Paris, France. Nothing against it, the people or the country, I just have never had any desire to go there.
The Miami airport is pretty bad…I don’t really want to go there again.
Beyond that, there’s not anyplace I really don’t want to go, but there are many places I am indifferent toward.
California. I hear that the state itself is beautiful, but based on its #1 export (ex-Californians) I’ll pass. (OK, I admit that I wouldn’t mind going to San Francisco…)
Turkmenistan, Algeria, Sierra Leone and Los Angeles.
Also, Turkey is cool. Istanbul is one of the most interesting and laid-back cities in the world. Women will not have too much trouble there. Morocco, on the other hand, is a bit annoying for many women that I’ve talked to. I don’t know this first hand.
But, c’mon, you have to realize that when you’re traveling to something not Western, you’re going to have to operate under a different set of societal standards and mores. I’m going to Uzbekistan in two weeks, and although I’m a man, I still have to keep fairly covered up. This means no shorts, and long-sleeved shirts if possible. And, yes, women who don’t keep covered up there are generally regarded as whores. In Turkmenistan, for instance, the girls who are not covered up ARE generally Russian prostitutes. I know for the West, short-skirt does not equal hooker, but there it does.
So why go? Well, some people simply like the adventure, or like going places where they’re not supposed to be or are genuinely interested in cultures so remote from their own. Or they’re journlists.
I have travelled (both alone & with someone) in Turkey, Greece, all over Egypt, and Israel. All felt safer & more comfortable to me than most US American inner cities. I also drove a semi (alone) in every US state. I’ve also been all over Europe.
Where would I not want to go again? Germany. Uptight, & I can’t get past the Nazi thing. Last time I was there was two years ago visiting my brother who was at Uni for a year in Dresden. Ick ick ick. Do you know that every non-German in the country is supposed to register with the local police every time they move residences? I’ll never go there again, I don’t care if it’s pretty.
Australia. Never been there, possibly never will. If I visit a brand new place I want exotic & different, not somewhere everyone drinks beer & speaks the same language.
Carina
FYI, the registering with police is not a German thing. I’ve lived in England and was required to that. I now live in Hungary and, technically, I’m supposed to do that, but I haven’t. I know in Russia, I’ve had to register with the police simply as a tourist. I’m pretty sure that in most European countries you’re supposed to register with police if you are living there. So don’t knock Germany for that.
Sorry you had a bad experience with Germany. Dresden isn’t the most accomodating city, and, in general, what used to be East Germany is not as relaxed as its Western counterpart. Southern Germany is wonderful and the university towns, Freiburg, Tuebingen and Heidelberg are especially friendly and fun. Munich is one of my favorite cities in the world. And I love the Germans. Despite them being a little bit too logical for my tastes, I find them to be a very tolerant people, despite their Nazi history. They’ve come a long way, baby.
Oh well.
pulykamell –
Covering up I can handle (though, mind you, we’re talking traditional Islamic garb, not just avoiding short skirts). Being legally barred from entering the country without male sponsorhip is something else altogether.
Besides, if they find the presence of single Western women that threatening or offensive, it seems to me that she was blatantly violating their customs, whether she intended to or not.
For a great resource on where not to go, and how to get there, and maybe how to get out alive, try Fielding’s Danger Finder. An amazing catalog of some unappealing travel destinations.
I particularly like the section on the United States.
El Paso
I spent a month there one weekend…
Mexico. Indiana. Anywhere in California south of Oxnard. Ho Chi Minh City. Phoenix, Arizona. St. Louis. Madrid. Rochester, New York. Nebraska. Any island in the Caribbean.
Anywhere in the Bible Belt, since IMO they have rather backwards notions about people who aren’t Caucasians(*). More specifically, North Carolina, home of Jesse Helms.
[SUB](* = Hey, if people are going to avoid places like California due to stereotypes, this is fair game, right?)[/SUB]
Where don’t I want to go?
Alabama. Mississippi.
The Dakotas.
Liberia.
That thread in IMHO about which is harder, cunnilingus or fellatio.
Cincinnati.
New York City. Everybody who lives there is a little too self-satisfied about living in New York City. They should learn how to be modest about where they live… like us Texans.
-fh
Just curious as to why Mexico made your shitlist?
Not necessarily because they’re on my “shit list”, but because I just have NO INTEREST WHATSOEVER in them…
Prince Edward Island
California
New York City
Atlanta
Wilkes-Barre
The Caribbean
Italy
The Middle East
Kansas
New Jersey
Rochester
After living in the Southeast for thirty years, I have to say that there are definite advantages to avoiding the whole Southeastern region of the country…better include Texas in that as well.
On my way to my present home in the Bay Area (yeah, California rules) I passed through Barstow, Cal. A real good place to avoid, it actually should be moved the Southeast.
Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
I was there once; there is a reservoir that accidentally got drained by some kids fooling around with the gates. When the reservoir drained, it exposed a bunch of old electrical insulators (full of PCBs) that some idiots had dumped in the water. That was the most memorable thing about the city.
Considering that the list of places I won’t go to just on general principle would be rather long, let’s stick to the places I won’t go back to:
My birth town, Warren, Ohio. All right for the 15 minutes it would take to see the sights I grew up with, after that, nada. Spent a month there one weekend back in '75 and that’s fine with me. My brother returned a few years back. Visited a building that, in 1965, had apartments on the second floor. In one of the windows was a poster of Einstein. Thirty years later, he found the building. The poster was still there. That tells you all you need to know about the place.
North Philadelphia. Got lost there one night leaving the convention hall. It was about one in the morning, Saturday night, and I drove through neighborhoods that made Beirut look like Beverly Hills, with burned out cars left on the streets, and long stretches of row houses with no lights or windows in them, and crowds of people on the street corners in front of bars and stores, looking at this white guy driving a white van with South Carolina license plates. Talk about feeling exposed. I decided to follow a car with PA plates on them. He slow-rolled through traffic lights and stops signs, and I followed him until I got out.
Now, in retrospect, I realize I was probably much safer than I realized, but it was still a depressing sight.
I will never return to the town I grew up in. Spirit Lake, Idaho is a dingleberry on the assiest state in the Union.
:rolleyes:
Texas
the Texas Chainsaw massacre people do exisit, and if I go there, they will get me and hack me into little pieces and serve me as chili. I don’t want to be hacked to death by a chainsaw. I don’t want to be Leatherface’s bitch. I don’t want someone wearing my skin. And they do exist…how else can you explain those 4 Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies?