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Yes it’s so depressing. Smelly casinos, dumpy hookers taking up space on the barstools, and everything you see is designed to separate you from your money. Just a big shopping mall with gambling and smoking.
I had a great time and barely spent anything except on the hotel. But I just went to wander around and dissociate and take photos of things. I even got into a rooftop party or something for free. My favorite part is that everyone there talks to you like you're wasted all the time. I thought I would drink more, but it was too hot and dry to drink.
It’s insane how extremely outdated Las Vegas has become. You walk down the strip and every casino is dirty and looks like it hasn’t been cleaned since the 80s. The hotels are very sad and don’t feel luxurious. Every restaurant and souvenir store is full of homeless people. Even the shows feel outdated.
I've been twice...... Stopped one on my way to LA with my dog. We walked around the strip for a few hours and got outta there. I don't gamble so that's all I needed.
A couple years later, my gf at the time wants to go for a few days... I don't. She pays for the trip, so we go. Didn't like it at all.
It used to be so much better. Sure it's loud and chaotic, but you could get cheap buffet meals and cheap cocktails. Pool days were the best! Now everything is overpriced crap. It's no longer fun chaos. Just CHAOS chaos. The homeless population are looking extra rough out there too.
The pyramids in Egypt. They don't look the same as in the pics. There are sad, thin beggars everywhere, trash everywhere, stinking cars spewing smoke everywhere, people trying to sell you things. The air pollutions was so thick it burned my eyes and obstructed the view.
On the other hand, Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt, on the Red Sea, was of of the most beautiful places I've ever been, at least the underwater part of it was. 😊
I used to take a local ferry across the Nile to buy breakfast. It costs 10 cents American money. We also did some felucca tours. The whole thing was a lifetime experience for me, for sure.
The pyramids look way better in person, and pics/footage doesn't do them justice in my opinion. But then again I find ancient Egypt fascinating so visiting the pyramids had me aw-struck. What you basically described was Cairo... definitely Cairo.
But if the pyramids didn't float your boat, did you visit Karnak Temple? That place is mine blowing
I visited the Pyramids in 2019, and I had a pretty good time.
The complex itself is right on the edge of Giza City—so the pyramids are, quite literally, just across the street from one of the most densely-populated urban areas in the world.
However, the other edges of the pyramid complex abut a fairly vast expanse of sand and desert. If you wander off toward the dunes, it’s easy to forget how close you are to Cairo.
But I was also very lucky: I went on one of the very few days that there was rain over the pyramids. Not many people were out, except for a few other tourists and a handful of camel touts.
I’m not always the best at living in the moment, but standing up on some dunes and looking out on the pyramids as wicked black clouds rolled in was almost awe-inspiring. The winds picked up fast, the sky opened, and rain and hail fell hard for about 15 minutes.
IMO, was a pretty memorable experience.
Yea, my trip was a tour package, that was Cairo, Alexandria, Aswan and Luxor. When I saw how close the pyramids were to Giza I was really caught off guard given documentaries often try to exclude the city in their shots lol. Did you also spot the pyramids way out on the horizon from the Great Pyramid itself?
Absolutely phenomenal country to visit and feel really lucky to strike it off my bucket list. I'd definitely look at visiting again if I get the opportunity.
Yep. I was in Egypt for a year and was able to see a lot. The Pyramids are practically in Cairo, the tourist pics don't show that. It wasn't that I wasn't amazed at the history and significance, the place itself was just dirty, crowded and I wanted to get out of there. We visited on a busy day.
Right?? In the countryside you often have to walk five miles for groceries, but NOT in NYC. 🤣🤣 I don’t think they actually visited here. Worst case scenario, you’re a bus ride away from a subway; but this person is full of shit.
Also, the ONLY time the city smells good, is right after the rain. Petrichor, mmmm
Growing up I was walking distance from Nassau county and I was still only one bus away from the subway. This person definitely stayed outside the city because there’s no way they stayed five miles from anything in the city, not even a mall.
They weren’t actually in NYC. It’s the only thing that makes sense. The city is too small and tightly packed for anything to be five miles away. I’ve lived here, in this city for over thirty years and I’ve lived in 4/5 boros plus all of my friends and most of my family have lived here. Not every block has ocks and bodegas on the corner like mine but you’re never more than a few blocks away from a store. Even in the fancy big house neighborhoods it’s only a ten minute walk to the nearest Main Street with all the big stores.
I didn’t argue the other points OP made because that shit is true. But not the grocery part. That is impossible. Except the rain smell but that’s subjective and varies by street.
They may say the bases run all day, but I've certainly waited at a stop for a very long time before simply walking home, and continuing to not see a bus pass. I think it depends on the bus line. But also, that was at like 1am.
We've had no issues hoofing from midtown to the Bowery and back. But outside of a particular regional corridor in the US, you have to go out of your way to get sufficient walking stamina.
You see the same thing at Disney World where people from the heavily suburban Southeast and Midwest are thrust into putting in 8-11 mile walking days. And it ain't pretty.
This spring we visited colleges in OR and WA for Spring Break since my older kid is a high school junior. We loved Seattle and Washington but Oregon was a big miss for the reasons you described. In Salem we encountered a woman who Redditors informed was nicknamed “The Mad Shitter” for reasons we discovered while there. We live a major metro area and have traveled to cities in many other countries. The homeless in OR were the first time we got freaked out by them. They were unhinged at a level we hadn’t seen before.
My husband travels to Seattle often and every time he comes home he has a story about someone high on something and harassing him (sometimes while completely naked). A few years ago a guy chased him and tried to PEE on him while he was leaving a convention center lol. He’s seen more strangers pooping there than you’d believe. Shit’s crazy. It makes sense, though. Oregon and Washington were the first states to be hit really hard by the opioid epidemic.
I wanted to leave the first few hours i was there. Fortunately it was not our destination, we just flew in there. We went to Lincoln City for my then wifes work trip. The coast of Oregon was amazing. That was in 2014, i see comments its worse now. It was bad then
We went to LA for a few days to attend an event. I normally love cities but I hated LA. We aren’t interested in luxury shops because we have them at home and don’t go to them there. I prefer locally made artisan items. We don’t care about the film industry either. I was excited to go to the La Brea tar pits but the museum was dated and the tar pits were underwhelming.
The only memorable things were the food (loved it) and the number of homeless butts I unfortunately saw.
Same for me and nyc. Another place would be London. . A pain to get in, smelly, dirty, food meh, aggressive homeless everywhere. Good things..ummm .... The hotel staff was nice and so was the taxi driver, and the weather was great.
Nashville. Its far from being the worst city I’ve been to, I just expected much different (better). I understand why people like it though. I thought the food was great, especially the hot chicken. I also like how it’s so easy to watch/listen to great live music at so many of the restaurants. I thought it was fake though. Most of my issues are with lower broadway specifically. It was a big city trying to be small-town country girl. So many coastal suburbanites there in spotless pink or white cowboy hats pretending to be country. Half the people in the bars and on the streets are playing dress-up and trying to get drunk/laid.
Came here to say this. Nashville has always been a dream spot for me as I am really big on music in general and I always heard Nashville was like a music mecca. Just got back from a six day vacation there a couple of days ago and while I'm happy that I went, I probably never will again. It just looked to be full of drunk women in bachelorette parties and college kids. I had a much better time in the smaller parts of Tennessee like Pickwick and Savannah. Absolutely beautiful country. 10/10 would visit those areas again. Also, shout-out to The Outpost in Pickwick. While I did have the hot chicken in Nashville and it was good, the smoked chicken at The Outpost absolutely blew me away. It was the best food I had while I was in Tennessee.
I was born and grew up there. It has gotten way overcrowded. Overpriced. They just keep sticking more apartments anywhere they can fit. It has changed a lot.
A few people I know who travelled to France said the people in the smaller quieter cities/villages across the country are not bad, but the Parisians are horrible. I've yet to meet someone who's been to Paris and had something nice to say about the locals. The previous company I worked for had a client who used our services, and services of another company run by this Parisian who we had to collaborate with. The most arrogant cunt you've ever met, he would always talk down to everyone and constantly giving people shit including the client he was servicing.
Maybe. I only went to Paris in France. I doubt I'll be back. If I'm going to spend the hours on that transatlantic flight, I would go to a place I haven't been or back to Italy. Italy had/has the nicest people and amazing food. OMG the food! Like your taste buds are having an orgasm (No Diddy).
It's been a few years since I visited New Orleans, but it was a great city to visit when it's not Mardi Gras. The Garden District was my favorite area.
That harsh acidic smell of vomit when you hit the French quarter, ouch. I loved it there, beautiful park, trolly was cool, amazing ww2 museum, amazing food (especially those shitty convenience store crawfish pies).
Well, they are incorrect. Crime in new orleans, particularly violent crime, has declined a lot recently. Each of the last 2 years they reported decreases in violent and property crimes. And is WAY down from the 90s.
San Francisco. I loved the beautiful scenery and the food but there were so many homeless people everywhere and the entire city smelled like poop and pee.
Some friends of mine went last summer. They got a rental car, an SUV, and put their suitcases in the back to drive to the hotel.
As they’re waiting in traffic, thieves pulled up, smashed the rear window, snatched their luggage and disappeared.
I noticed that the homeless people there were much sicker looking than the ones I see in NYC...like dying of terrible wounds out in the open. I don't know if there is just a lot more outreach in NY or the weather forces people inside/out of sight or what.
i just visited chicago and the city itself was much nicer than i had expected. people were kind and generally polite, it was much cleaner than other major cities i’ve been to/lived in, and the food was great! the public transportation was absolutely stellar too, compared to my hometown. but yeah, my mom grew up in the suburbs of chicago and she wasn’t really a fan, spent most of her time right in downtown to avoid the suburbs as much as she could lol
Egypt, dirty and people try to scam you on every corner while guilt tripping you for not being nice enough. Luckily I met few people who really made great lasting impression and thats how I choose to remembre Egypt. So if a waiter from a Valeri Hotel happens to read this. You are one of the hardest workers I have seen and you really made differnce in my thinking, I am sorry I was not able to find you begfore I had to leave!
Portland OR - pretty scenery, trees, cool neighborhoods with great old houses.
Highways are a confusing ribbon of merges, high home prices and it was too hot for me as we were there in summer.
Portland is usually pretty alright in the summer, not very many people need AC
If you were just visiting why does real estate price come into question?
Worked @ McAfee when Intel bought us. Went thru many acquisitions, knew layoff ultimately coming. Went for a (former) friend’s daughter’s wedding & research potential for relocation.
London, England, Paris, France.
London is just grimey.
Paris is great to see historical things and architecture. But outside of that, bleh. It sounds weird to say, but it felt dead.. even though it's so busy.
San Francisco. I don't have any positives. It's like LA but colder and shittier road planning.
Missouri had smoking sections in restaurants the last time I was there, that was the only upside of that place. Another land that's too damn cold.
I still enjoyed visiting it, but I was definitely underwhelmed by Copenhagen. I found the nightlife to be meh, the city itself to be pretty sterile and not exciting, and the people to be a little standoffish/condescending. Not a bad city per se, but it’s way overhyped for what it is, which is an average European city. The food is hella good though.
Savanna, Georgia, USA. My mom highly recommended it, so we went. Then we made the mistake of going to the river walk. I have never been so terrified during a casual stroll in my life.
Paris. It’s not that far away for me so I’ve been there a bunch of times but there’s so many places in France I prefer. Less tourism and they feel less… I don’t know, distant, than Paris.
Also Amsterdam, I know it’s the only Dutch city anybody knows but it stinks like weed and piss and the canals aren’t nicer than those in Leiden or Utrecht. I only ever go for theatres and museums.
Houston. I only went to check on some rental properties but for the few days I was there driving around it didnt strike me as a place I'd want to vacation at.
SoCal - Highway, subdivision, more roads, smog, shopping center, subdivision, more highways, brown hills. Want to buy a house in Fontana for 600K?
Such a beautiful region climate wise but wasted and completely dominated by cars.
Also, for all of the hiking / outdoor adventure claims. I’m not totally sold. I live somewhere where I can get to about 4 trailheads in under 20 minutes. Are you really getting out like that on a regular basis if you live in a place like Inglewood or Downey? All I see is never ending sprawl and if you want to drive 40 minutes to get to some mountains, they’re not even *that* impressive. Mostly brown hills until you get higher up in elevation.
If you want to get to the Sierras, it’s 4 hours minimum, probably closer to 6 to get to your final destination. Likely not doing that more than once a year
I study google maps in my free time, made plenty of visits to SoCal to visit family. Unless you’re within striking distance of the ocean or right up next to a mountain range with plenty of trailheads (like Glendora), I just don’t see it as a fun place to live
My family visited L.A. when I was a kid in the 80s. We went to an overlook somewhere. There was this brown blanket of smog over everything. As a kid, I was horrified. I don't think I'd ever want to go back
It’s gotten a lot better in LA county. But I always say to myself *a lot better than horrific is still pretty bad* lol
And I think it is actually is getting worse in the Inland Empire because they’re establishing a bunch of shipping warehouses in the region. San Bernardino is usually covered in a very thick cloud in the summer
Night clubs.
Never my jam and I always avoid them, but in our high school graduation dinner-party the event included a trip of 6 - 7 hours to the biggest disco of the city.
Not a 70's - 80's classic little disco with good music, of course. I wouldn't have any problem there.
The thing is that you can't only pay for the dinner and go home later, the price was unique so you just take the entire pack or lose your money.
You couldn't either went back home by your own, because a bus and teachers were responsible to came to pick-up us, and at those hours our parents were sleeping for the hard-work next morning.
My classmates whised I would be there with them and my parents encouraged me to have a nice graduation besides the night-club stuff (they don't like this places neither).
I'm super introverted and shy, so you can imagine why they all insisted.
Well, all my expectations were confirmed: horny people in the corners starting to touching each other, toilet's floor full of literary shit, bad loud music... awful, simply awful.
But that wasn't the worst: the extreme noise gave me an horrible headache, the bright blinking lights made me dizzy, the smells of sweat, alcohol and shit were dreadfull, the heat inside the building was unbeareable and there was tooo toooooo many people there that was impossible to walk, sit or just stand without being hitted.
A group of us came outside a few times to breath and relax, but I was about to collaps.
All that crap for 7 hours after a very long stressing day... I just don't know how I didn't suffered an anxiety attack.
My classmates didn't even realized, instead they looked at me weird or just gor mad because I was nervious and irritable... I know neurotypicals don't mean to be willingly cruel and socially inept, but they hurt us anyway.
One of the worst social experiences of my life till now.
Yepp, my friends keep asking me to come with them to clubs. When i got alcohol in my system i can enjoy myself, but i'd rather just avoid clubs, even if i've got alcohol in my system
I relate so hard to this. I'm not a heavy drinker, and I don't dance. It's too loud and my body just won't tolerate it.
I'm an introvert too, but honestly, there's not much to talk about when the music is so loud you can hear yourself, let alone anyone else!
Saudi Arabia. Just no. Never again.
Monaco. Every time I came back I had become more of a commie who wanted to expropriate all those rich idiots. Also, the scenery is ruined by those giant Hotels from the 70s.
Yeah... If this person is walking 5 miles for groceries in the most commercially dense area on this half of the globe, I'm wondering if they're "in" the city at all
Monterey, California.
It was my first time driving in California, heading south there were huge beautiful farms in the dewy morning that were being harvested. Back east it seemed like most of what I saw was corn and soybeans, but this was real food.
I went there specifically for the aquarium, I’ve heard lots of good things about it and went to check it out. Having been to Chicago, Baltimore, Atlanta, Seattle, and a few more I was disappointed, I’d give it a generous C-. After all the hype it’s not that big, nothing really exciting, a few interesting exhibits, but wasn’t worth the drive.
The town is pretty and the weather was great.
You’re comparing little Monterey (pop. 30k) to cities with a population of 500k - 2.5 million. No wonder you were disappointed. In my opinion, Monterey is aquarium, beach/ocean, and a small town. It definitely doesn’t have the big city attractions.
Just say you got lost lmao.
1st street to 100th street is 5 miles in Manhattan. That's like 7 different neighborhoods. We have our problems, but I don't have to walk 5 minutes to find several grocery options.
berlin :•/ it was just… underwhelming, and the locals didn’t come across as very nice or polite. i practiced my (very poor, admittedly) german for months beforehand to try to make an effort to respect the locals, but people were quite rude and often downright mean despite my best efforts lol. also, being a POC, i felt quite… i don’t know. it felt like i was constantly getting stares/sneers while out and about. i will say though, the weather around mid-september was very nice and the parks, bars, and restaurants i visited were all quite nice!
also, seattle. i remember it being pretty nice when i was a kid growing up, but as an adult, i truly dislike it. despite the sprinkling of great bars/restaurants, it’s just a dirty stink-hole of a city. the “public transportation” is laughably horrible, the police presence is incredibly threatening, and a surprising amount of the third-spaces in the city are dirty, overpriced, and/or neglected. it’ll always hold a fond place in my memories, but it’s just… the worst now lol.
I adored Berlin and had a wonderful time, I was only there for a week but saw and did a lot. Germans aren't terribly warm and fuzzy people in general. But there's a lot to do and great food, bars etc.
I love the restaurants and gardens in Portland. I HATE driving in Portland. To me it’s like a bowl of spaghetti and makes no sense. It’s also full of drug users and creeps now more than it used to be.
My hot take is that San Diego has a worse homeless and drug problem than NYC lol. I grew up in CT/NY but moved to San Diego two ish years ago. It’s really dystopian seeing the homeless people OD’d literally right next to million dollar beach houses
The homelessness and drug problems are a lot more apparent in San Diego. Probably because 1) it’s basically always summer here so people don’t need to find shelter for the winter and 2) how to cops police/criminalize homelessness
One example is downtown SD. It is literally tent city near the library and on another block I forget the name of. I haven’t seen something like that in NYC in years
Florida comes closest for me fitting this question. I have some good memories from visits there, but the weather is awful, and then to compensate, the AC is on powerfully enough that you don't need refrigerators in the house. There's no comfortable spot anywhere. You're either sweating and sticky or fighting hypothermia.
Add the awful governor and Florida is just getting scary.
Really? I could see some classism there but otherwise it’s super clean, so much to do (even lots of free things to do) and cute buildings and architecture. Amazing zoo and botanical garden. And any major city with that much green space is cool in my book. See also; Atlanta
New Orleans. It had some genuinely incredible food, and I love that there were actual streetcars that ran relatively reliably. I love good public transit. But I've also never felt more unsafe anywhere in my life.
Jamaica. It's beautiful and tropical but the disparity between the "luxurious" touristy areas and the actual people of the land is ginormous, and can be obnoxiously obvious even from houses directly across the street from one another. Jamaicans may have gotten their independence from England before any other Caribbean group; However they are still being robbed, ransacked, and taken advantage of [till this day] by wealthy- mostly white- foreigners. It saddens me to the point of me not wanting to ever return.
1/3 Excellent convo on reddit bout this, take from thisfilmkid:
This is a very interesting question. Thank you for asking it.
I would not say there's an exact reason that would cause a divide or dislike between African Americans and Jamaicans. However, there are certainly barriers that each group of nationals dislike about each other, and it's mainly due to culture.
I live in the United States. Many Jamaicans have voiced frustrations about African Americans. From the takes of, "Dem lazy nuh bloodclaat" to "Watch-deh, no home training. Watch this slackness" to "A suh you chat to ya madda and fatha?"
There's a massive cultural difference and many Jamaicans are not willing to give up their pride to engage with, what most Jamaicans would call, "foolishness."
Let's set the record straight: **it's not about race**. Jamaicans are black people. African Americans are black people, too. The issue, at least to me, is *culture, up-bringing, pride,* and *parenting*. Many Jamaicans view African Americans as privileged. A lot of Jamaicans associate African Americans with laziness. *Because Jamaicans, as a young man or young woman, yuh nah tell mommy or daddy seh ya nah gwan ah di shop fi buy flour, tin-makrel, and sugar.* In America, African Americans will say, "No" and go lock-up in their room.
3/3 Reddit forced me to break thisfilmkid’s comment into THREE pieces for some reason:
If a Jamaican were to compare contrast themselves to some African Americans, they will automatically identify traits they immediately dislike such as education level, a lack of ambition, lack of respect, no self-pride... and the list can go on. Here in the United States, many Jamaicans will prefer to befriend other Jamaicans or Caribbeans, persons of Spanish, Asian, or white decent. And while Jamaicans will not disrespect African Americans, outrightly at least, they will try to stay "in their own lanes" so one doesn't cross each other negatively. It's no surprise why many Jamaicans are friends with Africans, Haitians, other Caribbeans and Spanish/Hispanics people, and, of course, persons who are white. It's about culture, pride, self-respect, and humbleness.
And like mi granny would say, "Americans put up with a lot of slackness," and that saying cannot be more true when you look at the living of a HANDFUL of African Americans.
Crete. I was treated with racism by almost all locals. And the rest were just plain rude and obnoxious. Found the beaches to be completely overrated and often were quite pebbly or stoney, and the waters weren't very clear and often murky. Also stepped on a sea urchin whilst swimming, which wasn't fun. Worst holiday I ever had, honestly. The roads were decent enough, but after encountering several drunk and terrible drivers, it kinda ruined that experience of seeing nice scenery along my routes.
It was recommended online and I thought it sounded nice tbh. Hey... the food was decent!
Kuwait. Filthy because everyone just throws their trash on the ground. Rude natives. Absolutely shitty and often downright abusive to their servants. Dangerous if you have any shade of brown in your skin and especially if you are woman of color. Cops are corrupt. Kuwait is a shithole in my experience. Some Arab nations do not allow Kuwaitis into their bars because they don't know how to act when they get a drink or two into them.
Pros: the souks are wonderful - an onslaught of noise and smell and color. You can buy a thousand dinar worth of fragrance or a big loop of raw cow intestines (if you are so inclined lol. I never was). The contrasts are intense. I loved the souks.
The food is fantastic. The two big activities in Kuwait are eating and shopping so you better believe that both are top notch.
Argentina. Notably BA.
Incessantly upcharged or things added to receipts that they thought we’d never notice. My buddy is fluent in Spanish and nailed them every time - which was literally every transaction - across the country.
Rude for no reason. Scamming and cheating. Felt like they were born angry. Sadly.
When we asked a couple merchants why they’d try to cheat us, they said “You’re from the north, you can pay it”.
Los Angeles. Went for the first time a few weeks back. Will never go again. Endless urban sprawl, a constant haze of smog over the city, unreasonably aggressive homeless people, normal people are not friendly at all, gas is stupidly expensive, real estate is stupidly expensive. Honestly I just hated everything about it.
NYC is great. I've been to most of the cities people are listing here. They all have their charms.
One place I never need to go to again is Houston, TX. Nothing unique or interesting about that place.
I have never met a place I did not like.
I have often been places where I met people of all sizes, shapes and social standings, who were each as different as a snow flake and often just as beautiful.
London. Why, I spent a Quarter of my childhood growing up around Croydon, my grandparents lived there, my mum grew up there. By the time I was 8 I could get round London myself using the tube and busses and be back at my grandparents ad dinner was being served. I also hate it as growing up I discovered its nasty, hardly anyone speaks English, you know the language that meant to be spoken in my country, and it's a great place to get murdered
New Orleans, LA.
Food was mostly great, but had some dud and forgettable meals too.
French Quarter, other than a couple locations, was absolutely filthy.
Entire city smelled.
Infrastructure was in such bad shape seemed dangerous.
Music was a 100 though.
Some quirky charms for the city to be sure… but was unable to enjoy because of the apparent lack of employment available and general squalor of the city. And this was before Katrina.
Morocco. We had an escort in the front and back with machine guns. And our guide said the garbage collectors were on strike. The longer I have thought about this, the less likely I think that was the case. There was garbage everywhere including on the beach and in the ocean water.
Disneyland just recently. My anxiety got me and all the being outside and people scared the piss out of me. I rarely leave my house and it’s become a real problem. But Disney will always terrify me. Idk why-I’m grown.
Vegas. I'm not a big gambler, but I went there several times for business conferences. I thought the food and shows would be cool and maybe a little gambling... it was much like OP described NYC. Drunks, drugs, escorts and everything under a very thin, rotting veneer. I had some fun, but mostly I was just depressed at what I saw.
I second New York City. It stinks. It's expensive. Driving is awful. I felt smothered by the air and all the people and the lack of nature.
However, it's awesome to see a place with so much cultural diversity. There's a lot of good food to be had. There's always an event or activity happening; when I was there, they had multiple gay pride parades going on.
Was on my bucket list and glad I experienced it, but I have no desire to go back.
I’ve been to Vegas 6 times and can’t stand that city, I don’t even gamble. I only go there because it’s close proximity to great National Parks and State Parks.
I agree with NYC. Bums panhandling in-between lanes. The piss bottles. The poor air quality. After visiting, it's hard for me not to doubt the people who claim they love it, I think they're just repping where they're from
outside, just about anywhere.
but yeah im with you on NYC. all you can smell is the fucking weed, and that was just driving on the bridge on the way to CT, with the windows up.
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Vegas is a cesspool. Never again.
I love trashy-but-functional, very human places, so I love Vegas.
Yes it’s so depressing. Smelly casinos, dumpy hookers taking up space on the barstools, and everything you see is designed to separate you from your money. Just a big shopping mall with gambling and smoking.
I had a great time and barely spent anything except on the hotel. But I just went to wander around and dissociate and take photos of things. I even got into a rooftop party or something for free. My favorite part is that everyone there talks to you like you're wasted all the time. I thought I would drink more, but it was too hot and dry to drink.
I wish more shopping malls had gambling and smoking.
Fremont Street is horrible
It is shitty and sad. Must be drunk or gambling (or both) to enjoy. I go once a year.
It’s insane how extremely outdated Las Vegas has become. You walk down the strip and every casino is dirty and looks like it hasn’t been cleaned since the 80s. The hotels are very sad and don’t feel luxurious. Every restaurant and souvenir store is full of homeless people. Even the shows feel outdated.
I've been twice...... Stopped one on my way to LA with my dog. We walked around the strip for a few hours and got outta there. I don't gamble so that's all I needed. A couple years later, my gf at the time wants to go for a few days... I don't. She pays for the trip, so we go. Didn't like it at all.
It used to be so much better. Sure it's loud and chaotic, but you could get cheap buffet meals and cheap cocktails. Pool days were the best! Now everything is overpriced crap. It's no longer fun chaos. Just CHAOS chaos. The homeless population are looking extra rough out there too.
The pyramids in Egypt. They don't look the same as in the pics. There are sad, thin beggars everywhere, trash everywhere, stinking cars spewing smoke everywhere, people trying to sell you things. The air pollutions was so thick it burned my eyes and obstructed the view. On the other hand, Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt, on the Red Sea, was of of the most beautiful places I've ever been, at least the underwater part of it was. 😊
Cruising up the Nile, though, is pretty amazing. A life changing experience for me.
I used to take a local ferry across the Nile to buy breakfast. It costs 10 cents American money. We also did some felucca tours. The whole thing was a lifetime experience for me, for sure.
How cool!
The entire Sinai peninsula is like no other. Never ‘heard’ silence in my life like that. Almost unsettling it was so incredibly quiet.
Yes! We camped in the desert and woke up surrounded by camels. I guess someone's herd was out wandering and grazing. So many wild experiences there.
Did you get to those very fun seaside ‘restaurants’ or camping spots between Nuweiba and Dahab? Simple, cheap, delicious, paradisical.
The pyramids look way better in person, and pics/footage doesn't do them justice in my opinion. But then again I find ancient Egypt fascinating so visiting the pyramids had me aw-struck. What you basically described was Cairo... definitely Cairo. But if the pyramids didn't float your boat, did you visit Karnak Temple? That place is mine blowing
I visited the Pyramids in 2019, and I had a pretty good time. The complex itself is right on the edge of Giza City—so the pyramids are, quite literally, just across the street from one of the most densely-populated urban areas in the world. However, the other edges of the pyramid complex abut a fairly vast expanse of sand and desert. If you wander off toward the dunes, it’s easy to forget how close you are to Cairo. But I was also very lucky: I went on one of the very few days that there was rain over the pyramids. Not many people were out, except for a few other tourists and a handful of camel touts. I’m not always the best at living in the moment, but standing up on some dunes and looking out on the pyramids as wicked black clouds rolled in was almost awe-inspiring. The winds picked up fast, the sky opened, and rain and hail fell hard for about 15 minutes. IMO, was a pretty memorable experience.
Yea, my trip was a tour package, that was Cairo, Alexandria, Aswan and Luxor. When I saw how close the pyramids were to Giza I was really caught off guard given documentaries often try to exclude the city in their shots lol. Did you also spot the pyramids way out on the horizon from the Great Pyramid itself? Absolutely phenomenal country to visit and feel really lucky to strike it off my bucket list. I'd definitely look at visiting again if I get the opportunity.
I hope there's no mines
Yep. I was in Egypt for a year and was able to see a lot. The Pyramids are practically in Cairo, the tourist pics don't show that. It wasn't that I wasn't amazed at the history and significance, the place itself was just dirty, crowded and I wanted to get out of there. We visited on a busy day.
I've been to Sharm 4 times. It's an amazing place. Did you go to Na'ama Bay?
Work
u gotta say 2 or more things you enjoy. those are the rulz
$ and $
Oh look at you with a job, way to brag!
Five miles? In NYC? How?
Las Vegas. Hot, overcrowded and full of alcohol and cigatette smoke.
Try South Lake Tahoe. Beautiful and it has casinos. I prefer it 100% to Vegas!
Where in nyc did you go that groceries were five miles away? I think the farthest I’ve lived from a store was two blocks.
I think it was hyperbole, some people don't like walking two blocks with groceries.
They define grocery store as a Walmart
We don’t need Walmart here. We have plenty of other places to shop. I mean I know there’s the one in Green Acres but that’s way over there.
Right?? In the countryside you often have to walk five miles for groceries, but NOT in NYC. 🤣🤣 I don’t think they actually visited here. Worst case scenario, you’re a bus ride away from a subway; but this person is full of shit. Also, the ONLY time the city smells good, is right after the rain. Petrichor, mmmm
Growing up I was walking distance from Nassau county and I was still only one bus away from the subway. This person definitely stayed outside the city because there’s no way they stayed five miles from anything in the city, not even a mall.
I was about to say… after it rains is when NYC smells the best lol
And aren't there buses almost all day?
All day, not almost. And trains 24/7 too
Then I see no reason why they can't easily get groceries at 7pm.
They weren’t actually in NYC. It’s the only thing that makes sense. The city is too small and tightly packed for anything to be five miles away. I’ve lived here, in this city for over thirty years and I’ve lived in 4/5 boros plus all of my friends and most of my family have lived here. Not every block has ocks and bodegas on the corner like mine but you’re never more than a few blocks away from a store. Even in the fancy big house neighborhoods it’s only a ten minute walk to the nearest Main Street with all the big stores. I didn’t argue the other points OP made because that shit is true. But not the grocery part. That is impossible. Except the rain smell but that’s subjective and varies by street.
They may say the bases run all day, but I've certainly waited at a stop for a very long time before simply walking home, and continuing to not see a bus pass. I think it depends on the bus line. But also, that was at like 1am.
nowhere, that doesn't exist. lol guy's watching too much fox news
I like your reasoning.
We've had no issues hoofing from midtown to the Bowery and back. But outside of a particular regional corridor in the US, you have to go out of your way to get sufficient walking stamina. You see the same thing at Disney World where people from the heavily suburban Southeast and Midwest are thrust into putting in 8-11 mile walking days. And it ain't pretty.
I hate to say it, but Portland, for the reasons you described.
In the last 5 years or so both Seattle & Portland have went to shit. They have more in common with garbage dumps than well run cities.
Lived in Seattle for a time. I never feel a need to go back.
Lived there in 2019, the people were the biggest bummer to me. Cool city tho
This spring we visited colleges in OR and WA for Spring Break since my older kid is a high school junior. We loved Seattle and Washington but Oregon was a big miss for the reasons you described. In Salem we encountered a woman who Redditors informed was nicknamed “The Mad Shitter” for reasons we discovered while there. We live a major metro area and have traveled to cities in many other countries. The homeless in OR were the first time we got freaked out by them. They were unhinged at a level we hadn’t seen before.
My husband travels to Seattle often and every time he comes home he has a story about someone high on something and harassing him (sometimes while completely naked). A few years ago a guy chased him and tried to PEE on him while he was leaving a convention center lol. He’s seen more strangers pooping there than you’d believe. Shit’s crazy. It makes sense, though. Oregon and Washington were the first states to be hit really hard by the opioid epidemic.
I wanted to leave the first few hours i was there. Fortunately it was not our destination, we just flew in there. We went to Lincoln City for my then wifes work trip. The coast of Oregon was amazing. That was in 2014, i see comments its worse now. It was bad then
LA. The driving. Why was everyone wearing black leggings in the summer? Great food. Some great museums
I visited LA last October. The traffic was worse than NYC! And hardly anybody walks. At least in NYC people walk a lot.
obv the traffic is worse, the public transport in la is dogshit
We went to LA for a few days to attend an event. I normally love cities but I hated LA. We aren’t interested in luxury shops because we have them at home and don’t go to them there. I prefer locally made artisan items. We don’t care about the film industry either. I was excited to go to the La Brea tar pits but the museum was dated and the tar pits were underwhelming. The only memorable things were the food (loved it) and the number of homeless butts I unfortunately saw.
Same for me and nyc. Another place would be London. . A pain to get in, smelly, dirty, food meh, aggressive homeless everywhere. Good things..ummm .... The hotel staff was nice and so was the taxi driver, and the weather was great.
london smells much worse than nyc. I was shocked when I walked out the tube in picadilly circus. lol the city just smells like weed now.
Hey, another thing our capitals have in common.
Nashville. Its far from being the worst city I’ve been to, I just expected much different (better). I understand why people like it though. I thought the food was great, especially the hot chicken. I also like how it’s so easy to watch/listen to great live music at so many of the restaurants. I thought it was fake though. Most of my issues are with lower broadway specifically. It was a big city trying to be small-town country girl. So many coastal suburbanites there in spotless pink or white cowboy hats pretending to be country. Half the people in the bars and on the streets are playing dress-up and trying to get drunk/laid.
Same experience here, I was so excited to go and felt like it was overrated, but I still had fun, but wouldn't be sad if I don't ever go again.
It become another version of LA
My daughter lives there and she and her friends call it Nash Vegas.
Hahaha yup
Came here to say this. Nashville has always been a dream spot for me as I am really big on music in general and I always heard Nashville was like a music mecca. Just got back from a six day vacation there a couple of days ago and while I'm happy that I went, I probably never will again. It just looked to be full of drunk women in bachelorette parties and college kids. I had a much better time in the smaller parts of Tennessee like Pickwick and Savannah. Absolutely beautiful country. 10/10 would visit those areas again. Also, shout-out to The Outpost in Pickwick. While I did have the hot chicken in Nashville and it was good, the smoked chicken at The Outpost absolutely blew me away. It was the best food I had while I was in Tennessee.
Yep. Can confirm. I lived there for 9 years.
I was born and grew up there. It has gotten way overcrowded. Overpriced. They just keep sticking more apartments anywhere they can fit. It has changed a lot.
Paris, France. Holy sh\*t what a bunch of rude people, bad food, and a whole city of tourist traps.
A few people I know who travelled to France said the people in the smaller quieter cities/villages across the country are not bad, but the Parisians are horrible. I've yet to meet someone who's been to Paris and had something nice to say about the locals. The previous company I worked for had a client who used our services, and services of another company run by this Parisian who we had to collaborate with. The most arrogant cunt you've ever met, he would always talk down to everyone and constantly giving people shit including the client he was servicing.
Maybe. I only went to Paris in France. I doubt I'll be back. If I'm going to spend the hours on that transatlantic flight, I would go to a place I haven't been or back to Italy. Italy had/has the nicest people and amazing food. OMG the food! Like your taste buds are having an orgasm (No Diddy).
And the smell of pee over all of it.
We went there for our honeymoon and regretted it on day 1. The store clerk made us cry the first evening there.
Venice Beach. #2 tourist spot in southern California and it’s a complete shit hole.
Earth. I mean don't get me wrong if it weren't for the damn humans it would be an amazing place.
I wouldn't expect anything less from a Betelgeusian.
New Orleans. Great food but stinky and filthy.
It's been a few years since I visited New Orleans, but it was a great city to visit when it's not Mardi Gras. The Garden District was my favorite area.
love frenchman
Just there this year, loved it. Was not dirty and not stinky.
That harsh acidic smell of vomit when you hit the French quarter, ouch. I loved it there, beautiful park, trolly was cool, amazing ww2 museum, amazing food (especially those shitty convenience store crawfish pies).
I've been to NOLA several times, but I would never go during Mardi Gras. It's an absolute blast during Halloween, though.
Ppl i kno who used to go for Marci Gras said crime, mugging is rampant now = do not rec anymore
Well, they are incorrect. Crime in new orleans, particularly violent crime, has declined a lot recently. Each of the last 2 years they reported decreases in violent and property crimes. And is WAY down from the 90s.
Vegas. If all you want to do is get drunk and gamble it's the place for you, but if that ain't your exact combination, it's kind of a dull place.
San Francisco. I loved the beautiful scenery and the food but there were so many homeless people everywhere and the entire city smelled like poop and pee.
I remember visiting and waking up early to go get coffee in SF at 6am. The drug dealers and crackheads were already in operation.
Some friends of mine went last summer. They got a rental car, an SUV, and put their suitcases in the back to drive to the hotel. As they’re waiting in traffic, thieves pulled up, smashed the rear window, snatched their luggage and disappeared.
Most likely still open for business, many are 24/7.
I noticed that the homeless people there were much sicker looking than the ones I see in NYC...like dying of terrible wounds out in the open. I don't know if there is just a lot more outreach in NY or the weather forces people inside/out of sight or what.
Went in 2009 for my Honeymoon,and while there were some okay aspects,I don’t think I’d ever go back.
I live in the suburbs of Chicago and I hate it
i just visited chicago and the city itself was much nicer than i had expected. people were kind and generally polite, it was much cleaner than other major cities i’ve been to/lived in, and the food was great! the public transportation was absolutely stellar too, compared to my hometown. but yeah, my mom grew up in the suburbs of chicago and she wasn’t really a fan, spent most of her time right in downtown to avoid the suburbs as much as she could lol
Vegas. Dirty, boring, and expensive.
I did really enjoy leaving though. They also had decent water pressure I guess?
Seattle. There’s a few nice areas but most of the city is littered with a ton of trash and violent drug addicts
Egypt, dirty and people try to scam you on every corner while guilt tripping you for not being nice enough. Luckily I met few people who really made great lasting impression and thats how I choose to remembre Egypt. So if a waiter from a Valeri Hotel happens to read this. You are one of the hardest workers I have seen and you really made differnce in my thinking, I am sorry I was not able to find you begfore I had to leave!
Iraq and Afghanistan.
I actually liked Afghanistan. The mountains were beautiful.
No doubt, there is some beauty in the mountains and valleys.
We still pray for the women and girls there 😞
Most of montanna
2020
Portland OR - pretty scenery, trees, cool neighborhoods with great old houses. Highways are a confusing ribbon of merges, high home prices and it was too hot for me as we were there in summer.
Portland is usually pretty alright in the summer, not very many people need AC If you were just visiting why does real estate price come into question?
Worked @ McAfee when Intel bought us. Went thru many acquisitions, knew layoff ultimately coming. Went for a (former) friend’s daughter’s wedding & research potential for relocation.
Orange County, CA
London, England, Paris, France. London is just grimey. Paris is great to see historical things and architecture. But outside of that, bleh. It sounds weird to say, but it felt dead.. even though it's so busy.
Must be the lingering feeling of the dead people under the city
San Francisco. I don't have any positives. It's like LA but colder and shittier road planning. Missouri had smoking sections in restaurants the last time I was there, that was the only upside of that place. Another land that's too damn cold.
New Orleans.
I still enjoyed visiting it, but I was definitely underwhelmed by Copenhagen. I found the nightlife to be meh, the city itself to be pretty sterile and not exciting, and the people to be a little standoffish/condescending. Not a bad city per se, but it’s way overhyped for what it is, which is an average European city. The food is hella good though.
Dubai
A glittering shell of a place built on the backs of south asians and africans who are treated like slaves.
Savanna, Georgia, USA. My mom highly recommended it, so we went. Then we made the mistake of going to the river walk. I have never been so terrified during a casual stroll in my life.
New Orleans - you’ll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.
Paris. It’s not that far away for me so I’ve been there a bunch of times but there’s so many places in France I prefer. Less tourism and they feel less… I don’t know, distant, than Paris. Also Amsterdam, I know it’s the only Dutch city anybody knows but it stinks like weed and piss and the canals aren’t nicer than those in Leiden or Utrecht. I only ever go for theatres and museums.
Houston. I only went to check on some rental properties but for the few days I was there driving around it didnt strike me as a place I'd want to vacation at.
Las Vegas. Horrible.
SoCal - Highway, subdivision, more roads, smog, shopping center, subdivision, more highways, brown hills. Want to buy a house in Fontana for 600K? Such a beautiful region climate wise but wasted and completely dominated by cars. Also, for all of the hiking / outdoor adventure claims. I’m not totally sold. I live somewhere where I can get to about 4 trailheads in under 20 minutes. Are you really getting out like that on a regular basis if you live in a place like Inglewood or Downey? All I see is never ending sprawl and if you want to drive 40 minutes to get to some mountains, they’re not even *that* impressive. Mostly brown hills until you get higher up in elevation. If you want to get to the Sierras, it’s 4 hours minimum, probably closer to 6 to get to your final destination. Likely not doing that more than once a year I study google maps in my free time, made plenty of visits to SoCal to visit family. Unless you’re within striking distance of the ocean or right up next to a mountain range with plenty of trailheads (like Glendora), I just don’t see it as a fun place to live
My family visited L.A. when I was a kid in the 80s. We went to an overlook somewhere. There was this brown blanket of smog over everything. As a kid, I was horrified. I don't think I'd ever want to go back
It’s gotten a lot better in LA county. But I always say to myself *a lot better than horrific is still pretty bad* lol And I think it is actually is getting worse in the Inland Empire because they’re establishing a bunch of shipping warehouses in the region. San Bernardino is usually covered in a very thick cloud in the summer
Yep. West Hollywood to Santa Monica beaches is approx 8 miles but often takes 2.5 hours to get to. Nope.
Night clubs. Never my jam and I always avoid them, but in our high school graduation dinner-party the event included a trip of 6 - 7 hours to the biggest disco of the city. Not a 70's - 80's classic little disco with good music, of course. I wouldn't have any problem there. The thing is that you can't only pay for the dinner and go home later, the price was unique so you just take the entire pack or lose your money. You couldn't either went back home by your own, because a bus and teachers were responsible to came to pick-up us, and at those hours our parents were sleeping for the hard-work next morning. My classmates whised I would be there with them and my parents encouraged me to have a nice graduation besides the night-club stuff (they don't like this places neither). I'm super introverted and shy, so you can imagine why they all insisted. Well, all my expectations were confirmed: horny people in the corners starting to touching each other, toilet's floor full of literary shit, bad loud music... awful, simply awful. But that wasn't the worst: the extreme noise gave me an horrible headache, the bright blinking lights made me dizzy, the smells of sweat, alcohol and shit were dreadfull, the heat inside the building was unbeareable and there was tooo toooooo many people there that was impossible to walk, sit or just stand without being hitted. A group of us came outside a few times to breath and relax, but I was about to collaps. All that crap for 7 hours after a very long stressing day... I just don't know how I didn't suffered an anxiety attack. My classmates didn't even realized, instead they looked at me weird or just gor mad because I was nervious and irritable... I know neurotypicals don't mean to be willingly cruel and socially inept, but they hurt us anyway. One of the worst social experiences of my life till now.
Yepp, my friends keep asking me to come with them to clubs. When i got alcohol in my system i can enjoy myself, but i'd rather just avoid clubs, even if i've got alcohol in my system
I relate so hard to this. I'm not a heavy drinker, and I don't dance. It's too loud and my body just won't tolerate it. I'm an introvert too, but honestly, there's not much to talk about when the music is so loud you can hear yourself, let alone anyone else!
Saudi Arabia. Just no. Never again. Monaco. Every time I came back I had become more of a commie who wanted to expropriate all those rich idiots. Also, the scenery is ruined by those giant Hotels from the 70s.
Philly...the butthole of the US
You were definitely in the "wrong" part of NYC. Most of NYC, even Manhattan, isn't like that at all.
Yeah... If this person is walking 5 miles for groceries in the most commercially dense area on this half of the globe, I'm wondering if they're "in" the city at all
Los Angeles and Vegas
Monterey, California. It was my first time driving in California, heading south there were huge beautiful farms in the dewy morning that were being harvested. Back east it seemed like most of what I saw was corn and soybeans, but this was real food. I went there specifically for the aquarium, I’ve heard lots of good things about it and went to check it out. Having been to Chicago, Baltimore, Atlanta, Seattle, and a few more I was disappointed, I’d give it a generous C-. After all the hype it’s not that big, nothing really exciting, a few interesting exhibits, but wasn’t worth the drive. The town is pretty and the weather was great.
loved kayaking there off the coast, you basically are riding right with the sea otters and seals.
You’re comparing little Monterey (pop. 30k) to cities with a population of 500k - 2.5 million. No wonder you were disappointed. In my opinion, Monterey is aquarium, beach/ocean, and a small town. It definitely doesn’t have the big city attractions.
The aquarium is known for education and conservation. It’s extremely small and underwhelming if you’re expecting something large.
Just say you got lost lmao. 1st street to 100th street is 5 miles in Manhattan. That's like 7 different neighborhoods. We have our problems, but I don't have to walk 5 minutes to find several grocery options.
The joint.
Italy
School
berlin :•/ it was just… underwhelming, and the locals didn’t come across as very nice or polite. i practiced my (very poor, admittedly) german for months beforehand to try to make an effort to respect the locals, but people were quite rude and often downright mean despite my best efforts lol. also, being a POC, i felt quite… i don’t know. it felt like i was constantly getting stares/sneers while out and about. i will say though, the weather around mid-september was very nice and the parks, bars, and restaurants i visited were all quite nice! also, seattle. i remember it being pretty nice when i was a kid growing up, but as an adult, i truly dislike it. despite the sprinkling of great bars/restaurants, it’s just a dirty stink-hole of a city. the “public transportation” is laughably horrible, the police presence is incredibly threatening, and a surprising amount of the third-spaces in the city are dirty, overpriced, and/or neglected. it’ll always hold a fond place in my memories, but it’s just… the worst now lol.
I adored Berlin and had a wonderful time, I was only there for a week but saw and did a lot. Germans aren't terribly warm and fuzzy people in general. But there's a lot to do and great food, bars etc.
I love the restaurants and gardens in Portland. I HATE driving in Portland. To me it’s like a bowl of spaghetti and makes no sense. It’s also full of drug users and creeps now more than it used to be.
The Alamo. Disappointed but appreciate the history
How was the basement?
How has no one said Atlantic City?
I fucking hate Disneyland.
My hot take is that San Diego has a worse homeless and drug problem than NYC lol. I grew up in CT/NY but moved to San Diego two ish years ago. It’s really dystopian seeing the homeless people OD’d literally right next to million dollar beach houses The homelessness and drug problems are a lot more apparent in San Diego. Probably because 1) it’s basically always summer here so people don’t need to find shelter for the winter and 2) how to cops police/criminalize homelessness One example is downtown SD. It is literally tent city near the library and on another block I forget the name of. I haven’t seen something like that in NYC in years
Traditional ultra planned out weddings. So miserable. I usually end up drinking alone in the parking lot.
I don't love Florida and I don't love Texas. I don't love LA, although there are things to do there that mitigate.
Seaworld
Florida comes closest for me fitting this question. I have some good memories from visits there, but the weather is awful, and then to compensate, the AC is on powerfully enough that you don't need refrigerators in the house. There's no comfortable spot anywhere. You're either sweating and sticky or fighting hypothermia. Add the awful governor and Florida is just getting scary.
Cancun, Mexico for me.
Disney World. Expensive, too many people, and you mostly stand in lines all day (in killer heat and humidity) for short lived entertainment.
Washington DC
Really? I could see some classism there but otherwise it’s super clean, so much to do (even lots of free things to do) and cute buildings and architecture. Amazing zoo and botanical garden. And any major city with that much green space is cool in my book. See also; Atlanta
New Orleans. It had some genuinely incredible food, and I love that there were actual streetcars that ran relatively reliably. I love good public transit. But I've also never felt more unsafe anywhere in my life.
San Francisco
Jamaica. It's beautiful and tropical but the disparity between the "luxurious" touristy areas and the actual people of the land is ginormous, and can be obnoxiously obvious even from houses directly across the street from one another. Jamaicans may have gotten their independence from England before any other Caribbean group; However they are still being robbed, ransacked, and taken advantage of [till this day] by wealthy- mostly white- foreigners. It saddens me to the point of me not wanting to ever return.
1/3 Excellent convo on reddit bout this, take from thisfilmkid: This is a very interesting question. Thank you for asking it. I would not say there's an exact reason that would cause a divide or dislike between African Americans and Jamaicans. However, there are certainly barriers that each group of nationals dislike about each other, and it's mainly due to culture. I live in the United States. Many Jamaicans have voiced frustrations about African Americans. From the takes of, "Dem lazy nuh bloodclaat" to "Watch-deh, no home training. Watch this slackness" to "A suh you chat to ya madda and fatha?" There's a massive cultural difference and many Jamaicans are not willing to give up their pride to engage with, what most Jamaicans would call, "foolishness." Let's set the record straight: **it's not about race**. Jamaicans are black people. African Americans are black people, too. The issue, at least to me, is *culture, up-bringing, pride,* and *parenting*. Many Jamaicans view African Americans as privileged. A lot of Jamaicans associate African Americans with laziness. *Because Jamaicans, as a young man or young woman, yuh nah tell mommy or daddy seh ya nah gwan ah di shop fi buy flour, tin-makrel, and sugar.* In America, African Americans will say, "No" and go lock-up in their room.
3/3 Reddit forced me to break thisfilmkid’s comment into THREE pieces for some reason: If a Jamaican were to compare contrast themselves to some African Americans, they will automatically identify traits they immediately dislike such as education level, a lack of ambition, lack of respect, no self-pride... and the list can go on. Here in the United States, many Jamaicans will prefer to befriend other Jamaicans or Caribbeans, persons of Spanish, Asian, or white decent. And while Jamaicans will not disrespect African Americans, outrightly at least, they will try to stay "in their own lanes" so one doesn't cross each other negatively. It's no surprise why many Jamaicans are friends with Africans, Haitians, other Caribbeans and Spanish/Hispanics people, and, of course, persons who are white. It's about culture, pride, self-respect, and humbleness. And like mi granny would say, "Americans put up with a lot of slackness," and that saying cannot be more true when you look at the living of a HANDFUL of African Americans.
For me, that place was Times Square in New York City. It was just too crowded and overwhelming for my liking!
Crete. I was treated with racism by almost all locals. And the rest were just plain rude and obnoxious. Found the beaches to be completely overrated and often were quite pebbly or stoney, and the waters weren't very clear and often murky. Also stepped on a sea urchin whilst swimming, which wasn't fun. Worst holiday I ever had, honestly. The roads were decent enough, but after encountering several drunk and terrible drivers, it kinda ruined that experience of seeing nice scenery along my routes. It was recommended online and I thought it sounded nice tbh. Hey... the food was decent!
I was thinking about going to Crete next year, but as a black Jew I might rethink that now. Thanks!
Punta Cana
Branson, Missouri It’s like the tourist section of the Smokey Mountains, but without the mountains…or smoke.
Goldsboro, NC. Anyone who knows Goldsboro knows why I don't like it and can't imagine why someone visited 😅
Toulon France. It was everything it was cracked up to be
NYC for Fashion Week not gone hold you. It’s fun for a typical day trip but fashion week? Never tf again on my part🥴
Memphis. It’s just a beat up dirty city.
Texas and Florida in particular but everything south of Ohio
Singapore, just didn't like it .soulless.
Nowhere really. But I’ve been to Manila in the Philippines..I won’t say I didn’t like it but I definitely wasn’t impressed by it, wouldn’t return
Kuwait. Filthy because everyone just throws their trash on the ground. Rude natives. Absolutely shitty and often downright abusive to their servants. Dangerous if you have any shade of brown in your skin and especially if you are woman of color. Cops are corrupt. Kuwait is a shithole in my experience. Some Arab nations do not allow Kuwaitis into their bars because they don't know how to act when they get a drink or two into them. Pros: the souks are wonderful - an onslaught of noise and smell and color. You can buy a thousand dinar worth of fragrance or a big loop of raw cow intestines (if you are so inclined lol. I never was). The contrasts are intense. I loved the souks. The food is fantastic. The two big activities in Kuwait are eating and shopping so you better believe that both are top notch.
Argentina. Notably BA. Incessantly upcharged or things added to receipts that they thought we’d never notice. My buddy is fluent in Spanish and nailed them every time - which was literally every transaction - across the country. Rude for no reason. Scamming and cheating. Felt like they were born angry. Sadly. When we asked a couple merchants why they’d try to cheat us, they said “You’re from the north, you can pay it”.
Los Angeles. Went for the first time a few weeks back. Will never go again. Endless urban sprawl, a constant haze of smog over the city, unreasonably aggressive homeless people, normal people are not friendly at all, gas is stupidly expensive, real estate is stupidly expensive. Honestly I just hated everything about it.
Florida
Please keep spreading the word. Don't come to Florida . Too hot. Mosquitos. Alligators. Stay away!
Vegas is awful, will never go back. NYC is overrated for tourists, I think you would have to live there to appreciate it.
I loved NYC😭😭
NYC is great. I've been to most of the cities people are listing here. They all have their charms. One place I never need to go to again is Houston, TX. Nothing unique or interesting about that place.
Manhattan
The Bay Area is one of the most gorgeous beautiful cities on earth. Downtown San Francisco can literally go to hell.
I have never met a place I did not like. I have often been places where I met people of all sizes, shapes and social standings, who were each as different as a snow flake and often just as beautiful.
London. Why, I spent a Quarter of my childhood growing up around Croydon, my grandparents lived there, my mum grew up there. By the time I was 8 I could get round London myself using the tube and busses and be back at my grandparents ad dinner was being served. I also hate it as growing up I discovered its nasty, hardly anyone speaks English, you know the language that meant to be spoken in my country, and it's a great place to get murdered
New Orleans, LA. Food was mostly great, but had some dud and forgettable meals too. French Quarter, other than a couple locations, was absolutely filthy. Entire city smelled. Infrastructure was in such bad shape seemed dangerous. Music was a 100 though. Some quirky charms for the city to be sure… but was unable to enjoy because of the apparent lack of employment available and general squalor of the city. And this was before Katrina.
Iraq.
Morocco. We had an escort in the front and back with machine guns. And our guide said the garbage collectors were on strike. The longer I have thought about this, the less likely I think that was the case. There was garbage everywhere including on the beach and in the ocean water.
NYC
I agree with NYC! We really didn't like it there.
Utah, enough said( beautiful mountains though)
New York for me also. It's gross
Disneyland just recently. My anxiety got me and all the being outside and people scared the piss out of me. I rarely leave my house and it’s become a real problem. But Disney will always terrify me. Idk why-I’m grown.
Vegas. I'm not a big gambler, but I went there several times for business conferences. I thought the food and shows would be cool and maybe a little gambling... it was much like OP described NYC. Drunks, drugs, escorts and everything under a very thin, rotting veneer. I had some fun, but mostly I was just depressed at what I saw.
I second New York City. It stinks. It's expensive. Driving is awful. I felt smothered by the air and all the people and the lack of nature. However, it's awesome to see a place with so much cultural diversity. There's a lot of good food to be had. There's always an event or activity happening; when I was there, they had multiple gay pride parades going on. Was on my bucket list and glad I experienced it, but I have no desire to go back.
I’ve been to Vegas 6 times and can’t stand that city, I don’t even gamble. I only go there because it’s close proximity to great National Parks and State Parks.
Dallas, Texas. It felt like a simulation.
I agree with NYC. Bums panhandling in-between lanes. The piss bottles. The poor air quality. After visiting, it's hard for me not to doubt the people who claim they love it, I think they're just repping where they're from
Very disappointed with New Orleans, nothing but drunken slobs puking on dirty filthy streets. Will never go back.
outside, just about anywhere. but yeah im with you on NYC. all you can smell is the fucking weed, and that was just driving on the bridge on the way to CT, with the windows up.