Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had miserable experiences in both Miami and Orlando Florida (Miami less so). I will give the state one more shot (have always wanted to see the Keys) but if I don't like it there, I'm never going back to the state as a whole.

you literally picked the two worst places in FL to visit so you shouldn't write the whole state off based on that!

dp. I hated all of FL, from the Keys to Palm Beach.

FL was the worse vacation I've ever had. I was miserable and didn't enjoy any of the area. Even the beaches sucked because of all the sargassum seaweed.

I have been to the Caribbean (including going through a hurricane), Europe, Asia, and several states. FL was the worst. Never going there again unless I absolutely have to.

That isn't 'all' of Florida. I live in Florida and haven't even been to those places. And I doubt that every single beach you went to happened to have sargassum at that exact moment-it's more likely something you read about and internalized because of your misery.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We haven't been able to afford international travel- but I've kind of enjoyed all of the places we've visited in the US. Everywhere is a little different with interesting regional and cultural differences. I loved Santa Fe, Northern Michigan, Lake Tahoe, and Hawaii. I like the museums in the bigger cities- Dallas has some amazing art museums, and I like the Walker in Minneapolis. I agree that Denver wasn't great- crowded.
Once we're empty nesters, for starters, I want to go to Montreal, Paris (just because I've never been), Barcelona, Italy, Scotland, Ireland, etc. I've also heard that Portugal is really nice.

Love that you've been to Northern Michigan - way under appreciated, but that's also part of the charm.

Great empty nest ideas. Montreal is Europe without the jet lag. Okay, not quite, but pretty damn close. I've visited in summer/winter and would love to get DH to go for a long weekend just to shop for their fab winter wear.

Quebec City is even better. Smaller, prettier IMO

NP- Yes, Quebec City is stunning, I'm from Europe and I wouldn't say it feels like Europe because I like it better! It's a perfect small city, so much history, and nature around is just gorgeous. If I could legally move to Canada, this is where I'd be moving tomorrow.

I've heard they are not very ok with English (only) speakers. I've only been as a visitor and I speak decent French albeit with a Parisian accent so it was fine. I think living and working there would be different.

I'm a native French speaker so I can't say. People automatically spoke French in Quebec City and countryside. More English speakers in Montreal, but things might change with new language initiatives.

I also found Montreal easier as a not-so-great French speaker but both are wonderful.

Quebec City was nice to visit but, to me, Montreal is a more livable city. Our favorite parts of the city are the residential areas (like around Parc La Fontaine). Gorgeous parks, bakeries, restaurants, great transit, etc. My small kids definitely preferred Montreal; the historic charm of Old Montreal or Quebec City doesn’t mean quite as much to them right now. They’re all about the parks and food. Montreal reminded me a bit of parts of Brooklyn and even Capitol Hill.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had miserable experiences in both Miami and Orlando Florida (Miami less so). I will give the state one more shot (have always wanted to see the Keys) but if I don't like it there, I'm never going back to the state as a whole.

you literally picked the two worst places in FL to visit so you shouldn't write the whole state off based on that!

dp. I hated all of FL, from the Keys to Palm Beach.

FL was the worse vacation I've ever had. I was miserable and didn't enjoy any of the area. Even the beaches sucked because of all the sargassum seaweed.

I have been to the Caribbean (including going through a hurricane), Europe, Asia, and several states. FL was the worst. Never going there again unless I absolutely have to.

Doesn't really make much sense. Maybe you had some specific bad experiences. Many areas of Florida are nicer than Bahamas for instance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had miserable experiences in both Miami and Orlando Florida (Miami less so). I will give the state one more shot (have always wanted to see the Keys) but if I don't like it there, I'm never going back to the state as a whole.

you literally picked the two worst places in FL to visit so you shouldn't write the whole state off based on that!

dp. I hated all of FL, from the Keys to Palm Beach.

FL was the worse vacation I've ever had. I was miserable and didn't enjoy any of the area. Even the beaches sucked because of all the sargassum seaweed.

I have been to the Caribbean (including going through a hurricane), Europe, Asia, and several states. FL was the worst. Never going there again unless I absolutely have to.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We haven't been able to afford international travel- but I've kind of enjoyed all of the places we've visited in the US. Everywhere is a little different with interesting regional and cultural differences. I loved Santa Fe, Northern Michigan, Lake Tahoe, and Hawaii. I like the museums in the bigger cities- Dallas has some amazing art museums, and I like the Walker in Minneapolis. I agree that Denver wasn't great- crowded.
Once we're empty nesters, for starters, I want to go to Montreal, Paris (just because I've never been), Barcelona, Italy, Scotland, Ireland, etc. I've also heard that Portugal is really nice.

Love that you've been to Northern Michigan - way under appreciated, but that's also part of the charm.

Great empty nest ideas. Montreal is Europe without the jet lag. Okay, not quite, but pretty damn close. I've visited in summer/winter and would love to get DH to go for a long weekend just to shop for their fab winter wear.

Quebec City is even better. Smaller, prettier IMO

NP- Yes, Quebec City is stunning, I'm from Europe and I wouldn't say it feels like Europe because I like it better! It's a perfect small city, so much history, and nature around is just gorgeous. If I could legally move to Canada, this is where I'd be moving tomorrow.

I've heard they are not very ok with English (only) speakers. I've only been as a visitor and I speak decent French albeit with a Parisian accent so it was fine. I think living and working there would be different.

I'm a native French speaker so I can't say. People automatically spoke French in Quebec City and countryside. More English speakers in Montreal, but things might change with new language initiatives.

Anonymous wrote:Hate is a strong term. But I found Beijing charmless and too monumental. I’d be interested in visiting other parts of China but not Beijing.

So the first time I went totally agree with you. That was almost 20 yrs ago. I just took my kids there this summer and h really really liked it. In fact I liked it better than Shanghai which I was less enthusiastic about. I was really surprised at how I felt about it. Years ago I went to Xian and really loved it. Like my favorite city in China loved it. Went this summer and less charm more people. Like a gazillion. Understand why and it's modernized a lot become huge but kinda sad. It used to be so cute.

I agree about QC being beautiful. Like for a long weekend or a destination for moms for a break where food and walking around are beautiful. I don't know that it's a total vacation destination with that much to do. But yes, one of my loves and I do love Old Town Montreal but think QC is akin to Europe as well.

I didn't hate London but compared to other European destinations, it would not be my first choice.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We haven't been able to afford international travel- but I've kind of enjoyed all of the places we've visited in the US. Everywhere is a little different with interesting regional and cultural differences. I loved Santa Fe, Northern Michigan, Lake Tahoe, and Hawaii. I like the museums in the bigger cities- Dallas has some amazing art museums, and I like the Walker in Minneapolis. I agree that Denver wasn't great- crowded.
Once we're empty nesters, for starters, I want to go to Montreal, Paris (just because I've never been), Barcelona, Italy, Scotland, Ireland, etc. I've also heard that Portugal is really nice.

Love that you've been to Northern Michigan - way under appreciated, but that's also part of the charm.

Great empty nest ideas. Montreal is Europe without the jet lag. Okay, not quite, but pretty damn close. I've visited in summer/winter and would love to get DH to go for a long weekend just to shop for their fab winter wear.

Quebec City is even better. Smaller, prettier IMO

NP- Yes, Quebec City is stunning, I'm from Europe and I wouldn't say it feels like Europe because I like it better! It's a perfect small city, so much history, and nature around is just gorgeous. If I could legally move to Canada, this is where I'd be moving tomorrow.

I've heard they are not very ok with English (only) speakers. I've only been as a visitor and I speak decent French albeit with a Parisian accent so it was fine. I think living and working there would be different.

Hate is a strong term. But I found Beijing charmless and too monumental. I’d be interested in visiting other parts of China but not Beijing.

Pigeon Forge

Puerto Rico.

But it was my own fault since we didn’t stay in a commercial resort area and chose a condo rental community with no nearby restaurant with a small beach.
But I admit that I cringe-laughed at the “floating pile of garbage” roast that was making headlines two weeks ago, but in a hey that’s a little too unfunny to be funnny way.

I don't think I've hated anywhere I've been, but there are definitely places I wouldn't return to voluntarily. Mostly because they were depressing. Like Reno, Nevada (was there for work, it was not great), Foxborough MA (was there for a wedding), Dayton OH (also a wedding). I can't think of any overseas locations that I wouldn't return to.

For me, Quebec City was cute but I wouldn’t spend more than half a day there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We haven't been able to afford international travel- but I've kind of enjoyed all of the places we've visited in the US. Everywhere is a little different with interesting regional and cultural differences. I loved Santa Fe, Northern Michigan, Lake Tahoe, and Hawaii. I like the museums in the bigger cities- Dallas has some amazing art museums, and I like the Walker in Minneapolis. I agree that Denver wasn't great- crowded.
Once we're empty nesters, for starters, I want to go to Montreal, Paris (just because I've never been), Barcelona, Italy, Scotland, Ireland, etc. I've also heard that Portugal is really nice.

Love that you've been to Northern Michigan - way under appreciated, but that's also part of the charm.

Great empty nest ideas. Montreal is Europe without the jet lag. Okay, not quite, but pretty damn close. I've visited in summer/winter and would love to get DH to go for a long weekend just to shop for their fab winter wear.

Quebec City is even better. Smaller, prettier IMO

NP- Yes, Quebec City is stunning, I'm from Europe and I wouldn't say it feels like Europe because I like it better! It's a perfect small city, so much history, and nature around is just gorgeous. If I could legally move to Canada, this is where I'd be moving tomorrow.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People rave about Turkey...but having spent time in Armenia, I can't get past the fact that Turkey committed attempted genocide against Armenia and still won't admit it.

https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/ref/timestopics/topics_armeniangenocide.html?onwardjourney=584162_v1

I just can't get past that.

Does anyone else have trouble visiting a country for social justice reasons?

This is interesting. I am aware of the attempted genocide, but it was 100 years ago. Literally everyone who participated in it or committed it is dead, the government has turned over many times, so I view it as an unsavory piece of history. If you started disqualifying countries for unsavory historical episodes there would be nowhere to visit.

That said, there are certain (current) regimes that I wouldn’t support with my tourist dollars, even if my safety were guaranteed. Putin’s Russia, North Korea, and China, for example.

I’m not crazy about the idea of visiting Serbia—that genocide still seems to close to me. It’s like looking at anyone over the age of 50 and wondering what they were doing in the 90s. I’ve never been to Germany and I think I’m just about at the point where I’d not feel weird about it.

Of all the strange and often ignorant statements in this thread, this one might be a contender for the #1 spot.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We haven't been able to afford international travel- but I've kind of enjoyed all of the places we've visited in the US. Everywhere is a little different with interesting regional and cultural differences. I loved Santa Fe, Northern Michigan, Lake Tahoe, and Hawaii. I like the museums in the bigger cities- Dallas has some amazing art museums, and I like the Walker in Minneapolis. I agree that Denver wasn't great- crowded.
Once we're empty nesters, for starters, I want to go to Montreal, Paris (just because I've never been), Barcelona, Italy, Scotland, Ireland, etc. I've also heard that Portugal is really nice.

Love that you've been to Northern Michigan - way under appreciated, but that's also part of the charm.

Great empty nest ideas. Montreal is Europe without the jet lag. Okay, not quite, but pretty damn close. I've visited in summer/winter and would love to get DH to go for a long weekend just to shop for their fab winter wear.

Quebec City is even better. Smaller, prettier IMO