Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bali, Indonesia. Some of it was very trashy. Amazingly trashy.

This is mine. I feel unbelievably privileged to be able to say it, like what a-hole complains about Bali?! FWIW I had lived in Asia for a long time (various parts) so this would be akin to taking a 5 day trip to FL from here, so that is part of the privilege I suppose.

And I didn't have a miserable time or anything, I was on holiday and it was fun and relaxing. I was all over the country, not just one part. It just ranked so low compared to a lot of other places in Asia. Bali is full of tourists who are either bad stereotypes of tourists to poorer but beautiful countries to party like Russian EDM-loving 20 year old d-bags OR tourists who think they are an "authentic traveller" and so much above and different than other (white) people visiting because #namaste, and the like. LOL. If you are into the surfing culture/ scene it can be pretty awesome.

Scenery is beautiful but not really unique to many other islands and areas of SE Asia.

I'm the one who posted about Bali that you responded to. To be fair, my experience was comparable to yours. I didn't have a bad time. We were living in Dubai and Bali is a cheap flight from Dubai. Parts of Bali (Kuta especially) was like the most trashy part of Ocean City on steroids with a large dose of prostitutes thrown in, all flirting with redneck Australians. Traffic was bad everywhere on the island. The Russians were peculiar, the women all dressed like cheap tarts and constantly posing in the most sexual way for photos by their boyfriends. There are no great beaches on Bali as it's almost all rocky. And I completely agree with you about the young hipster/hippy backpackers with their dreds and kaffir scarves and hand-rolled cigarettes who pretend they're "authentic travellers" But there were beautiful spots on Bali, glorious sunsets and the water itself is gorgeous and the food was pretty good. It just wasn't this paradise sold to you. We found other parts of SE Asia more enjoyable.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Outer Banks - too red-necky and food wasn't good. Even the more expensive rental houses weren't that nice.

What beach town has a lot of good food? Not many. There are some good restaurants on the outer banks.

Rehoboth

Rehobeth does not have a good food.

Yes. It does.

I don’t know if it was a let down but I thought Uluru/Ayers Rock was not worth the effort it takes to visit it.

Anonymous wrote:South Beach (Miami) was disorienting for me. Loved the Art Deco buildings but I’ve never had a restaurant attempt to fleece me in the US before. This was at one of those sidewalk cafes with kitschy cocktails, but no prices on the menus.

Having lived in a country where it’s common, I randomly decided to ask how much the drink was before ordering it. “$4t. No, $30 for you,” said the waitress.

We left without ordering, and as we walked down the street, I started noticing how shocked the customers looked as they were handed their bills.

Very surprising to me to find that kind of thing happening in an American city.

The fleecing/ sweetheart deals is in all phases of Miami Dade business and government contracting.

Anonymous wrote:Rehoboth does have good food

We didn’t love Key West or any of the Keys really except maybe Longboat Key.

Did love France, Italy, Switzerland, Charleston SC. Disney was fine, did not love SF and did not love Seattle at all.

Where is the good food in Rehoboth? We go there every year but haven’t found good food.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I travel frequently for work. Other than the occasional really great meal, I can imagine visiting most US cities for vacation.

Why people rave about vacations to cities like Chicago, Nashville, Portland, Seattle, Boston, LA, SF is just odd to me.

Again there are some great restaurants and amazing art, but I don't get going to these places for vacations.

Agree. If I want a big bustling city with Starbucks on every corner, typical retail stores (Sephora, Gap, etc...) chain restaurants everywhere then I’ll just stay home! I travel to discover new scenery, new food, new cultures, new architecture, etc.

You do know that Chicago is a great city for architecture, right???

I am not saying it is as different from DC as Paris or Rome or even that is recommend it to most people for a vacay, but Chicago is famous for its architecture.

I took the Chixago boat tour to look at architecture. It was cool.

Sorry, the above should read, “$40. No, $30 for you,” said the waitress.

South Beach (Miami) was disorienting for me. Loved the Art Deco buildings but I’ve never had a restaurant attempt to fleece me in the US before. This was at one of those sidewalk cafes with kitschy cocktails, but no prices on the menus.

Having lived in a country where it’s common, I randomly decided to ask how much the drink was before ordering it. “$4t. No, $30 for you,” said the waitress.

We left without ordering, and as we walked down the street, I started noticing how shocked the customers looked as they were handed their bills.

Very surprising to me to find that kind of thing happening in an American city.

Anonymous wrote:The Outer Banks. SO BORING.

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I travel frequently for work. Other than the occasional really great meal, I can imagine visiting most US cities for vacation.

Why people rave about vacations to cities like Chicago, Nashville, Portland, Seattle, Boston, LA, SF is just odd to me.

Again there are some great restaurants and amazing art, but I don't get going to these places for vacations.

Agree. If I want a big bustling city with Starbucks on every corner, typical retail stores (Sephora, Gap, etc...) chain restaurants everywhere then I’ll just stay home! I travel to discover new scenery, new food, new cultures, new architecture, etc.

You do know that Chicago is a great city for architecture, right???

I am not saying it is as different from DC as Paris or Rome or even that is recommend it to most people for a vacay, but Chicago is famous for its architecture.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Costa Rica. Full of prostitutes and gross old guys.

Maine. Although I haven’t made it to Acadia. It’s such a strange place. I’ve been twice. Once for work To Augusta and another time for a wedding in one of the coasts beach towns and didn’t like it at all.

Augusta? Nobody cares about Augusta. There are some great beach towns and some boring ones.

Acadia is incredible. There are a lot of nice things about Portland.

Anonymous wrote:I travel frequently for work. Other than the occasional really great meal, I can imagine visiting most US cities for vacation.

Why people rave about vacations to cities like Chicago, Nashville, Portland, Seattle, Boston, LA, SF is just odd to me.

Again there are some great restaurants and amazing art, but I don't get going to these places for vacations.

Agree. If I want a big bustling city with Starbucks on every corner, typical retail stores (Sephora, Gap, etc...) chain restaurants everywhere then I’ll just stay home! I travel to discover new scenery, new food, new cultures, new architecture, etc.

Hyped Places that are a let down

Disney
Bali - completely agree with the previous post on this
Spanish beaches
Rome
Chicago
Cruises

Hyped Places that I enjoyed

Paris
Asheville
Venice
Petra
Amsterdam
Greece and greek beaches
Costa Rica (stayed in Guanacaste)
coastal Maine

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Outer Banks - too red-necky and food wasn't good. Even the more expensive rental houses weren't that nice.

What beach town has a lot of good food? Not many. There are some good restaurants on the outer banks.

We love Hatteras Island. It's a little quiet for some, doesn't have Michelin rated chefs, but we love it. It is not for everybody, but i think it's mich better than Nags Head and Kitty Hawk.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Outer Banks - too red-necky and food wasn't good. Even the more expensive rental houses weren't that nice.

What beach town has a lot of good food? Not many. There are some good restaurants on the outer banks.

Rehoboth

Rehobeth does not have a good food.