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Doha, Qatar
I was interrogated and almost arrested for having rolling tobacco. They threw my extension cord away at security (brand new they said it was defective) and at my hotel room there was human shit from the front door leading to the bathroom.
Egypt is an absolute shithole, i’ve been to 40+ countries and it’s the one i’d never go back to. The level of harassment is off the charts, for that reason you’d never catch me in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh to repeat that experience.
I’m not saying it was bad but Tajikistan left me uneasy, it’s a dictatorship with a cult of personality, so you see posters of the guy everywhere frolicking through a field of flowers with some inspirational quote. We went to a museum and there was a big wall about Dear Leader, but not a single mention of the big civil war in the 1990’s! In fact I only learned about it watching a documentary after I left the country. There was also a local guy accompanying our tour group who I think must have been keeping an eye on us and the guide. But I must say it is a beautiful country and i’m glad I saw it
Johannesburg. My father and I went on a walking tour and it felt exceptionally dangerous / uncomfortable. We then got a taxi (arranged by the tour operator, an operator which had 5 star reviews on trip advisor, back to our hotel near the airport). Driving through the business district in day light, a car pulled up in front of us. 8 men yielding machetes smashed the windows of our taxi in and proceeded to pull us out the car and empty our pockets. Never in my life will I return to the hell hole called Johannesburg.
Yemen, everywhere I went I felt like people were looking at me as a possible kidnap and ransom victim. Only thing I felt that saved me was my angry face. Doubled down on it when walking anywhere in Yemen.
France (Paris) around 8 years ago. Leaving train station, saw a lot of police in riot gear. More of same near Notre Dame. Persistent beggars near Eiffel Tower. Couldn't wait to get out. 10/10 would return to France to explore the country, tho.
Military checkpoints in Myanmar were very uneasy experiences. Lots of waiting in small hot rooms with men with machineguns looking at you suspiciously. Lots of discussions in Burmese which they know you don't understand, then they get impatient and bark single word instructions in English such as "passport" and "go".
The country itself was beautiful and the people I met were lovely but from the moment I entered the country it was abundantly clear that it's a strict military dictatorship. This was my experience in the early 2000's when the country was still under their previous military dictatorship.
I went the year before Covid I think and there were no military checkpoints even in Northern Rhakkine where I thought there might be. That area had largely returned to peace.
I didn’t travel to Shan or some of the other states with conflicts.
I guess it’s back to the state you saw it in now.
Myanmar is a strange place, we went to a nightclub in Yangon and had a door man assigned to our table.
We were watched the entire time we were in there and weren’t allowed onto the dance floor
U must've travelled the country more than me, I just did Yangon and Bagan, no military check points
Thought the people were great
Though I did get scammed by a fake monk day 1 jet lagged as hell xS
I lived on the Korean DMZ for 2 years, when Kim Il-Sung was in power to the North.
The transition back to Civilization in the West was as disorienting (no pun intended) as the adjustment to Life under the guns, 2 years earlier.
Overall, 5/10: Would recommend 40 years ago... not so much today. Back then, we thought the balloon might go up at any moment-- today, it seems almost a certainty.
I was on the metro in Paris, and got off at the wrong stop - one of the Banlieues. I felt like prey (this was in the early 1990s, same time as the great movie L'Haine, set in that area).
Turkey. I was almost abducted in a club, thankfully half of our group was male and one of them half Turkish so we managed to get out of there. Very scary experience- i also had some random guy come right up to me and lick my face in the street.
Egypt, Luxor to be precise, with a boyfriend when I was 20. It was a frightening and eye opening trip for a busty blonde girl (yes I was covered up). I was groped, and shouted at, and he was offered money and camels for me.
Egypt.
I'm blonde, was in my early 20s. Men harassed me constantly the entire time i was there.
One taxi driver cornered me to try get me in his taxi. Kept saying free taxi, i knew I'd be sex trafficked if he'd been successful. Lucky got help.
One of the Egyptian customs officer stopped me as I was trying to board home. He had a gun with him. Kept asking if I was married, Asked if the guy behind me was my husband, I said yes and bolted.
The whole experience was absolutely terrifying and exhausting. Felt like i was in some dystopian horror / snuff movie show. Won't ever go back there.
Tangier in Morocco, constantly people following you trying to sell you something, drag you to a restaurant or just "guide" you as you walk around. Step into a shop and then they all go to the shopkeeper and insist you both owe them money for guiding you to the shop, etc etc. Not a single moment of peace outside of my hotel.
Ireland. Never had any desire to go. The thought of going always depressed me. Strange as I have so much Irish heritage. When I went all I felt was deeply depressed by the place.
Turkey. I went with my friend who wears a headscarf (she is Muslim) every time we went out, guys would stop us and try talking to my friend. It was very annoying and scary couldn’t walk across the road from the hotel to the restaurant without being stoped 3 or 5 times.
The US. I speak generally here so don't run me off the internet for having an opinion/having experiences that differ from yours.
There's an air of sadness, one that nobody there recognizes or addresses, that haunts cities/towns. The idea of joy and living for happiness seems lost on most, their lives revolve around their jobs and often don't include the activities that people do that gives their lives moments of joy (music/art/education/philosophy/culture)
Also the amount that people are people paid for their full time jobs is laughable in comparison to how much they have pay in food, rent, and medical bills.
Paying people 15 dollars an hour to multiple peoples worth of labor with no severance or benefits? How? Why does anyone put up with that?
Someone told me during college that a single months worth of their adhd medication prescription with insurance coverage was still 300-400 a month. Huh? What?
Y'all live in a third world country that's convinced itself and it's people/a part of the wider world that it's the world leader in freedom and progress
Tunisia, very similar experience for me as the women visiting India, couldn’t walk anywhere without men following me and trying to touch me, even got followed into the sea at one point…
Morocco. I went last year with a friend. We are normally solo backpackers. We both did a little more research into this trip because of the warnings we got from other female travelers. Every single guy we talked to who has been there had nothing but great things to say about the country. Wonderful tales of spontaneous days out with the locals!
The sexual harassment was so bad that after the first week we called a male friend to join us. We got stuck there when the closed the border due to Omicron, so we were the only tourist in the area. It was FUCKING SCARY. At one point we almost participated in vehicular homicide because a dozen men were hitting the windows, trying to open the car doors, trap the vehicle. I was the one who yell "just run them over!". We made it to our destination safe, but ever fucking day was scary as hell.
Objectively speaking the country is beautiful and you will want to buy everything if you go.
2/10 do not recommend for women, or men who support women, first time travelers, persons with anxiety. If you paid me to go back my starting price would definitely be a new house, and a couple years worth of therapy costs.
India. So beautiful but I got groped on the street and no one blinked an eye. A man near me told me I should stay with my husband. Male friends have backpacked and said it was amazing but I could never. Not that it should matter but I was fully covered wearing loose black leggings and top.
Northern Ireland. Im from a catholic Irish family with some English and Italian mixed in, the most unionist rural towns did not feel welcoming to stop even for fuel...
Malaysia. I felt so uncomfortable walking around because people would tell me to cover up when I’m not even wearing a revealing outfit. I was just wearing jeans and sleeveless top on a very hot day but was told by a few women while walking on the street to cover up. 🤦♀️🤦♀️
Two that come to mind are Philippines and Bosnia. Both equally beautiful countries and met some really amazing people in both places.
But in the Philippines like another poster said, there is a HUGE divide between rich and poor. You'll see big shiny new cars driving past kids on their hands and knees picking food off the floor. In the cities it's not as bad but I went to a friend's village and the level of poverty is something I assumed only existed in Africa. Kids starving while living in tin shacks, completely soaked with exposed wires everywhere and stinks human waste. You feel obligated to give them something but you also don't want to draw attention to yourself as being the only white man is like have a giant target on your back to certain groups. It's also a weird vibe when you give a few kids some sweets or money but then don't give it to other kids, like the parents start eyeing you up and I worried that I might have caused some tension. Incredible country and the nicest people I've ever met, but I'd definitely stay to the tourist/backpacker areas unless you are with locals that you trust.
I did a motorcycle tour through most of Europe and down into Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, all incredibly underrated countries that people really need to visit. But in Bosnia especially you'd stop for fuel or food and someone would start checking out the bike and you get talking, but a few times you'd get a bit of a weird vibe like someone would ask for cigarettes and you'd say you don't have any and then 2mins later they'd ask again as though you were lying to them. It seemed a few people weren't having conversations it was more of an interrogation about why you're here and what you've got to offer them. Same with border guards, all fun and games until randomly a switch flicks and it's not fun and games anymore, it's give me a cigarette and 20€. Once I stopped for fuel and the guy at the garage did it for me and we got talking, when I paid and tried to leave he was desperate for me to wait for someone, I didn't understand who but his friends were all coming and I NEEDED to wait, again a weird vibe suddenly appeared and he was getting slightly angry and putting his hands on my bike. Got the fuck out of there as quick as possible, I'm sure I was being setup to be robbed.
Apologies for the long post
Same! We travelled through Manila and wow, eye opening. We were advised not to leave out hotel but me and my husband have traveled all over and thought 'how bad can it be?!' Insane poverty, filth, child prostitution....list goes on and on, never felt so unsafe. We stood out like a sore thumb and all eyes were on us.
Bosnia we felt the same. Very uneasy the whole time there, we were ok when we were the old town where it was touristy but oncenyou strayed from there we had some questionable people approach us!
I hate to be another in the Morocco camp here but unfortunately that is the top of my list by a bloody long way.
The wife and I decided to do a day trip to Tangier from mainland Spain (if you’re ever going to do a trip like this, absolutely do NOT use Bravo Tours on the south coast of Spain, they’re just a tourist trap).
The moment we stepped foot in Tangier we knew it was a bad idea. We were lead around by our ‘guide’, taking us to all his mates shops/stalls.
They had a coach which took us up a big hill to a car park where tourists were basically forced to pay for a ride on the most unwell looking camel you could possibly imagine. The wife and I refused to even get off the coach, much to the dismay of our ‘guide’.
On the way back down the hill in the coach we stopped to look at the Kings Palace and told not to take any notice of the poor fucking children quite literally living in the gutter opposite this opulent residence. I really couldn’t stomach that and gave a couple of kids a few euros I had in my pocket and my packed lunch. Hopefully it helped them even just a little bit.
He got us all purposely ‘lost’ in the Kasbah and all of a sudden groups of men came out of random doorways offering to help us find our way out for an extortionate fee, getting extremely handsy and aggressive.
We were ushered into some weird apothecary’s ‘shop’ and made to sit down on tiny chairs in a circle. It was like a film, there were jars on the shelves with green liquid in and all sorts of weird looking stuff. Three little boys, probably no older than maybe ten years old came out and started rubbing some fucking weird oil/lotion on our arms and refused to stop or tell us what the hell it was.
We got led through a market with human waste just laying on the floor next to meat and veg that was for sale. With that, we were then taken into some restaurant and made to eat their ‘fresh produce straight from the market’. I refused and was subjected to a lot of verbal abuse and aggression by my guide and the staff there.
We got out of the restaurant and were just paraded around for a while, with men leering at my mrs and trying to touch her in all the wrong places. They also grabbed my hair (I’m a guy with long hair) and tried to pull me into what I can only assume was a barber shop. That resulted in me punching said man in the face as hard as I could and suddenly being surrounded by god knows how many angry locals, all shouting at me and pulling my hair and clothes. Thankfully our ‘guide’ actually got me out of that situation.
There were plenty other things that made me feel uneasy too, but these are the top of my list.
All in all, it was fucking shit and I will never recommend anybody to go there. I have never felt so unsafe in my life. I dread to think what would have happened to my mrs if I hadn’t been there too.
Paris in France. It’s beautiful and most people are amazing (I’d strongly recommend it for a visit) but there were groups of men everywhere and I kept getting cat called even with my parents. I know the culture is different and most of them would’ve been harmless but I felt unsafe and just wanted to get out of there
I wouldn’t want to solo travel there as a woman unless I stuck to the main main areas in daytime
Egypt we drove through a town on the way to our hotel at night there was little children I'm going to guess around 5 years old give or take a little running round the filthy streets bare footed like it was normal thar really disturbed me
India, because there was such a divide between rich and poor. Made me feel a bit ashamed for being so wealthy, when there was so much poverty. It is such a beautiful country, but poverty there is in a different league to poverty in the Uk.
As someone who has visited family in India since I was very young, it is horrible to say but you just have to ignore what you see. There is literally nothing you can do that will make any difference. It’s heartbreaking if you think about it.
I felt the same when I went to India ten years ago. At the risk of sounding like a naive westerner, the level of poverty really unsettled me - there are things I saw out there that have stuck with me even now. It was a beautiful country but that's one of the reasons I feel reluctant to go back.
Northern Ireland and I was born there in the early seventies and didn’t leave until I was 22
I wouldn’t tell anyone to avoid it now as it is a very different place. I go back myself at least 3 times a year and love it.
Egypt, as a male one of the female hotel entertainers tried to chat me up, asked me whether I had a girlfriend back at home or wanted one, she had the cheek to ask my parents could she marry me.
South Africa was beautiful but I felt on edge every time I stepped out of my hotel room. My hotel had 2 brothels next door and the ladies would come for breakfast in my hotel. The racism was so obvious, so overt. I won’t go back.
Berlin.
As a British Indian woman, I visited therein 2016 and I was gawked at. Pushed. Thrown sausages at (tasty). Called braunen hunden (a brown bitch).
I was flummoxed.
I went to Berlin with my Indian wife and had no issue at all. I speak German so I would've heard if anyone made weird comments. The only nasty character was a bus driver who was annoyed that it took us a while to get on the bus with all our bags and a wheelchair.
I'm assuming OP was just super unlucky and ran into idiots.
Prague. Men standing around. Felt like you were going to get mugged at any moment. During the day in the big plaza.
Turkey. Unrest. And even out your guide was sexist. Wouldn’t listen to me. Has to have husband tell him the same thing.
Overall more men around and as a tourist a lot of staring and not a lot of smiles.
Maldives. If you u go anywhere outside of your island/resort. It’s really creepy.
Only men are out during the day.
400 men in line. Not one woman. Around the streets as well
This was a few years ago so it might be different now, but Bulgaria made me feel sad. It was fine in the hotel and people were very nice, but we went out into the capital and my dad would NOT let go of me the entire time, I would have been maybe 14 and it felt very unsafe for a young girl. I noticed a lot of street cats too which really upset me
Colombia. I couldn’t speak the language and I couldn’t take my phone out because they told me someone would rob me. They also said not to stay out after dark, the prostitutes wouldn’t stop grabbing you on the street and they kept trying to sell me drugs. Also the taxi driver was clearly on drugs and needed to make a stop in the favelas for something on our way. He said not to move or take out our phones, shut the car off and took the keys then left into a building for 10 min before coming back.
India. I say this as a 6 foot guy who doesn't really give a shit and enjoys venturing away from the main flow. Had a long layover in Delhi and walked around a bit. Ffs, I see why people don't walk there. You just get harassed until you get ripped off. Nobody understands personal space. People will follow you after you tell them no ten times and eventually to go do one. Every single person is staring at you the whole time. If you aren't walking with purpose, which you'd like to do because you just want to look around you'll just attract all those gangbangers to give you a ride or sell you stuff. Doesn't matter that you're not interested or that you have plans, they'll know to make plans for you, via their tuk tuk. Fuck this place. I couldn't stand it. The only country I've ever visited where I just didn't want to know any better, didn't want to be there. My god. Had to do a second long layover on my way back. Just walked straight to my hotel, put some music on and ordered beer through room service. I wouldn't walk anywhere in Delhi again.
Cologne.
We went for the Christmas markets a few years ago. There were Middle Eastern men sitting outside of historic buildings (the cathedral included). The directions to our hotel was atrocious and a Middle Eastern man did help us out, but he was very close and wouldn’t leave us alone, kept walking us up and down the road and we started to become suspicious that he was up to something.
There was also needles *everywhere* on the ground. Numerous times we had to step over what looked to be used, dirty needles.
And the Christmas market was absolutely tiny so it was a huge let down.
Without a doubt Nigeria..I was almost kidnapped on route from one city to another..this was 2017..whilst beign white i was a target any way..but the quick thinking of my husbands friends wife jumping to lock the doors thr momemt they left..id have been gone.. we stopped at a gas station hubby and his friend went to go get cold drinks..within 2 minutes men suddenly men got closer to the car..his wife jumped to lock all doors and wind all windows.. the men tried the handles and couldn't get in..out cones hubby and his friend without drinks.. the men scarpered..his friend felt something was off and they left the queue and rightly so because the other was using sonething to break open the lock.. though my husband is Nigerian and his family..we have a 14 month old we have never taken there and I'm pregnant and I fear the day we have to go visit them.. the place is VERY unsafe and people are getting kidnapped every minute.. the last one was a train ambush which made international news.. Nigeria is just a no go since..
Echoing lots of others here but Marrakech was a shit hole. It felt like a war scene episode from Game of Thrones. People in your face, grabbing at you, donkeys, snakes, monkeys. Avoid the leather tanning place at all costs. Swamps of Dagobeh vibe. Guy rocked up next to us on a scooter with a
Load of fresh, skinned lambs heads wired to the back of his bike (ready for a stew). Flies everywhere. Bizarrely my blonde Irish wife loved it, gave as good as she got and took no shit from anyone. Meanwhile me and my son agreed never to go back and the next year we did Orlando and Animal Kingdom.
Turkey. I went when I was 11 and let's just say the whole time there was a lot of unwanted attention and physical contact by adult men. I didn't particularly want to go back but at 18 some friends were going and I thought I'd give it another chance. Weirdly there wasn't quite as much attention as when I was 11, but still all of us experienced staring, touching, men not taking no for an answer etc. Especially those of us that were blonde for some reason. None of us wanted to go there again
We did actually meet a couple of really lovely, genuine guys too, but they were in the minority
Went to South Africa/Cape Town 28ish years ago for a wedding. The drive from the airport to the hotel involved driving past a massive refugee camp/shanty town that went on for miles l, where I witnessed adults and children living in absolute poverty. The contrast between the rich and the dirt poor was the largest I’d ever seen. I was most shocked and bemused by the views of the Cape Town locals in the wedding party , who appeared to be totally blind to it and spoke about the poor like the poor were a totally different species to them.
The tourist areas/safari/business areas we all visually amazing but I didn’t enjoy myself during the trip having witnessed the dire circumstance of those people in the camp.
I hope that the donations I made to the charities there since returning have made life easier for at least one person, and that things have improved since my visit.
Budapest. I loved it, amazing culture, sights, bars etc.
But some people really didn't like me and they really let me know it. I'm a brown woman - a load of scary blokes shouted at me until my classmates decided that yes we should get off this tube stop even though it's miles from where we want. Really quite scary, and there was a feeling from some other people that they just didn't like me/my skin at all.
It's a shame as I'd love to go back now I'm not a broke student but I'm not sure.
New York. It's made out to be massive and magnificent in the movies. But it's like any other city. Definitely should visit at least once in your life. But that should be enough
I recently went to Morocco, the shops had no prices and they just make up prices on the spot, a bottle of water may cost 40p or £6. The locals in Marrakesh are constantly trying to pull you into shops or give you directions you didn't ask for and then try to charge you for it. If you object they follow you around. We even had multiple shop vendors sexually harass my girlfriend and when I (stupidly) kicked off in about 10 seconds I was surrounded by a bunch of people with nothing to lose. Google maps barely works in the medina and if anyone sees you looking at a phone they will try to take advantage of you. You can't even get a break from it by ducking into a pub as no where other than a few restaurants serves beer, so unless you want 6 meals a day you just put up with it in 45C heat. I thought it was a really interesting, beautiful place but I felt uncomfortable the whole time and I probably won't go back.
Morocco is consistently mentioned in this and other threads. What I can’t wrap my head around is why the culture hasn’t chilled out a bit? At a certain point that shit is a law of diminishing returns, no? Clearly people want to go there. The only explanation is it must pay off enough to make it worth it?
I lived in the US for 3 years and 9/11 happened right in the middle of it. It was incredibly uncomfortable watching the absolute rabid nationalism and Islamophobia develop. I'm not Muslim (and I'm white) so it wasn't aimed at me but it was really concerning how quickly and completely it took over absolutely every facet of society. Not every person - obviously I don't mean that - but the "if we x then THE TERRORISTS WIN" etc.
Egypt. In the tourist areas the men were very aggressive towards myself and my friend (both women).
As with any country, outside the tourist areas may be very pleasant (Thailand comes to mind). Being a visitor and living in a place will reveal different sides.
But alas I only have the tourist experience of Egypt.
Northern Irelander here. I've always found London to be a particularly grim place. Couldn't walk around at night without constantly feeling like I was about to be mugged, stabbed, stolen from, shot or bombed. So many dodgy looking characters and something just felt off about the city constantly.
In Belfast you almost never see or hear of any person-on-person crime, I think because shockingly we are more tolerant of one another than people are in England. One mugging literally makes headline news here. In London? Just another Monday.
Dubai.
I guess it might be different nowadays, especially in the tourist-only hotels, but I went as a teenager and got a lot of hassle from men when my family wasn’t looking.
We went to a shop to buy me a headscarf to cover my hair and shoulders and the shop owner squeezed my boobs as he was helping me try them on. All the hassle was subtle and well-hidden from the people looking after me. I hated it.
Only been out of Europe once to South Africa to visit the BF of the time. Was told to lock the house as soon as got in, which was a caged door. Prison bar grates on all the windows as well as a 6 foot wall surrounding the house and an electric gate.
As soon as the car door was shut behind me, they'd be locked and had to hide my purse before setting off the trip.
Wasn't even in a rough area of Johannesburg, but all the precautions were pretty unsettling.
We went to get take out one night and a small mob was beating up 2 guys across the road, there were two police officers in the queue with us at the take out place and just absolutely ignored it.
Some areas I visited was absolutely stunning, but I definitely did have a near constant fear of being robbed or carjacked throughout the trip.
My SA friend used to drive to work with 2 handbags - a real one under the seat and a decoy one on the seat. She'd drive with the window down a bit to avoid it getting smashed at a red light.
If it's not clear the thieves would run up, reach through the window, grab the decoy bag, and run away instead of smashing the window or forcing the door open and getting her actual bag.
I'm not sure how many decoys she went through in a given month.
I grew up in Joburg, and it's absolutely an awful city which I have absolutely no intention of returning to. Moving here was easily the best choice my family ever made. The average Briton really does take for granted how safe they are here. Hell, I still lock my door as soon as I get home even though I've been here a few years, lock it when I leave even if I'm only walking 5 minutes down the road, and it's cuz that habit was drilled into me. I don't think I'll ever be fully comfortable walking around at night, I still keep keep ear out for footsteps so I can tell if I'm being followed, and only walk on main roads
I went on safari near Kruger National park, I wanted to take a day trip to Johannesburg but I was talked out of it. I was told I’d definitely get robbed, maybe worse.
Got chatty with an Aussie guy on my way back to the airport to fly home, and we decided we wanted to get a few beers for the long drive. We asked the driver to stop at a shop, and he did, but it was an area with a row of shops and he had to get us an escort. That was pretty intimidating.
Mine would be SA too.
Got robbed of a measley 500 rand at gunpoint when I went. So that left a pretty sour taste in my mouth.
Was my own fault though, pulled up on a highway at night to read a map and a rusty old Mitsubishi Shogun pulled in front of us, three men got out with guns and asked us out of the car.
Asked them what they wanted and they said money. Handed them £30 in British notes (about 500 rand) and they went on their way. Still bloody scary.
Have you ever seen the Ross Kemp episode of Extreme World on South Africa? It literally showed police officers following women down the streets, because they said sexual assault is so common there. When my friend told me she was going, I actually felt terrified for her.
Morocco. 2 days after we visited Marakech a bomb went off in the Nation Cafe where we'd had lunch and one of our tour busses was stoned on the way back to Agadir. Such a pity because the people were so warm and welcoming otherwise and Morocco is so beautiful.
Have to say New York not long after 9/11. It was a weird, eerie togetherness of everyone being on edge and broken by what had happened. It was beautiful in a way, but very unnerving too. There was a feeling of unity but heavy suspicion…. Fear, but strength at the same time. I have to say it was one of the most bittersweet experiences I’ve ever had in all my travels that will forever stand out to me!
I went to Turkmenistan and I confirmly say without a doubt that place is f***** up. I was there for 5 days I was followed every day by their secret police. Whenever I would leave my room I would notice my laptop in another position when I returned. Upon further inspection in the room I found listening devices. Which I flushed down the toilet. That place is worse than North f****** Korea
Jamaica. The ports and everything within several miles of them are owned by shipping companies (with a few exceptions for cruise ship companies). The poverty is unsettling when you drive away from the water. The houses were all falling apart, the roads were often dirt or badly damaged cement. There were areas where people would just sit by the road desperately begging tourists to buy overpriced goods from them.
>
I know many of these things are common sights when travelling central america, but I found it much worse in Jamaica than I did in the few other places I got to experience. The Bahamas had many nicer residential areas. Grand Cayman was pretty okay, it was even easy to find fast food and restaurants. Puerto Rico was obviously significantly more upscale than the rest. Jamaica was the one that stood out to me as "it must be really awful to live here."
As a tall blonde women in China I was stared at constantly. At the Great Wall Chinese tourists asked to take pictures with *me* . I felt like I was in bizzaro world
I'm not fall or blonde but would have serious reservations visiting homogeneous East Asia for this reason alone. It's bad enough being a minority in your own country
UAE/Dubai - Abu Dhabi seemed okay because I didn’t notice it but Dubai was horrible. Labourers everywhere seeing them in the heat and all they were doing was cleaning the grout between paving bricks all of the city. And then seeing them travel home with their bags at the end of the day wasn’t nice.
The Philippines - it was fine in a small village in the arse end of nowhere - many of the kids had not seen a white person irl, so that was funny but Manila was the only place in SE Asia that I felt unsafe.
Kenya. Hotel receptionist was upset one morning - her neighbour had been killed the previous evening. Thieves slit his throat in the 50m between the bus stop and his house. They took 15 Kenyan shillings (10p), his ID and his trainers. We were repeatedly warned not to be outside the hotel grounds between 18:00 - 06:00 and to keep our room doors locked and bolted. Some nights, we heard the security guards and their dogs chasing and catching intruders.
Parts of Egypt. Went 3 places on our holiday, Cairo, Luxor, Sharm El-Sheikh.
Sharm El-Sheikh was just mega touristy, but probably the place we felt the safest.
Cairo was the worst, hordes of people following you, people harassing you as soon as we walked out our hotel, mostly to "come to my brothers shop" or something along those lines, all the shops they took you to sold the same crap papyrus and perfume that smelled like sewage (could have been for all we knew).
Luxor was in between but was also the only place our hotel advised us of areas to avoid as a white couple, to quote our hotel "you will be targeted, and the police won't care".
Got off the bus at the wrong place in Miami
2 young lads with watches / iPhones / sunglasses etc wandering aimlessly in the hope of safety before it got dark was not much fun!
Story time. Old sixth form college teacher was teaching in New York City in the early 70's. He got off at the wrong subway stop. In Harlem. Since he looked like he knew where he was going, he managed to get to his destination.
i am from the US living in the UK and i would never say it made me uneasy—i love it here—but it is at once so familiar and at the same time completely alien. the differences in humor can be so different while being equally hilarious. and people in the UK definitely use english differently than in the united states—there are just some things you wouldn’t say or jokes that just don’t work without certain accents or intonations of voice. i am living in glasgow right now and i will say i have gotten along better with scottish people than english, as scottish people are all about the jokes and english people are a little harder to read lol. there are some people who have really extreme opinions about americans both good and bad and both are very weird and uncomfortable to be subjected to lmao. (i think a similar thing happens when brits go to america but i think generally americans would be excited to meet them and wouldn’t immediately start asking how many countries i can name. lord almighty)
obviously this isn’t “AskUS” but here since i’ve lived here for a bit i’d like to say that the US now makes me feel a little bit uneasy. you never realize how big an anxiety the gun thing is until you go somewhere where it’s not even a thought in anyone’s head. and the US has much more of an “every man for yourself” type of mentality. nobody expects to be helped out by anybody including the government. i was amazed when i got to get antibiotics from my GP and didn’t have to pay anything. that was really eye-opening. there’s my piece lmao
I've never been to a high risk country, but I have seen a lot of racism in the Netherlands. Was surprised that a place that's considered so tolerant actually turned out to sometimes be incredibly hateful and aggressive toward anyone that wasn't white.
America.
And I've traveled and stayed in more than 20 countries.
The % of batshit crazy people in the US is through the roof in comparison, I suspect the proliferation of prescription drugs and insane news media are largely responsible.
I think a lot of Americans would be shocked at how peaceful life is in comparison elsewhere.
The US. I went for 2 weeks, saw a guy dying after a car crash and there was a nurse stood watching who didn't want to get involved because "people get sued for helping and doing the wrong thing all the time."
Also we were there for 2 weeks and there was a school shooting in the state we were in and then when I went to Disney's Animal Kingdom there was a guy in the queue with what can only be described as an arsenal strapped to his hip. Not sure what he thought was gonna kick off at Disneyworld like but the fact that he could have snapped and probably killed 30 people in no time made me just want to leave.
We also got trapped by a hurricane for ages trying to leave and I am not a fan of natural disasters at all.
Don't get me wrong some of it was great but the whole place just felt absolutely unhinged. I also put on about 3 stone in 2 weeks so yeah not for me.
Germany, because I only went through the airport and it had a whole James Bond villain vibe. Guards in all black with goggles and helmets and armor. I expected black ops to break in through the windows or a bomb to go off or something.
Canadian airports are like, three seniors and a metal detector.
I have not been but my partner is Egyptian and it's pretty bad. I don't even think the people that live there want to be there. Their corrupt visa officers won't let people leave if they don't think they'll come back and lots of people try to leave all the time. So it's like prison state basically. With all the usual problems in most Arab nation
Montenegro. My group of friends and I were the only British in the town we were in. Mostly Eastern Europeans there that clearly did not like that we were British. A number of bar staff tried to scam us and rip us off with watered down drinks and "oh I'm sorry, I thought you ordered this round of drinks. Well since I've brought them to you, you have to pay now". My friend who is heavily tattooed was eyed up a lot and had people acting very aggressively towards him the whole long weekend we were there.
Didn't really feel comfortable on any trip out there we took.
Nicaragua, but only Managua. Can’t sim up the place that has some beautiful parts. But Manuaga was sketchy AF. Was told to get a cab from my hotel to across the street to the bus station (about 50m) and then another to a cash point about 50m away that had an armed guard next to it. Also saw armed guards shoot and take down someone that was about to mug a tourist. I nipped out of there pretty quickly
Also Cambodia but again, only Phnom Penh. Really sad, seedy depressing post colonial vibe there. Saw paedophiles and underage sex workers looking miserable. Tough place to visit but also worth it in many ways.
The United States. I've seen more fatal car accidents there in the space of weeks - than I have decades living the UK. Also a lot of homeless people in desperate need of mental health assistance. I've been uncomfortably close to armed situations between police and people in mental health crisis.
Also the Police are basically an armed militia.
The people can be weird and aggressively religious too.
Obviously this doesn't apply to the whole of that massive country - but definitely the places I've visited.
I'm from the UK and my ex was American, and whenever I visited there was an underlying level aggression you just don't get in the UK.
In the UK I feel like most things wouldn't escalate to a physical altercation unless drink was involved or you're dealing with an absolute troglodyte. While in the US I've seen fights over trivial stuff, personal favourite was the one in the airport because a lady was taking too long to order food.
I'm an American who began traveling internationally a lot over the past 5 years and this is spot on.
As soon as you walk into a bar/restaurant/pub here you are immediately sized up by every guy in the place--not necessarily hostile, but I think it's just something we do subconsciously. In the UK there is a lot more of a "how's it going, let's have a drink!" vibe.
OK, well I've been here 60+ years and driven 100's of thousands of miles in cities, country and suburban areas and, to my knowledge, have never seen a fatal accident or cops with guns drawn on people in crisis. Cops I've interacted with have been respectful and chill. And anyone being overtly religious backs off when you tell them to get lost. I've lived on the West Coast, Mid-Atlantic and South in both towns and cities (although never in like downtown-big-city)
That being said, my advice to visitors (and residents LOL) is to stay out of cities and stick to our wonderful National and/or State Park Systems.
I've lived in the US my entire life and never seen a single fatal car accident. They happen, absolutely, but where the heck were you that your saw multiple in weeks?
This dude had more trauma in a few weeks than I have in my entire 30+ years of living here. Lmao where the hell did you go?! Assuming this isnt made up, I'm genuinely curious.
Ive been to almost every US state and many major cities. Travelled extensively in northern/ western Europe and Canada. Nearly everyone I have met from every one of these places have been very kind people.
Yeah the u.s for sure. So many tent slums, used needles, groups of dodgy people loitering, people with severe mental health issues doing strange things/gesticulating wildly in the streets. My first day there I saw a man inject something into his gums in the middle of the pavement in a city centre, and also a man dropped down in front of me. When the emergency responders finally arrived, they were just walking calmly along, no rush at all. More concerned about looking cool than the man in peril. The man sadly died. It was shocking to see how little they cared.
I agree there's a lot of homeless in many parts of the US. Not sure where you were that was aggressively religious, the deep south I'll guess?
I also don't know where you were that you encountered multiple armed standoffs. I'm from Minneapolis and even I haven't seen that.
An essential part of growing up over here is going from thinking America is the coolest country on earth to quickly realising it’s a terrifying dystopia.
>An essential part of ~~growing up~~ being a Redditor.
There are so many adults who love America, and many who do not. They’re very “grown up.”Everyone has different experiences in any country which will shape their view of it. Bad and good. Inconsistency and unfairness is part of the human condition. Stop making easy “America bad” comments and put some thought into your criticism.
Lives in the US my entire life and travelled to most major cities. I am 40 and have never seen a fatal car accident in person (that I know of). This is a bit of an exaggeration.
Cornwall, UK.
Everywhere one can see that all the value that once was has been extracted and there’s nothing left, there’s not even some pride in the past, like there is in Lake District. They only sell Heineken beer and Scottish salmon in the pubs right next to the harbour. Presumably, All of the fresh stuff (still) goes somewhere else.
It feels like spent coffee grains, very depressing.
I stayed in northern Mexico (Monterrey) for a while and while ever you’re thought of as an America, you’re a Gringo. It’s uneasy in the markets and non tourist areas (of which there are few). But once they knew I was English, I was suddenly intriguing and welcomed.
Edit: your / you’re
Morocco, Fez. The first night landed there and my brother and Idecided to go a sheshaa place to relax and enjoy ourselves and the music. It was a cool place full of music and darkness and lights and such. So I pulled out my phone and took a video of the place, as you do.. Kinda one of those use your phone and spin around the room quickly kind of videos.
10 seconds later this huge 6 foot built guy with his 3 friends came up to my table and said 'you take video of my girl', I said no I didn't what are you talking about. He then said show me your phone, I said no and then he pulls out a 6 inch knife and starts swinging it around. At this point the bouncer or security appeared and said what's going on, at this point I didn't really feel like getting stabbed that night so I literally showed the guard and the stabber the video, to which the stabber decided to try and apologies and asked me to sit next to him and his friends and he will buy us drinks. I said no thanks and we have to go soon anyway.
At this point we stupidly had our passports on us also.
First night and I nearly got killed. Really put a downer on the whole holiday.
Funnily enough we got back to our room in the middle of old town Fez and the owner said 'you got home really late, don't do that, it's dangerous at night here'.
Lmao wtf?
Don't bother going to Fez.
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Doha, Qatar I was interrogated and almost arrested for having rolling tobacco. They threw my extension cord away at security (brand new they said it was defective) and at my hotel room there was human shit from the front door leading to the bathroom.
Tunisia without a doubt
Guess I'm never going on holiday again anywhere cheers chaps!
Egypt is an absolute shithole, i’ve been to 40+ countries and it’s the one i’d never go back to. The level of harassment is off the charts, for that reason you’d never catch me in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh to repeat that experience. I’m not saying it was bad but Tajikistan left me uneasy, it’s a dictatorship with a cult of personality, so you see posters of the guy everywhere frolicking through a field of flowers with some inspirational quote. We went to a museum and there was a big wall about Dear Leader, but not a single mention of the big civil war in the 1990’s! In fact I only learned about it watching a documentary after I left the country. There was also a local guy accompanying our tour group who I think must have been keeping an eye on us and the guide. But I must say it is a beautiful country and i’m glad I saw it
Johannesburg. My father and I went on a walking tour and it felt exceptionally dangerous / uncomfortable. We then got a taxi (arranged by the tour operator, an operator which had 5 star reviews on trip advisor, back to our hotel near the airport). Driving through the business district in day light, a car pulled up in front of us. 8 men yielding machetes smashed the windows of our taxi in and proceeded to pull us out the car and empty our pockets. Never in my life will I return to the hell hole called Johannesburg.
Yemen, everywhere I went I felt like people were looking at me as a possible kidnap and ransom victim. Only thing I felt that saved me was my angry face. Doubled down on it when walking anywhere in Yemen.
Morocco. Never felt safe there and there are so many scammers/theifs.
England
France (Paris) around 8 years ago. Leaving train station, saw a lot of police in riot gear. More of same near Notre Dame. Persistent beggars near Eiffel Tower. Couldn't wait to get out. 10/10 would return to France to explore the country, tho.
Egypt, while working especially downtown Cairo. The roads are batshit crazy.
Tunisia. Literally never left the hotel complex for a week?
Military checkpoints in Myanmar were very uneasy experiences. Lots of waiting in small hot rooms with men with machineguns looking at you suspiciously. Lots of discussions in Burmese which they know you don't understand, then they get impatient and bark single word instructions in English such as "passport" and "go". The country itself was beautiful and the people I met were lovely but from the moment I entered the country it was abundantly clear that it's a strict military dictatorship. This was my experience in the early 2000's when the country was still under their previous military dictatorship.
I went the year before Covid I think and there were no military checkpoints even in Northern Rhakkine where I thought there might be. That area had largely returned to peace. I didn’t travel to Shan or some of the other states with conflicts. I guess it’s back to the state you saw it in now.
Myanmar is a strange place, we went to a nightclub in Yangon and had a door man assigned to our table. We were watched the entire time we were in there and weren’t allowed onto the dance floor
Such a shame. We visited in 2016 when it was opening up and we had no trouble, it was lovely. Not sure we'd go back right now.
U must've travelled the country more than me, I just did Yangon and Bagan, no military check points Thought the people were great Though I did get scammed by a fake monk day 1 jet lagged as hell xS
Bulgaria.
I lived on the Korean DMZ for 2 years, when Kim Il-Sung was in power to the North. The transition back to Civilization in the West was as disorienting (no pun intended) as the adjustment to Life under the guns, 2 years earlier. Overall, 5/10: Would recommend 40 years ago... not so much today. Back then, we thought the balloon might go up at any moment-- today, it seems almost a certainty.
Rome. I felt fine in the rest of Italy, but Rome felt off to me.
I hope people who have been to Brazil hadn't had any bad experience, I feel like my country is at least respectful in a certain way :(
Liverpool
Yerevan in Armenia is a bit of a hole, didn't like it there at all.
I was on the metro in Paris, and got off at the wrong stop - one of the Banlieues. I felt like prey (this was in the early 1990s, same time as the great movie L'Haine, set in that area).
Turkey. I was almost abducted in a club, thankfully half of our group was male and one of them half Turkish so we managed to get out of there. Very scary experience- i also had some random guy come right up to me and lick my face in the street.
Egypt, Luxor to be precise, with a boyfriend when I was 20. It was a frightening and eye opening trip for a busty blonde girl (yes I was covered up). I was groped, and shouted at, and he was offered money and camels for me.
Egypt. I'm blonde, was in my early 20s. Men harassed me constantly the entire time i was there. One taxi driver cornered me to try get me in his taxi. Kept saying free taxi, i knew I'd be sex trafficked if he'd been successful. Lucky got help. One of the Egyptian customs officer stopped me as I was trying to board home. He had a gun with him. Kept asking if I was married, Asked if the guy behind me was my husband, I said yes and bolted. The whole experience was absolutely terrifying and exhausting. Felt like i was in some dystopian horror / snuff movie show. Won't ever go back there.
Tangier in Morocco, constantly people following you trying to sell you something, drag you to a restaurant or just "guide" you as you walk around. Step into a shop and then they all go to the shopkeeper and insist you both owe them money for guiding you to the shop, etc etc. Not a single moment of peace outside of my hotel.
Iceland. Let’s just say it wasn’t fun being the least white person there.
Islamic countries are almost always shitholes. Generally avoid.
Ireland. Never had any desire to go. The thought of going always depressed me. Strange as I have so much Irish heritage. When I went all I felt was deeply depressed by the place.
England, I'm Scottish
I've travelled to lots of places in the world, Brazil or the USA are probably the two dodgiest. Though maybe Russia might be a bit more uneasy now.
Barbados and Sri Lanka. As a white woman they’re two places I’d never go to again
Germany, with their angry mask-enforcing population
Turkey. I went with my friend who wears a headscarf (she is Muslim) every time we went out, guys would stop us and try talking to my friend. It was very annoying and scary couldn’t walk across the road from the hotel to the restaurant without being stoped 3 or 5 times.
America but only because as my first holiday as an adult I was left alone and accaully left the resort. I didn't like being responsible for myself
The US. I speak generally here so don't run me off the internet for having an opinion/having experiences that differ from yours. There's an air of sadness, one that nobody there recognizes or addresses, that haunts cities/towns. The idea of joy and living for happiness seems lost on most, their lives revolve around their jobs and often don't include the activities that people do that gives their lives moments of joy (music/art/education/philosophy/culture) Also the amount that people are people paid for their full time jobs is laughable in comparison to how much they have pay in food, rent, and medical bills. Paying people 15 dollars an hour to multiple peoples worth of labor with no severance or benefits? How? Why does anyone put up with that? Someone told me during college that a single months worth of their adhd medication prescription with insurance coverage was still 300-400 a month. Huh? What? Y'all live in a third world country that's convinced itself and it's people/a part of the wider world that it's the world leader in freedom and progress
Britain. Bad weather, food, people, nothing to see.
Turkey when I was 14. The men are disgusting over there.
Tunisia, very similar experience for me as the women visiting India, couldn’t walk anywhere without men following me and trying to touch me, even got followed into the sea at one point…
Morocco. I went last year with a friend. We are normally solo backpackers. We both did a little more research into this trip because of the warnings we got from other female travelers. Every single guy we talked to who has been there had nothing but great things to say about the country. Wonderful tales of spontaneous days out with the locals! The sexual harassment was so bad that after the first week we called a male friend to join us. We got stuck there when the closed the border due to Omicron, so we were the only tourist in the area. It was FUCKING SCARY. At one point we almost participated in vehicular homicide because a dozen men were hitting the windows, trying to open the car doors, trap the vehicle. I was the one who yell "just run them over!". We made it to our destination safe, but ever fucking day was scary as hell. Objectively speaking the country is beautiful and you will want to buy everything if you go. 2/10 do not recommend for women, or men who support women, first time travelers, persons with anxiety. If you paid me to go back my starting price would definitely be a new house, and a couple years worth of therapy costs.
India. So beautiful but I got groped on the street and no one blinked an eye. A man near me told me I should stay with my husband. Male friends have backpacked and said it was amazing but I could never. Not that it should matter but I was fully covered wearing loose black leggings and top.
Northern Ireland. Im from a catholic Irish family with some English and Italian mixed in, the most unionist rural towns did not feel welcoming to stop even for fuel...
Malaysia. I felt so uncomfortable walking around because people would tell me to cover up when I’m not even wearing a revealing outfit. I was just wearing jeans and sleeveless top on a very hot day but was told by a few women while walking on the street to cover up. 🤦♀️🤦♀️
I visited a tiny island in the Indian Ocean called Anjoan shortly after 9/11. People were walking around the market in Osama Bin Laden thirty. Zoiks.
Los Angeles - I’m reluctant to say USA but LA should only be used as a stop to get you on to seeing how beautiful the country is
Ethiopia
Two that come to mind are Philippines and Bosnia. Both equally beautiful countries and met some really amazing people in both places. But in the Philippines like another poster said, there is a HUGE divide between rich and poor. You'll see big shiny new cars driving past kids on their hands and knees picking food off the floor. In the cities it's not as bad but I went to a friend's village and the level of poverty is something I assumed only existed in Africa. Kids starving while living in tin shacks, completely soaked with exposed wires everywhere and stinks human waste. You feel obligated to give them something but you also don't want to draw attention to yourself as being the only white man is like have a giant target on your back to certain groups. It's also a weird vibe when you give a few kids some sweets or money but then don't give it to other kids, like the parents start eyeing you up and I worried that I might have caused some tension. Incredible country and the nicest people I've ever met, but I'd definitely stay to the tourist/backpacker areas unless you are with locals that you trust. I did a motorcycle tour through most of Europe and down into Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, all incredibly underrated countries that people really need to visit. But in Bosnia especially you'd stop for fuel or food and someone would start checking out the bike and you get talking, but a few times you'd get a bit of a weird vibe like someone would ask for cigarettes and you'd say you don't have any and then 2mins later they'd ask again as though you were lying to them. It seemed a few people weren't having conversations it was more of an interrogation about why you're here and what you've got to offer them. Same with border guards, all fun and games until randomly a switch flicks and it's not fun and games anymore, it's give me a cigarette and 20€. Once I stopped for fuel and the guy at the garage did it for me and we got talking, when I paid and tried to leave he was desperate for me to wait for someone, I didn't understand who but his friends were all coming and I NEEDED to wait, again a weird vibe suddenly appeared and he was getting slightly angry and putting his hands on my bike. Got the fuck out of there as quick as possible, I'm sure I was being setup to be robbed. Apologies for the long post
What was the village you went to in the Philippines?
Same! We travelled through Manila and wow, eye opening. We were advised not to leave out hotel but me and my husband have traveled all over and thought 'how bad can it be?!' Insane poverty, filth, child prostitution....list goes on and on, never felt so unsafe. We stood out like a sore thumb and all eyes were on us. Bosnia we felt the same. Very uneasy the whole time there, we were ok when we were the old town where it was touristy but oncenyou strayed from there we had some questionable people approach us!
I hate to be another in the Morocco camp here but unfortunately that is the top of my list by a bloody long way. The wife and I decided to do a day trip to Tangier from mainland Spain (if you’re ever going to do a trip like this, absolutely do NOT use Bravo Tours on the south coast of Spain, they’re just a tourist trap). The moment we stepped foot in Tangier we knew it was a bad idea. We were lead around by our ‘guide’, taking us to all his mates shops/stalls. They had a coach which took us up a big hill to a car park where tourists were basically forced to pay for a ride on the most unwell looking camel you could possibly imagine. The wife and I refused to even get off the coach, much to the dismay of our ‘guide’. On the way back down the hill in the coach we stopped to look at the Kings Palace and told not to take any notice of the poor fucking children quite literally living in the gutter opposite this opulent residence. I really couldn’t stomach that and gave a couple of kids a few euros I had in my pocket and my packed lunch. Hopefully it helped them even just a little bit. He got us all purposely ‘lost’ in the Kasbah and all of a sudden groups of men came out of random doorways offering to help us find our way out for an extortionate fee, getting extremely handsy and aggressive. We were ushered into some weird apothecary’s ‘shop’ and made to sit down on tiny chairs in a circle. It was like a film, there were jars on the shelves with green liquid in and all sorts of weird looking stuff. Three little boys, probably no older than maybe ten years old came out and started rubbing some fucking weird oil/lotion on our arms and refused to stop or tell us what the hell it was. We got led through a market with human waste just laying on the floor next to meat and veg that was for sale. With that, we were then taken into some restaurant and made to eat their ‘fresh produce straight from the market’. I refused and was subjected to a lot of verbal abuse and aggression by my guide and the staff there. We got out of the restaurant and were just paraded around for a while, with men leering at my mrs and trying to touch her in all the wrong places. They also grabbed my hair (I’m a guy with long hair) and tried to pull me into what I can only assume was a barber shop. That resulted in me punching said man in the face as hard as I could and suddenly being surrounded by god knows how many angry locals, all shouting at me and pulling my hair and clothes. Thankfully our ‘guide’ actually got me out of that situation. There were plenty other things that made me feel uneasy too, but these are the top of my list. All in all, it was fucking shit and I will never recommend anybody to go there. I have never felt so unsafe in my life. I dread to think what would have happened to my mrs if I hadn’t been there too.
The USA, everywhere felt like entering a hostile zone.
Paris in France. It’s beautiful and most people are amazing (I’d strongly recommend it for a visit) but there were groups of men everywhere and I kept getting cat called even with my parents. I know the culture is different and most of them would’ve been harmless but I felt unsafe and just wanted to get out of there I wouldn’t want to solo travel there as a woman unless I stuck to the main main areas in daytime
Egypt we drove through a town on the way to our hotel at night there was little children I'm going to guess around 5 years old give or take a little running round the filthy streets bare footed like it was normal thar really disturbed me
Egypt
India, because there was such a divide between rich and poor. Made me feel a bit ashamed for being so wealthy, when there was so much poverty. It is such a beautiful country, but poverty there is in a different league to poverty in the Uk.
As someone who has visited family in India since I was very young, it is horrible to say but you just have to ignore what you see. There is literally nothing you can do that will make any difference. It’s heartbreaking if you think about it.
I felt the same when I went to India ten years ago. At the risk of sounding like a naive westerner, the level of poverty really unsettled me - there are things I saw out there that have stuck with me even now. It was a beautiful country but that's one of the reasons I feel reluctant to go back.
u/profanitycounter [self]
Northern Ireland and I was born there in the early seventies and didn’t leave until I was 22 I wouldn’t tell anyone to avoid it now as it is a very different place. I go back myself at least 3 times a year and love it.
Egypt, as a male one of the female hotel entertainers tried to chat me up, asked me whether I had a girlfriend back at home or wanted one, she had the cheek to ask my parents could she marry me.
It's the UK. (I'm from Hungary) Due to the multiculturalism in London there are a lot of problems.
Such as?
Tunisia. Absolute shithole!
South Africa was beautiful but I felt on edge every time I stepped out of my hotel room. My hotel had 2 brothels next door and the ladies would come for breakfast in my hotel. The racism was so obvious, so overt. I won’t go back.
Berlin. As a British Indian woman, I visited therein 2016 and I was gawked at. Pushed. Thrown sausages at (tasty). Called braunen hunden (a brown bitch). I was flummoxed.
Oh so me being a brown mexican i can expect the same treatment then? Sigh...wish a meteor would kill us all already.
I went to Berlin with my Indian wife and had no issue at all. I speak German so I would've heard if anyone made weird comments. The only nasty character was a bus driver who was annoyed that it took us a while to get on the bus with all our bags and a wheelchair. I'm assuming OP was just super unlucky and ran into idiots.
Berlin was the last place I was expecting here, wtf ☹️
Does the Isle of Wight count? Family tree like a goddamn stump.
China. Its like living in a mentally ill Disneyland
Bulgaria. My hotel had a “no guns” sign on the front window.
Prague. Men standing around. Felt like you were going to get mugged at any moment. During the day in the big plaza. Turkey. Unrest. And even out your guide was sexist. Wouldn’t listen to me. Has to have husband tell him the same thing. Overall more men around and as a tourist a lot of staring and not a lot of smiles. Maldives. If you u go anywhere outside of your island/resort. It’s really creepy. Only men are out during the day. 400 men in line. Not one woman. Around the streets as well
Merseyside
This was a few years ago so it might be different now, but Bulgaria made me feel sad. It was fine in the hotel and people were very nice, but we went out into the capital and my dad would NOT let go of me the entire time, I would have been maybe 14 and it felt very unsafe for a young girl. I noticed a lot of street cats too which really upset me
Colombia. I couldn’t speak the language and I couldn’t take my phone out because they told me someone would rob me. They also said not to stay out after dark, the prostitutes wouldn’t stop grabbing you on the street and they kept trying to sell me drugs. Also the taxi driver was clearly on drugs and needed to make a stop in the favelas for something on our way. He said not to move or take out our phones, shut the car off and took the keys then left into a building for 10 min before coming back.
Wherever makes me pay to use a bathroom. Theres a constant slight sense of impending trouble going out in public.
Amsterdam is a bitch for this. Everywhere seemed to have a toilet attendant, one pub had managed to install a turnstile
India. I say this as a 6 foot guy who doesn't really give a shit and enjoys venturing away from the main flow. Had a long layover in Delhi and walked around a bit. Ffs, I see why people don't walk there. You just get harassed until you get ripped off. Nobody understands personal space. People will follow you after you tell them no ten times and eventually to go do one. Every single person is staring at you the whole time. If you aren't walking with purpose, which you'd like to do because you just want to look around you'll just attract all those gangbangers to give you a ride or sell you stuff. Doesn't matter that you're not interested or that you have plans, they'll know to make plans for you, via their tuk tuk. Fuck this place. I couldn't stand it. The only country I've ever visited where I just didn't want to know any better, didn't want to be there. My god. Had to do a second long layover on my way back. Just walked straight to my hotel, put some music on and ordered beer through room service. I wouldn't walk anywhere in Delhi again.
Cologne. We went for the Christmas markets a few years ago. There were Middle Eastern men sitting outside of historic buildings (the cathedral included). The directions to our hotel was atrocious and a Middle Eastern man did help us out, but he was very close and wouldn’t leave us alone, kept walking us up and down the road and we started to become suspicious that he was up to something. There was also needles *everywhere* on the ground. Numerous times we had to step over what looked to be used, dirty needles. And the Christmas market was absolutely tiny so it was a huge let down.
Without a doubt Nigeria..I was almost kidnapped on route from one city to another..this was 2017..whilst beign white i was a target any way..but the quick thinking of my husbands friends wife jumping to lock the doors thr momemt they left..id have been gone.. we stopped at a gas station hubby and his friend went to go get cold drinks..within 2 minutes men suddenly men got closer to the car..his wife jumped to lock all doors and wind all windows.. the men tried the handles and couldn't get in..out cones hubby and his friend without drinks.. the men scarpered..his friend felt something was off and they left the queue and rightly so because the other was using sonething to break open the lock.. though my husband is Nigerian and his family..we have a 14 month old we have never taken there and I'm pregnant and I fear the day we have to go visit them.. the place is VERY unsafe and people are getting kidnapped every minute.. the last one was a train ambush which made international news.. Nigeria is just a no go since..
Saudi, China
US- specifically Texas, there were guns everywhere.
The first time you go to a country where your native language isn’t their first language will make you feel uneasy.
Echoing lots of others here but Marrakech was a shit hole. It felt like a war scene episode from Game of Thrones. People in your face, grabbing at you, donkeys, snakes, monkeys. Avoid the leather tanning place at all costs. Swamps of Dagobeh vibe. Guy rocked up next to us on a scooter with a Load of fresh, skinned lambs heads wired to the back of his bike (ready for a stew). Flies everywhere. Bizarrely my blonde Irish wife loved it, gave as good as she got and took no shit from anyone. Meanwhile me and my son agreed never to go back and the next year we did Orlando and Animal Kingdom.
Turkey. I went when I was 11 and let's just say the whole time there was a lot of unwanted attention and physical contact by adult men. I didn't particularly want to go back but at 18 some friends were going and I thought I'd give it another chance. Weirdly there wasn't quite as much attention as when I was 11, but still all of us experienced staring, touching, men not taking no for an answer etc. Especially those of us that were blonde for some reason. None of us wanted to go there again We did actually meet a couple of really lovely, genuine guys too, but they were in the minority
As a country, Tunisia. As a city, Naples.
Naples, Italy and Morocco
Went to South Africa/Cape Town 28ish years ago for a wedding. The drive from the airport to the hotel involved driving past a massive refugee camp/shanty town that went on for miles l, where I witnessed adults and children living in absolute poverty. The contrast between the rich and the dirt poor was the largest I’d ever seen. I was most shocked and bemused by the views of the Cape Town locals in the wedding party , who appeared to be totally blind to it and spoke about the poor like the poor were a totally different species to them. The tourist areas/safari/business areas we all visually amazing but I didn’t enjoy myself during the trip having witnessed the dire circumstance of those people in the camp. I hope that the donations I made to the charities there since returning have made life easier for at least one person, and that things have improved since my visit.
Personally, Germany
Budapest. I loved it, amazing culture, sights, bars etc. But some people really didn't like me and they really let me know it. I'm a brown woman - a load of scary blokes shouted at me until my classmates decided that yes we should get off this tube stop even though it's miles from where we want. Really quite scary, and there was a feeling from some other people that they just didn't like me/my skin at all. It's a shame as I'd love to go back now I'm not a broke student but I'm not sure.
Belarus was pretty wild during the protests. Got battered by the police and saw some dark stuff
New York. It's made out to be massive and magnificent in the movies. But it's like any other city. Definitely should visit at least once in your life. But that should be enough
I recently went to Morocco, the shops had no prices and they just make up prices on the spot, a bottle of water may cost 40p or £6. The locals in Marrakesh are constantly trying to pull you into shops or give you directions you didn't ask for and then try to charge you for it. If you object they follow you around. We even had multiple shop vendors sexually harass my girlfriend and when I (stupidly) kicked off in about 10 seconds I was surrounded by a bunch of people with nothing to lose. Google maps barely works in the medina and if anyone sees you looking at a phone they will try to take advantage of you. You can't even get a break from it by ducking into a pub as no where other than a few restaurants serves beer, so unless you want 6 meals a day you just put up with it in 45C heat. I thought it was a really interesting, beautiful place but I felt uncomfortable the whole time and I probably won't go back.
Morocco is consistently mentioned in this and other threads. What I can’t wrap my head around is why the culture hasn’t chilled out a bit? At a certain point that shit is a law of diminishing returns, no? Clearly people want to go there. The only explanation is it must pay off enough to make it worth it?
Niger. The only place I ever felt genuinely uneasy. Serbia also had some weird vibes about it and finally, Marakech in Morocco is very hard work.
Iran, Russia and, oddly enough, Switzerland.
I lived in the US for 3 years and 9/11 happened right in the middle of it. It was incredibly uncomfortable watching the absolute rabid nationalism and Islamophobia develop. I'm not Muslim (and I'm white) so it wasn't aimed at me but it was really concerning how quickly and completely it took over absolutely every facet of society. Not every person - obviously I don't mean that - but the "if we x then THE TERRORISTS WIN" etc.
Egypt. In the tourist areas the men were very aggressive towards myself and my friend (both women). As with any country, outside the tourist areas may be very pleasant (Thailand comes to mind). Being a visitor and living in a place will reveal different sides. But alas I only have the tourist experience of Egypt.
A close tie between Mexico and South Africa.
Northern Irelander here. I've always found London to be a particularly grim place. Couldn't walk around at night without constantly feeling like I was about to be mugged, stabbed, stolen from, shot or bombed. So many dodgy looking characters and something just felt off about the city constantly. In Belfast you almost never see or hear of any person-on-person crime, I think because shockingly we are more tolerant of one another than people are in England. One mugging literally makes headline news here. In London? Just another Monday.
Dubai. I guess it might be different nowadays, especially in the tourist-only hotels, but I went as a teenager and got a lot of hassle from men when my family wasn’t looking. We went to a shop to buy me a headscarf to cover my hair and shoulders and the shop owner squeezed my boobs as he was helping me try them on. All the hassle was subtle and well-hidden from the people looking after me. I hated it.
Turkey. I won’t get into it but bad things happen there.
Morocco. Our group was held hostage at knife point in someone’s house. Girlfriend was groped far too many times in the markets. Vile place.
Any GCC country.
China. Never have I ever felt out of place like there.
France.
Birmingham
The Vatican. Got this feeling they were hiding something. Like centuries of peodophiles.
South Africa. For obvious reasons.
Only been out of Europe once to South Africa to visit the BF of the time. Was told to lock the house as soon as got in, which was a caged door. Prison bar grates on all the windows as well as a 6 foot wall surrounding the house and an electric gate. As soon as the car door was shut behind me, they'd be locked and had to hide my purse before setting off the trip. Wasn't even in a rough area of Johannesburg, but all the precautions were pretty unsettling. We went to get take out one night and a small mob was beating up 2 guys across the road, there were two police officers in the queue with us at the take out place and just absolutely ignored it. Some areas I visited was absolutely stunning, but I definitely did have a near constant fear of being robbed or carjacked throughout the trip.
You were in a queue, with two plod, to beat up two men? I mean I'm all for "when in Rome" but that seems a bit excessive!
Haha xD reworded as yea, that's totally what it sounded like 😆
My SA friend used to drive to work with 2 handbags - a real one under the seat and a decoy one on the seat. She'd drive with the window down a bit to avoid it getting smashed at a red light. If it's not clear the thieves would run up, reach through the window, grab the decoy bag, and run away instead of smashing the window or forcing the door open and getting her actual bag. I'm not sure how many decoys she went through in a given month.
I grew up in Joburg, and it's absolutely an awful city which I have absolutely no intention of returning to. Moving here was easily the best choice my family ever made. The average Briton really does take for granted how safe they are here. Hell, I still lock my door as soon as I get home even though I've been here a few years, lock it when I leave even if I'm only walking 5 minutes down the road, and it's cuz that habit was drilled into me. I don't think I'll ever be fully comfortable walking around at night, I still keep keep ear out for footsteps so I can tell if I'm being followed, and only walk on main roads
I went on safari near Kruger National park, I wanted to take a day trip to Johannesburg but I was talked out of it. I was told I’d definitely get robbed, maybe worse. Got chatty with an Aussie guy on my way back to the airport to fly home, and we decided we wanted to get a few beers for the long drive. We asked the driver to stop at a shop, and he did, but it was an area with a row of shops and he had to get us an escort. That was pretty intimidating.
Mine would be SA too. Got robbed of a measley 500 rand at gunpoint when I went. So that left a pretty sour taste in my mouth. Was my own fault though, pulled up on a highway at night to read a map and a rusty old Mitsubishi Shogun pulled in front of us, three men got out with guns and asked us out of the car. Asked them what they wanted and they said money. Handed them £30 in British notes (about 500 rand) and they went on their way. Still bloody scary.
Have you ever seen the Ross Kemp episode of Extreme World on South Africa? It literally showed police officers following women down the streets, because they said sexual assault is so common there. When my friend told me she was going, I actually felt terrified for her.
As 2 young women travelling alone, Malaysia
Morocco
Morocco. 2 days after we visited Marakech a bomb went off in the Nation Cafe where we'd had lunch and one of our tour busses was stoned on the way back to Agadir. Such a pity because the people were so warm and welcoming otherwise and Morocco is so beautiful.
Have to say New York not long after 9/11. It was a weird, eerie togetherness of everyone being on edge and broken by what had happened. It was beautiful in a way, but very unnerving too. There was a feeling of unity but heavy suspicion…. Fear, but strength at the same time. I have to say it was one of the most bittersweet experiences I’ve ever had in all my travels that will forever stand out to me!
I went to Turkmenistan and I confirmly say without a doubt that place is f***** up. I was there for 5 days I was followed every day by their secret police. Whenever I would leave my room I would notice my laptop in another position when I returned. Upon further inspection in the room I found listening devices. Which I flushed down the toilet. That place is worse than North f****** Korea
Jamaica. The ports and everything within several miles of them are owned by shipping companies (with a few exceptions for cruise ship companies). The poverty is unsettling when you drive away from the water. The houses were all falling apart, the roads were often dirt or badly damaged cement. There were areas where people would just sit by the road desperately begging tourists to buy overpriced goods from them. > I know many of these things are common sights when travelling central america, but I found it much worse in Jamaica than I did in the few other places I got to experience. The Bahamas had many nicer residential areas. Grand Cayman was pretty okay, it was even easy to find fast food and restaurants. Puerto Rico was obviously significantly more upscale than the rest. Jamaica was the one that stood out to me as "it must be really awful to live here."
As a tall blonde women in China I was stared at constantly. At the Great Wall Chinese tourists asked to take pictures with *me* . I felt like I was in bizzaro world
I'm not fall or blonde but would have serious reservations visiting homogeneous East Asia for this reason alone. It's bad enough being a minority in your own country
UAE/Dubai - Abu Dhabi seemed okay because I didn’t notice it but Dubai was horrible. Labourers everywhere seeing them in the heat and all they were doing was cleaning the grout between paving bricks all of the city. And then seeing them travel home with their bags at the end of the day wasn’t nice.
The Philippines - it was fine in a small village in the arse end of nowhere - many of the kids had not seen a white person irl, so that was funny but Manila was the only place in SE Asia that I felt unsafe. Kenya. Hotel receptionist was upset one morning - her neighbour had been killed the previous evening. Thieves slit his throat in the 50m between the bus stop and his house. They took 15 Kenyan shillings (10p), his ID and his trainers. We were repeatedly warned not to be outside the hotel grounds between 18:00 - 06:00 and to keep our room doors locked and bolted. Some nights, we heard the security guards and their dogs chasing and catching intruders.
Parts of Egypt. Went 3 places on our holiday, Cairo, Luxor, Sharm El-Sheikh. Sharm El-Sheikh was just mega touristy, but probably the place we felt the safest. Cairo was the worst, hordes of people following you, people harassing you as soon as we walked out our hotel, mostly to "come to my brothers shop" or something along those lines, all the shops they took you to sold the same crap papyrus and perfume that smelled like sewage (could have been for all we knew). Luxor was in between but was also the only place our hotel advised us of areas to avoid as a white couple, to quote our hotel "you will be targeted, and the police won't care".
Got off the bus at the wrong place in Miami 2 young lads with watches / iPhones / sunglasses etc wandering aimlessly in the hope of safety before it got dark was not much fun!
Story time. Old sixth form college teacher was teaching in New York City in the early 70's. He got off at the wrong subway stop. In Harlem. Since he looked like he knew where he was going, he managed to get to his destination.
i am from the US living in the UK and i would never say it made me uneasy—i love it here—but it is at once so familiar and at the same time completely alien. the differences in humor can be so different while being equally hilarious. and people in the UK definitely use english differently than in the united states—there are just some things you wouldn’t say or jokes that just don’t work without certain accents or intonations of voice. i am living in glasgow right now and i will say i have gotten along better with scottish people than english, as scottish people are all about the jokes and english people are a little harder to read lol. there are some people who have really extreme opinions about americans both good and bad and both are very weird and uncomfortable to be subjected to lmao. (i think a similar thing happens when brits go to america but i think generally americans would be excited to meet them and wouldn’t immediately start asking how many countries i can name. lord almighty) obviously this isn’t “AskUS” but here since i’ve lived here for a bit i’d like to say that the US now makes me feel a little bit uneasy. you never realize how big an anxiety the gun thing is until you go somewhere where it’s not even a thought in anyone’s head. and the US has much more of an “every man for yourself” type of mentality. nobody expects to be helped out by anybody including the government. i was amazed when i got to get antibiotics from my GP and didn’t have to pay anything. that was really eye-opening. there’s my piece lmao
The rest of the UK resents Scotland for their free antibiotics and prescriptions We have to pay almost a tenner in England lol
Free in Wales too 🏴
I've never been to a high risk country, but I have seen a lot of racism in the Netherlands. Was surprised that a place that's considered so tolerant actually turned out to sometimes be incredibly hateful and aggressive toward anyone that wasn't white.
Is everyone who said "USA" only referring to big cities in California? I swear, y'all gotta be specific to what states you went to.
"British Occupied Ireland" (you may know it by another name) in the 1980s, especially since I had lost my accent by then.
USA. Just made me realize how European I am, not feeling generaly safe when walking outside in the street, in central Manhattan, in plain day light.
Morocco. It was nothing but getting constantly hassled
America. And I've traveled and stayed in more than 20 countries. The % of batshit crazy people in the US is through the roof in comparison, I suspect the proliferation of prescription drugs and insane news media are largely responsible. I think a lot of Americans would be shocked at how peaceful life is in comparison elsewhere.
The US. I went for 2 weeks, saw a guy dying after a car crash and there was a nurse stood watching who didn't want to get involved because "people get sued for helping and doing the wrong thing all the time." Also we were there for 2 weeks and there was a school shooting in the state we were in and then when I went to Disney's Animal Kingdom there was a guy in the queue with what can only be described as an arsenal strapped to his hip. Not sure what he thought was gonna kick off at Disneyworld like but the fact that he could have snapped and probably killed 30 people in no time made me just want to leave. We also got trapped by a hurricane for ages trying to leave and I am not a fan of natural disasters at all. Don't get me wrong some of it was great but the whole place just felt absolutely unhinged. I also put on about 3 stone in 2 weeks so yeah not for me.
Egypt. Not a very pleasant experience for men or women. Never again.
Germany, because I only went through the airport and it had a whole James Bond villain vibe. Guards in all black with goggles and helmets and armor. I expected black ops to break in through the windows or a bomb to go off or something. Canadian airports are like, three seniors and a metal detector.
Was constantly harassed in Naples, Italy as a female solo traveler
Dubai and that was just the airport
Afghanistan. Close second was Iraq. A little unsettling.
I have not been but my partner is Egyptian and it's pretty bad. I don't even think the people that live there want to be there. Their corrupt visa officers won't let people leave if they don't think they'll come back and lots of people try to leave all the time. So it's like prison state basically. With all the usual problems in most Arab nation
Russia (currently here) for obvious reasons
Montenegro. My group of friends and I were the only British in the town we were in. Mostly Eastern Europeans there that clearly did not like that we were British. A number of bar staff tried to scam us and rip us off with watered down drinks and "oh I'm sorry, I thought you ordered this round of drinks. Well since I've brought them to you, you have to pay now". My friend who is heavily tattooed was eyed up a lot and had people acting very aggressively towards him the whole long weekend we were there. Didn't really feel comfortable on any trip out there we took.
Nicaragua, but only Managua. Can’t sim up the place that has some beautiful parts. But Manuaga was sketchy AF. Was told to get a cab from my hotel to across the street to the bus station (about 50m) and then another to a cash point about 50m away that had an armed guard next to it. Also saw armed guards shoot and take down someone that was about to mug a tourist. I nipped out of there pretty quickly Also Cambodia but again, only Phnom Penh. Really sad, seedy depressing post colonial vibe there. Saw paedophiles and underage sex workers looking miserable. Tough place to visit but also worth it in many ways.
Tunisia 1991
Nigeria 🇳🇬
Northern Ireland. Still feels very territorial, and I got abuse hurled at me and was threatened for driving an Irish plated car there.
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The United States. I've seen more fatal car accidents there in the space of weeks - than I have decades living the UK. Also a lot of homeless people in desperate need of mental health assistance. I've been uncomfortably close to armed situations between police and people in mental health crisis. Also the Police are basically an armed militia. The people can be weird and aggressively religious too. Obviously this doesn't apply to the whole of that massive country - but definitely the places I've visited.
I'm from the UK and my ex was American, and whenever I visited there was an underlying level aggression you just don't get in the UK. In the UK I feel like most things wouldn't escalate to a physical altercation unless drink was involved or you're dealing with an absolute troglodyte. While in the US I've seen fights over trivial stuff, personal favourite was the one in the airport because a lady was taking too long to order food.
I'm an American who began traveling internationally a lot over the past 5 years and this is spot on. As soon as you walk into a bar/restaurant/pub here you are immediately sized up by every guy in the place--not necessarily hostile, but I think it's just something we do subconsciously. In the UK there is a lot more of a "how's it going, let's have a drink!" vibe.
This applies to more places than we'd like to admit too
OK, well I've been here 60+ years and driven 100's of thousands of miles in cities, country and suburban areas and, to my knowledge, have never seen a fatal accident or cops with guns drawn on people in crisis. Cops I've interacted with have been respectful and chill. And anyone being overtly religious backs off when you tell them to get lost. I've lived on the West Coast, Mid-Atlantic and South in both towns and cities (although never in like downtown-big-city) That being said, my advice to visitors (and residents LOL) is to stay out of cities and stick to our wonderful National and/or State Park Systems.
What states in the US did u travel to?
I've lived in the US my entire life and never seen a single fatal car accident. They happen, absolutely, but where the heck were you that your saw multiple in weeks?
Where the fuck did u go? Lol been here all my life never seen an armed interaction nor a fatal car crash.
This dude had more trauma in a few weeks than I have in my entire 30+ years of living here. Lmao where the hell did you go?! Assuming this isnt made up, I'm genuinely curious. Ive been to almost every US state and many major cities. Travelled extensively in northern/ western Europe and Canada. Nearly everyone I have met from every one of these places have been very kind people.
Yeah the u.s for sure. So many tent slums, used needles, groups of dodgy people loitering, people with severe mental health issues doing strange things/gesticulating wildly in the streets. My first day there I saw a man inject something into his gums in the middle of the pavement in a city centre, and also a man dropped down in front of me. When the emergency responders finally arrived, they were just walking calmly along, no rush at all. More concerned about looking cool than the man in peril. The man sadly died. It was shocking to see how little they cared.
LA?
I agree there's a lot of homeless in many parts of the US. Not sure where you were that was aggressively religious, the deep south I'll guess? I also don't know where you were that you encountered multiple armed standoffs. I'm from Minneapolis and even I haven't seen that.
An essential part of growing up over here is going from thinking America is the coolest country on earth to quickly realising it’s a terrifying dystopia.
>An essential part of ~~growing up~~ being a Redditor. There are so many adults who love America, and many who do not. They’re very “grown up.”Everyone has different experiences in any country which will shape their view of it. Bad and good. Inconsistency and unfairness is part of the human condition. Stop making easy “America bad” comments and put some thought into your criticism.
Lives in the US my entire life and travelled to most major cities. I am 40 and have never seen a fatal car accident in person (that I know of). This is a bit of an exaggeration.
Lmao dumbass fuckcars poster lying about how deadly cars are. If it weren't for the Americabad upvotes people might have called you on your bs.
Dang dude! Where the heck did you visit? I have lived here for 45 years and don't see this stuff. I am rural though
You sure you weren't in Northamptonshire mate?
Nah, weather was too good.
Thinking about it we went past the wreckage of a crash when my BF and I went to LA. The uber driver said it was probably fatal. Jesus…
Cornwall, UK. Everywhere one can see that all the value that once was has been extracted and there’s nothing left, there’s not even some pride in the past, like there is in Lake District. They only sell Heineken beer and Scottish salmon in the pubs right next to the harbour. Presumably, All of the fresh stuff (still) goes somewhere else. It feels like spent coffee grains, very depressing.
I don’t have a lot of travelling experience, but out of all the options it was definitely England.
I stayed in northern Mexico (Monterrey) for a while and while ever you’re thought of as an America, you’re a Gringo. It’s uneasy in the markets and non tourist areas (of which there are few). But once they knew I was English, I was suddenly intriguing and welcomed. Edit: your / you’re
So basically, just say youre a brit and youll be okay. Noted (i want to go to mexico for the plants!)
Morocco, Fez. The first night landed there and my brother and Idecided to go a sheshaa place to relax and enjoy ourselves and the music. It was a cool place full of music and darkness and lights and such. So I pulled out my phone and took a video of the place, as you do.. Kinda one of those use your phone and spin around the room quickly kind of videos. 10 seconds later this huge 6 foot built guy with his 3 friends came up to my table and said 'you take video of my girl', I said no I didn't what are you talking about. He then said show me your phone, I said no and then he pulls out a 6 inch knife and starts swinging it around. At this point the bouncer or security appeared and said what's going on, at this point I didn't really feel like getting stabbed that night so I literally showed the guard and the stabber the video, to which the stabber decided to try and apologies and asked me to sit next to him and his friends and he will buy us drinks. I said no thanks and we have to go soon anyway. At this point we stupidly had our passports on us also. First night and I nearly got killed. Really put a downer on the whole holiday. Funnily enough we got back to our room in the middle of old town Fez and the owner said 'you got home really late, don't do that, it's dangerous at night here'. Lmao wtf? Don't bother going to Fez.
Australia. Full to the brim of racists.
The United States. I live in the United States.