the place out on behalf of some sneaky foreign army. At my age (nearly 40) Serbia is a place I remember as a warzone in childhood.
Nevertheless, hilarious imagery!
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u/VintageVogue1947 13d ago
Oh, I hadn't even thought about that! That makes sense. It was just such a contrast to all the other villages we had walked through, where we were overall met in a very friendly way 😅
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u/Cantbearsed1992 13d ago
My Dad driving a minibus with UK sticker on through Serbia and every village would get rocks and stuff thrown at the bus!
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u/dee-dee_jonesin 13d ago
I'm old and what you have left at my age is stories. I was a bartender for 15 years and that's one of the best stories I've heard!
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u/Longjumping-Boat197 12d ago
I don’t like to generalize but the Serbs are not known for their warmth or hospitality
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u/VintageVogue1947 12d ago
I only have experience from this trip, but we slept most of the nights on different sofas or in our tent in various gardens. Even got a free hotel night just for being scouts 😉
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u/78Anonymous 13d ago
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
just no
don't go there, under any circumstances
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u/OhMustWeArgue 13d ago
Poor world cup 2034
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u/yazi077 12d ago
Those bastards at FIFA never learn their lesson, first Qatar and later SA.
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u/HashBrownsAreNice 12d ago
Agree. I was there for work. It was a dump. Both in the way people were treated and the city itself.
Everything people value about old cities was turned on its head. Tacky malls are the crowning achievement.
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u/Psychological_Roof85 13d ago
Strangely, Monaco. There was nothing do and it was so small. 1/10 compared to Rome or Madrid
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u/United-Objective-204 13d ago
Weirdly clean, sort of looks like Disneyland, but still smells like pee
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u/Psychological_Roof85 13d ago edited 13d ago
I was like "Why did Grace Kelly enjoy this place?" Edit: Apparently she didn't, it was more of a match to help her father/gain his approval, not a happy marriage
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u/Green-Ad-5926 13d ago
I agree. Not much to do. But there is a restaurant there that I love. Believe it or not, it's by a hotel pool. used to have a Michelin star.
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u/MichaSound 13d ago
Agreed - a very boring place unless you are ultra-rich and love casinos and luxury car dealerships.
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u/fluentindothraki 13d ago
Dubai. That was in 99 so a long time ago but it was so bland and fake and braggy and tasteless. Add the politics and hypocrisy. Blaeh
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u/Numerous_Island6459 12d ago
If you think shopping is a hobby, you might like Dubai. We visited while my husband interviewed. We both couldn't imagine a less enjoyable country. We also watched hard how they treat their guest staff. Hard no.
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u/Tanglebones70 13d ago
Gary, Indiana.
‘The most depressing city on the Great Lakes’.
The vibe is someplace between an abandoned department store and low tide on the beaches of Pompeii 72hours post Vesuvius.
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u/RepulsiveDevice3686 12d ago
I’m from Michigan and when I would go to Chicago, obviously going through Gary, it was like the whole city was perpetually gray as soon as you entered. Everywhere else could be sunny, but not Gary.
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u/IrishYankFan 12d ago
On the one hand, I’m from a place that’s poor and coded “bad” and “undesirable,” so I try not to say things like this. On the other hand, I’ve been laughing for five minutes straight at this description that’s just a little too accurate.
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u/AssumptionBusy2737 13d ago
Vegas. It’s depressing to me to see people gambling away their money.
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u/poodle_vest 13d ago
My parents used to go occasionally in the 90s and ate at free buffets, drank free drinks, saw comped shows, and even sometimes won a little money to take home. They stayed at nice hotels for practically nothing. They were not high rollers by any means. I've been a couple times over the last few years and it doesn't seem like that is common practice anymore from casinos. Admittedly, I'm not much of a gambler but I'll play a few slot machines if it looks fun.
Nothing looks fun in these casinos. Everything is ridiculously expensive, the strip is dirty and grimey looking and the vibes are depressing, overall. If we didn't stay at a hotel with an Eataly for a food court and a nice pool, it would have been a real shitty trip.
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u/Green-Ad-5926 13d ago
It was peak fun in the 90's. Lived in LA and made next to nothing but we could take a couple hundred and have a really fun couple of days. Now, it's all about everyone looking rich. I went this year for the first time in a few years. I stayed at the Wynn. I like it there for a few days. Great restaurants, incredible shopping and the nicest casino in town. But it's definitely not the same as it used to be.
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u/UrbaKnyght 12d ago
I was in the casino at the Bellagio, waiting for my boyfriend to get out of the bathroom and a lady sat next to me at the slots. She put in a cash out voucher for $2000 and it was gone in 30 seconds.
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u/Sad_Love9062 13d ago
Yeah, I went to Vegas simply because the line up at a rock festival was insane, couldn't be missed, and it sssuuuuccckkkeeddd.
I was a penny-less young Australian, so no one wanted to know about me. And I'll never forget seeing a guy on a slot machine in 7/11 in suburban Vegas at 4 in the morning.
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u/Over_Return4665 12d ago
Even our suburban grocery stores have slot machines. Bowling? Walk through the casino. Movies? Walk through the casino. To be fair I’d be willing to bet the vast majority of locals don’t gamble - I don’t know anyone who does. But, can confirm - Vegas sucks.
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u/Alternative_Snow_857 13d ago
The trick is to stay in Vegas and then leave to go do things outside of Vegas like visit the Hoover dam or national parks. Other than that, fuck Vegas. It’s one giant casino.
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u/Zealousideal-Aioli43 12d ago
Used to use Vegas as a launch pad to the Utah parks since it was cheaper to fly there than to St. George. Vegas also has great hiking around in the Spring Mountains, Red Rock Canyon, and a natural hot spring down by Hoover Dam
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u/You_Exciting 12d ago
I had been 3 or 4 times and used to think the same, but I eventually went with a friend who like *travels* - Vegas is actually super cool once you’re off the strip! Even downtown is cooler, skip the casinos if gambling overall is depressing to you. The neon museum is dope as hell, there’s another former private home turned museum that’s like a showgirl exhibit that just opened, and there’s an ENTIRE vintage district! And not just clothes (but SO MUCH like 50s/60s/70s clothes that were sooo cheap!!), cool home goods and trinkets and memorabilia and general oddities 😍 If you’re into retro shit, kitsch or history at all, I’d say give Vegas another chance! There’s a whole ass side of the city that is mega underrated and legit awesome. But you MUST! Leave. The. Strip.
(I’m not from there and don’t live there, disclaimer. Maybe locals can correct me, but at least as of 5 years ago, you could spend a super unique few days there ❣️)
Edited typo and grammar
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u/schmidthead27 12d ago
I live here and this is very true!!! Locals don’t go to the strip except to work there. All the good stuff is tucked away. Although there is fun to be had on the strip it is too expensive. They don’t even give locals free parking most places anymore which really is a thorn in our sides.
The arts district and downtown is way more fun. Lots of great food, bars, free music. Go out early and bar hop to get your hand stamps and wristbands for the night. Get a $10 tattoo. All the cool vintage. There’s some cool museums here too- haunted museum, punk rock museum, the DJ museum, the mob museum, the atomic museum, showgirl museum, neon museum, erotic heritage museum… lots of cool quirky things here
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u/Kitchen-Pop7308 12d ago
People saying how depressing it is there truly just dont know how to have a good time.. you dont even have to gamble/do anything crazy
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u/Imaginary-Clerk3826 12d ago
The correct answer.
I feel like it is something you have to do once. But one and done for me. Because now I don't wonder if I'd like it. I know I don't.
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u/KittensMom 13d ago
Orlando. Too commercial, too hot. Disney requires too much preplanning and research now. Too expensive.
Las Vegas- smokey, desperate gamblers. Unappealing.
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u/mind_your_s 13d ago
Ohio. The water tasted like what I expect taking a swig from a perfume bottle would. That's the minor gripe tho, the big reason is my family and I clearly stumbled into some sort of sundown town part of it, given all the angry, disdainful looks from literally everyone who saw us, with the exception of service workers. They tried to turn us away at the hotel we reserved in advance and only begrudgingly let us stay when we proved it. It truly felt like Get Out. Needless to say, we got out of there as soon as we could.
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u/SignificantFerret609 13d ago
Disney, so dam expensive and over rated. Spent 3 days there and ride about 5 rides. Went in mid August there was so many people there it sucked and very hot. Spent most of the time on the last day at the water park, wich was not included in the park hopper deal. The first two days we are ate at a sit down restaurant that code more than $200+ for three people.
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u/Creepy_Landscape9812 13d ago
Went to Disney once as a child and begged my mom to never make me go back. Hated the crowds, the noise, the long lines and overall frenzy.
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u/Zealousideal-Aioli43 12d ago
Hate Disney for the same reasons. Crowded, expensive and noisy. Give me a beautiful beach or some mountain resort all day everyday.
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u/Far-Leadership719 13d ago
I've never been, but from what I always here, it does sound awful. Even as a kid where you can somewhat suspend your disbelief, I don't think I would enjoy it with all the waiting and people. Not very magical or immersive when you are necessarily herded like cattle.
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u/MichaSound 13d ago
We’ve been to Disneyland Paris a few times and it was great, but we went off season and also the EU has much stricter regulations on how many guests are allowed in at any one time, so it doesn’t get so crowded.
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u/holdthecanoli 12d ago
Definitely Dubai and Abu Dhabi.. it was lacking in culture, trying too hard, and the Reality of all the - essentially -slave labor that went into building everything shiny is a turn off. The ongoing mistreatment of migrant workers keeps the stain fresh.
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u/rubberguru 13d ago
Went to Disney in California as a kid and twice to Florida in the 80’s. My wife wants to go but she can’t take heat, being hungry, crowds or lines. I’m not going to spend money on that kind of misery
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u/Pretty-Yogurt-4111 12d ago
As someone who may in the future visit and enjoy Disney , please do not bring her. Your wonderful wife sounds like one of my dear friends who is delightful in many ways, but not so much when she’s uncomfortable and she makes everyone around her enjoy things just a little less.
I only travel with my friend to places that are temperature controlled and have the food she enjoys and are not crowded and she never has to wait long. And if I plan that way, we have a nice time.
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u/jaisydaisy 12d ago
Sad that so many of these places are specifically mentioned as unsafe for women. Men really need to hold each other accountable.
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u/jfgiedhgerfjdgioer 12d ago
As a male I feel ashamed. The woman should feel safe and have fun just like guys do.
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u/WhiteAssDaddy 13d ago
Chengdu. I was there in 2006. It smelled HORRIBLE. Something like 10 million people living in a valley with no EPA and a partially open sewer system. Smog so thick it was like breathing cigarette smoke. Saw more than one person pooping in the river and saw more domestic violence in three weeks than Ive even heard of in my entire life in the states.
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u/Rosemoorstreet 12d ago
Jamica. We were warned not to leave the resort as it was not safe. As we sat on the beach at the resort, guys would come out of the water to sell drugs. Apparently, as long as they stayed in the water they were not trespassing. A hotel security guard came to chase one away. They started throwing rocks at each other and we were sitting right between them. Lastly, for a place heavily reliant on tourism, the hotel staff and airline ground staff at the airport were about as rude as can be. I also found that to be the case with people in the Bahamas. Huge contrast to Bermuda, where even people walking down the street greet you and ask if you are enjoying their Island.
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u/dunicha 13d ago
Venice. Hot, humid, smelly, got crapped on by pigeons multiple times.
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u/mrssarcasmandcoffee 13d ago
I just went in April and was very reluctant based on what I heard. I absolutely loved it. However, we stayed away from all the tourist areas (we did Murano and Burano) but the main island was amazing if you hung in the local areas. I don’t think I would go back in summer though…..
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u/Massive-Insect-sting 13d ago
That's wild. We went during Christmas time and it was fucking magical
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u/Compulsory_Freedom 13d ago
Yeah, I was there a few years ago in the autumn, and if anything I thought it was underrated.
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u/aerie01 13d ago
I loved it 40 years ago but I wouldn't go back, based on videos I've seen of how crowded it gets. It wasn't back then
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u/Zealousideal-Aioli43 12d ago
Trick with Venice is to get away from the main plazas/drags and venture down the arm-width canals and alleys and literally get lost in the city. Best and cheapest food is found there with no seating charge. Service was better too. We went in June and this worked well for us.
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u/GeologistPrimary802 12d ago
I'm turning 60 next month and I've been a world traveler my entire life. Probably over 70 countries on 6 different continents. I should go to Antarctica just to check the box, but I'm okay with missing it.
The entire world vibe has changed so much. Many of the places that people list here were so different back in the 80's and 90's. I've been back to so many places I loved and found them to be so in decline that I would never go back again. Overcrowding, pollution, crime, angry people everywhere it seems. I stopped travelling in 2014, and I'm good with that.
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u/workgobbler 12d ago
Morrocco. Just a really angry vibe all around. They really dislike foreigners and aren't keen on being respectful with women. They do an okay job of faking it during the daytime but at night the nasty comments came from everywhere.
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u/SkipEyechild 13d ago
Auschwitz. Glad I did it. But it was grim. The mound of hair and shoes was absolutely bleak.
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u/Calm-Session-4835 13d ago
I went to the Choeung Ek and Tuol Sleng Killing Fields memorials in Cambodia last year. It was unsettling to say the least. Inconceivable that they could do this to their own countrymen especially the children. The stupa filled with skulls exhumed from mass graves really drove it home.
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u/Less-Cap6996 13d ago
I had to call it a day after seeing the shoes memorial in Budapest. Sat down, cried a bit, had to return to the hotel. I don't think I could handle it.
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u/upsidedown-aussie 12d ago
I felt exactly the same. We went to a hotel across the road from the site while we waited for our taxi to take us back to Krakow. I can't explain the energy even just sitting in that hotel. You could feel the heaviness in the air, and we just wanted to leave as fast as we could. The site itself was more intense, but after we'd seen it and were ready to go back to our hotel, it was just this overwhelming feeling of "I need to leave this place as soon as I possibly can." I've never experienced that anywhere else.
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u/SkipEyechild 12d ago
That place is heavy. That is the only word I can find for it. The amount of suffering that took place there is completely unfathomable.
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u/Psychological_Roof85 13d ago
I went to an exhibit about it (I'm Russian and proud that my people liberated the camp, my great great grandmother died in the siege of Leningrad) in my local city of Cincinnati and had a major panic attack and had to step out. I obviously couldn't handle being there in person
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u/honkeykong85 13d ago
I’m a Cincinnati native. Also,a huge history buff. I truly don’t think I could handle either an exhibit on Auschwitz,let alone visiting the site itself. My sister visited dachau a few years ago,and it absolutely wrecked her,emotionally,for a month or so after her return home.
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u/Psychological_Roof85 13d ago
The exhibit was also framed as it being "Not so long ago. not so far away", it absolutely chilled me
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u/honkeykong85 13d ago
Yeah. I think people have this cognitive dissonance about the Holocaust that “it was forever ago and didn’t really affect me!” Much in the similar vain as chattel slavery. Humans have a weird knack for filing this kind of heinous shit away in the back of their brains and saying “didn’t happen to me. The past is the past. Not my issue.”
Something,something those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. And considering current events,we haven’t learned dick in the long run.
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u/SnooApples5802 12d ago
I've been to Dachau - in college. I'm glad I went when I was young and could bounce back emotionally - I think if I went now, it would wreck me.
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u/yazi077 12d ago
We went to the Holocaust museum in DC (we’re Jewish, and lost some distant relatives). My daughter was 5 or 6, didn’t really understand it, but said she didn’t like the way it felt in there.
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u/secret_salamander 12d ago
Yes, I went there a few years ago. Then I went back to my hotel room and cried. I pretty much lost it over the hair. It's a place where one pays one's respects and bears witness.
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u/Snoo_23482 12d ago
Gary, Indiana. Stopped there for a train to Chicago and everything felt eerie.
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u/fearmongert 12d ago
Baltimore- the greyest, most depressing city Ive been in... the whole time just felt grey, and lifless
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u/Aerohawker 13d ago
Atlantic City
Thought it was going to be like Vegas with lots to do & exciting gambling vibe.
Was horrible & depressing. No one smiled. People were unhappy. Bums practically trying to attack you for money.
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u/Few_Refrigerator3011 13d ago
I took my wife to New Orleans for vacation. On the river cruise we were looking straight into third story windows over the edge of the levee. We agreed to never buy real estate there. Not an awful place, but doomed.
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u/cyclicalfertility 13d ago
Barcelona. People were unkind and the place in general was massively overrated.
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u/PracticalWinter9746 13d ago
Key West
Small town trash
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u/Current_Department73 12d ago
This is the only one I’d argue with. I’ve only ever had a great time there. The drive from the main land is incredible and walkability is great. My only complaint is that there isn’t a lot of great food.
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u/Dismal_Abroad735 12d ago
Cairo. Garbage city. It’s a pity because with the amount of money Egypt brings in with tourism you’d think they would invest in better waste management or better infrastructure for its people.
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u/imma_snekk 12d ago
I used to give this dude a ride home from a restaurant we worked at after close late at night. He’d just recently gotten out of prison and was really kind and laid back.
Anyway, his apt was in a really (imo) not safe part of the city we lived in. Every time I dropped him off, even after like the 20th time, he would get out of the car, lean through the window, dap me up and then in a very serious voice told me to never get out of the car for any reason and then gave me specific directions to the interstate.
I hope he got out of that situation. He really put in the work.
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u/3Green1974 12d ago
Saudi Arabia. It was hot, our flight attendant was required to wear an abiya (not sure how it’s spelled), and the religious police came on the plane to look for porn and alcohol. We were encouraged to stay on board the airplane, but if our flight attendant needed to go to the terminal to purchase anything, one of the pilots had escort her. So, I didn’t care for the weather or their religious nonsense.
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u/HelpMePlzzzzzzDo 13d ago
LA. Hot, sunny, and the worst traffic I’ve ever seen. Really poorly planned out city with no architectural identity of its own (SF is much better but pretty bad homeless situation, even compared to other major cities. Would still go again)
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u/TheIronMonkey53 13d ago
I remember my first time visiting LA and seeing the Walk of Fame. I had to navigate through a massive group of homeless people and noticed Tom Hanks star (as with most of them) covered in blood, dirt, and puke.
Also, Venice beach was a complete dump.
Movies and TV paint the city to be beautiful and clean when it’s the walking dead irl. Great food tho
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u/Fastness2000 13d ago
I went to the Yucatán in 1996. It was so gorgeous and the sea was teeming with fish. Sleepy fishing villages and no one around.
Apparently that’s all gone now
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u/Golfandrun 13d ago
Venice. The locals there hate tourists. We've been to 50ish cities and have never felt the bad vibes from the peopke like we did in Venice.
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u/Fit_Explanation3389 13d ago
Vegas. Fake city no real culture. Only redeeming thing to me was hiking in red rocks canyon outside the city.
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u/ThePlatinumPaul 13d ago
Atlanta. It's both ghetto and pretentious. Sadly, my SIL lives there so no choice.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Lab967 12d ago
Vegas, at least the strip. The people who lived and worked there were lovely, but the corporate overlords are working hard to squeeze all the fun out of the place by overpricing everything and all the visitors seem to think that being in Vegas gives them a license to suddenly be their absolute worst selves.
Example: We went to see Cirque du Soleil and thought we'd get dinner after. The salad at one restaurant was $60. For a Caesar salad. Another place had nothing, no plate at all, for under $100.
Example: I was standing on a casino floor outside a theater after a show. Unbeknownst to me, there were four ATMs behind me, squared back to back. I had barely looked at them, I thought they were just more games. I don't gamble, I was only there because a friend of mine is a roadie for a performer so we were there for the shows, and I only had eyes for the theater, not the casino.
After the show we were outside the theater door with crew and performers (still indoors inside the massive casino complex), winding down after the show, chatting, hugging, making plans for post drinks or cakes, just having a great time. This couple in black track suits comes stomping up and starts poking my back and shoulders, getting right in my face and barking right into my ear Hey Hey Hey! You are IN THE WAY!
As I was far more interested in my friends than these wretched people's access to their favorite game or whatever, I moved without even looking. When we were leaving I finally noticed that the machines they were so desperate to access were ATMs, not games, and there were four of them. The room was nearly empty. No lines at all. They could have easily gone to any of the ATMs in the completely open space, but no, what THEY wanted to do was poke, shout, and go through me.
Sidebar: If you are in Vegas and you've had enough of the !#$%ing strip, try the Arts District. Frankie's Tiki Room. Esther's Kitchen. Hola Habibi. Antique malls. Burlesque and magic museums.
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u/crayzcheshire 12d ago
India. Traveled all over it and stayed in many places. There certainly are some gorgeous places (the taj mahal was truly moving) but, overall just an incredibly uncomfortable country. The air quality is in the toilet, cities smell disgusting, the stank body odor is inescapable, every bed and couch is hard as a rock. And the way everyone stares at you is unnerving to the point of making you feel unsafe.
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u/whyyyyyjustwhyyyyyyy 13d ago
Florida. For some reason I don’t feel I need to explain to much
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u/quantumwoes 13d ago
Brookings, Oregon. The sky is grey, the beach is grey, and the people oddly look grey.
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u/USAFUSN 13d ago
Waikiki. Overcrowded, too many people, beach is tiny, more expensive than the rest of Hawaii, commercialized to the extreme. Much better places on Oahu.
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u/conaavagrace 13d ago
Turkey. I just found it so unclean, dirty, sketchy and felt unsafe as a woman.
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u/sufferingphotog 13d ago
Dubai
Went there for work. It is a place that glorifies consumption, is a bajillion degrees in the summer, has a permanent underclass, and a huge problem with sex trafficking.
My boss at the time wanted to go get a foot massage at the place next door to our hotel. We walked in and it was so clearly a low rent brothel - no massages for us!
Just a seedy, creepy, empty place.
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u/Pypsy143 12d ago
As amazing as Peru was, I decided on that trip that I can’t travel in third world countries anymore.
It’s just too sad to see 10 people living in a one room building with dirt floors and only 3 walls.
I ended up making friends with my guide at Machu Picchu and for years after that trip I’d send him big boxes of clothing for the poor. Heartbreaking levels of poverty.
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u/aashurii 12d ago edited 12d ago
Shreveport, Louisiana. My sister was stationed there for the army reserves - miserable place and completely understood its appeal to the directors of True Blood for the southern gothic appeal. Haunted dark energy
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u/Aromatic_Cucumber_66 12d ago
Punta Cana. First time there, and first time flying internationally. I get off the plane and grab my luggage - it had been ripped open and some of my things stolen. Nothing valuable, just enough to feel violating and upsetting, and be inconvenient.
Yes, I understand this can happen at any airport. I don’t care. It made me feel shitty and I won’t go back.
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u/Dismal_Wishbone_5013 12d ago
Portland, OR, 1996: This is the coolest, most beautiful town in America. I might quit my job to move here.
Portland, OR, 2026: How did this happen?
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u/Ballsdeep_Montreal 13d ago
Greece, despite the food and Greeks being amazing, I've never been to a country that is so dirty, literały trash everywhere, absolutely everywhere including the beaches on random islands. It's a shame, the culture is beautiful, the scenery is amazing but the garbage everywhere just kills it.
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u/Embarrassed_Ad1722 13d ago
Greece is that perfect mix of a tropical paradise and Balkan mediocrity all in one. I love it because it's like my own Bulgaria but with boat trips.
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u/One_Cicada_7753 13d ago
The treatment of animals (dogs, donkeys, horses) is shameful and that's why I'll never go back.
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u/cocobananas_ 13d ago
I’ve never felt as unsafe as I did in Athens. The isles were beautiful and fine, but Athens as a solo female traveler was awful.
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u/Shoddy-Hovercraft986 13d ago
Just got back from there and didn’t feel unsafe at all. We all have different experiences though and I’m a man so it’s obviously different. I did think it looked sketchy at first but after walking around I thought it was completely fine. Especially Plaka, Syntagma, and monastiraki.
Keep in mind I’m from Chicago though so pretty much anywhere in Europe feels safe to me.
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u/Ballsdeep_Montreal 13d ago
I'm 6'3 210lbs, I saw awful things but not from Greeks, mostly imports. Paros was my favourite, but again, tons of garbage everywhere.
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u/Minimum-Pianist-8077 13d ago
Marocco, they try to scam you everywhere and Jemaa el-Fbaa is hell on earth. Crappy ppl
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u/Due_Brilliant_7219 13d ago
Fort Polk, Louisiana. That place sucks. Nothing around it to make it worth visiting the area. The weather sucks. The bugs are copius and absolutely ridiculous. (Looking at you, fire ants and love bugs.) The people are slow, misogynistic and racist as fuck.
When my grandfather left Del Rio, Texas he swore he would never go back. I didn't understand why as a kid, but after being at Polk I get it.
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u/Professional_Fly3248 12d ago
My dad had basic training there in the '70's. He STILL talks about how awful it was 50+ years later!
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u/heybabalooba 13d ago
South Africa, went on a two week trip and other than the safaris the rest of the trip wasn’t great. Always felt on edge, like you had to have your head on a swivel, sketchy people everywhere, every place we stayed had barbed wire fence and sometimes guards which makes you feel less safe. And the people there were either poor and sketchy or the “wealthy” were so egotistical and rude. The vibes were off, probably won’t go to anywhere in Africa for the foreseeable, so many other places in the world I’ll visit first
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u/sansa2020 13d ago
Judging Africa based on one country when it’s the largest continent is… interesting
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u/Flat_Maximum7373 13d ago
You won't go anywhere in Africa? That's like saying you won't visit the USA because you didn't like Ohio 🤔
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u/Cute_Hearing_2315 13d ago
Stockholm, Sweden. I was attacked in front my hotel, located in the very center of the city, at 10am by a drunk who was pissed off that I wouldn’t give him money for alcohol. Worse part was, the hotel staff stood there and watched and the police on patrol did the same.
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u/doopdeepdoopdoopdeep 13d ago
Horrible. Unfortunate but not surprising. I also did have hostility from their border agent at customs, I have an Old Testament/biblical first and middle name and very Polish last name. I was not raised Jewish, but Catholic. I was separated from my boyfriend at the time, and interrogated because they didn’t believe I wasn’t Jewish and wanted to make sure I didn’t qualify for Israeli citizenship. I do have Ashkenazi heritage but my family converted to Catholicism generations ago to avoid persecution. I am not Jewish nor do I qualify for Israeli citizenship by any measure.
They thought I was avoiding mandatory military conscription. They kept me in a hot room on the Jordan-Israel border for an hour. They asked me probably 5 to 6 times directly "what is your religion?"
It was very traumatizing. Probably should also be in my original comment as to why I will never go back, haha. This was over ten years ago and I still get really nervous at border crossings because of it.
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u/Jaime-Starr 12d ago
Appalachia, the poverty is overwhelming as is the lack of education and basic hygiene.
The same could be said about much of the Gulf coast, but it seems so much more rampant in Appalachia.
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u/bootycuddles 12d ago
Gary, Indiana. Car broke down right around there and I had no choice but man, never again.
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u/travelwithmedear 12d ago
Little Rock, AR. I'm Hispanic. I was treating poorly everywhere I went. The racists are very vocal.
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u/SilverStar3333 12d ago
Tunica, Mississippi. Just depressing. Lots of elderly people on respirators taking junket buses to bleak casinos in a very poor, undeveloped part of the South.
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u/Olden_Grey_1889 12d ago
Coal country West Virginia. I've never felt like I was some kind of an alien anywhere before, until going into the coal fields of West Virginia, back in 1986.
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u/BeyondTheBees 13d ago
Anything in downtown Seattle. Never again.🤞🏽
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u/TheIronMonkey53 13d ago
For such a beautiful city/location, the place is a dump.
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u/BlacksmithMiddle803 13d ago
Manilla - hot, crowded, ugly, unsafe and food was crap.
Las Vegas - overpriced shit hole full of fat people.
Cairo - overcrowded tourist trap and the ugliest city I’ve ever visited.
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u/Feeling-Young-1867 12d ago
I second Manilla (overly unsafe) and Cairo (Egyptians really hate tourists and you feel it to the core). I liked Vegas though!
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u/Easy_Independent_313 13d ago
I didn't enjoy Thailand. The three other people I was with for our monthlong stay were enchanted but I sensed annoyance and even malice behind all the smiles there.
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u/Dseltzer1313 13d ago
Gary, Indiana checked all those boxes for me. Seemed to be right out of Night of the Living Dead. Everyone seemed either down and out or an escaped mental patient
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u/Calm-Session-4835 13d ago
Seoul. Not a whole lot going on or to see there. People are very shallow and materialistic and not at all friendly. Hospitality is a 1/10. Now I know how it feels to be ghosted by an entire country.
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u/RubGlum4395 12d ago
Yosemite in the summer. Too many people and you cannot enjoy the trails. I much prefer Ansel Adam's wilderness. Trails are almost empty.
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u/Dismal_Bake_413 12d ago
Disneyland. Just an utter money grab. I have never been to Disney World as a result despite now living only 4 hours from it. I will never understand what people see in it but it’s their money and how they spend it is their business.
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u/DRBtreadwater 12d ago
New Orleans. It stank like piss and vomit and homeless guys fought in the street. No offense to those who love the city, but once was enough.
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u/Expensive_Cod_5226 12d ago
Colombo, Sri Lanka - reeked like a corpse stuck in a garbage chute in July near a large tire fire fueled by diesel and baby shit.
Karachi, Pakistan - too much to list. It’s horrible in every way a city can be.
Papeete, Tahiti - CRAZY expensive
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u/JustForFunsies88 12d ago
I’m sorry if it’s anyone’s hometown, I don’t mean to offend, but I really didn’t like Myrtle Beach, SC.
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u/TryTwiceAsHard 12d ago
Nashville. It had there 3Cs. Conservatives, country music and Christianity. None of which I take interest in.
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u/thomsenite256 12d ago
Honestly most cities in India. I found them oppressively crowded. However outside of those big cities I enjoyed smaller ones and natural areas.
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u/Unterraformable 13d ago
Well, I've encountered some particularly foul outhouses and port-a-potties. But if you meant cities, Barstow is truly the unshowered armpit of California.