What's one place you have been to which you would never go back to?

[Colleen27]

I'm not a "certain tv network" and I don't know who you are referring to since every station here including local abc, nbc, cbs all say the same thing about San Francisco. You cannot deny it is filthy with urine/feces/needles, homeless camps on the streets, car widows bashed in . It use to be a nice get away for us for years for a day trip but refuse to go right now until it's cleaned up

I actually can deny that. I mentioned it upthread - we actually went into one of our trips *looking* for needles and feces since they're supposedly everywhere. We managed to find both in exactly one place, down a set of stairs to a half-basement entrance that was clearly being used by the homeless as shelter from the sun/wind/rain. Yes, there are homeless camps. There are homeless camps everywhere, especially in cities where the price of housing is so high relative to both wages for lower-skilled workers and social benefits that are supposed to help the non-working poor. There are homeless camped back in the woods in the state park near me, one that frequently makes lists of "best weekend getaways" in Detroit-area publications.

People are uncomfortable in places where the homeless problem is visible and I understand that, but the problem is everywhere and the state of SF is absolutely exaggerated by many in the media and otherwise. It isn't any worse than any number of other cities that don't get the same sort of attention (and, in our experiences, is better than some - the mentally ill/obviously high homeless were far more visible in Seattle, aggressive panhandling was far worse in DC and LA), and I do believe the reasons for that are ideological/political in nature. If it had been DC or LA or Seattle or Portland or Chicago or NYC or Detroit that produced two polarizing, high-profile national political figures, we'd be having this same conversation about homelessness, crime and filth in that city instead.

 

[Memojo]

St. Lucia
Aruba

Why not Aruba … one happy island.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

I'm not a "certain tv network" and I don't know who you are referring to since every station here including local abc, nbc, cbs all say the same thing about San Francisco. You cannot deny it is filthy with urine/feces/needles, homeless camps on the streets, car widows bashed in . It use to be a nice get away for us for years for a day trip but refuse to go right now until it's cleaned up

Of course you're not a network. But you're citing them as a source. And it can easily be denied. Are there certain areas that are trashy in San Francisco? Yes. But you could say that about any medium sized or larger city and most of the smaller ones too. I see in your profile you're from The Big Tomato aka Sacramento. You could easily say the same thing about Sacramento. In fact, Sacramento has been notorious ever since they got shamed by Oprah for the build shelters, roust their camps, and they will come mentality. Didn't work. And now the latest.... build more shelters. But I notice none are going up in the Pocket area, Natomas, Land Park, or Curtis Park. The old NIMBY keep them out of my sight problem.
I can easily find pictures of homeless camps in Sacramento. I think I could easily find some needles if I wanted to paint Sacramento in a bad light.





Of course there are a ton of worse places than either.

 

[luv2cheer92]

Mesquite, TX
New Jersey

Curious about Mesquite? I lived there for about 5 years, up until last summer.

 

[loves to dive]

Nowhere that I would not return to by choice but I'll probably never get back to Europe. Just because I'm older now, hubby hates to travel so the best I can do with him is pulling the RV somewhere (plus we have a small dog that can't be boarded). I'm semi retired so money is tighter and for some reason travelling to Europe solo doesn't appeal.

My usual travel partner is my son, but he just had a new baby so I'm guessing travelling with good ole Mom is out now (unless good ole Mom is willing to pay for 3 more people). He, his SO and said baby are going to DW with good ole Mom in a few weeks.

Probably won't get to anywhere outside the continental US again, which makes me sad so now I'm depressed.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

I’ve always wondered just what it is people are expecting and not getting, in terms of “friendliness” in France? I’m Canadian and I much prefer strangers to be polite and reserved so I loved it there. Don’t call me Hon and don’t ask how “y’all” are doing when I’m the only one standing here please.

I think a lot of it is regional differences. The people who find Paris unwelcoming probably don't like NYC or any other major city where people would rather wear earbuds than hear about your day.

I've also had multiple southerners who relocated to the midwest and couldn't cope with the language we use. We're very sarcastic/blunt people and aren't going to sweep stuff under the rug.

 

[VandVsmama]

Somebody really loves SF.

 

[ronandannette]

I think a lot of it is regional differences. The people who find Paris unwelcoming probably don't like NYC or any other major city where people would rather wear earbuds than hear about your day.

I've also had multiple southerners who relocated to the midwest and couldn't cope with the language we use. We're very sarcastic/blunt people and aren't going to sweep stuff under the rug.

What about the Minnesota-Nice I've heard so much about?

 

[Disneytrippin']

Curious about Mesquite? I lived there for about 5 years, up until last summer.

I went for a conference. It was rainy, hot, dreary and humid. I didn't enjoy my visit there.

 

[luv2cheer92]

I went for a conference. It was rainy, hot, dreary and humid. I didn't enjoy my visit there.

Oh, well that's all of Texas haha. Not sure i would use weather as a reason to not visit a place, especially listing a specific city in a large region where the weather tends to be the same. But that could just be me.

 

[Darcy03231]

Why not Aruba … one happy island.

We didn't care for it. Too built up for us and the people we encountered there were not at all friendly.

 

[dd316]

I was about to say San Francisco, but now I'm kinda afraid to....

 

[sheilafri]

If I never set foot in Texas again it will be fine by me. I like the barbecue and the Pacific War Museum in Frederickberg but in general there just isn’t anything distinctive about Texas except that it’s too hot, too crowded and too materialistic.

 

[nw6675]

NYC, the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls.

One and done. Decent trips to all and glad I went, but literally after a short time I was ready to hit the road.

I am weird I guess in that on vacation I like over the top, touristy stuff and things to do morning, noon and night without too much concern about safety. We also don't want to drive during the trip. I like Vegas and Disney.

 

[sheilafri]

What's one place you have been to which you would never go back to?


Well, probably Mackinac Island. Not because it's a bad place, but it's just TOO touristy and tons of people just sitting around and causing lines everywhere (meals, snacks, tours, whatever). I could see how, in times long gone, it was probably a very nice getaway place, but not now.

A friend described it as smelling like horsesh*t and fudge.

 

[Starport Seven-Five]

What about the Minnesota-Nice I've heard so much about?

They're closer to Canadians than midwest. That's why they talk funny.

I shouldn't have stereotyped the entire midwest though for sure because the southern and northern portions are a bit different. I'm used to the heavy industrial areas around the great lakes.

 

[MICKIMINI]

Atlantic City

 

[sami66]

Venezuela
Went there on our honeymoon in ‘88.
Travel agents were heavily promoting this destination
Wish we’d gone to WDW instead

 

[AustinTink]

I'd have to agree with the OP and say France. Didn't love it, didn't hate it. Have no desire to go back. Too many places on my list to visit before I would consider returning.

 

[shawthorne44]

On people not liking Paris (I hadn't mentioned it, but I didn't like the people there)

I was there with a French-speaking boyfriend who idolized the French at the beginning of the trip. So, I let him do the talking. We were there the Thanksgiving after 9/11, so still in the height of the sympathy for Americans. So, that should have been Paris at its best for an American tourist. There were people that were actively nasty to us. These were strangers that we had no reason to interact with at all. We'd be minding our business and someone would approach us to say something nasty. There isn't anything weird about us and we didn't get that anywhere else. Although, outside of Paris the people were lovely. Parisians give the French a bad name.

Barcelona is the only other place with nasty people. All of my stuff was stolen so I had to get new tickets, passport, etc. so I was trapped there. Getting a new Eurorail pass was a long involved process made worse by the ticket people just randomly saying "No" before you said anything. You'd get to the front of the line, and they'd say "No". Nothing you could do but get into another line. It wasn't just me that got this treatment. Then there was asking directions. I needed a new Amex card and some prescriptions and the office was in the outskirts. The street names were built into the buildings when they new, and if the building was remodeled they didn't bother replacing it. So, on a corner you might know one of the streets, maybe. Then if you want to another corner and were lucky you might find another street labeled so now you know your location on the map but not the direction. More often then not people would deliberately give wrong directions. I learned to ask for directions and then watch their face while I started out in the opposite way. If they were confused, I'd follow reverse and follow their directions. If they were mad, I'd do the opposite and find what I needed.
NYC gets a bad rap and they might tell you what you can do with it, but it isn't personal and they don't lie.