Popular places you have no desire to visit

I've never been to Las Vegas. I wouldn't mind going sometime, but I have no burning desire to do so, and if I never get there, I don't think I'll care.

 

New York City. I've seen enough in pictures and measurements movies.

Vegas. Don't gamble, don't drink.

 

Vegas is no. 1 with a bullet. Not much for gambling or live shows and wife won’t let me get a hooker.
Also, anywhere west of Rockies, OBX and Myrtle Beach (non-golf).

 

I did LA a number of years ago and did a ton of sightseeing. You really need a week because I stayed only four days and regretted it. Saw the Rose Bowl, Mt. Wilson, the Santa Monica pier, and a Dodgers vs. Giants game. Even drove via Idyllwild to Palm Springs to see what 120° feels like (alas, it only got to 108 that day). The worst traffic was always on the 405 — my main advice is to avoid it.

 

I don't even know where to start. The cities are dangerous, massive, and overflowing with traffic, and they are governed by a gang of corrupt fascists who kill kids for sport. You can't swim at the beaches because of either sharks or sewage or sharks floating on top of the sewage after they've pushed the needles and used condoms out of the way. You won't ever, not even for the briefest of instants, feel safe from harm. It's either 1,000 degrees or flooding. The food is mostly crap, the hotels are the worst in the world—if there's an elevator repairman in Brazil, he doesn't suffer for work—and whatever many natural treasures were there, and they once must have been luminous, they have been ruined.

Other than that, it's fine.

One late evening, after I had slogged through another rainswept, shit-smeared, shakedown of a day, I finally returned to my hotel and ordered a cheeseburger and fries from room service. An entire grilled pineapple arrived. I couldn't fight anymore, and I fucking ate it, an entire pineapple, cooked, and then I cried myself to sleep. That's the closest I've ever come to bailing on an assignment. I contemplated very seriously just fucking leaving, and not telling anybody about anything. I just couldn't be there anymore. I stayed, but only after I was talked down by a friend. We went swimming together in Salvador, which was one of about six pleasant hours I spent during that horrible month in that godforsaken country.

 

And lest you think I'm some soft Canadian, I too love to travel, and I have been to forty-some countries, including some dire places, and I have enjoyed all of them. Shit, I'd go back to Kazakhstan. I will never, ever go back to Brazil.

 

Oxford, Miss.. Sure, it has The Grove. And Faulkner. It's also in Mississippi.

 

Hm, that might very well make me cross Brazil off the list, without even going .

 

Beijing and Shanghai have enough signage in English, Western restaurant chains, and general foreign presence overall that you can make your way around without knowing too much of the language. Having some survival phrases and a good dose of patience on your side will go a long way. Going now might be tricky given the geopolitical situation, but I'd still recommend it if you have a chance.

 

Finding spots on the Great Wall that aren't teeming with tourists takes a bit of planning, but it can be done. Avoiding Badaling and weekends will get you most of the way there. Choose wisely if you go the package tour route, as well, as some of them include mandatory shopping excursions (where the tour organizers get a cut of the sales).