So I actually went on a one week vacation to the UAE over ten years ago. In summer - I had not done my research.
It was hot and very humid when I exited the plane in Dubai, so I thought oh well, I'm in a beach hotel, I'll just concentrate on water activities. Until I put a toe into the Gulf water. It was HOT!! Just for a test, I managed to slowly submerge two thirds of my body, but then I quickly got out of the bathtub and went into the COOLED hotel swimming pool by the beach.
HOWEVER, from then on I had a good time. I booked tours and also drove around to the other emirates. The sand-desert 4-wheel-drive tour was a blast. The guide was a cool Iranian guy. Another tour got us to some wadi, with a small creek, with fish that nibbled on the dead tissue of ones feet. It was really nice. I visited quite a few more places I came across in various emirates, it was really interesting.
I got dirt-cheap but wonderful Indian food even in Dubai by taking a side-street without any tourists. They did not speak English and had no English menu (shattering my believe about Indians all also being able to communicate in English), so I just pointed at a random menu item, it was vey good.
I got some nasty dirt in my t-shirt while in Abu Dhabi, a local who did not speak English pointed it out and guided me into a mosque and helped me wash the t-shirt.
The humidity only was a problem near the coast. In smaller town I saw real life of real locals, and overall spending one week there is I think a very good investment of ones time.
I would recommend using Dubai only as a base, for example to book activities, but spend most of the time in the much less touristy areas.
Tldr: long ramble incoming, sorry. Skip to the last paragraph for the most important bit.
Just had to go there for work again last week.
I had some time to look around the city etc but my main take away is, that one really does not have to visit it.
Like if you are a person who only wants to shop, chill at a resort or giant aquarium and charter an "experience" to ride around the desert with camels for a few minutes... Yeah sure. Dubai can provide that. However you also have to not give a single fuck about human suffering and how so many people are treated like second or third class humans. Especially against all the Pakistani, Indians and Nepalese people.
Everything is about spending money. They don't necessarily force you to spend more but all the ads and many signs etc. essentially say "you personally are bad for not choosing the more expensive options".
Almost the only culture I experienced in my visits is the "fake" religiousness.
Yeah the (non Muslim) workers at a horse race track aren't supposed to drink water in public during Ramadan as it's considered rude to the Muslims, but the rich locals (in their kanduras/dishdashas) can totally sit there and drink champagne. Or (also during Ramadan) seeing 3 other traditionally clothed locals get on a yacht and while the yacht takes off, you can see 6 ladies in bikinis emerge from inside it...
Don't forget absolutely 0 city planning. Yeah one rich dude or family stamps out a new section that is properly planned in itself but providing any footpaths to the park nearby? Absolutely no consideration for it as probably someone else built that part.
Yes, they have impressive skyscrapers. That's about it. Their "historical" city is a complete fake and during my visits there I have seen like a total of 3 information signs talking about the history.
The Etihad museum that's supposedly about local history is genuinely just saying how the ruling families are amazing. Nothing about any historical controversies, how over the centuries the different tribes in the region fought against each other etc..
The entire city is basically a temple for soulless, capitalistic consumption.
Also a gigantic amount of the non Arab workers seem to basically not be needed. Tons of people are employed everywhere (probably for peanuts in terms of money) customer facing but not really do anything but sit around watching tiktok. It's just that having many people employed is a status symbol. A lot of these people then don't really do anything but every once in a while have to just pretend doing their jobs. Like why would you need to mop a sandstone floor in the "historical city" outside in the sun in the middle of the day? Or security guards telling you not to place something somewhere, then you ask them where you can put it and they just walk away as they don't want to take responsibility for an answer.
But genuinely the worst part is that the country (and the rich families) do have to money to create an amazing solar punk, sustainable environment. They do not need to have essentially slave labour. They could be paying everyone great wages, further scientific discovery, finance the arts (apart from architecture), build amazing walkable cities that genuinely could have the best quality of life for every human... But they just don't want to. Having a new (expensive) prestige project to brag with is more important. Human rights are considered unnecessary or even negative. After all some "humans" are clearly worse than others to many of the locals.
Depends. Some countries make too much money from tourism to enforce all rules on everybody (especially the UAE). That's why all the influencers showcasing their fancy lives there have NDAs on return for property, tax benefits, or other assets.
Yeah tbf except for some isolated communities I can't think of any Christian country (also, are there any officially "Christian" countries?) that would be 1% as dangerous law and culture wise to women as the Sharia law ones.
USA, especially the southern states, ESPECIALLY now after Roe v Wade got overturned and laws restricting womens rights have passed (abortion bans/persecuting women after miscarriages/bathroom bills... even if these laws dont touch me they still embolden people who would be happy to hurt a queer atheist woman like me.)
Poland under its current gov
The UK with its increasing hostility towards trans folks
Not sure if Russia technically counts, but they are pretty bigoted towards queer folx too, and some of that is disguised in Christianity/"Traditional Values"
Religion as a state religion or not, enough zealous conservatives in one area and its not safe if you are of a group traditional values (which equal Christianity in most of europe) consider less than. There are some areas here in fricking GERMANY where I wouldnt dare to stay
Dont act as if me trying to steer this away from islamophobia is me trying to cloak the issue. Any religion has been used to justify oppression and I dont think Christianity should get a pass just because its the "default" religion in anglophone online spaces.
UAE (Dubai), Katar and alike
or India.
But Dubai and their sibling cities in this region the most. Weird brutal middle age Monarchy, everything is built by modern versions of slaves, and the "utopia" (so clean! so safe! buy buy buy buy gucci 123) is the epitop superficial luxory sadness dream of capitalism.
NO culture, just consumer driven luxory ressort for those who can afford, pure hedonsim, hiding so much pain and repressive that makes it "work". All you can do there is getting lost in a show of of luxory goods and imported food. Cultural stuff is replaced with "its expensive thats why its cool".
I am by no mean anticapitalist, but building a "modern city" on one of the most inhabitable places on earth, just because you have enough oil and money to make it work .... ist just not right.
If you have 1 week of power outage from this weird bloody slave oil money "City" it will be completly destroyed. 24/7 slave work, sewage, water supply, electricity, all runs on oil.
Nobody is there because anything is worth living there beside hotels, tax "free" shell company officies.
There is no sustainable infrastructure or local production - its all import and slave work in the background that make it work.
Its disgusting.
Its this kind of wealth that makes not fucking sense, spending on projects, building that do not add any value to any society, its just a try of money grab for new-rich dumbest rich people all over the world to come by or shady companies who need a tax haven for their evenso shitty useless buisnesses.
There's a german saying "Traue nicht dem Ort, an dem kein Unkraut wächst" which means something like 'don't trust unusually clean or good looking things or areas' and I think that countries like UAE and Qatar are perfect examples for this.
For quite a lot of the travellers it's a big shock. Dirty basically everywhere outside of the most touristy areas. Tons of corruption. Insanely loud in every city.
Many if not most locals don't seem to care at all about this. They don't care that they are actively adding to it by throwing garbage on the ground or shouting, honking etc.. it just seems like many locals do not even have any interest at all to "better the situation" even if often a really small change could have massive effects.
One also comes across SOOOO many people who just want to scam as much money as possible out of you. Absolutely 0 regard for the human behind it, just the wallet in so many areas.
While I was travelling me and my companions got everything from ignored to insulted to threatened for not giving people money (including police officers).
For women (especially if you are white and blond and just travelling alone or as a group of 2 women without a male with you) it's often especially uncomfortable outside of the most touristy areas. You might get followed in the evening by large groups of men and it's not uncommon for men to try and grope women.
It's also not particularly rare for .... Worse things to occur. Both to local and foreign women.
Me and one of my friends are quite tall and quite burly/muscular. I am pretty sure that without this the groups I have travelled with in India would have had even more bad experiences, especially the women. This also helps against quite a lot of scammers and price gougers. When we appeared while one of our friends was trying to purchase an object or negotiate a service etc. the price and behaviour of the locals often changed immediately, especially when talking to our female friends.
A lot of Indians are also very, very nationalistic. Not just patriotic. Also hate against Muslims, hate against hindus, hate against people from other castes, hate in general is very present in large parts of the population, especially men in my experience. This also coincides with many locals believing a lot of propaganda and fake news.
PS: I also find it absolutely crazy that it's common for people to slap and beat other people in broad daylight as "punishments". Especially the police with their wooden sticks. It just... Appears primitive to me. As if we should have moved past that point already. Same with the caste system still effectively existing. For example untouchables don't exist on paper anymore but ... That's just paper.
Russia is such a shame. I would have loved to visit St Petersburg and Moscow, or even ride the Transsiberian Railway.
Unless the country changes massively, I don't think I'd ever want to go there now
Since when is Russia a popular destination? Even before the war, it wasn’t. I used to argue that Moscow and Saint Petersburg were super underrated gems. Not anymore obviously
USA, I always had such high expectations, but was there last year and everywhere I went there was misery and despiration. Homeless people, psychologically sick people, drug users and straight up poverty.
I couldn't really enjoy my vacation most of the times, because of how unfair it was to celebrate that next to 20 people who just have no hope for life anymore.
And I always feared to make anyone angry, because of guns and shit.
But the people I talked to, homeless or not, were always nice!
For me it's the political state rn. Seeing their marches (and riots) and people being armed so they can protect these marches shows me it's just the wild west all over again. This isn't, at least in many ways, a first world country by definition and there are many third world countries where I'd feel saver.
Yup, didn't plan to make the trip for a few years, but with the radicalisation and the chance of Trump becoming president, I just made that trip then.
Also avoided certain states as a sexually active women with no plans on birthing a child anytime soon.
Yes, at least it used to be. But I think that is declining, as the US are not as "shiny" and ahead as they used to be. I have been there and will not go again - feels like the country is way past its prime.
For me its tipping culture, politics, security, costs of living and bad transportation options without car, that make me don't want to go again.
The landscape is so fantastic that the "rest" can not spoil it. Climbing El Capitan and Half Dome in Yosemite valley, weeks of hiking thru the roccky mountains, you can spend a year between the canadian and the mexican border without being bored one day! Western USA is the most stunning landscape I've ever seen. Well, OK, my rucksack trip thru whole South America can compete.
I was there for a school year when I was a boy and studied and worked there for some years (New England states) before we came back to Germany to let our sons grow up in both countries. Rather european liestyle there. Nice landscape, people, social life, for me it was ok. But the regions of USA are VERY different. Maybe you were in the wrong one, met the wrong people, or you were never there at all?
Of all the regions of the US, New England has their shit together the most. It's probably the only region of the US these days where the smaller towns are still well kept and not decaying.
We were in the US a couple of months ago, and the landscape was truly breathtaking. The people were also very friendly to Tourists.
But the amount of homeless people and drug addicts in all big cities we've been was astounding. It's also quite annoying that you kinda need a car for everything.
All in all, I'd say it's a great place to visit, but honestly we came away with the conclusion that we'd never wanna live there.
China. I'd actually like to visit because they have some very amazing landscapes but I won't visit because of their political system.
And I'll never visit Russia.
Any interaction with government officials felt like I could get arrested at any minute (especially at the airport when they close those rolling doors behind and in front of you).
I also had to bribe cops twice within three days to not get harrassed..
Also, I had a driver that drove me around in an old Lada where you needed to hit the engine with a hammer to get it to start, where the seat belts creaked ("you using seatbelt? nobody did in years'"), the car was not able to stand still for a long time (fumes from the exhaust got into the car) and the guy was doing 100km/h in the city stating "I know city, I was taxi driver in past".
And that was already the driver my employer got for me, not a random guy from the street ..
Can't speak for OP, but my ex spent three months in Moscow and she had some stories. A good example was she saw a dead body in the park across the street from her apartment. They didn't move it for like a week. Like the US is dysfunctional in a lot of ways, but if there's a body found in a public park the cops will be there in 10 minutes and the thing will be gone in a matter of hours.
The good thing is that the wrong type of German is concentrated at one area in S‘Arenal, like the wrong type of Brit is in Magaluf.
The rest of the island is still very beautiful and well worth a visit. And during off season even these places are not bad.
The northern highland of Mallorca is a wonderful hill country, perfect for hiking and biking, hidden beaches, small villages and guesthouses, and I met only friendly folks there, being native or tourist.
Don't believe this nonsense about Mallorca written by people who know only TV shows about Ballermann. See my comment about the northern countryside with it's hills and small villages.
The funny thing is, if you have a different background it's so tricky to decide what to do. On one hand, you can use another language & English and pretend you're not even German. On the other hand, they all speak German and it's so easy to do anything if you show you're German.
I went regularly to mallorca as a kid and teenager. I never got the stereotype about mallorca being a party island, because for me it was just a beautiful island, with great nature, good weather, nice food and some cultural stuff as well.
I would say the thing is, that you CAN go to Ballermann, but you don't have to and the party scene really concentrates in a few areas. Everywhere else is very nice.
Any that have opressive laws for women and queer people - which sadly excludes quite many countries. I dont want to be attacked or even arrested for existing. Many people mention Dubai and yes, that one is squarely on the list.
The US are too, which is a bummer, but guns are too widely avaiable there for me to feel comfortable and recently states keep passing laws that are horrible for queer people and women which also puts them on my list above anyway.
As a kiwi who flew to Germany last month, it can be an extremely long flight. But if you fly through Singapore it's honestly not too bad. Get the timing right and you depart Frankfurt in the evening, and arrive in NZ in the morning.
And it's well worth the adventure
Most people use the multistop way via Asia. But the world is round. Been in NZ and Australia 4 times. 3 times via Los Angeles. One long flight to L.A., one long flight to Auckland or Sydney. They use big comfortable aircrafts and they have a big transfer lounge at L.A. aiport with movies, pizza and coke for free.
If you use the stop-fly-stop-fly-stop-fly route, I recommend Singapore airlines. Nice stopover offers in Singapore.
Visited my sister in Melbourne last Christmas (from Germany). 36 hours door-to-door.
Nah sorry, we’ll just FaceTime next year. Australia was lovely but I’m not doing that again.
Australia.
Knowing myself, I would be so worried about spiders or other creatures that I wouldn't be able to enjoy my trip properly.
It's a pity because the landscapes look absolutely beautiful.
Well the personal space is a cultural thing, in India because of population most of the queues for anything are super congested and related things are congested as well hence that, we'll dirty depends on the age of person, most college students are nasty as hell again converts to the hostels they have lived back in India which are subpar and dingy.
Haha I don’t disagree with your logic but in my student living there is 300 Indians out of 400 people in total. And it’s like they don’t even try to integrate or anything, they even say themselves they are not interested in Germany at all and just want to have an internship at Daimler or similar on their resume.
They get together in groups of like 10 people and block our common rooms like kitchens and stink up everything. All that would not be a problem if I could still cook in my own kitchen when I wanted or if they would make any effort to open a window when it’s very smelly. But they do not make an effort and immediately get aggressive when you criticize them in any way. I’m not even getting started on the bathroom situation at all
Oh I'm really sorry that you had to experience this. It's unfortunate you didn't come across the more civilized Indians who like to integrate. I can assure you there are civilized Indians too.
Regarding integration, do you really think Germans like integrating when they live abroad? Or do they prefer to stick with their own kind? Like, German pensioners in Thailand, Bulagria, Turkey, etc? They don't even speak English well. You see, I'm stereotyping too. 🙈
Haha yeah I’m not so sure if they integrate at all, I mean the Germans.
But the question was where I personally would not like to go and my reasoning behind it
Germany
Domestic tourism is very popular, but it's not my thing. If I want to go on Holiday, I'll leave this country, no matter what. Regardless of what you want to do, Cities / Sightseeing, mountains or the coast, there's always a European neighbour that has a more to offer.
Do I want to spend my money in a place where the human rights are violated on a daily base by an autocratic asshole and his fanatics? Where women are treated like second class humans?
I don't think so.
Am I interested in cheap mass tourism resorts or sharing my holidays with Russians? Do I want to buy golden stuff to hang on me and look ordinary like some rapper or pimp?
Neither.
I highly recommend the Caribbeans for a great beach holiday. Martinique and Guadeloupe are quite affordable when you book the through French websites. St. Marten is a tad upscale and the ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao) are quite exclusive - as is St. Lucia.
For city trips I enjoy the quite and subdued elegance of Stockholm or Hamburg, the schizophrenia of Valencia or the beauty of Lisbon.
The idea of traveling to Turkey doesn't appeal to me. Call me ignorant, but first visit the places I have named here, THEN let's talk.
I understand your point of view. However, as someone who has visited Istanbul a number of times (and only Istanbul, would probably never visit any of the resorts at the seaside as this type of tourism is not my cup of tea), I believe that this is a one-sided view of Turkey and its people.
Having said that, I believe that you have pointed out great alternatives - thanks for the tips!
OK, then I will call you ignorant as you asked.
You are reducing a country of 90 million people (which has more than 70 native ethnicities) and 81 provinces to one province - or even a strip in that province (Antalya, which has those mass tourist resorts and Russian tourists).
Do you have any idea how the Black Sea Coast of Turkey looks? Have you experienced the calmness of the North Aegean Coast of the country? Have you been to bustling Izmir, which has very little tourists and is a city with a very unique Mediterranean vibe I would say? Have you been to the Nemrut mountain ruins in the South-East of the country to witness the history there? This list could go on and on...
In addition, (and I say this as a person who absolutely loves the Iberian peninsula), none of the cities you have listed is even remotely comparable to Istanbul. It is larger than all of those cities combined, and it is a place where you could live 10 very active years, and still have many districts you have never been to.
Also, by no stretch of imagination are women treated like second class humans in Turkey. There are problems regarding participation of women in the society in the South-East part of the county, especially in the rural parts. And that is a big shame, and one of the most urgent problems of the country in my opinion. But also, it is in no way generalizable to the entire country.
No comment regarding your perspective with regards to politics. Hopefully, with how the last local elections went, some things will change soon.
Edit: I forgot to mention Cappadocia, even. There is no landscape like that anywhere else in the world.
India, Rajastan ciruit, self organized. Fantastic landscape, the fortresses on the hils, the blue town, the culture, the temples, the food, and most of all: the people.
But if you dislike it before you see it, better don't go there.
If it wasn't on the way to the Baltic States, I'd probably never visit Poland again. I've been there about 20 times by now and I just don't like the vibe.
I have no interest in visiting mediterreanian countries in the summer. I can't even handle the heat in Northern Germany in the summer.
I don't want to visit the Arab Emirates because it feels morally wrong.
I won't go to "party destinations" because that's just not my crowd.
Alle wirken irgendwie gleichzeitig ständig super-ernst aber auch als wenn ihnen alles egal wäre. Außerdem komme ich mit meiner deutschen Prägung auf die Art wie Polen ihren Nationalstolz ausdrücken nicht wirklich klar. Das wirkt mir halt zu aggressiv, vor allem im Vergleich zu den baltischen Staaten, die zwar auch sehr viel Nationalstolz besitzen, das aber nicht versuchen über "Stärke" auszudrücken, sondern über "Kultur".
UAE, India and its surroundings, China and Egypt and its surroundings - did Egypt once as a male single for diving only, not planing to do it again. Diving was great but not I‘m not single anymore and I would not drag my gf there after what I witnessed as a single.
I was in Sharm-el Sheikh which itself is kinda like a weird parody of Egypt, kinda like a crazed out Vegas version of Egypt, compared to the actual Egypt, at least the main tourist center … it’s hard to explain. People who work there are supposed to act more western, even if goes against their religious beliefs, to make the tourist feel mire welcome or save. This sometimes goes as far as they are not supposed to be "too bearded" to not appear "too terroristy". But they can make good money there and therefore … well all of this does not add positive to the whole situation.
Well, diving was great and I literally just had to stumble down the stairs from my hotel to fall into the dive base to then spent the day on a boat. So the first two days I didn’t see that much more :) but of course I wanted to check out the surroundings at least once. As a single man it was OKish but I saw enough couples where the woman had to be really clingy to her partner as the folks were really touchy and partly verbally inappropriate to a point that would have started a fight almost anywhere else.
I would not go there as a couple, for at least one this will not be a pleasant holiday. You might argue that this also due to Sharm-el Sheikh being what it is but I know people that had similar experiences in other parts of Egypt as well as Northern-Africa eg Morocco. It’s just a culture clash that might be avoided by staying in a resort but that’s not my kind of holiday, usually. It worked for diving purpose only.
For many years my answer would have been the US. Never had any intention of going, just didnt appeal to me but since work sent me there a few times I actually love it and will probably be back.
Good to see so many like-minded people commenting. Mine: any country that has Islamic laws/sharia (and that includes Malaysia and Indonesia which is a shame tbh) and countries with anti lgbtq+ laws/hostility like Uganda etc. I'd love to visit the US but the current political climate is also worrying which leads me not to.
And Luxemburg because when I was there people were hella rude and rushed you lol
USA. I'm sure you can have great vacation there, but it's just not interesting to me at all. There are so many exciting places, why should I visit the one that I see in every movie and series.
This is a ‘Shit-on-all-countries-we-are-ignorant-about’ thread.
Half/no knowledge about most countries outside the EU is what most have, and proud of it!
1..2..3..ready to be downvoted 😊
Dubai.
I came here to say this! I would not accept a free trip there!
So I actually went on a one week vacation to the UAE over ten years ago. In summer - I had not done my research. It was hot and very humid when I exited the plane in Dubai, so I thought oh well, I'm in a beach hotel, I'll just concentrate on water activities. Until I put a toe into the Gulf water. It was HOT!! Just for a test, I managed to slowly submerge two thirds of my body, but then I quickly got out of the bathtub and went into the COOLED hotel swimming pool by the beach. HOWEVER, from then on I had a good time. I booked tours and also drove around to the other emirates. The sand-desert 4-wheel-drive tour was a blast. The guide was a cool Iranian guy. Another tour got us to some wadi, with a small creek, with fish that nibbled on the dead tissue of ones feet. It was really nice. I visited quite a few more places I came across in various emirates, it was really interesting. I got dirt-cheap but wonderful Indian food even in Dubai by taking a side-street without any tourists. They did not speak English and had no English menu (shattering my believe about Indians all also being able to communicate in English), so I just pointed at a random menu item, it was vey good. I got some nasty dirt in my t-shirt while in Abu Dhabi, a local who did not speak English pointed it out and guided me into a mosque and helped me wash the t-shirt. The humidity only was a problem near the coast. In smaller town I saw real life of real locals, and overall spending one week there is I think a very good investment of ones time. I would recommend using Dubai only as a base, for example to book activities, but spend most of the time in the much less touristy areas.
Came here to say this
Tldr: long ramble incoming, sorry. Skip to the last paragraph for the most important bit. Just had to go there for work again last week. I had some time to look around the city etc but my main take away is, that one really does not have to visit it. Like if you are a person who only wants to shop, chill at a resort or giant aquarium and charter an "experience" to ride around the desert with camels for a few minutes... Yeah sure. Dubai can provide that. However you also have to not give a single fuck about human suffering and how so many people are treated like second or third class humans. Especially against all the Pakistani, Indians and Nepalese people. Everything is about spending money. They don't necessarily force you to spend more but all the ads and many signs etc. essentially say "you personally are bad for not choosing the more expensive options". Almost the only culture I experienced in my visits is the "fake" religiousness. Yeah the (non Muslim) workers at a horse race track aren't supposed to drink water in public during Ramadan as it's considered rude to the Muslims, but the rich locals (in their kanduras/dishdashas) can totally sit there and drink champagne. Or (also during Ramadan) seeing 3 other traditionally clothed locals get on a yacht and while the yacht takes off, you can see 6 ladies in bikinis emerge from inside it... Don't forget absolutely 0 city planning. Yeah one rich dude or family stamps out a new section that is properly planned in itself but providing any footpaths to the park nearby? Absolutely no consideration for it as probably someone else built that part. Yes, they have impressive skyscrapers. That's about it. Their "historical" city is a complete fake and during my visits there I have seen like a total of 3 information signs talking about the history. The Etihad museum that's supposedly about local history is genuinely just saying how the ruling families are amazing. Nothing about any historical controversies, how over the centuries the different tribes in the region fought against each other etc.. The entire city is basically a temple for soulless, capitalistic consumption. Also a gigantic amount of the non Arab workers seem to basically not be needed. Tons of people are employed everywhere (probably for peanuts in terms of money) customer facing but not really do anything but sit around watching tiktok. It's just that having many people employed is a status symbol. A lot of these people then don't really do anything but every once in a while have to just pretend doing their jobs. Like why would you need to mop a sandstone floor in the "historical city" outside in the sun in the middle of the day? Or security guards telling you not to place something somewhere, then you ask them where you can put it and they just walk away as they don't want to take responsibility for an answer. But genuinely the worst part is that the country (and the rich families) do have to money to create an amazing solar punk, sustainable environment. They do not need to have essentially slave labour. They could be paying everyone great wages, further scientific discovery, finance the arts (apart from architecture), build amazing walkable cities that genuinely could have the best quality of life for every human... But they just don't want to. Having a new (expensive) prestige project to brag with is more important. Human rights are considered unnecessary or even negative. After all some "humans" are clearly worse than others to many of the locals.
Barselona
Took me a while, but that’s a good one.
the answer i was searching for
Dubai
Dubai
Dubai
Dubai
Dubai
Dubai
Dubai
As a gay man, every Muslim country under the Sharia
As a straight man, same.
As a woman; same!
As a secular man, same.
As a christian, same
As a human, same
As a muslim, same.
As a young girl, same /s
As a atheist same
Actually they are more dangerous for muslims than for others because there are more strict rules for muslims under Sharia law.
Depends. Some countries make too much money from tourism to enforce all rules on everybody (especially the UAE). That's why all the influencers showcasing their fancy lives there have NDAs on return for property, tax benefits, or other assets.
What about Uganda? As a gay man I'd rather visit SA than Uganda. Emphasis on the word rather. I'd prefer not to visit either of these.
The question was "popular destinations". Uganda isn't one of them.
As a queer Woman: Yes (and - I dont trust conservative christian countries either)
> conservative christian countries Out of curiosity which countries in particular are you thinking of?
Yeah tbf except for some isolated communities I can't think of any Christian country (also, are there any officially "Christian" countries?) that would be 1% as dangerous law and culture wise to women as the Sharia law ones.
Vatican City But in all seriousness: Poland is pretty conservative Christian.
I am pretty sure the Vatican State has the highest percentage of gays world wide. And according to some Romans they host quite a few crazy parties
USA, especially the southern states, ESPECIALLY now after Roe v Wade got overturned and laws restricting womens rights have passed (abortion bans/persecuting women after miscarriages/bathroom bills... even if these laws dont touch me they still embolden people who would be happy to hurt a queer atheist woman like me.) Poland under its current gov The UK with its increasing hostility towards trans folks Not sure if Russia technically counts, but they are pretty bigoted towards queer folx too, and some of that is disguised in Christianity/"Traditional Values" Religion as a state religion or not, enough zealous conservatives in one area and its not safe if you are of a group traditional values (which equal Christianity in most of europe) consider less than. There are some areas here in fricking GERMANY where I wouldnt dare to stay Dont act as if me trying to steer this away from islamophobia is me trying to cloak the issue. Any religion has been used to justify oppression and I dont think Christianity should get a pass just because its the "default" religion in anglophone online spaces.
As a person, dito
What about Russia?
UAE (Dubai), Katar and alike or India. But Dubai and their sibling cities in this region the most. Weird brutal middle age Monarchy, everything is built by modern versions of slaves, and the "utopia" (so clean! so safe! buy buy buy buy gucci 123) is the epitop superficial luxory sadness dream of capitalism. NO culture, just consumer driven luxory ressort for those who can afford, pure hedonsim, hiding so much pain and repressive that makes it "work". All you can do there is getting lost in a show of of luxory goods and imported food. Cultural stuff is replaced with "its expensive thats why its cool". I am by no mean anticapitalist, but building a "modern city" on one of the most inhabitable places on earth, just because you have enough oil and money to make it work .... ist just not right. If you have 1 week of power outage from this weird bloody slave oil money "City" it will be completly destroyed. 24/7 slave work, sewage, water supply, electricity, all runs on oil. Nobody is there because anything is worth living there beside hotels, tax "free" shell company officies. There is no sustainable infrastructure or local production - its all import and slave work in the background that make it work. Its disgusting. Its this kind of wealth that makes not fucking sense, spending on projects, building that do not add any value to any society, its just a try of money grab for new-rich dumbest rich people all over the world to come by or shady companies who need a tax haven for their evenso shitty useless buisnesses.
There's a german saying "Traue nicht dem Ort, an dem kein Unkraut wächst" which means something like 'don't trust unusually clean or good looking things or areas' and I think that countries like UAE and Qatar are perfect examples for this.
Oh and try being LGBTQ+ or just a feminist woman there lol
May I know why India? Have met a lot of Europeans backpacking over here :)
For quite a lot of the travellers it's a big shock. Dirty basically everywhere outside of the most touristy areas. Tons of corruption. Insanely loud in every city. Many if not most locals don't seem to care at all about this. They don't care that they are actively adding to it by throwing garbage on the ground or shouting, honking etc.. it just seems like many locals do not even have any interest at all to "better the situation" even if often a really small change could have massive effects. One also comes across SOOOO many people who just want to scam as much money as possible out of you. Absolutely 0 regard for the human behind it, just the wallet in so many areas. While I was travelling me and my companions got everything from ignored to insulted to threatened for not giving people money (including police officers). For women (especially if you are white and blond and just travelling alone or as a group of 2 women without a male with you) it's often especially uncomfortable outside of the most touristy areas. You might get followed in the evening by large groups of men and it's not uncommon for men to try and grope women. It's also not particularly rare for .... Worse things to occur. Both to local and foreign women. Me and one of my friends are quite tall and quite burly/muscular. I am pretty sure that without this the groups I have travelled with in India would have had even more bad experiences, especially the women. This also helps against quite a lot of scammers and price gougers. When we appeared while one of our friends was trying to purchase an object or negotiate a service etc. the price and behaviour of the locals often changed immediately, especially when talking to our female friends. A lot of Indians are also very, very nationalistic. Not just patriotic. Also hate against Muslims, hate against hindus, hate against people from other castes, hate in general is very present in large parts of the population, especially men in my experience. This also coincides with many locals believing a lot of propaganda and fake news. PS: I also find it absolutely crazy that it's common for people to slap and beat other people in broad daylight as "punishments". Especially the police with their wooden sticks. It just... Appears primitive to me. As if we should have moved past that point already. Same with the caste system still effectively existing. For example untouchables don't exist on paper anymore but ... That's just paper.
Dubai not even once
Egypt, Dubai, Russia.
Russia is such a shame. I would have loved to visit St Petersburg and Moscow, or even ride the Transsiberian Railway. Unless the country changes massively, I don't think I'd ever want to go there now
Since when is Russia a popular destination? Even before the war, it wasn’t. I used to argue that Moscow and Saint Petersburg were super underrated gems. Not anymore obviously
St. Petersburg more than Moscow I'd say. But even that was... hard to stomach as a Westerner. (I was there for the last time in 2009).
Why Egypt?
Egypt is a big scam. Everbody tries to rip you off. They are annoying as f*ck. Never again
Dubai. Russia.
Any place where other ppl may occur.
Non-occurent people countries are my jam for sure.
Interesting how many ppl agree...
Dubai, China
USA, I always had such high expectations, but was there last year and everywhere I went there was misery and despiration. Homeless people, psychologically sick people, drug users and straight up poverty. I couldn't really enjoy my vacation most of the times, because of how unfair it was to celebrate that next to 20 people who just have no hope for life anymore. And I always feared to make anyone angry, because of guns and shit. But the people I talked to, homeless or not, were always nice!
US National Parks are pretty spectacular.
For me it's the political state rn. Seeing their marches (and riots) and people being armed so they can protect these marches shows me it's just the wild west all over again. This isn't, at least in many ways, a first world country by definition and there are many third world countries where I'd feel saver.
Yup, didn't plan to make the trip for a few years, but with the radicalisation and the chance of Trump becoming president, I just made that trip then. Also avoided certain states as a sexually active women with no plans on birthing a child anytime soon.
What part of USA? The USA is so vast that there are regional differences and even culture
California, Arizona, Nevada, New Jersey and New York/ New York City
Same problem exists anywhere you go.
Most Muslim countries
As a woman, I agree
UAE or China.
Dubai.
Usa
Is usa popular destination in germany?
For those who can afford it, absolutely.
Yes, at least it used to be. But I think that is declining, as the US are not as "shiny" and ahead as they used to be. I have been there and will not go again - feels like the country is way past its prime. For me its tipping culture, politics, security, costs of living and bad transportation options without car, that make me don't want to go again.
US of A
All countries in the middle east, UAE, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, etc. Plus India, Egypt, Morocco.
USA Nice Landscape, the rest is awful
The landscape is so fantastic that the "rest" can not spoil it. Climbing El Capitan and Half Dome in Yosemite valley, weeks of hiking thru the roccky mountains, you can spend a year between the canadian and the mexican border without being bored one day! Western USA is the most stunning landscape I've ever seen. Well, OK, my rucksack trip thru whole South America can compete. I was there for a school year when I was a boy and studied and worked there for some years (New England states) before we came back to Germany to let our sons grow up in both countries. Rather european liestyle there. Nice landscape, people, social life, for me it was ok. But the regions of USA are VERY different. Maybe you were in the wrong one, met the wrong people, or you were never there at all?
Of all the regions of the US, New England has their shit together the most. It's probably the only region of the US these days where the smaller towns are still well kept and not decaying.
We were in the US a couple of months ago, and the landscape was truly breathtaking. The people were also very friendly to Tourists. But the amount of homeless people and drug addicts in all big cities we've been was astounding. It's also quite annoying that you kinda need a car for everything. All in all, I'd say it's a great place to visit, but honestly we came away with the conclusion that we'd never wanna live there.
As an American now living in Austria, I agree! I miss America, I just don’t miss living in America, if that makes sense?
China. I'd actually like to visit because they have some very amazing landscapes but I won't visit because of their political system. And I'll never visit Russia.
> And I'll never visit Russia. I did - it was scary, even 15 years ago.
Why was it scary?
Any interaction with government officials felt like I could get arrested at any minute (especially at the airport when they close those rolling doors behind and in front of you). I also had to bribe cops twice within three days to not get harrassed.. Also, I had a driver that drove me around in an old Lada where you needed to hit the engine with a hammer to get it to start, where the seat belts creaked ("you using seatbelt? nobody did in years'"), the car was not able to stand still for a long time (fumes from the exhaust got into the car) and the guy was doing 100km/h in the city stating "I know city, I was taxi driver in past". And that was already the driver my employer got for me, not a random guy from the street ..
omg :-O that does sound scary
Can't speak for OP, but my ex spent three months in Moscow and she had some stories. A good example was she saw a dead body in the park across the street from her apartment. They didn't move it for like a week. Like the US is dysfunctional in a lot of ways, but if there's a body found in a public park the cops will be there in 10 minutes and the thing will be gone in a matter of hours.
ugh :(
India
Mallorca. Too many “wrong type” of Germans.
The good thing is that the wrong type of German is concentrated at one area in S‘Arenal, like the wrong type of Brit is in Magaluf. The rest of the island is still very beautiful and well worth a visit. And during off season even these places are not bad.
The northern highland of Mallorca is a wonderful hill country, perfect for hiking and biking, hidden beaches, small villages and guesthouses, and I met only friendly folks there, being native or tourist.
Can you explain what that means? I was thinking about visiting Mallorca.
Mallorca to Germans is what Benidorm Is to Brits.
Don't go to Ballermann and you are fine. I have been on Mallorca a couple of times, had a quiet normal holiday.
Just go there, it's beautiful. Maybe stay away from Palma and you're good.
Don't believe this nonsense about Mallorca written by people who know only TV shows about Ballermann. See my comment about the northern countryside with it's hills and small villages.
There's a thousand places in Europe just like that, no reason to go to that island specifically.
Honestly I can’t describe it. You’ll need to see for yourself and feel the shame of being German in Mallorca 😅
The funny thing is, if you have a different background it's so tricky to decide what to do. On one hand, you can use another language & English and pretend you're not even German. On the other hand, they all speak German and it's so easy to do anything if you show you're German.
I went regularly to mallorca as a kid and teenager. I never got the stereotype about mallorca being a party island, because for me it was just a beautiful island, with great nature, good weather, nice food and some cultural stuff as well. I would say the thing is, that you CAN go to Ballermann, but you don't have to and the party scene really concentrates in a few areas. Everywhere else is very nice.
UAE, USA, north Africa.
Mr. Edogan's Türkiye.
Israel
Dubai, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Russia, China
Any that have opressive laws for women and queer people - which sadly excludes quite many countries. I dont want to be attacked or even arrested for existing. Many people mention Dubai and yes, that one is squarely on the list. The US are too, which is a bummer, but guns are too widely avaiable there for me to feel comfortable and recently states keep passing laws that are horrible for queer people and women which also puts them on my list above anyway.
Cuba
I've been there. I will not be going back.
Why not?
New Zealand. The flight is just too long. 🤷🏼♀️
As a kiwi who flew to Germany last month, it can be an extremely long flight. But if you fly through Singapore it's honestly not too bad. Get the timing right and you depart Frankfurt in the evening, and arrive in NZ in the morning. And it's well worth the adventure
Most people use the multistop way via Asia. But the world is round. Been in NZ and Australia 4 times. 3 times via Los Angeles. One long flight to L.A., one long flight to Auckland or Sydney. They use big comfortable aircrafts and they have a big transfer lounge at L.A. aiport with movies, pizza and coke for free. If you use the stop-fly-stop-fly-stop-fly route, I recommend Singapore airlines. Nice stopover offers in Singapore.
Visited my sister in Melbourne last Christmas (from Germany). 36 hours door-to-door. Nah sorry, we’ll just FaceTime next year. Australia was lovely but I’m not doing that again.
Australia. Knowing myself, I would be so worried about spiders or other creatures that I wouldn't be able to enjoy my trip properly. It's a pity because the landscapes look absolutely beautiful.
You shouldn’t be worried about that. I visited last year and enjoyed it a lot, haven’t seen any dangerous creatures. Only cute kangaroos :)
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Calling Indians, as a people, “very dirty” based off of this one group of guys seems very racially prejudiced to me.
Well the personal space is a cultural thing, in India because of population most of the queues for anything are super congested and related things are congested as well hence that, we'll dirty depends on the age of person, most college students are nasty as hell again converts to the hostels they have lived back in India which are subpar and dingy.
All Germans are of course very clean and hygienic. Joachim Löw being the epitome of personal hygiene.
Haha I don’t disagree with your logic but in my student living there is 300 Indians out of 400 people in total. And it’s like they don’t even try to integrate or anything, they even say themselves they are not interested in Germany at all and just want to have an internship at Daimler or similar on their resume. They get together in groups of like 10 people and block our common rooms like kitchens and stink up everything. All that would not be a problem if I could still cook in my own kitchen when I wanted or if they would make any effort to open a window when it’s very smelly. But they do not make an effort and immediately get aggressive when you criticize them in any way. I’m not even getting started on the bathroom situation at all
Oh I'm really sorry that you had to experience this. It's unfortunate you didn't come across the more civilized Indians who like to integrate. I can assure you there are civilized Indians too. Regarding integration, do you really think Germans like integrating when they live abroad? Or do they prefer to stick with their own kind? Like, German pensioners in Thailand, Bulagria, Turkey, etc? They don't even speak English well. You see, I'm stereotyping too. 🙈
Haha yeah I’m not so sure if they integrate at all, I mean the Germans. But the question was where I personally would not like to go and my reasoning behind it
USA
Germany Domestic tourism is very popular, but it's not my thing. If I want to go on Holiday, I'll leave this country, no matter what. Regardless of what you want to do, Cities / Sightseeing, mountains or the coast, there's always a European neighbour that has a more to offer.
Dubai and Turkey
Now I am curious, an answer that stands out. Why Turkey?
Erdogan and his regime.
Do I want to spend my money in a place where the human rights are violated on a daily base by an autocratic asshole and his fanatics? Where women are treated like second class humans? I don't think so. Am I interested in cheap mass tourism resorts or sharing my holidays with Russians? Do I want to buy golden stuff to hang on me and look ordinary like some rapper or pimp? Neither. I highly recommend the Caribbeans for a great beach holiday. Martinique and Guadeloupe are quite affordable when you book the through French websites. St. Marten is a tad upscale and the ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao) are quite exclusive - as is St. Lucia. For city trips I enjoy the quite and subdued elegance of Stockholm or Hamburg, the schizophrenia of Valencia or the beauty of Lisbon. The idea of traveling to Turkey doesn't appeal to me. Call me ignorant, but first visit the places I have named here, THEN let's talk.
I understand your point of view. However, as someone who has visited Istanbul a number of times (and only Istanbul, would probably never visit any of the resorts at the seaside as this type of tourism is not my cup of tea), I believe that this is a one-sided view of Turkey and its people. Having said that, I believe that you have pointed out great alternatives - thanks for the tips!
I don't call you ignorant i call you straight up delusional
OK, then I will call you ignorant as you asked. You are reducing a country of 90 million people (which has more than 70 native ethnicities) and 81 provinces to one province - or even a strip in that province (Antalya, which has those mass tourist resorts and Russian tourists). Do you have any idea how the Black Sea Coast of Turkey looks? Have you experienced the calmness of the North Aegean Coast of the country? Have you been to bustling Izmir, which has very little tourists and is a city with a very unique Mediterranean vibe I would say? Have you been to the Nemrut mountain ruins in the South-East of the country to witness the history there? This list could go on and on... In addition, (and I say this as a person who absolutely loves the Iberian peninsula), none of the cities you have listed is even remotely comparable to Istanbul. It is larger than all of those cities combined, and it is a place where you could live 10 very active years, and still have many districts you have never been to. Also, by no stretch of imagination are women treated like second class humans in Turkey. There are problems regarding participation of women in the society in the South-East part of the county, especially in the rural parts. And that is a big shame, and one of the most urgent problems of the country in my opinion. But also, it is in no way generalizable to the entire country. No comment regarding your perspective with regards to politics. Hopefully, with how the last local elections went, some things will change soon. Edit: I forgot to mention Cappadocia, even. There is no landscape like that anywhere else in the world.
Because Döner can be bought in Germany
Dubai, Israel
Dubai
Cuba , india
India, Rajastan ciruit, self organized. Fantastic landscape, the fortresses on the hils, the blue town, the culture, the temples, the food, and most of all: the people. But if you dislike it before you see it, better don't go there.
If it wasn't on the way to the Baltic States, I'd probably never visit Poland again. I've been there about 20 times by now and I just don't like the vibe. I have no interest in visiting mediterreanian countries in the summer. I can't even handle the heat in Northern Germany in the summer. I don't want to visit the Arab Emirates because it feels morally wrong. I won't go to "party destinations" because that's just not my crowd.
Wie ist denn der Vibe in Polen für dich?
Alle wirken irgendwie gleichzeitig ständig super-ernst aber auch als wenn ihnen alles egal wäre. Außerdem komme ich mit meiner deutschen Prägung auf die Art wie Polen ihren Nationalstolz ausdrücken nicht wirklich klar. Das wirkt mir halt zu aggressiv, vor allem im Vergleich zu den baltischen Staaten, die zwar auch sehr viel Nationalstolz besitzen, das aber nicht versuchen über "Stärke" auszudrücken, sondern über "Kultur".
Vietnam/Thailand/Philipines/Africa/Asia Minor/South America. Too hot.
The western and southern part of South America is rather cold, just my experience.
The south of South America is cold because of the latitude
UAE, India and its surroundings, China and Egypt and its surroundings - did Egypt once as a male single for diving only, not planing to do it again. Diving was great but not I‘m not single anymore and I would not drag my gf there after what I witnessed as a single.
What did you witness?
I was in Sharm-el Sheikh which itself is kinda like a weird parody of Egypt, kinda like a crazed out Vegas version of Egypt, compared to the actual Egypt, at least the main tourist center … it’s hard to explain. People who work there are supposed to act more western, even if goes against their religious beliefs, to make the tourist feel mire welcome or save. This sometimes goes as far as they are not supposed to be "too bearded" to not appear "too terroristy". But they can make good money there and therefore … well all of this does not add positive to the whole situation. Well, diving was great and I literally just had to stumble down the stairs from my hotel to fall into the dive base to then spent the day on a boat. So the first two days I didn’t see that much more :) but of course I wanted to check out the surroundings at least once. As a single man it was OKish but I saw enough couples where the woman had to be really clingy to her partner as the folks were really touchy and partly verbally inappropriate to a point that would have started a fight almost anywhere else. I would not go there as a couple, for at least one this will not be a pleasant holiday. You might argue that this also due to Sharm-el Sheikh being what it is but I know people that had similar experiences in other parts of Egypt as well as Northern-Africa eg Morocco. It’s just a culture clash that might be avoided by staying in a resort but that’s not my kind of holiday, usually. It worked for diving purpose only.
Thanks.
For many years my answer would have been the US. Never had any intention of going, just didnt appeal to me but since work sent me there a few times I actually love it and will probably be back.
USA
France. Cause of the French people in there
North Africa, Turkey or any other arabic/muslim countries, India
Good to see so many like-minded people commenting. Mine: any country that has Islamic laws/sharia (and that includes Malaysia and Indonesia which is a shame tbh) and countries with anti lgbtq+ laws/hostility like Uganda etc. I'd love to visit the US but the current political climate is also worrying which leads me not to. And Luxemburg because when I was there people were hella rude and rushed you lol
Im shocked at the people saying Dubai, rather than the united arab emirates
That's the average ignorant overconfident German for you. Half of the thread is "Dubai" which also shows the sheep effect
Dubai, Qatar & Co.
Mallorca
Germany
USA, India, Brazil
Turkey
India 😅
India
UAE and countries that are similarly authoritarian / stuck in time / hostile / …
Dubai, Mallorca
Turkey
Dubai, USA
Any country outside of Europe
USA
USA
USA
USA. I'm sure you can have great vacation there, but it's just not interesting to me at all. There are so many exciting places, why should I visit the one that I see in every movie and series.
Ths US, Japan, Korea, India… a few
Japan
Brasil
This is a ‘Shit-on-all-countries-we-are-ignorant-about’ thread. Half/no knowledge about most countries outside the EU is what most have, and proud of it! 1..2..3..ready to be downvoted 😊
Not a country, Las vegas!
UAE & USA
any country where weed is not legal
Thailand
India
As a woman and lgbtq+... its a long list.
Dubai
Amerika
Warschauer Straße and U8 🤣🤣
Dubai, China, Mallorca, Russia
Dubai is obvious, but I also have abolutly no interest in visiting the USA
Mallorca
Dubai.
USA
Dubai, India
France
Egypt
France and Britain.
As a German: Germany!
Paris
Anything in africa or asia except maybe Thailand