Places You've Visited

[Gog & Magog]

A friend recently invited me to Tokyo this July for the 2020 Olympics. In spite of my ever present anxiety, I've agreed to go with him. This got me thinking about the opportunities I've had to go someplace new and wondering what others on the farms have to say about their own journeys elsewhere. Whether you have been struck with wanderlust or are suffering from agoraphobia, tell us where you have been and your experiences along the way. Was it paradise, a nightmare, or just a place you once went to? Feel free to share your stories!

 

[JustFuckinaDude]

I visited Jordan for a few months a couple years back; loved it. I hadn't done much exploring the Middle East, so I was taken aback driving past a McDonalds on the other side of the world. The people I interacted with were all ridiculously friendly (I understand hospitality is a huge thing in middle eastern cultures, maybe someone can correct me?) and the mall that I visited was pretty cheap, by American standards.

My only real complaint is that I can't find any good falafel in the US.

 

[Lemmingwise]

I've never had a bad experience travelling, because even the horror stories are fun in hindsight.

Ethiopia is the only place that I wouldn't go back to. Couple of reasons:

1. It was really hard to get some basic hygienic food.
2. It was really strange to see a couple of teens torture and throw stones at puppies and then when the adults discovered it they cheered and joined in.
3. It's not as much fun to be in a city when the gov is using live fire to suppress student protests and nobody local seems to give a fuck about it.

 

[Megaroad 2012]

I've been to Japan almost yearly since 2011. I really recommend not staying in Tokyo that long though. It's cool at first, like a real life Blade Runner but it's so packed and full of asshole Americans (surprise). I mentioned somewhere else about the growing cancer of soy boys and their danger haired harpies really growing in abundance and the last two trips have been kind of irritating because of this. But if you're stuck in Tokyo the whole time, make sure to check out Odaiba.

Go out into the country, Kyoto is one of the most beautiful places in the world full of history and seeing the Higashi Honganji Temple is breath taking everytime. You'll leave feeling spiritual renewed.

You're really going to love the 7/11 and other convienience stores and miss them dearly every night when you leave.

Also protip: if you're in the arcades in Akihabara (and anywhere in general), don't be like every other fucking tourists that just drop their anime collectables in the middle of the aisle while you play on the cabinets. I wound up stomping some goonbeards expensive ass Mega Man statue last November because he and his friends left their bags directly in front of the Dariusburst cabinet my husband and I wanted in. There's so little space in these buildings, people.

Also been to Iraq and Qatar and... yeah, it's a desert.

Funny thing about Iraq, it was the first time I've ever saw the sky touch the horizon. I'm always sounded by mountains and trees and to be in a streatch of road where it is just flat ground touching the sky in the distance kind of gave me anxiety, like I'd be sucked up into it or something. I dunno, autism or something.

Qatar is a well dressed rube of a country that thinks its classy. It was so stupid, we had to wear the most vanilla and plain clothing as possible to not offend anyone, and keep our shirts tucked into our pants.

Then there's China. Maybe calling Qatar a well dressed rube was too early because the little emperors and their entitled princesses take trashy to a whole new level. Never go to China except maybe Hong Kong if they're ever liberated.

 

[Rice Is Ready]

Florida Keyes was nice. I'm not even a big ocean/beach guy but the islands were fun. I ate at the place where the sloppy joe was invented and had lots of key lime pie. Got a great massage too at one of the resorts. The waiting room was a sauna and a hot tub. My only regret is not going fishing while I was there.

 

[AgriDrThunder]

I've been to Kuwait. They have some ridiculously nice shopping malls with marble and gold and little indoor rivers. The bathrooms had western toilets and little Indian men in white suits to dry your hands. What took me aback was the smoking, you'd see ninjas walking around and then a woman in denim with tons of make up pushing a baby stroller smoking in the middle of the mall. Kids and teenagers smoking in the mall. When I was there some teenage kuwaitis had a knife fight which was eerily similar to some chimp-outs I've seen in burger land. Apparently that happens alot.

The highways are crazy and the cops don't enforce the law, they just have speed cameras that send you a ticket in the mail so a lot of people drive like morons. If you're not going fast enough in a left lane they will straight up ram you. Also a weird mix of beaters and luxury cars and when the rich Kuwaits crash or have vehicle troubles they just seem to dump their cars on the side of the road. I saw cars worth several hundred thousand dollars just trashed and parked on the side of the highway. Also the only place I've been where I saw an actual Ferrari dealership.

I don't think they have any real infrastructure relating to water and sewage because the highways are crowded with tanker trucks (not oil). Cellphone and internet plans, along with gas, was insanely cheap.

Like other GCC countries they import everything. The house servants are Africans or Filipinos. The service people are Filipinos or Egyptians. The manual labor seems mostly Pakistani and Nepali. Doctors and professionals are Indians. Their security is American or, in their actual Army - Bedoon (not to be confused with Beduins) who are like stateless Arabs.

The country, like its highways exemplify, is this weird mix of obscene wealth and abject poverty. Housing seems to be either mansions or shacks. There is trash everywhere, fucking all over.

Winter there is fucking great, the weather is perfect. All the jawas go live out in the desert during it and ride around on 4 wheelers and motor bikes.

They have all the fastfood America has but their snacks are all the European versions so they taste weird and healthy, not the usual cornsyrupy transfat formulations I'm used to as a burger. Also, while I was there, a live action Colonel Sanders came from the KFC head office and was given an official state visit. They fucking idolize him over there and adoring crowds mobbed him at every public event. Many Kuwaitis are obese, more than Americans are to my knowledge.

Their dinar is like three times stronger than our dollar and this will fuck you if you're not paying attention withdrawing money.

That's about all I can think of.

 

[Alpacawitz]

My exp
Canada: 6/10. Beautiful landscapes but the people can be a hit or a miss. Snow is a mixed bag.
USA: 8/10. Super easy to do business and spend money.
Europe: 9/10. Awesome history and varied people.
Australia: 8/10. Fun and crazy alcoholic Aussies. Expensive and warm.
SE Asia: 6/10. Can be expensive as hell or cheap as borsch. Good people.
Asia: 5/10. I don't appreciate having to carry around my own toilet paper or having to fight to get a fair price. However, it can be interesting and a lot of fun.

I would avoid driving in Europe and Asia if you can. Switching from the left and right sides of the road can be confusing and you might pull out in the wrong way once in a while but it isn't too bad (DON'T SPEED).

Then there's China. Maybe calling Qatar a well dressed rube was too early because the little emperors and their entitled princesses take trashy to a whole new level. Never go to China except maybe Hong Kong if they're ever liberated.

I was in China in 2012 and I got tired of everyone having the same opinion and the vast amount of pollution everywhere. I woke up early one morning and ended up seeing dozens of people pressure washing the trash into the gutter. Only being able to stay in tourist hotels was quite annoying and makes you feel isolated/under surveillance. The people were quite hospitable until you had to barter with them but that's Asia in general.

Overall it's not a bad place to visit and has a lot of cool things to see but wouldn't recommend going right now.

 

[Lemmingwise]

My exp
Canada: 6/10. Beautiful landscapes but the people can be a hit or a miss. Snow is a mixed bag.
USA: 8/10. Super easy to do business and spend money.
Europe: 9/10. Awesome history and varied people.
Australia: 8/10. Fun and crazy alcoholic Aussies. Expensive and warm.
SE Asia: 6/10. Can be expensive as hell or cheap as borsch. Good people.
Asia: 5/10. I don't appreciate having to carry around my own toilet paper or having to fight to get a fair price. However, it can be interesting and a lot of fun.

I would avoid driving in Europe and Asia if you can. Switching from the left and right sides of the road can be confusing and you might pull out in the wrong way once in a while but it isn't too bad (DON'T SPEED).


I was in China in 2012 and I got tired of everyone having the same opinion and the vast amount of pollution everywhere. I woke up early one morning and ended up seeing dozens of people pressure washing the trash into the gutter. Only being able to stay in tourist hotels was quite annoying and makes you feel isolated/under surveillance. The people were quite hospitable until you had to barter with them but that's Asia in general.

Overall it's not a bad place to visit and has a lot of cool things to see but wouldn't recommend going right now.

Is south america next on your list?

Judging by your other ratings, you would probably enjoy southern brazil and argentina particularly.

 

[Mongo0o]

Europe: 9/10. Awesome history and varied people.

Where in Europe? I've been on business trips to Germany and London. They're both easily 10/10 for events alone.

 

[Alpacawitz]

Is south america next on your list?

Judging by your other ratings, you would probably enjoy southern brazil and argentina particularly.

Not particularly on my radar. I don't really want to go to South America or Africa. I usually go to places where I know people.

Where in Europe? I've been on business trips to Germany and London. They're both easily 10/10 for events alone.

Most of central, southern, and northern Europe. Have no real desire to go east.

They can be and I agree that Germany can be fun (Depends on where you are. Some smaller towns only speak German.) but London is a shithole that requires you to have a minimum of 0.08 BAC to stay there. Driving there is atrocious and I can't stand British people (all talk and no action and boy do they love to talk).

I will admit that Heathrow is a better airport than Toronto's Pearson airport (One of the worst "international" airports I've been to). Toronto is a diversified Somalian shithole anyways and I don't recommend that anyone travel there.

 

[Furina]

I explored a lot of Africa with my family when I was a kid, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique. Probably explored Zimbabwe the most and would honestly recommend it. Despite the impression you get from all the memes, it's actually a pretty safe country and the people are generally friendlier than South Africans. Lots to see if you like animals, but if you're more into beaches and stuff I'd suggest Mozambique. It's harder to navigate and if you're going to have be a little old school, but it's still fun.
Also been to England, Scotland, and Spain, as well as Australia, Bali, Philippines, and Singapore.

I really want to visit Japan or Korea at some point, but I'm going to wait until after the Olympics before I consider it. Let the Japanese recover from all those tourists before I inflict myself on them. I speak some German so I think Switzerland would be a good place to visit too, but I need to stop by Eastern Europe. I'd like to try Russia but I'm still considering it.

 

[He Who Points And Laughs]

I spent a rather large and important time of my life in Japan. I've been to all of the major islands and have lived in a few of the major cities. I've traveled in Asia extensively : South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia, Bali (part of Indonesia, but culturally different), Nepal, India, and I visited our exceptional and drunken friends in Australia.

I've been through a majority of the US states and also a bit of Mexico.

 

[sasazuka]

I explored a lot of Africa with my family when I was a kid, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique. Probably explored Zimbabwe the most and would honestly recommend it. Despite the impression you get from all the memes, it's actually a pretty safe country and the people are generally friendlier than South Africans. Lots to see if you like animals, but if you're more into beaches and stuff I'd suggest Mozambique. It's harder to navigate and if you're going to have be a little old school, but it's still fun.

I hear Botswana is also good for those of us who want to photograph wildlife but I don't like that they stopped protecting elephants last year.

 

[behavioral swamp thang]

Decently traveled here. My favorite place ever was Pompeii. It was unlike anything I expected, you can really get lost and away from all the tourists. Plus, the Amalfi coast was so gorgeous. Capri. The art. Getting the cheaper train tickets to see the Italian backcountry. Ahhh

My least favorite was Glasgow, Scotland. Dreary. Awful food. Prices on par with NYC, despite being a dump. Their museum was weak. Great drugs tho

 

[snailslime]

I've been to Israel, Canada and quite a few states in the US.

I want to travel to Europe, Latin America, Japan, go to more US states, and go to Israel again (and hopefully some other Levantine countries without dying). And Canada was fun but it was just like my American home state so it wasn't that remarkable

 

[Coleslaw]

I live in Shanghai. Shenzhen is my favorite Chinese place: sunny, new, and ultramodern, like Shanghai only better weather and more modern architecture.

 

[Furina]

I hear Botswana is also good for those of us who want to photograph wildlife but I don't like that they stopped protecting elephants last year.

Botswana and Namibia are both really good, they're just a little hard to reach. I'd suggest flying into South Africa and then driving overland into Botswana. That itself would be an amazing experience I would love to do but I have no friends interested in such a thing and I've seen too many news stories about white women travelling solo to take the risk...

 

[ToroidalBoat]

I've been to the Black Forest in Germany.

So much better than urban sprawl that's like a giant strip mall.

 

[millais]

Most interesting place I visited was the Penghu Archipelago midway between China and Taiwan. Before I went there, I had only ever seen it in flight sims as this tiny island chain you could fly from end to end in less than a minute and which was the first airbase to fall in any Chinese air attack on Taiwan

But although it looks tiny by air, it has a lot to explore on foot or by vehicle, so it's no wonder a lot of tourists are going there now. Lots of beaches, basalt columnar rock formations, lots of cactus and palms, sea arches, many ancient and semi-abandoned Chinese villages built out of compacted coral in the traditional style, a Qing Dynasty coastal defense fort constructed on the European pattern with some replica coastal artillery sent all the way from Armstrong in England, lots and lots of ancient Buddhist temples and folk religion shrines, modern military bases and POL storage facilities, and even one "big" city with lots of tourist trappings. Also the local food is distinct from that of mainland Taiwan; lots of local dishes and specialties I had never heard of before. One of the most memorable specialties was these little peanut-sized oysters that could be plucked in such abundance from the tidal pools that they were basically served as a "topping" for your rice, in place of the more typical toppings like dried fish or dried kelp.

I visited there to see some sites of historical and familial interest, so I did get to see some non-touristy stuff, like how the local people live and such. It remind me of photos I see of those isolated fishing villages on the Scandinavian coastal fjords, clinging to the ocean's edge and wedged in between high cliffs and the water. The isolation and the sea together form a really a big part of their cultural memory. Even though the islands are now all joined by causeways and bus route (which is probably why it's so popular for tourists with motorbike rental), they were basically oceans apart in the days before the causeways, so there was severe linguistic and genetic isolation among the different island populations even though they might be just a kilometer away from one another. The people talk with a thick accent that varies greatly between island to island for that reason, and although everybody on each island is related and shares a common ancestral link somewhere down the line, from island to island the people are like foreign strangers to one another. Besides the majorly expanding tourist industry, it's mainly fishermen, farmers, and soldiers.

It's extraordinarily picturesque; you are never further than a five minute walk from the sea. It is difficult to shake the sensation of isolation and desolation. It's no wonder that many of the locals are abandoning the smaller islands to live on the big island or even leave for mainland Taiwan. I visited a school there (combination of elementary through middle school), and there was capacity for like 300-500 kids with complete facilities for classrooms and workshops and sports, but they had only like 50 kids actually attending with maybe 7 teachers, and they cut class in the summer to go fishing. So severe depopulation going on to say the least. But the abandonment of all those smaller villages and settlements leads to a very picturesque kind of decay and even more isolation. It's a very depressing effect for the people who grew up there or have some local connection, but for tourist, it's quite beautiful.

It's extremely windy, so powerful that all the farmers and fishermen have special doors to their homes and sheds with a super strong recoil spring to keep the door from slamming wide open. Hard to sleep at night because the wind is so loud and there is often a draft in less sturdily constructed dwellings. So windy that the farmers have to build stone walls out of coral to surround their plots so their crops get killed by the wind, and nothing grows taller than the windbreaking walls. But in the summer, it is very pleasant because the wind takes away the heat. In fact, in the summer, you can sleep outside on the roof because the roof retains some of the heat from the sun and you can enjoy the stars that way.

I'm not particularly sentimental, especially not with leisure travel, but I developed a very fond and vivid memory of the place to the point that I'm not sure I would like to visit again for fear of arousing those strong feelings and emotions again.

 

[Observerer]

I'll rate the countries I've been to here.

Canada: 7/10, America's gay little brother, hated that I had to drive everywhere to get around, nice people, poutine is nice.

USA: 8/10, nice people, good food, hated that I had to drive everywhere to get around.

Greece: 0/10, A shithole of a country with rude people who think that they are the greatest people on Earth since they created democracy. Gyros are awesome.

Japan: 10/10, not a weeb, but great food, service and didn't have to drive everywhere to get around. People are polite.

England: 2/10, shithole, shit food, shit people.

Italy: 7/10, Best food, beautiful cities, people are nice but two faced.

Spain: 8/10, better version of Italy but food isn't as good.

Thailand: 4/10, Get ready to be scammed, nice people.

Malaysia: 6/10, good food, nice people, cleaner than Thailand, still kinda shit.

India: 0/10, prepare to shit on street.

Denmark: 8/10, Expensive, but Danes are fucking cool.

Norway: 7/10, Everyone looks like a model, expensive, shit food, great nature

Switzerland: 5/10, beautiful country, the people, not so much.

Haiti: ?/10, Was in a area that local population was not allowed to enter, didn't meet locals so can't rate.

Qatar: hate/10. Lolol look at how much money we have and all the class we lack.