@Raya Al Hajri... GREAT ADVICE! That's always why I try to revisit places again. Also, if you had a short visit as a tourist, but you only stayed in one Area, spend time in a different area altogether. It will feel like a completely different location because it kinda is.
That's why I've always gone solo. I'm planning part of my trip with my two best friends this time and I'm actually more nervous that when I went solo 😅
Los Angeles for sure. It is so hyped up for it's celebrity and luxury culture but when you get there, it's just a big city. And sights are pretty far apart. It also takes eternity to navigate from A to B by public transportation. You really have to know what you wanna see and where to find it. The only thing that I really liked was Venice Beach. It just has this unique vibe I loved.
It’s fun to hit up tourist spots like Santa Monica Pier, LACMA Urban Lights, Rodeo Drive, and the Observatory, but there’s so much more to LA than those places. If you go to some of the less hyped up places, such as Hermosa, Redondo and Long Beach(es), respectively, then you may have a different perspective. I agree that public transit takes forever there (never again haha). It is ideal to drive/Uber to get around LA but not fun being stuck in traffic for hours
L.A. was dirty... i liked the vibe of Santa Monica beach and streets as well as Hollywood boulevard. When it started to go dark at Venice beach and sunset boulevard the vibe changed and it felt quite creepy. Lots of homeless people too which was sad to see.
I dunno, from speaking to people LA gets kind of a bad rap, not entirely undeserved - yes it's a sprawling, often ugly city, but I found it fascinating to visit in many ways. I guess it's interesting if you're really into film and music history, but all the different neighbourhoods are cool. Also there are beautiful beaches, canyons, mountains etc to explore.
For anyone interested in visiting the Amazon, the Ecuadorian Amazon is lush in both the wet and dry season because the dry season is still pretty wet so it's a good option all year round!
I once volunteered abroad in the most remote town in France with a lady who wasn’t even French. It was my first time in France but I always dreamed of La Vie En Rose. I went straight to this rural town where she said she’d pick me up from. She never did. I eventually called her using someone’s phone and she had forgotten. I had no car no WiFi to reach her and it was past 4PM on a Sunday when all the shops close. After she finally picked me up, I hadn’t realized she wanted me to live the same way she does in the amount of paper, water, electricity, food, or time I spent doing anything. She would always criticize saying I am in her house and she can do what she wants. Which I respect, but she was so critical of each detail I did. Then she had me doing gardening work she said was easy but was military style and was super critical if I didn’t have it done perfect or finish on time. She was so scary in the most ungracious, blunt, and unfriendly way. Not a place for the faint of heart. I’m pretty sure that’s why she’s in such a rural part of France. I stayed way too long because I was committed to finishing what I had started. Boy was I glad to leave on that train! I
I went to Bali in January and I loved it! I did the swing over the rice fields in Ubud and it was so beautiful and fun! You can tell they are really making an effort to clean up their beaches now
I don't like to be too negative but I'd have to agree that the beaches in Kuta are still as bad as you described Nadine. Tons of people, litter everywhere and people trying to sell you things constantly. Just came from there 1 week ago.
Rachel Patey agreed. Just went there last week. Awesome when you first exit the train station.. then you realized. Mad amount of tourists and all restaurants are traps. See it once and never go back
I thought we had hit the jackpot: a cold and rainy November day. I thought it wouldn’t be too crazy because of that. Boy was I wrong! All the umbrellas probably also made it worse 😅. We ended up doing none of the famous sights and just escaped from the crowds into the alleys. Best advice I can give to enjoy the city: just get lost in it, take the first turn and go with it! It’s hard to get lost anyways, it’s not that big and you fall back quickly into a busy street. It really felt like we were seeing a different side of it and managed to get photos without people in them! The city is pretty all over anyway!
I went during the summer. So at around 10 am - 2 pm it was definitely packed... but it does die down (usually when the cruise ships depart). It felt like we had the whole place to ourselves during the afternoon :)
In Bali right now, the beaches are still very dirty. The salesmen are still as aggressive, and I am a tiny bit disappointed.. not quite the experience I thought it would be. I would recommend everyone to go north to actually see beautiful nature, but without being a touristy money machine...
Was just in Bali in November. 100% would skip out on Kuta and Ubud but Bali itself has a lot more. Volcano treks in Amed and playing with wild Dolphins in Lovina are some of my favorite things I’ve ever done! Also, Nusa Penida, Lembongan, Cenigan, and the Gili islands were truly paradise.
I just came back from Bali a week and a half ago and really nothing has changed, people go up to you asking you to buy things (I understand that’s how they make their money but I also understand how it isn’t ideal for tourists because by the first week I was over constantly stopping or saying no thank you etc.), the public beaches are not nice and there are a lot of western shops and stuff there especially in Denpasar where I stayed (or at least close to there) but we went on tours and they ended up showing us the hidden kind of gems of Bali like we went to Virgin beach (it’s called that because it’s basically untouched) and when I took a photo of it it really looked like a stick photo, they took us to cultural restaurants, they even took us to this tree top swing which was incredible. I agree with you that Bali wasn’t as it’s made out to be but when you get away from the cities and into the heart of Bali or just the hidden gems it really is amazing... I just wished that I went to more cultural places and restaurants and went to the temples but I’ll definitely be going to experience their culture and not just the western parts of Bali!
NYC was the biggest disappointment for me. I was excepting to see the greatest city of all time, a futuristic paradise. Instead i found a dirty chaos that seemed to have stopped trying to catch up with the rest of the western world.
My biggest let down was bran castle and buchurest in romania.Romania has much more to offer,if you ever go there i would suggest sigisoara,brasov,sibiu,cluj napoca,turda and tirgu mures which i fell in love with
These would have to be my two biggest let downs: 1. The sagrada familia in Barcelona was not impressive to me at all. There was construction happening and all the walls are basically white. Not a lot of art or stuff to look at. 2. Venice was also very disappointing. I found it to be extremely commercialized with too many stores.
I also don''t recommend going to tropical places during wet season because it can rain so hard that you'll have trouble getting anywhere. I live in Cambodia, and getting around is very hard during wet season, especially in the countryside where roads are impassable.
One of my biggest travel letdowns was Malta (February 2015), but for one specific reason. The city I come from in Germany (Cologne) has a renowned "Karneval" (Mardi Gras) "season", but mostly in the week leading up to Ash Wednesday. I usually try to escape during that time. Malta, however, has a similar hoopla going on, so it wasn't much of an escape. Plus, that particular year, the weather in all of the Mediterranean was unusually cold and rainy, so that wasn't too great, either (except one day in Mdina).
That is so cool about your grandparents...my grandfather was a secret spy for the NSA and he traveled all over the world selling cryptology machines and now Im determined to go to at least as many places :)
Hands up I've revised the same places and nearly the same 4 weeks worth of travel - London, Newcastle, Edinbury, the Scottish Highlands and Paris. Other mistakes: not taking into account mobility issues of my mum (you don't think of steps and distances if your healthy), traveling with my sister when we fought the first week and had different tastes, not looking at reviews, trusting my travel agent to know best (never after the 1st trip), underestimating driving times, getting totally lost & driving the same highway twice, spending too much time in the same city, doing something to tick off the box of ''must do'....but you live and learn and its part of the experience if you travel a lot.
It has to be Dubai for me, the only thing they have to offer is shopping and Burj khalifa.. and apparently just shopping and seeing world's tallest building isn't my thing. And if you do end up visiting Dubai, avoid the dhow cruise at all costs.
I went to Dubai twice and I loved it! It is only enjoyable for a couple of days of course. But the trick is to really get out of those malls and fancy buildings. Dubai has great markets, we loved exploring those. Also we went to a Muslim teaching centre where we had an iftar meal (it was ramadan) and learned more about the culture and religion. Also there were some great mosques! And I loved swimming in the sea... All in all, enough to enjoy yourself with if you know where to look :)
Damn, you should have done better planning, so many cool things to try if you're adventurous as well. Desert Safaris, longest zip line in the world, Dubai aquarium scuba diving with sharks,stingrays and thousands of other fish, zipping around the marina on electric scooters, sky diving, visiting the museum of illusions, the Dubai frame, visiting small markets and trying chocolate dates, wild wadi waterpark, miracle garden, vr park, global village. If you think it's all about shopping and the Burj you failed miserably to do proper research.
My biggest travel let down was when I took my first ever actual vacation. I planned to go alone but ended up inviting my friend. She was NOT the best person to travel with! And I was extremely disappointed with that decision. I feel like I was robbed of a special experience that I could never get because I invited someone. I am however excited to plan my next trip which I will take alone! Thank you for your videos!!!
Went to Angkor Wat for sunrise - mistake. We decided after watching 100's of people fighting to get the same sunrise shot to head into the temple. Ended up being the best decision because we had it all to ourselves. We then changed the plan completely and reorganised with our tuk tuk driver to take us to the quieter temples for the rest of the day. Honestly think if we hadn't done that we would have hated our experience there.
Just got back from Bali this week and loved it. However, I do agree with your points. We didn't spend too long in Kuta area, and headed into Ubud for majority of our stay, and that's where we enjoyed much more of our time.
Hi, i'm from Indonesia. Yess it's true that Bali is really crowded with tourist especially in the holiday seasons because people from the other cities in Indonesia also visits Bali. My tips is try to go in between feb-april and august-november, also try to look for hidden beach, there are manyy in Bali. You could also go to ubud or seminyak, where it's less crowded than Kuta. It's best to stay in villa especially in ubud because ubud is much calmer and kinda closer to the forest so there are a lot of villa that had an amaazzinggg view
Catharine Shirley I’m heading to Bali this October!! Could you have any specific spots that are stunning and secluded? Or any beautiful villas? Have you ever been to Thailand?
I went to the Ecuadorian Amazon in March and it was incredible. The Amazon is super varied so it’s best to do lots of research so you can find a good place to go. It’s one of the best memories of my life. I was very underwhelmed with Machu Picchu. The site itself it pretty cool because of the feat in building and the history. I’d done the Inca Trail Trek (also well worth doing if you can) but when we got there it was teeming with tacky busloads of tourists poking the llamas and people being disrespectful, some tacky gift shops and very expensive food court and it was just a bit ‘urgh’. Such a shame after trekking and camping for 4 days and nights to get there. I still tell everyone doing the actual Inca Trail was 100 times better than the destination.
My biggest travel let down was definitely Venice. It is a bucket list destination but it was 98% anticipation - 2% satisfaction. Yes it is beautiful but only from the water or walking on bridges over the water. The rest of it is mostly small alleys, unimpressive small piazzas and architecture. I do have to say it was my last stop in Italy so maybe my view was jaded by then. But to me, so many other places in Italy I would love to return to instead of Venice.
I loved Bali. I stayed in Kuta Ubud and Lovina. The most annoying thing about Kura was that they were ALWAYS trying to sell things to you even if you tell 1 person no 5 more come up to you. Staying in Ubud is way better. They have more locals selling things rather than big brands. You can rent a scooter and travel the country side and find a few waterfalls. I def recommend Bali. But I wouldn't stay more than a day or 2 in kuta.
I was in Bali last year around this time-I loved it. That being said, I think it's all about managing expectations. I was picturing a yoga-obsessed somewhat westernized place, so I embraced the smoothie bowls. It's hard when an explorer describes an untouched place to you, because in its current state it's impossible to measure up. For me, my biggest letdown was Halong Bay. Not because it wasn't beautiful, but because of the how the tourism was ruining that beauty with trash being dumped from boats etc. Also, the amount of tourists being toted places put me off.
Just wanted to say you are AWESOME and thank you for sharing. Now the biggest let downs....Hmmmm. For me the biggest letdowns tend to be all faults of my own. Like skimping on a Hotel reservation based on price and not location, or planning a trip during the HIGH season. Things I rarely do now, but I've done in the past. My advice is to try your best not to set your expectations high when traveling. Setting the bar too high almost always sets you up for disappointment. Setting the bar Low, on the other hand almost always sets up for being pleasantly surprised!
This is honestly one of the most helpful videos thank you so much I'm yet to start my travels again but wanted to go back to somewhere I've been before to show my family and but now I'm thinking of doing something new xoxo
Hobbiton was such a disappointment. Not the place but the people. The tour I was with was filled with Chinese tourists who 1) didn't know at all what lord of the rings was/saw it on a tourism magazine 2) did not speak English and talked over the tour guide 3) took too long to take photos reducing our time at the tavern
I also went to Bali with very high hopes. If anyone is going now I would say just totally skip Kuta! And I just felt like the whole time I was exhausted trying to either avoid salesmen in your face (sometimes they get a little too aggressive) or soo many tourists that they cater to it rather than preserve the authentic culture. But I also absolutely loved certain things like Ubud, monkey Forest, Nusa Penida and gillis. I do wanna give it another try but I wouldn't wanna do it on a budget. I think Bali is great if you are willing to spend a bit more.
My biggest travel disappointment was the city of Boston. I'm a history buff and so I had been wanting to go to Boston for years. When I finally got there in 1993, it was a huge and unexpected disappointment. First of all, the city is one of the worst for driving around. It's old and so it's laid out in a haphazard way. Lots of one way roads. People double and triple park. Not enough signs to help you with streets and directions. The subway system was dirty, dingy and constantly smelled, exhaust maybe. But the biggest disappointment was the lack of maintenance with many of the historical sites. It was sad! I was in Quebec city about 2 weeks after Boston and what a difference! It clearly showed that the people took pride in their city and it's history. Beautiful gardens and landscaping! Impressive statues!. All I can say is I'm hoping that Boston has improved in the years since I was there.
Venice and Bruges were very disappointing! They were both extremely beautiful but completely overrun with awful tourists. They both felt like Disneyland.
I agree, Venice felt so fake 😭 hardly any locals at all. must have been amazing back in its day when it was a real city because it's gorgeous ❤️ never been to Bruges but reeeeeallly wanna visit hahaha so I won't be discouraged
Bruges during Christmas time is less crowded, and LOVELY. It did not feel touristy during that time. However, Santorini during June felt like Disneyland!
All European cities which frequently appear in travel plans are often crowded with tourists (worst of all are the big tour groups). Locals would also be driven away from the tourist hot spots due to high rent and the constant noise and intrusions. As a tourist who wants to avoid hordes of other tourists, it is not too difficult - stay overnight or a few nights in the place, get up early at 6-6:15 am get dressed and go out and start exploring - you'd have 3 hours of the place mostly to yourself and even see some locals prepare for the coming day (well usually the thrash collectors and delivery folks). Alternatively, just step away from the main tourist routes and you'll find the crowds are not that bad, even in peak season.
Shannon Wenkoff I was in Venice last week for the opening of carnival and it was amazing, lots of locals and not overcrowded at all. only in San Marcos square were I saw the large crowds around midday and then they would disappear
Playa del Carmen and Cancun, because I got so sick, vomitting and with a terrible diarrea. Overthere, the doctor told me that it happens all the time to tourists. I lost my money, around $350 USD, from buying online tickets to Xelha, Xcaret, and Xochimilco because I just could not go and you can't give them to another person. It has been my sickest time ever. I won't go back there, even if I get everything for free.
My travel let down is, I'm sad to say, Stonehenge. I was expecting big mysterious rocks surrounded by fog. I thought the atmosphere was going to be mystic and I thought I would feel something. But I went there in July. It was really hot outside, the grass was all yellow and dry and there were loads of tourists. I couldn't get any good photos because of the crowds :(
Bali is so beautiful but I did notice the overtourism especially in Kuta/ Denpasar and trash on the beaches as you mentioned. It definitely doesn’t look like that in the tour brochures!
Alcatraz. After seeing movies like The Rock I was so excited to see it in real life. It's all marketing with no substance. Having recorded messages as you go around rather than a real life guide is horrible. Luckily riding across the Golden Gate Bridge is amazing.
for me i feel like one of my biggest travel let downs was helskini. maybe i wasn't staying in the right part of town or didn't go at the right time but i just found it quite boring and i didn't really see anything special or unique about it personally.
I went to Bali this summer and I honestly think that, at least the south, has become one big tourist attraction. Everything was way overpriced, we had a hard time finding actual Indonesian food and there were fellow Dutch people everywhere we looked. Won't be going back, I think there are other places in South East Asia that are way more authentic.
I’ve been to Bali more than 10 times over 20 years. It’s changed so much in that time, in both bad ways and good ways. 20 years ago it was perfect and clean and amazing and so relatively untouched. Now, it’s so hyper touristy, however it’s getting better, the beaches are getting cleaner, the street vendors are getting back to being cheeky instead of rude. As much as revisiting a place isn’t “adventuring” every time I’ve been to Bali I’ve done something new, met someone new, or even just eaten something new. It was such a big part of my childhood that I’d never stop going back.
Says none of these are about weather/conditions but like half of them were. It seems like a lot these letdowns were more about poor planning/research than the sites themselves.
My biggest let down was taking a plane ride to see the Nazca lines. I thought I’d be like Indian Jones... it would be so cool! But we spent the majority of the day WAITING for the flight. Then since it was a propeller plane I felt nauseas the whole time, and you could barely see the lines... we should’ve just seen the few from the tower that’s there....
Hi Nadine, been a subscriber for ages now, very interesting video! I'm Indonesian so I feel pretty defensive about Bali. I think the gentrification of the island is the biggest let down for me. As you mentioned there are a lot of American brands there and foreign companies setting up shop which completely ruins the sacred sites and mystery of Bali. I personally have a love hate relationship with Bali, but I do recommend going to the inner mountainous areas of Bali as you did; there you can find beautiful temples and untouched nature and waterfalls that are truly magical. Hope you have a better experience next time! :) (and yes, Kuta beach is gross but the other hidden beaches which only the locals know, are gorgeous!)
I agree with you on going back to places not being as good as the first time. I went to Machu Picchu what time was my nephew and it seemed more of an adventure. The second time around was with my wife and it didn't seem does magical. I did notice was the crowds for any of these major world sites have just gotten larger making it harder to enjoy when you're there.
Unfortunately I wanted to go to Rome my whole entire life but when I got there every thing went wrong and there was just soooo many people I couldn't even enjoy things like everyone hogging the trevi fountain
This was an interesting idea actually! Very helpful to hear places you wouldn’t recommend going! Can you make a video like that? Other than these 5 maybe cities in general that were meh.
The northern coast of Bali is where it’s at! Pretty much anywhere from Pemuteran to Amed along the west to east northern coast is incredible! Also Balian Beach on the west coast is amazing. We’re not a fan of “touristy busy” places and these destinations weren’t packed with tourists, we were 100% the minority! Also, branching out to other Indonesian islands is a great idea because they’re less developed! Loved this video :)
I agree re Bali ( I went summer 2017) - it's so commercialised. Luckily when I went I got off Bali pretty quickly and visited a bunch of other islands - Java, nusa ceningan, the Gillies, Lombok... There is so much more to Indonesia than Bali and the people are so lovely!
@@simonaskladana6081 difficult to say as I never spent more than 5 days in one place. Java is great as it has Jogjakarta which has amazing temples, and lots of other things. Kuta on Lombok is known for the surfing.Nusa Lembongan and Miss Ceningan are small islands just off of Bali. While technically still part of Bali as an administrative area I found them much more palatable - rent a scooter and you can drive around both islands easily within a day. Lots of lovely beaches too. Scuba diving round there is amazing as well
I went to Indonesia and travelled from Java to Bali. The nature on Java was just stunning. The volcanos, parks and culutral sites. Bali was fine. Just verry different and touristic. But the worst place for me was Gilli T. Just so crowded, dirty and loud. I was really glad when I left this place.
For me it was the whole city of Paris. Don’t get me wrong, Paris was cool, it was a cool city and I enjoyed it there, but as far as being “one of the greatest cities on earth”? I’m sorry but I just didn’t see it. Honestly I don’t really see what makes it so much better than any other European city. And that’s honestly all it was to me, just another European city.
Right on, Paris is awful imo. Dirty city, rude people, very overrated sites, and the best thing to go see there burnt down last year. There's so many better, and more romantic, cities to go see in France
Prague was my biggest let down a year and a half ago. Over hyped. Too many tourists and preachers. Couldn't tell whom was a local. Plus, the whole Gothic theme isn't my thing. Been and will not go back.
My biggest let down would be Lake Louise in Canada. I was so excited to go there! But it was so crowded like no place I’ve ever been before. ( Me and my bf just coming from Yellowstone in peak season) There was a line up to take a picture in front of the lake and the boat rental was 110 CAD + taxes for 30 minutes 😳 I liked Lake Moraine a lot better. Also I revisited Tulum last year. The first time I went in 2006. For me it was the most magical place and when me and my boyfriend were traveling through Mexico I wanted to spend my birthday in Tulum. I felt so sad seeing all these „cute boho shops“. All these fake Instagram and blogger people. Everything felt set up and fake. My heart was bleeding!
By far, the tidal bore in Moncton, New Brunswick (1998). What used to be a "wall of water" that people could surf on, was now a 2-20 cm high trickle, because of a dam put in, in the 60's.
Mine was when I was in Rome. I loved Rome, but I was so excited to see the Trevi fountain for it to be under construction and with no water. So disappointed.
My biggest let down was doing a full tour of Italy (north to south) with a friend. That part was great, what wasn’t was that we planned too many churches and once you’ve seen a couple, you’ve seen them all (especially if you see multiple in the north). They costed more than we anticipated and 90% of them weren’t really worth it. The one in the Vatican was most worth it. What people don’t realize was a small town called Caserta that had a palace, and that was amazing. Completely underrated on its website and travel websites. Well worth the price and not that difficult to get to with public transport.
If feels like her disappointment were more due to her carelessness and the lack of information than real let down. China dam and Amazon were totally weather related , she didn't knew about things hence she was disappointed.
In bali, staying in ubud and canggu i found they were less touristy! Canggu is an up and coming area of bali so it is very peaceful. I do agree though places like kuta and seminyak are overrun by tourist! I prefer vietnam x
Hands down my biggest travel let down was Capri, Italy! I first had to take a 4 hour ferry from my home base town in the amalfi to get there but the earliest arrival time was 11 and the last returning ferry left at 5 not a lot of time to start! Goal was to go into the blue Grotto, do the chairs that took you up to the mountain, explore and go to a cute beach club ( that famous one on instagram). Okay so touch down in Capri we fell into a tourist trap an hour tour of the city such disappointment the lady spent the whole hour talking about how to get places around the island and not about the history or anything = hour wasted. Then we had pre purchased a scenic boat trip around Capri that would take us to the Grottos = horrible choppy waves I felt terrified to be on this boat the blue grotto closed I had to beg the guy to stop a the small marina half way an hour in half way so I could get off. Okay two and half hours waisted 3 hours left. Tried the public beach = no place to sit trash in the ocean grrr! Tried several not even that cute beach spots at the small marina sold out or over price= a lot of waiting/ standing around now out of time go back to the main marina waiting in long line peak season got into a fight got to the ferry for a 4 hour trip back with a bunch of disappointment! That was my trip haha I would recommend against day trips here definitely spend the money to stay at least two nights there just in case weather etc
I went to Capri yesterday and loved it.... But, it is currently not the tourist season, and a bad part of that was that lots of stores and restaurants were closed. But the weather was pretty nice and there wasn't too many tourists.
Cardiff was the biggest letdown. My sister and I went for a weekend while she was visiting me (I was studying in London). There wasn’t much to do and it felt like any other city. Really really wish we had gone anywhere else in Wales...
I'm so happy to hear that it wasn't just me that hated Bali! I went there for a month in August 2018 and all I wanted to do was go home... We went all around Bali trying to find somewhere that was somewhat decent but everywhere was a let down. We found a dead dog on the beach at the villa we rented. Every place we stayed in was dirty, the food was always a disappointment with some places not knowing how to serve food hot. Tour guides and locals in most cases didn't know anything, I had really bad tooth ache at one point and we spent hours driving around from place to place just trying to find a doctor and it seemed like once again no one knew what was going on in their own country. I don't understand why Bali is so popular, I will never be going back there its just dirty and unorganised.
Oh yeah I can totally to relate to you on these things. I’ve had a few let downs. For me, the biggest two are Paris and Florence. Paris was just not my cup of tea at all. But I’m willing to give it another change because of certain situations I had the last time I went. Florence, we went on our honeymoon in 2018. It was beautiful but soooo busy. So many people trying to scam you on the streets, dog poop everywhere... idk maybe we caught it at a bad weekend but I was so let down! And San Francisco. We loved it but didn’t at the same time. I went for my high school graduation and people kind of treated us poorly for being so young and we just spend too much time in one place. However, these are just opinions. I’d totally give each of these places a second chance and I totally respect people for loving these places too :)
another great video. my biggest travel letdown was visiting Savannah, GA in January, middle of winter. I was so excited to see people dressed up in period clothing, as southern belles, Forrest Gump in the park, ect.....but no. The city seems to close down in winter, so it ended up being myself and my son walking around when it was 20 degrees outside. I wasnt able to book any haunted tours ahead of time, so it felt like the trip was wasted time. Another huge disappointment was when myself and my family rented a cabin in Blue Ridge, GA.....all the sites i had researched recommended the Blue Ridge Railway. It travels to the next town and has a 2 hour layover so you are able to mosey around and enjoy small town life. They hand you a map so you can see and visit all the shops and cafes around a few block radius. Welp, again, 96% of the town was closed. Apparently the town takes Mondays off, which was not mentioned anywhere from the websites to other traveler reviews. Made the best of the time, but such a huge disappointment. If it had been mentioned anywhere, I would have bought tickets for another day. Oh well 😋
I would never hope that someone had a bad experience traveling, but it definitely makes me feel better that travel vloggers have negative experiences. It seems like nothing can go wrong but shit happens. Like when you're stranded in JFK and have to get an entirely different plane ticket to get home. ((((: I'm not sure I'll ever get over it. Lol.
My biggest let down was revisiting the NASA Kennedy Space Station in Florida after 10 years. Beside being there for the second time and doing the same activities and taking the same photos, they closed down some parts. In my first visit, we could stand inside a space shuttle, but 10 years later, you could only see the same shuttle from a distance and not even touch it. Let down.
My biggest travel disappointment is not going on the trips I had planned... in my mind. 😉 I’ve done a lot of traveling solo and have had lots of great experiences, and some disappointments. My perspective is that attitude, expectations, weather, people, mishaps, etc can all have a negative effect on our experiences. Btw Nadine, I enjoy your videos. From a fellow Canuck. 🇨🇦
Bali has also been my number one travel let down - we went there for our honeymoon after a gazillion recommendations (it was between Bali and Vietnam) and I think the timing of when we went was very bad as it was when some of the Bali 9 prisoners were being sent to be executed so we had fighter jets flying low over us non-stop, tensions were high as we were Aussies and as were they. We ended up flying back home 4 nights early :(
my biggest travel letdown was back in May 2019 when i was heading to Cabo for a wedding and the people at the post office gave us the wrong passports, so I couldn't get on the plane so we had to wait the next day. Then the next day we missed our 1PM flight but were lucky to get a 6PM flight but then when i arrived in Cabo on the 11th of May 2019 Delta lost our luggage but i was lucky that all my tech was in my bag so that was my travel letdown
For me it was Los Angeles. I visited an old bf a few times and he was a boring host. We ate at IHOP, shopped at regular malls, and played mini golf or sat at his apt. I could've been in any state unless you counted the insane traffic. Santa Monica pier was the only halfway interesting thing. I learned to take charge of my travel itinerary from then on and have always made the most of my trips when I pick a good travel buddy.
Memphis, TN was really weird, felt like a ghost town even in broad daylight, kinda spooky. Graceland, Sun Studios, Civil Rights Museum were cool, but aside from those and the food, not much to recommend. It's worth seeing at least once as a spectacle, but I didn't much care for Vegas, but I kinda expected I wouldn't before I visited. More a place to tick off the list and see what it's like.
Just got back from two weeks in Thailand and my biggest let down was staying in Patong, Phuket for longer than an hour LOL... we stayed 4 nights. Wasn't at all nice or pleasant and getting around to any of the better places of Phuket was such a hassle! Phi Phi was the best part of the trip but really wish we spent the Phuket time in Chang Mai!
If you only have a 2-3 days to spare, I think Rome will be let down . It was essentially a tourist trap. I did not enjoy the Colosseum & Trevi Fountain. The amount of people there was overwhelming, especially in the hot summer!
I went on a solo trip to Scotland and your videos helped me prepare a lot and helped alleviate a lot of fear I had. I'd say the biggest let down was Old Town. It was just the same tourist shops over and over and over and the castle was beautiful but super over crowded. That said it was still gorgeous and I don't for a second regret or take it for granted :)
I realized my travel let downs were the places I was super excited to go to. And my favorite places are the places I was just going to stop in to see just to check them off my list per say.
I tend to do research/watch videos etc of places before visiting them, so am seldom really surprised, either negatively or positively. There are few cities I'd say really underwhelmed me, but a few I got bored in after a few days, which rarely happens to me. Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City was one. The novelty of the traffic, activity, markets is cool, but once that wears off I found myself bored on the second day. Got sick of the traffic too, the motorbikes would drive on the footpath and beep at YOU to get out of the way! Lol. There isn't really a lot aside from shopping and eating. I much preferred central and northern Vietnam, places like Hue, Hoi An, Hanoi, Sapa, etc, more charm and character. But that's just my opinion.
I know you don't like talking about the negatives but I enjoyed hearing about your disappointing experiences. It's good to know about the things to keep in mind when you travel and the things maybe you shouldn't spend your money on.
Went to Bali in 2017, beaches in Bali were cleaner than those in Lombok. Litter everywhere. It was crowded, and I was offered no less than a million taxis and massages. It borders on harassment in some places. I agree with your take on Bali but on the other hand, have loved my second visits
Biggest travel let down: Thailand. I spent a month traveling through Thailand, while I had so much fun, There were sooooo many tourist and it was all tourist based. Koh phi phi had beautiful blue waters, walk a little further down the island its full of trash, unbearable amounts of plastic. It was awful.
I went to Bali the summer of 2018, and I loved it. I went to Ubud for a few days, and I was in a smaller city in the northern part of the island called Singaraja. If you go back to Bali, I highly recommend looking at some of the things to do on the northern part of the island, it is definitely less touristy that Ubud and Kuta. There are also some amazing social entrepreneurs that have started organizations that support the eco-life and local people. I high recommend looking into the Bio-Rock company, it will give you an amazing, non-crowded beach that supports rebuilding the coral reefs! East Bali cashew company is also another amazing opportunity that highlights and supports women in local communities in East Bali but providing jobs and child care!
I totally understand what you said about Bali. I was there during the summer of 2017, and Kuta Beach was still highly littered and crowded with people trying to sell things to the tourists. I spent time at the East Bali Immersion Camp in North Bali, and I LOVED it. It's basically a completely eco-friendly camp situated next to a small cashew factory in the mountains, relatively close to the northern coast. I definitely relate to the underwhelming "paradise" in Denpasar and areas like Kuta and Legian, but I had some awesome experiences when I travelled to more remote, culturally rich places!
Been to Bali twice and I love it every time. Though, the beaches are still trashy because garbage washes up all the time. My advice is stay away from Kuta, and meet some locals who will show you the best spots and things to do there.
My biggest travel let down would be L.A. But, every time we've been I had a stomach ulcer. One of those times I spent the night in a super horrible ER. (I'm a budget travel vlogger, so we weren't staying in a "nice" part of town) I guess it's not really L.A.'s fault. But I'm not inclined to go back again, and I don't speak very highly of it, haha.
As an Australian it boggles my mind that people come across the world to come to Bali, spending as much money to get there as it takes us to get to Europe. We go to Bali because it's cheap! That's literally it. It's dirty, tourism has destroyed the culture, you won't find any good Indonesian food and it's OVERRUN by hipster western Vegan cafes/general hipster/backpacker/yoga culture. You will get gastro eventually because rubbish disposal is such an issue. Half the island is owned by Australians and the Balinese see very little of it.
Hi Nadine! I think my biggest letdown was Zanzibar, Tanzania. Was it beautiful? Yes, but unpleasant due to the constant harassment of the locals trying to sell you something. They would literally follow you to try to change your mind. We spent 2 days in Stonetown and visited the main sites. We then went to a resort in Nungwi Beach. There were locals on the beach trying to sell you something. The same locals everyday. We are glad we went for the cultural experience after our Safari in Kenya, but I wouldn’t recommend for a relaxing beach trip.
I am currently in Bali as I’m watching this, and I must say that it hasn’t changed much from what you described it. There’s lots of places that are “Americanised” like I haven’t been to one real Balinese restaurant and wherever I go there’s many, many people. Although the island itself is beautiful, tourists have ruined it. - Olivia 💕
Always doing something new in a city is key! I've been to Buenos Aires 3 times and never got bored because I did totally different things each time (and paired it with trips elsewhere in Argentina). Same with Paris and New York... you have to resist the temptation to go back to the same spots, and each time I try something new I find I usually love the new discoveries even better than the previous visits.
Well adding onto the Amazon dry season, when is it? I wouldn't know cause it's on the equator so I don't know which months of the year correctly apply so yeah I don't know dry and rainy seasons are.
I have a couple of travel letdowns. When I was little I went to see Mount Rushmore and couldn't believe how small and far away it was compared to photos I've seen. And last summer I went to Banff and was disappointed with all of the popular spots like Lake Louise.... The views themselves were gorgeous but the crowds were INSANE and we went during a "low season" so I can only imagine what it's like in the high season!
Travel let down: Going on holiday with friends (I was 19- still am) but basically, I planned where to go, and what I wanted to do.... we did nothing.. went back to the hotel everyday at 2 in the afternoon because my friends found it too hot, stayed by the river for a full day, doing absolutely nothing!! However I did get some nice photos, and I am planning to go back and do what I want to do in the future. Knew it was going to be a let down right at the airport to leave tbh
I went to Bali last year for a month, it's quite a tourist trap - I avoided Kuta because my mates all told me it's where people drink etc so i went straight to Ubud. It was nice there but again full of shops and locals trying to sell you stuff and rip you off for "tours" do your research on what things should cost! So you can avoid getting scammed! I did feel like a walking wallet whilst in Bali. But the rest of the experience was really amazing seeing so many things like rice terraces and temples etc. Also the great barrier reef in Australia was a led down - it's mostly dead or bleached sadly - I went in 2016 in Cairns. But if you go on the Whitsundays tours they're far far better.
Hadine you right on target ! I agree with you 100 % ! I have experienced the same things that you described on this video including revisiting places that they were not as fun like they were on the first time.
My biggest letdown was getting into an accident on one of those Bird Scooters. I was going down hill & the brakes stopped working & I broke my pinky & got scraped up everywhere, I couldn’t go surfing, Kayaking or anything hands on the rest of trip!
![АЛАУДИНОВ у Скабеевой: эти их ВСУ нас НЕ ДОГОНЯТ 😁 [Пародия]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/an0anqU4WGQ/mqdefault.jpg)
![АЛАУДИНОВ у Скабеевой: эти их ВСУ нас НЕ ДОГОНЯТ 😁 [Пародия]](/img/tr.png)
If you visit a city for the first time a tourist, be a local the second time. It gets much more interesting that way.
I agree
This is traveller advice GOLD!
Raya Al Hajri agreed. Off the beaten path as they say.
@Raya Al Hajri... GREAT ADVICE! That's always why I try to revisit places again. Also, if you had a short visit as a tourist, but you only stayed in one Area, spend time in a different area altogether. It will feel like a completely different location because it kinda is.
Or do that from the start lol.
My travel let down is being stuck at home
packleader87 😂😂😂😂
packleader87 lol I hear ya
Me too
packleader87 🤣🤣
same with me buddy same with me
Travel let down would be going with a friend/someone you were once close with. It can ruin a trip and also not doing what you want to do x
Nattipha Sihanu totally agree. I stick to traveling solo 💯
That's why I've always gone solo. I'm planning part of my trip with my two best friends this time and I'm actually more nervous that when I went solo 😅
Nattipha Sihanu yeah, when friends say they want to go somewhere travel wise with me, I cringe
Absolutely agree. It can ruin a good friendship for good.
True that. I only travel with friends who are similar to me.
Los Angeles for sure. It is so hyped up for it's celebrity and luxury culture but when you get there, it's just a big city. And sights are pretty far apart. It also takes eternity to navigate from A to B by public transportation. You really have to know what you wanna see and where to find it. The only thing that I really liked was Venice Beach. It just has this unique vibe I loved.
Try the Hop On Hop Off tour bus next time; it takes you to all of the great attractions.
It’s fun to hit up tourist spots like Santa Monica Pier, LACMA Urban Lights, Rodeo Drive, and the Observatory, but there’s so much more to LA than those places. If you go to some of the less hyped up places, such as Hermosa, Redondo and Long Beach(es), respectively, then you may have a different perspective. I agree that public transit takes forever there (never again haha). It is ideal to drive/Uber to get around LA but not fun being stuck in traffic for hours
L.A. was dirty... i liked the vibe of Santa Monica beach and streets as well as Hollywood boulevard.
When it started to go dark at Venice beach and sunset boulevard the vibe changed and it felt quite creepy. Lots of homeless people too which was sad to see.
I dunno, from speaking to people LA gets kind of a bad rap, not entirely undeserved - yes it's a sprawling, often ugly city, but I found it fascinating to visit in many ways. I guess it's interesting if you're really into film and music history, but all the different neighbourhoods are cool. Also there are beautiful beaches, canyons, mountains etc to explore.
It’s not a relaxing vacation...
For anyone interested in visiting the Amazon, the Ecuadorian Amazon is lush in both the wet and dry season because the dry season is still pretty wet so it's a good option all year round!
yea I would love to visit that part of the Amazon!
Hey Nadine It’s so magical!
Interesting... wow!
I once volunteered abroad in the most remote town in France with a lady who wasn’t even French. It was my first time in France but I always dreamed of La Vie En Rose. I went straight to this rural town where she said she’d pick me up from. She never did. I eventually called her using someone’s phone and she had forgotten. I had no car no WiFi to reach her and it was past 4PM on a Sunday when all the shops close. After she finally picked me up, I hadn’t realized she wanted me to live the same way she does in the amount of paper, water, electricity, food, or time I spent doing anything. She would always criticize saying I am in her house and she can do what she wants. Which I respect, but she was so critical of each detail I did. Then she had me doing gardening work she said was easy but was military style and was super critical if I didn’t have it done perfect or finish on time. She was so scary in the most ungracious, blunt, and unfriendly way. Not a place for the faint of heart. I’m pretty sure that’s why she’s in such a rural part of France. I stayed way too long because I was committed to finishing what I had started. Boy was I glad to leave on that train! I
wow! that sounds like a crazy story
John Volken She was my stay for the next 3 weeks... I was so low on money at that point but I didn’t realize my experience with her would not improve.
Maybe do an interview with your Grandparents sometime? I'm willing to bet there is a good story or two, from a couple who have sailed arounf the world
Unfortunately all my grandparents have passed :( but I have stories and photos of them and their adventurs
@@heynadine That would be a really cool video, I think! Plus it could be to have their stories in a video to show your kids someday if you have any (:
I went to Bali in January and I loved it! I did the swing over the rice fields in Ubud and it was so beautiful and fun! You can tell they are really making an effort to clean up their beaches now
that's really good to hear! I definitely want to go back and see how it's changes
Kuta beach is still a complete garbage dumb
I don't like to be too negative but I'd have to agree that the beaches in Kuta are still as bad as you described Nadine. Tons of people, litter everywhere and people trying to sell you things constantly. Just came from there 1 week ago.
mine was vencie. I knew it would be full of tourists BUT I WAS NOT PREPARED.
Rachel Patey agreed. Just went there last week. Awesome when you first exit the train station.. then you realized. Mad amount of tourists and all restaurants are traps. See it once and never go back
I thought we had hit the jackpot: a cold and rainy November day. I thought it wouldn’t be too crazy because of that. Boy was I wrong! All the umbrellas probably also made it worse 😅. We ended up doing none of the famous sights and just escaped from the crowds into the alleys. Best advice I can give to enjoy the city: just get lost in it, take the first turn and go with it! It’s hard to get lost anyways, it’s not that big and you fall back quickly into a busy street. It really felt like we were seeing a different side of it and managed to get photos without people in them! The city is pretty all over anyway!
I went there in January for my birthday, There was not so msny tourists and Burano Island was completely empty on the weekend
I went during the summer. So at around 10 am - 2 pm it was definitely packed... but it does die down (usually when the cruise ships depart). It felt like we had the whole place to ourselves during the afternoon :)
I went In November last year. When I went it wasnt very crowded and I had an amazing time!
In Bali right now, the beaches are still very dirty. The salesmen are still as aggressive, and I am a tiny bit disappointed.. not quite the experience I thought it would be. I would recommend everyone to go north to actually see beautiful nature, but without being a touristy money machine...
You studied engineering and computer science? How cool is that!!!!
Bali is just where Australians go for resort style holidays, hence all the “brands”
Was just in Bali in November. 100% would skip out on Kuta and Ubud but Bali itself has a lot more. Volcano treks in Amed and playing with wild Dolphins in Lovina are some of my favorite things I’ve ever done! Also, Nusa Penida, Lembongan, Cenigan, and the Gili islands were truly paradise.
I just came back from Bali a week and a half ago and really nothing has changed, people go up to you asking you to buy things (I understand that’s how they make their money but I also understand how it isn’t ideal for tourists because by the first week I was over constantly stopping or saying no thank you etc.), the public beaches are not nice and there are a lot of western shops and stuff there especially in Denpasar where I stayed (or at least close to there) but we went on tours and they ended up showing us the hidden kind of gems of Bali like we went to Virgin beach (it’s called that because it’s basically untouched) and when I took a photo of it it really looked like a stick photo, they took us to cultural restaurants, they even took us to this tree top swing which was incredible. I agree with you that Bali wasn’t as it’s made out to be but when you get away from the cities and into the heart of Bali or just the hidden gems it really is amazing... I just wished that I went to more cultural places and restaurants and went to the temples but I’ll definitely be going to experience their culture and not just the western parts of Bali!
NYC was the biggest disappointment for me. I was excepting to see the greatest city of all time, a futuristic paradise. Instead i found a dirty chaos that seemed to have stopped trying to catch up with the rest of the western world.
Same here. When I went to Tokyo I thought "Oh, that's how I imagined New York".
Oh girl I could've told you that lol. Middle East has more futuristic and much cleaner citiee
Yeah, I live there it's not very exciting.
Same!
My biggest let down was bran castle and buchurest in romania.Romania has much more to offer,if you ever go there i would suggest sigisoara,brasov,sibiu,cluj napoca,turda and tirgu mures which i fell in love with
These would have to be my two biggest let downs:
1. The sagrada familia in Barcelona was not impressive to me at all. There was construction happening and all the walls are basically white. Not a lot of art or stuff to look at.
2. Venice was also very disappointing. I found it to be extremely commercialized with too many stores.
randomgirl1451 Really? I LOVED Sagrada Familia, at least the inside. The light coming through the stained glass was absolutely gorgeous 😍
I went to both and I loved both!
I also don''t recommend going to tropical places during wet season because it can rain so hard that you'll have trouble getting anywhere. I live in Cambodia, and getting around is very hard during wet season, especially in the countryside where roads are impassable.
One of my biggest travel letdowns was Malta (February 2015), but for one specific reason. The city I come from in Germany (Cologne) has a renowned "Karneval" (Mardi Gras) "season", but mostly in the week leading up to Ash Wednesday. I usually try to escape during that time. Malta, however, has a similar hoopla going on, so it wasn't much of an escape. Plus, that particular year, the weather in all of the Mediterranean was unusually cold and rainy, so that wasn't too great, either (except one day in Mdina).
That is so cool about your grandparents...my grandfather was a secret spy for the NSA and he traveled all over the world selling cryptology machines and now Im determined to go to at least as many places :)
that's amazing!
Hands up I've revised the same places and nearly the same 4 weeks worth of travel - London, Newcastle, Edinbury, the Scottish Highlands and Paris. Other mistakes: not taking into account mobility issues of my mum (you don't think of steps and distances if your healthy), traveling with my sister when we fought the first week and had different tastes, not looking at reviews, trusting my travel agent to know best (never after the 1st trip), underestimating driving times, getting totally lost & driving the same highway twice, spending too much time in the same city, doing something to tick off the box of ''must do'....but you live and learn and its part of the experience if you travel a lot.
It has to be Dubai for me, the only thing they have to offer is shopping and Burj khalifa.. and apparently just shopping and seeing world's tallest building isn't my thing.
And if you do end up visiting Dubai, avoid the dhow cruise at all costs.
I went to Dubai twice and I loved it! It is only enjoyable for a couple of days of course. But the trick is to really get out of those malls and fancy buildings. Dubai has great markets, we loved exploring those. Also we went to a Muslim teaching centre where we had an iftar meal (it was ramadan) and learned more about the culture and religion. Also there were some great mosques! And I loved swimming in the sea... All in all, enough to enjoy yourself with if you know where to look :)
obakeng mfaladi I live in Abu Dhabi lollll
I also went to Dubai today ftw
Damn, you should have done better planning, so many cool things to try if you're adventurous as well. Desert Safaris, longest zip line in the world, Dubai aquarium scuba diving with sharks,stingrays and thousands of other fish, zipping around the marina on electric scooters, sky diving, visiting the museum of illusions, the Dubai frame, visiting small markets and trying chocolate dates, wild wadi waterpark, miracle garden, vr park, global village. If you think it's all about shopping and the Burj you failed miserably to do proper research.
Agree with Dubai. I had hyped it up so much and I was super excited but it was nothing like I had hoped for.
My biggest travel let down was when I took my first ever actual vacation. I planned to go alone but ended up inviting my friend. She was NOT the best person to travel with! And I was extremely disappointed with that decision. I feel like I was robbed of a special experience that I could never get because I invited someone. I am however excited to plan my next trip which I will take alone! Thank you for your videos!!!
My biggest travel disappointment was Brasilia, a city that shows that it was once beautiful but not anymore.
Went to Angkor Wat for sunrise - mistake. We decided after watching 100's of people fighting to get the same sunrise shot to head into the temple. Ended up being the best decision because we had it all to ourselves. We then changed the plan completely and reorganised with our tuk tuk driver to take us to the quieter temples for the rest of the day. Honestly think if we hadn't done that we would have hated our experience there.
Just got back from Bali this week and loved it. However, I do agree with your points. We didn't spend too long in Kuta area, and headed into Ubud for majority of our stay, and that's where we enjoyed much more of our time.
People might be shocked but my biggest travel let down was France, food was expensive and not the best, dirty on non tourist areas.
Hi, i'm from Indonesia. Yess it's true that Bali is really crowded with tourist especially in the holiday seasons because people from the other cities in Indonesia also visits Bali. My tips is try to go in between feb-april and august-november, also try to look for hidden beach, there are manyy in Bali. You could also go to ubud or seminyak, where it's less crowded than Kuta. It's best to stay in villa especially in ubud because ubud is much calmer and kinda closer to the forest so there are a lot of villa that had an amaazzinggg view
Catharine Shirley I’m heading to Bali this October!! Could you have any specific spots that are stunning and secluded? Or any beautiful villas? Have you ever been to Thailand?
I went to the Ecuadorian Amazon in March and it was incredible. The Amazon is super varied so it’s best to do lots of research so you can find a good place to go. It’s one of the best memories of my life.
I was very underwhelmed with Machu Picchu. The site itself it pretty cool because of the feat in building and the history. I’d done the Inca Trail Trek (also well worth doing if you can) but when we got there it was teeming with tacky busloads of tourists poking the llamas and people being disrespectful, some tacky gift shops and very expensive food court and it was just a bit ‘urgh’.
Such a shame after trekking and camping for 4 days and nights to get there.
I still tell everyone doing the actual Inca Trail was 100 times better than the destination.
My biggest travel let down was definitely Venice. It is a bucket list destination but it was 98% anticipation - 2% satisfaction. Yes it is beautiful but only from the water or walking on bridges over the water. The rest of it is mostly small alleys, unimpressive small piazzas and architecture. I do have to say it was my last stop in Italy so maybe my view was jaded by then. But to me, so many other places in Italy I would love to return to instead of Venice.
I loved Bali. I stayed in Kuta Ubud and Lovina. The most annoying thing about Kura was that they were ALWAYS trying to sell things to you even if you tell 1 person no 5 more come up to you. Staying in Ubud is way better. They have more locals selling things rather than big brands. You can rent a scooter and travel the country side and find a few waterfalls. I def recommend Bali. But I wouldn't stay more than a day or 2 in kuta.
I was in Bali last year around this time-I loved it. That being said, I think it's all about managing expectations. I was picturing a yoga-obsessed somewhat westernized place, so I embraced the smoothie bowls. It's hard when an explorer describes an untouched place to you, because in its current state it's impossible to measure up. For me, my biggest letdown was Halong Bay. Not because it wasn't beautiful, but because of the how the tourism was ruining that beauty with trash being dumped from boats etc. Also, the amount of tourists being toted places put me off.
Just wanted to say you are AWESOME and thank you for sharing. Now the biggest let downs....Hmmmm. For me the biggest letdowns tend to be all faults of my own. Like skimping on a Hotel reservation based on price and not location, or planning a trip during the HIGH season. Things I rarely do now, but I've done in the past. My advice is to try your best not to set your expectations high when traveling. Setting the bar too high almost always sets you up for disappointment. Setting the bar Low, on the other hand almost always sets up for being pleasantly surprised!
This is honestly one of the most helpful videos thank you so much I'm yet to start my travels again but wanted to go back to somewhere I've been before to show my family and but now I'm thinking of doing something new xoxo
Hobbiton was such a disappointment. Not the place but the people. The tour I was with was filled with Chinese tourists who 1) didn't know at all what lord of the rings was/saw it on a tourism magazine 2) did not speak English and talked over the tour guide 3) took too long to take photos reducing our time at the tavern
I can confirm - Kuta is exactly the same but way more tourists
I also went to Bali with very high hopes. If anyone is going now I would say just totally skip Kuta! And I just felt like the whole time I was exhausted trying to either avoid salesmen in your face (sometimes they get a little too aggressive) or soo many tourists that they cater to it rather than preserve the authentic culture. But I also absolutely loved certain things like Ubud, monkey Forest, Nusa Penida and gillis. I do wanna give it another try but I wouldn't wanna do it on a budget. I think Bali is great if you are willing to spend a bit more.
My biggest travel disappointment was the city of Boston. I'm a history buff and so I had been wanting to go to Boston for years. When I finally got there in 1993, it was a huge and unexpected disappointment. First of all, the city is one of the worst for driving around. It's old and so it's laid out in a haphazard way. Lots of one way roads. People double and triple park. Not enough signs to help you with streets and directions. The subway system was dirty, dingy and constantly smelled, exhaust maybe. But the biggest disappointment was the lack of maintenance with many of the historical sites. It was sad! I was in Quebec city about 2 weeks after Boston and what a difference! It clearly showed that the people took pride in their city and it's history. Beautiful gardens and landscaping! Impressive statues!. All I can say is I'm hoping that Boston has improved in the years since I was there.
Venice and Bruges were very disappointing! They were both extremely beautiful but completely overrun with awful tourists. They both felt like Disneyland.
I agree, Venice felt so fake 😭 hardly any locals at all. must have been amazing back in its day when it was a real city because it's gorgeous ❤️ never been to Bruges but reeeeeallly wanna visit hahaha so I won't be discouraged
Bruges during Christmas time is less crowded, and LOVELY. It did not feel touristy during that time. However, Santorini during June felt like Disneyland!
All European cities which frequently appear in travel plans are often crowded with tourists (worst of all are the big tour groups). Locals would also be driven away from the tourist hot spots due to high rent and the constant noise and intrusions. As a tourist who wants to avoid hordes of other tourists, it is not too difficult - stay overnight or a few nights in the place, get up early at 6-6:15 am get dressed and go out and start exploring - you'd have 3 hours of the place mostly to yourself and even see some locals prepare for the coming day (well usually the thrash collectors and delivery folks). Alternatively, just step away from the main tourist routes and you'll find the crowds are not that bad, even in peak season.
Those are two of my favourite places. Loved every minute there. How tastes can be so different😁
Shannon Wenkoff
I was in Venice last week for the opening of carnival and it was amazing, lots of locals and not overcrowded at all. only in San Marcos square were I saw the large crowds around midday and then they would disappear
Playa del Carmen and Cancun, because I got so sick, vomitting and with a terrible diarrea. Overthere, the doctor told me that it happens all the time to tourists. I lost my money, around $350 USD, from buying online tickets to Xelha, Xcaret, and Xochimilco because I just could not go and you can't give them to another person. It has been my sickest time ever. I won't go back there, even if I get everything for free.
My travel let down is, I'm sad to say, Stonehenge. I was expecting big mysterious rocks surrounded by fog. I thought the atmosphere was going to be mystic and I thought I would feel something. But I went there in July. It was really hot outside, the grass was all yellow and dry and there were loads of tourists. I couldn't get any good photos because of the crowds :(
I saw Stonehenge in good weather and not very crowded. I was still very disappointed.
Bali is so beautiful but I did notice the overtourism especially in Kuta/ Denpasar and trash on the beaches as you mentioned. It definitely doesn’t look like that in the tour brochures!
Alcatraz. After seeing movies like The Rock I was so excited to see it in real life. It's all marketing with no substance. Having recorded messages as you go around rather than a real life guide is horrible. Luckily riding across the Golden Gate Bridge is amazing.
for me i feel like one of my biggest travel let downs was helskini. maybe i wasn't staying in the right part of town or didn't go at the right time but i just found it quite boring and i didn't really see anything special or unique about it personally.
I went to Bali this summer and I honestly think that, at least the south, has become one big tourist attraction. Everything was way overpriced, we had a hard time finding actual Indonesian food and there were fellow Dutch people everywhere we looked. Won't be going back, I think there are other places in South East Asia that are way more authentic.
I’ve been to Bali more than 10 times over 20 years. It’s changed so much in that time, in both bad ways and good ways. 20 years ago it was perfect and clean and amazing and so relatively untouched. Now, it’s so hyper touristy, however it’s getting better, the beaches are getting cleaner, the street vendors are getting back to being cheeky instead of rude. As much as revisiting a place isn’t “adventuring” every time I’ve been to Bali I’ve done something new, met someone new, or even just eaten something new. It was such a big part of my childhood that I’d never stop going back.
Says none of these are about weather/conditions but like half of them were. It seems like a lot these letdowns were more about poor planning/research than the sites themselves.
My biggest let down was taking a plane ride to see the Nazca lines. I thought I’d be like Indian Jones... it would be so cool! But we spent the majority of the day WAITING for the flight. Then since it was a propeller plane I felt nauseas the whole time, and you could barely see the lines... we should’ve just seen the few from the tower that’s there....
Same feeling here!😁 Was sooo looking forward to it, but got sick after a few moments. Wanted to get out of the plane as fast as possible.
Hi Nadine, been a subscriber for ages now, very interesting video! I'm Indonesian so I feel pretty defensive about Bali. I think the gentrification of the island is the biggest let down for me. As you mentioned there are a lot of American brands there and foreign companies setting up shop which completely ruins the sacred sites and mystery of Bali. I personally have a love hate relationship with Bali, but I do recommend going to the inner mountainous areas of Bali as you did; there you can find beautiful temples and untouched nature and waterfalls that are truly magical. Hope you have a better experience next time! :) (and yes, Kuta beach is gross but the other hidden beaches which only the locals know, are gorgeous!)
oooo you must tell me where these hidden beaches are! I would LOVE to go back and see if I can get a different experience
I agree with you on going back to places not being as good as the first time. I went to Machu Picchu what time was my nephew and it seemed more of an adventure. The second time around was with my wife and it didn't seem does magical. I did notice was the crowds for any of these major world sites have just gotten larger making it harder to enjoy when you're there.
Unfortunately I wanted to go to Rome my whole entire life but when I got there every thing went wrong and there was just soooo many people I couldn't even enjoy things like everyone hogging the trevi fountain
Love these stories Nadine! And hey, at least the let downs make you really appreciate the good stuff! X
This was an interesting idea actually! Very helpful to hear places you wouldn’t recommend going! Can you make a video like that? Other than these 5 maybe cities in general that were meh.
In the future possibly
The northern coast of Bali is where it’s at! Pretty much anywhere from Pemuteran to Amed along the west to east northern coast is incredible! Also Balian Beach on the west coast is amazing. We’re not a fan of “touristy busy” places and these destinations weren’t packed with tourists, we were 100% the minority! Also, branching out to other Indonesian islands is a great idea because they’re less developed! Loved this video :)
I agree re Bali ( I went summer 2017) - it's so commercialised. Luckily when I went I got off Bali pretty quickly and visited a bunch of other islands - Java, nusa ceningan, the Gillies, Lombok... There is so much more to Indonesia than Bali and the people are so lovely!
Annie Forbes Which island do you recommend for 2 weeks:)? Thanks for help
@@simonaskladana6081 difficult to say as I never spent more than 5 days in one place. Java is great as it has Jogjakarta which has amazing temples, and lots of other things. Kuta on Lombok is known for the surfing.Nusa Lembongan and Miss Ceningan are small islands just off of Bali. While technically still part of Bali as an administrative area I found them much more palatable - rent a scooter and you can drive around both islands easily within a day. Lots of lovely beaches too. Scuba diving round there is amazing as well
I went to Indonesia and travelled from Java to Bali. The nature on Java was just stunning. The volcanos, parks and culutral sites. Bali was fine. Just verry different and touristic. But the worst place for me was Gilli T. Just so crowded, dirty and loud. I was really glad when I left this place.
For me it was the whole city of Paris. Don’t get me wrong, Paris was cool, it was a cool city and I enjoyed it there, but as far as being “one of the greatest cities on earth”? I’m sorry but I just didn’t see it. Honestly I don’t really see what makes it so much better than any other European city. And that’s honestly all it was to me, just another European city.
Same! Say that to people though and they look at you like you’ve grown an extra head.
I hate Paris personally, so overrated
I hated paris
I loved Paris!
Right on, Paris is awful imo. Dirty city, rude people, very overrated sites, and the best thing to go see there burnt down last year. There's so many better, and more romantic, cities to go see in France
Prague was my biggest let down a year and a half ago. Over hyped. Too many tourists and preachers. Couldn't tell whom was a local. Plus, the whole Gothic theme isn't my thing.
Been and will not go back.
I still love prague, but yes they have WAAAAYYY to many tourists in peak season
I am from Czech and love Prague. So much history, nice cafe:) and markets.
Were there in winter season. Not much tourism thene. So perfect
Totally agree. Everybody loves Prague and I didn’t find it so amazing as people say. Glad to know I’m not the only one.
I love Prague!
My biggest let down would be Lake Louise in Canada. I was so excited to go there! But it was so crowded like no place I’ve ever been before. ( Me and my bf just coming from Yellowstone in peak season) There was a line up to take a picture in front of the lake and the boat rental was 110 CAD + taxes for 30 minutes 😳 I liked Lake Moraine a lot better. Also I revisited Tulum last year. The first time I went in 2006. For me it was the most magical place and when me and my boyfriend were traveling through Mexico I wanted to spend my birthday in Tulum. I felt so sad seeing all these „cute boho shops“. All these fake Instagram and blogger people. Everything felt set up and fake. My heart was bleeding!
Bran Castle!! Romania was such a cool country I just wish we hadn’t wasted our time on Bran
izzy young same
By far, the tidal bore in Moncton, New Brunswick (1998). What used to be a "wall of water" that people could surf on, was now a 2-20 cm high trickle, because of a dam put in, in the 60's.
Mine was when I was in Rome. I loved Rome, but I was so excited to see the Trevi fountain for it to be under construction and with no water. So disappointed.
Did you go recently? I was hoping to go in may
@@gayanthih9845 I was there last week and it was open
My biggest let down was doing a full tour of Italy (north to south) with a friend. That part was great, what wasn’t was that we planned too many churches and once you’ve seen a couple, you’ve seen them all (especially if you see multiple in the north). They costed more than we anticipated and 90% of them weren’t really worth it. The one in the Vatican was most worth it.
What people don’t realize was a small town called Caserta that had a palace, and that was amazing. Completely underrated on its website and travel websites. Well worth the price and not that difficult to get to with public transport.
If feels like her disappointment were more due to her carelessness and the lack of information than real let down.
China dam and Amazon were totally weather related , she didn't knew about things hence she was disappointed.
In bali, staying in ubud and canggu i found they were less touristy! Canggu is an up and coming area of bali so it is very peaceful. I do agree though places like kuta and seminyak are overrun by tourist! I prefer vietnam x
Hands down my biggest travel let down was Capri, Italy! I first had to take a 4 hour ferry from my home base town in the amalfi to get there but the earliest arrival time was 11 and the last returning ferry left at 5 not a lot of time to start! Goal was to go into the blue Grotto, do the chairs that took you up to the mountain, explore and go to a cute beach club ( that famous one on instagram). Okay so touch down in Capri we fell into a tourist trap an hour tour of the city such disappointment the lady spent the whole hour talking about how to get places around the island and not about the history or anything = hour wasted. Then we had pre purchased a scenic boat trip around Capri that would take us to the Grottos = horrible choppy waves I felt terrified to be on this boat the blue grotto closed I had to beg the guy to stop a the small marina half way an hour in half way so I could get off. Okay two and half hours waisted 3 hours left. Tried the public beach = no place to sit trash in the ocean grrr! Tried several not even that cute beach spots at the small marina sold out or over price= a lot of waiting/ standing around now out of time go back to the main marina waiting in long line peak season got into a fight got to the ferry for a 4 hour trip back with a bunch of disappointment! That was my trip haha I would recommend against day trips here definitely spend the money to stay at least two nights there just in case weather etc
What month was this?
RoomWithAView beginning of July
I went to Capri yesterday and loved it.... But, it is currently not the tourist season, and a bad part of that was that lots of stores and restaurants were closed. But the weather was pretty nice and there wasn't too many tourists.
Cardiff was the biggest letdown. My sister and I went for a weekend while she was visiting me (I was studying in London). There wasn’t much to do and it felt like any other city. Really really wish we had gone anywhere else in Wales...
I'm so happy to hear that it wasn't just me that hated Bali! I went there for a month in August 2018 and all I wanted to do was go home... We went all around Bali trying to find somewhere that was somewhat decent but everywhere was a let down. We found a dead dog on the beach at the villa we rented. Every place we stayed in was dirty, the food was always a disappointment with some places not knowing how to serve food hot. Tour guides and locals in most cases didn't know anything, I had really bad tooth ache at one point and we spent hours driving around from place to place just trying to find a doctor and it seemed like once again no one knew what was going on in their own country. I don't understand why Bali is so popular, I will never be going back there its just dirty and unorganised.
Oh yeah I can totally to relate to you on these things. I’ve had a few let downs. For me, the biggest two are Paris and Florence.
Paris was just not my cup of tea at all. But I’m willing to give it another change because of certain situations I had the last time I went.
Florence, we went on our honeymoon in 2018. It was beautiful but soooo busy. So many people trying to scam you on the streets, dog poop everywhere... idk maybe we caught it at a bad weekend but I was so let down! And San Francisco. We loved it but didn’t at the same time. I went for my high school graduation and people kind of treated us poorly for being so young and we just spend too much time in one place.
However, these are just opinions. I’d totally give each of these places a second chance and I totally respect people for loving these places too :)
another great video. my biggest travel letdown was visiting Savannah, GA in January, middle of winter. I was so excited to see people dressed up in period clothing, as southern belles, Forrest Gump in the park, ect.....but no. The city seems to close down in winter, so it ended up being myself and my son walking around when it was 20 degrees outside. I wasnt able to book any haunted tours ahead of time, so it felt like the trip was wasted time.
Another huge disappointment was when myself and my family rented a cabin in Blue Ridge, GA.....all the sites i had researched recommended the Blue Ridge Railway. It travels to the next town and has a 2 hour layover so you are able to mosey around and enjoy small town life. They hand you a map so you can see and visit all the shops and cafes around a few block radius. Welp, again, 96% of the town was closed. Apparently the town takes Mondays off, which was not mentioned anywhere from the websites to other traveler reviews. Made the best of the time, but such a huge disappointment. If it had been mentioned anywhere, I would have bought tickets for another day.
Oh well 😋
I would never hope that someone had a bad experience traveling, but it definitely makes me feel better that travel vloggers have negative experiences. It seems like nothing can go wrong but shit happens. Like when you're stranded in JFK and have to get an entirely different plane ticket to get home. ((((: I'm not sure I'll ever get over it. Lol.
My biggest let down was revisiting the NASA Kennedy Space Station in Florida after 10 years. Beside being there for the second time and doing the same activities and taking the same photos, they closed down some parts. In my first visit, we could stand inside a space shuttle, but 10 years later, you could only see the same shuttle from a distance and not even touch it. Let down.
My biggest travel disappointment is not going on the trips I had planned... in my mind. 😉 I’ve done a lot of traveling solo and have had lots of great experiences, and some disappointments. My perspective is that attitude, expectations, weather, people, mishaps, etc can all have a negative effect on our experiences. Btw Nadine, I enjoy your videos. From a fellow Canuck. 🇨🇦
Bali has also been my number one travel let down - we went there for our honeymoon after a gazillion recommendations (it was between Bali and Vietnam) and I think the timing of when we went was very bad as it was when some of the Bali 9 prisoners were being sent to be executed so we had fighter jets flying low over us non-stop, tensions were high as we were Aussies and as were they. We ended up flying back home 4 nights early :(
my biggest travel letdown was back in May 2019 when i was heading to Cabo for a wedding and the people at the post office gave us the wrong passports, so I couldn't get on the plane so we had to wait the next day. Then the next day we missed our 1PM flight but were lucky to get a 6PM flight but then when i arrived in Cabo on the 11th of May 2019 Delta lost our luggage but i was lucky that all my tech was in my bag so that was my travel letdown
For me it was Los Angeles. I visited an old bf a few times and he was a boring host. We ate at IHOP, shopped at regular malls, and played mini golf or sat at his apt. I could've been in any state unless you counted the insane traffic. Santa Monica pier was the only halfway interesting thing. I learned to take charge of my travel itinerary from then on and have always made the most of my trips when I pick a good travel buddy.
Memphis, TN was really weird, felt like a ghost town even in broad daylight, kinda spooky. Graceland, Sun Studios, Civil Rights Museum were cool, but aside from those and the food, not much to recommend. It's worth seeing at least once as a spectacle, but I didn't much care for Vegas, but I kinda expected I wouldn't before I visited. More a place to tick off the list and see what it's like.
Just got back from two weeks in Thailand and my biggest let down was staying in Patong, Phuket for longer than an hour LOL... we stayed 4 nights. Wasn't at all nice or pleasant and getting around to any of the better places of Phuket was such a hassle! Phi Phi was the best part of the trip but really wish we spent the Phuket time in Chang Mai!
If you only have a 2-3 days to spare, I think Rome will be let down . It was essentially a tourist trap. I did not enjoy the Colosseum & Trevi Fountain. The amount of people there was overwhelming, especially in the hot summer!
I went on a solo trip to Scotland and your videos helped me prepare a lot and helped alleviate a lot of fear I had. I'd say the biggest let down was Old Town. It was just the same tourist shops over and over and over and the castle was beautiful but super over crowded. That said it was still gorgeous and I don't for a second regret or take it for granted :)
I realized my travel let downs were the places I was super excited to go to. And my favorite places are the places I was just going to stop in to see just to check them off my list per say.
I visited Bali in 2017 and it was like paradise. I visited Ubud, Jakarta, and Seminyak and they were all amazing
I tend to do research/watch videos etc of places before visiting them, so am seldom really surprised, either negatively or positively. There are few cities I'd say really underwhelmed me, but a few I got bored in after a few days, which rarely happens to me. Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City was one. The novelty of the traffic, activity, markets is cool, but once that wears off I found myself bored on the second day. Got sick of the traffic too, the motorbikes would drive on the footpath and beep at YOU to get out of the way! Lol. There isn't really a lot aside from shopping and eating. I much preferred central and northern Vietnam, places like Hue, Hoi An, Hanoi, Sapa, etc, more charm and character. But that's just my opinion.
I know you don't like talking about the negatives but I enjoyed hearing about your disappointing experiences. It's good to know about the things to keep in mind when you travel and the things maybe you shouldn't spend your money on.
Went to Bali in 2017, beaches in Bali were cleaner than those in Lombok. Litter everywhere. It was crowded, and I was offered no less than a million taxis and massages. It borders on harassment in some places. I agree with your take on Bali but on the other hand, have loved my second visits
Biggest travel let down: Thailand. I spent a month traveling through Thailand, while I had so much fun, There were sooooo many tourist and it was all tourist based. Koh phi phi had beautiful blue waters, walk a little further down the island its full of trash, unbearable amounts of plastic. It was awful.
I went to Bali the summer of 2018, and I loved it. I went to Ubud for a few days, and I was in a smaller city in the northern part of the island called Singaraja. If you go back to Bali, I highly recommend looking at some of the things to do on the northern part of the island, it is definitely less touristy that Ubud and Kuta. There are also some amazing social entrepreneurs that have started organizations that support the eco-life and local people. I high recommend looking into the Bio-Rock company, it will give you an amazing, non-crowded beach that supports rebuilding the coral reefs! East Bali cashew company is also another amazing opportunity that highlights and supports women in local communities in East Bali but providing jobs and child care!
I totally understand what you said about Bali. I was there during the summer of 2017, and Kuta Beach was still highly littered and crowded with people trying to sell things to the tourists. I spent time at the East Bali Immersion Camp in North Bali, and I LOVED it. It's basically a completely eco-friendly camp situated next to a small cashew factory in the mountains, relatively close to the northern coast. I definitely relate to the underwhelming "paradise" in Denpasar and areas like Kuta and Legian, but I had some awesome experiences when I travelled to more remote, culturally rich places!
Been to Bali twice and I love it every time. Though, the beaches are still trashy because garbage washes up all the time. My advice is stay away from Kuta, and meet some locals who will show you the best spots and things to do there.
My biggest travel let down would be L.A. But, every time we've been I had a stomach ulcer. One of those times I spent the night in a super horrible ER. (I'm a budget travel vlogger, so we weren't staying in a "nice" part of town) I guess it's not really L.A.'s fault. But I'm not inclined to go back again, and I don't speak very highly of it, haha.
As an Australian it boggles my mind that people come across the world to come to Bali, spending as much money to get there as it takes us to get to Europe. We go to Bali because it's cheap! That's literally it. It's dirty, tourism has destroyed the culture, you won't find any good Indonesian food and it's OVERRUN by hipster western Vegan cafes/general hipster/backpacker/yoga culture. You will get gastro eventually because rubbish disposal is such an issue. Half the island is owned by Australians and the Balinese see very little of it.
Hi Nadine! I think my biggest letdown was Zanzibar, Tanzania. Was it beautiful? Yes, but unpleasant due to the constant harassment of the locals trying to sell you something. They would literally follow you to try to change your mind. We spent 2 days in Stonetown and visited the main sites. We then went to a resort in Nungwi Beach. There were locals on the beach trying to sell you something. The same locals everyday.
We are glad we went for the cultural experience after our Safari in Kenya, but I wouldn’t recommend for a relaxing beach trip.
I am currently in Bali as I’m watching this, and I must say that it hasn’t changed much from what you described it. There’s lots of places that are “Americanised” like I haven’t been to one real Balinese restaurant and wherever I go there’s many, many people. Although the island itself is beautiful, tourists have ruined it. - Olivia 💕
Always doing something new in a city is key! I've been to Buenos Aires 3 times and never got bored because I did totally different things each time (and paired it with trips elsewhere in Argentina). Same with Paris and New York... you have to resist the temptation to go back to the same spots, and each time I try something new I find I usually love the new discoveries even better than the previous visits.
Well adding onto the Amazon dry season, when is it? I wouldn't know cause it's on the equator so I don't know which months of the year correctly apply so yeah I don't know dry and rainy seasons are.
google it...
I have a couple of travel letdowns. When I was little I went to see Mount Rushmore and couldn't believe how small and far away it was compared to photos I've seen. And last summer I went to Banff and was disappointed with all of the popular spots like Lake Louise.... The views themselves were gorgeous but the crowds were INSANE and we went during a "low season" so I can only imagine what it's like in the high season!
Travel let down: Going on holiday with friends (I was 19- still am) but basically, I planned where to go, and what I wanted to do.... we did nothing.. went back to the hotel everyday at 2 in the afternoon because my friends found it too hot, stayed by the river for a full day, doing absolutely nothing!!
However I did get some nice photos, and I am planning to go back and do what I want to do in the future.
Knew it was going to be a let down right at the airport to leave tbh
I went to Bali last year for a month, it's quite a tourist trap - I avoided Kuta because my mates all told me it's where people drink etc so i went straight to Ubud. It was nice there but again full of shops and locals trying to sell you stuff and rip you off for "tours" do your research on what things should cost! So you can avoid getting scammed! I did feel like a walking wallet whilst in Bali. But the rest of the experience was really amazing seeing so many things like rice terraces and temples etc.
Also the great barrier reef in Australia was a led down - it's mostly dead or bleached sadly - I went in 2016 in Cairns. But if you go on the Whitsundays tours they're far far better.
Hadine you right on target ! I agree with you 100 % ! I have experienced the same things that you described on this video including revisiting places that they were not as fun like they were on the first time.
My biggest letdown was getting into an accident on one of those Bird Scooters. I was going down hill & the brakes stopped working & I broke my pinky & got scraped up everywhere, I couldn’t go surfing, Kayaking or anything hands on the rest of trip!