Popular places you have no desire to visit

The one big tourist spot that I can remember not liking—mostly I'm happy to see the sights—was the Leaning Tower of Pisa. By the standards of that part of Italy, Pisa, the town, is shit. The tower is fine, but there must have been hundreds of people posing for the same picture of them "holding up" the tower. All these fucking idiots with one hand in the air. Did not enjoy.

 

Mine was sitting in a 35-degree pouring rain at the Liberty Bowl for East Carolina vs. Stanford. Was already sick with something I caught on the plane ride there, and shivering in a tent for the post-game interviews didn't help any. However, the Stanford band's show was almost worth it.

 

Wal-Mart.

 

You forgot the /thread.

 

Go to the Pacific Northwest. You won't regret it. It's easily the most beautiful place I've ever lived, and I've lived all over.

 

I’ll do some poking around. Any advice is welcome.

 

Was there for two weeks this summer, including a week on Orcas Island. Did the same trip three years ago. Love it.

 

By now, my job has taken me to every corner of the U.S. and nearby.

I like New Orleans, L.A., San Francisco, and to a degree, Miami, some of the cities cited here as undesirable. Even with one bad experience in NOLA taken into account. To some degree, you have to expect some inconvenience and plan accordingly. I will say that if I ever go back to L.A. for an extended period again, I'm steering clear of Orange County (which is boring as fuck) and staying in the Valley somewhere.

I could do without ever going to Phoenix, the Metroplex (where I lived as a kid for two years, but which is sprawled out of all recognition now) or fucking Orlando as long as I live. Phoenix is way too hot, the Metroplex is one big giant pile of nothing and Orlando is vapid, culture-less and full of mostly brain-dead tourists. Woe be to anyone like me, who has covered not one, but two of those college basketball tournaments at DisneyWorld. I hate Disney with a passion.

I've only been to Boston once, and it was a mostly unpleasant experience, but I want to give it another try someday. Some of it wasn't Boston's fault.

I spent several days in Atlanta this summer. I heard the worst about traffic, et al, but I didn't find the city that bad at all. The thing about traffic? Most people are too scared or lazy to, you know, get the fuck off the freeway and take an alternate route. I'm rolling south on I-75 in Cobb County and see a big blotch of maroon on Google maps. All it took to get around it was a quarter-mile jog over to U.S. 41, itself a four-lane road, and we're making progress like normal. Had zero problems with traffic in Atlanta just taking wise off-freeway detours.

Hawaii is cool, but if I do go back, it isn't going to be around Christmas like I did on my previous visit. I was surprisingly underwhelmed by Alaska. It was beautiful, but Anchorage didn't do it for me at all. I didn't find a decent place to eat until the very end of my visit. Plus, it was unseasonably cold - well below zero in November which is unusual - and that didn't help. Neither did the 18 hours of darkness which I found more jarring than any jet lag I've ever had. It was depressing.

St. Thomas was also beautiful, but underwhelming. I don't think I'm a big Caribbean guy. My wife and I went to Nassau a long time ago and I was mostly underwhelmed then too. I enjoy the beach, but it's not like I'm doing a shit ton of laying out considering my pigment is akin to toilet paper.

I will crawl over several dead bodies to go back to the Pacific Northwest again. Wonderful experience.

 

Your description of Phoenix also describes the Valley.
With all due respect, you're out of your fucking mind.

 

I went to the Bahamas years ago and hated it, will never return. This is way before Atlantis - Paradise Island and cable Beach were big then. We stayed at a dump in a sketchy part of Nassau, the streets - which rolled up at 6 - were littered with drug dealers during the day and all the restaurants were overpriced tourist traps catering to the cruise ship crowd. Maybe it's different now but I ain't about to go back to find out.

 

My parents went to Seattle/Vancouver many years ago.
Liked Seattle a lot, not so much Vancouver.

 

You know what’s vastly overrated when it comes to vacations?

Zip lining.

Boring. Repetitive. Expensive-ish. No thrill.

You ride the first few lines and “ok, kinda fun. Got it.” Then you’re bored so you start flipping around and stuff. Ok, done. Then that’s it, like 12 more lines to go and they’re all the same experience. Yawn.