My wife and I just came back from a trip to California, and we started with a few days in San Francisco. We stayed a few blocks from the Wharf. Last time I was there, maybe 10 years ago, it was beautiful, perfect weather, nice people. The more we walked around the more we fell in love with the city and the community. My last experience was awesome and 8 years ago we were *this* close to going on our honeymoon there. When my wife and I went a few weeks ago, we were....well, less than impressed. Human feces on the sidewalks. As many tourists as scam artists. Even though our hotel was just a few blocks from the Wharf, once it got dark, I found myself really wishing California had reciprocity with Texas for concealed carry so I could have had something on me just in case. It was nasty, it smelled like sewer, and I have no desire to go back. Focus: Cities where you had bad experiences that made you not want to visit again. What ruined it for you? Alt. Focus: Where do you want to go, despite hearing that you probably shouldn't?
Los Angeles. I went a bunch of times in my 20s for work, but after the first time I dreaded going back. Theres just so much shit everywhere. People, traffic and trash. For a sprawling city, it was cramped and dirty. Ill take New York any day. Alt Focus: Pyongyang.
New Orleans makes Vegas look like Disney World. If you don’t appreciate the smell of vomit in a swamp, skip Bourbon Street.
The boardwalk in Wildwood NJ. Definitely glad we walked it during daylight hours. Sure, there were a lot of hot ladies in revealing bikinis, but overall it was something I don't care to visit again. After walking the first 2/3 of it we realized we'd seen all there was to see after the first 1/3. Definitely glad we walked it during dayl
FOCUS: AUSTIN, TEXAS Fuck Austin. I'm just gonna get that out of the way right now. All of my life, it seems like all I'd ever hear was about how fucking amazing Austin is. Right after high school, a bunch of my friends went to school in Austin, or just moved up there. I'd hear back from them, telling me that it was a non-stop party, the people were awesome, the bars/ clubs were so cool, etc. They might as well have had the city of Austin's semen dribbling down their chins. I REALLY wanted to go, but I couldn't, because I had a wife and a new baby. Over the next several years, lots of people that I met/ worked with kept laying it on what a rad place Austin is. Finally, after getting divorced, I went up there (in 2007). And it sucked ass. Everything was too expensive, the people seemed douchey, there were cops EVERYWHERE (seriously, how is it supposed to be a fun party town with cops everywhere? And believe me, you don't want to cross an Austin cop. They will fuck with you.), and I was unimpressed in general. When I got back home, I confronted all of these Austinophiles to find out what the deal was. Here were their excuses: 1) "You went at the wrong time"; 2) "You went to the wrong places"; 3) "You didn't go with the right people"; and my favorite: 4) "Well, you're right; it used to be awesome, but it sucks now." Here's a little piece of advice: If you have to add a bunch of provisos in regards to how cool something is, IT'S NOT REALLY THAT FUCKING COOL, IS IT? I'm sure that Burning Man is pretty cool to go to (at least once), but for the rest of the year, it's just a patch of desert. The same can be said for Sturgis, South Dakota. When I challenged every one of those fuckers to go up there with me and take me to the right places at the right time with the right people, EVERY FUCKING ONE OF THEM BITCHED OUT. They came up with excuses like: 1) "I would, but I don't have any money" 2) "I would, but I can't get time off work" 3) "I would, but I have a spouse/ baby now" 4) "I would, but _____ place is closed now." Fuck Austin in it's fucking ass. I KNOW there are worse places in Texas, but they aren't built up like Austin is, and that's what pisses me off. Alt. Focus: Detroit I want to go over there and see just how bad it really is.
Focus: Atlanta. I went there the first time as a teenager with my friend to visit her family and it was kind of boring, but when I was invited to go there as an adult to visit my friend I decided to go again because I thought "Oh well I can't judge it off a trip centered around visiting family, plus we didn't even go into the city we were just staying out in the suburbs." Turns out nope, we had been in the city, it's just that the whole place feels like a giant suburb. The breweries were cool, but if you can't spend the day walking around a neighborhood and you keep having to get in your car from place to place it's not a fucking city. The restaurants we went to all felt like they were in a strip mall (and a couple of them actually were) and I hate how everyone lives in those creepy planned communities with names and all the identical houses are in a big loop. I've also never felt more unalike everyone else in the room everywhere we went. I still feel awful about the exchange I had with my friend when we were talking about what to do one day and I said "how about we go to that cool neighborhood you said I'd like?" and she looked at me blankly and said "...we went there yesterday." All that being said, I think I would maybe give it one more chance with another host. I still feel like there's some part of the city I'd like that I just hadn't seen yet. Alt-focus: This doesn't have anything to do with the cities themselves but based on my experiences in Atlanta and also everything about me I probably shouldn't go to any of those small cities in the South, but I'd still like to check out Nashville, Savannah, and Charleston. Maybe Lexington too for the bourbon and the horsies (if I'm keeping my cities straight).