Nomadic Matt's Travel Site

The Weekly Photo: Royal Botanical Gardens

2010-03-12T00:20:51Z

The Royal Botanical Gardens, Melbourne, Australia

©Nomadic Matt's Travel Site. Learn to have your blog pay for your travels!

This Person is Off to Costa Rica

2010-03-10T14:48:30Z

There were a lot of good applicants for the free trip to Costa Rica. After reading them all, I realized that I really wanted to go to Costa Rica. It’s been years since I went so I picked myself to go. I’m the winner of my own contest. Well, I was for about five minutes before Bruce and the rest of the Gap crew told me that wasn’t in the contest rules and we had to pick one of the contestants. So after some discussion, we picked….

Meggie Weirich.

She was Contestant #2 and made this amazing video as her entry:

How We Picked Meggie
Myself along with Bruce, the CEO of Gap Adventures, Greg Hayes, the marketing manager, Carrie from My Several Worlds, and Craig from Indie Travel Podcast were the voting team. We each picked our top three candidates using the top public voting as a guide.

I figured we would go through several rounds of debating as we would all pick different people and we would have to square our choices with the top voted entries. And we did. We all had different lists. Except for one name- Meggie. Not only was she on every list, she was usually number one or two. Combine that with the fact that she was #2 in the public voting, she had enough points to win. We all agreed that Meggie should go.

Meggie’s application had a lot of what we were looking for: creativity, passion, and humor. We liked how she referenced Gap Adventures environmental policy and sustainability.

Meggie will be going on March 28th and will be blogging her way through her trip. Her website will be up shortly and when it is, I’ll give everyone the URL. We’re letting Meggie pick her own site name!

So Pura Vida Meggie! Have an Imperial beer for us!

©Nomadic Matt's Travel Site. Learn to have your blog pay for your travels!

Is This Really Travel?

2010-03-08T23:45:27Z

For the last three months, I’ve been traveling around Australasia visiting New Zealand, Fiji, and Australia (for the second time). I’ve noticed something interesting- a lot of the travelers I see are young (18-24) gap year kids and most never consider leaving “the beaten track.”

Don’t get me wrong- I am happy to see people traveling. Whether by tour, cruise, car, or foot, taking the first proverbial step is a feat in itself. The very fact someone made the effort is amazing. Not enough people do it.

However, it’s dismaying to see so many of young travelers sticking to the same places. Popular places are popular for a reason and there is nothing wrong with going to them. They are wonderful but when you have nothing but time, you don’t really have an excuse to skip the other places too. The huge majority of gap year travelers always seem to want to stay in the big places and never even try to see something different. Even when I prod them and try to convince them, they seem uninterested.

Take Western Australia for example. Not a lot of backpackers travel there. Almost all the travelers I speak to say they don’t have enough time to fit it in, even if they are spending months in Australia. Many just have no real answer as to why they aren’t going. Yet Western Australia is one of the most beautiful parts of the whole country. Even Aussies say if you want to see the “real” Australia, head west. It’s a lot less developed and incredibly beautiful. However, most travelers I speak too never even consider it. They just stick to the highly touristy and overrated Sydney to Cairns route.

You see this pattern a lot in other places too. In New Zealand, travelers follow the backpacker buses. The hardly ever head out of the major tourist centers. In Fiji, they just go to the Yasawa Islands. In Laos, travelers go tubing, get drunk in Vang Vieng and declare they have seen Laos.

There have always been travelers who just stick to the beaten path. Some people just don’t want to make the effort to find something new- they want to go meet other travelers and get drunk. However, based on the conversations I’ve had with people, this trend seems to be growing. Backpacking seems to have become an “industry” in this part of the world. Everything seems to be geared to doing everything for the traveler. There are special backpacker buses, hostels will pick you up from anywhere, there are special activities, special dinners. Hostels have there own bars to keep you in once place and, overall, it seems to always be about taking the work out of long term travel and make it more like a long holiday.

Backpacking has always been about being independent. I love how you have to figure it all out yourself. You find your way and in the process find out about yourself. In Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji, everything is done for you. I feel like it’s becoming more like a tour that has you stay in hostels. It’s all easy. You just need to show up and your hand is held for you.

Travel is more than just going somewhere. If that was the case than a trip to the movies could be counted as traveling. In my world, travel is about going to destinations to experience new things, people, and places. It’s about gaining insights into new cultures, trying local food, and yes, getting drunk at the local waterhole while locals tell you slang and curse words in their native language.

Travel isn’t simply getting on the greyhound, being dropped at a hostel, then shuffled to a backpacker tour and then a backpacker bar. It’s not about always staying on the beaten path. It’s not always about having your hand held. But the more I see these young travelers simply accept this travel, the more I get discouraged. I hope this idea of long term travel and backpacking doesn’t stick around but I think this trend is only going to continue among young travelers.

Then again, maybe I am just lamenting about an idea that only existed in my head.

Editor’s Note: My goal here was not to disparage people who travel a certain way. As I say here, all travelers are equal. It doesn’t matter how you travel. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t wish people saw something different or lament the fact that backpacking has become more of an industry than an adventure in solo travel. Travel how you want to travel. Just remember popular destinations are great but they aren’t the only thing that exists and most backpackers have the time to see a mix of places.

©Nomadic Matt's Travel Site. Learn to have your blog pay for your travels!

Budgeting in New Zealand

2010-03-03T21:06:30Z

When I went to New Zealand, my goal was to live within a budget. After paying $15 dollars for lunch I knew New Zealand was going to be more expensive than I had originally though. While I work and travel and could afford $15 dollars for lunch, I wanted to live within a budget that would be realistic for travelers who don’t work while they travel.

My original budget was $80 NZD per day. How did I do with that goal? Well, pretty good- I managed to spend $70 NZD per day, $79 NZD if you include the money I lost at the casino.

I came in below my budget but before you congratulate me , there are three reasons why this happened: I stayed with friends for two weeks, Base and Nomads gave me free accommodation, and my bus passes were free.

If it weren’t for these three reasons, I would have spent about $120-140 NZD per day. Why? Because I didn’t cook like I intended and I didn’t drink as little as I hoped I would. I enjoy going to restaurants and eating good meals. I hate cooking in hostels when a million people are bumping into me and no one cleans the dishes. I’m a great cook but I’m very particular about my kitchen.

Despite that, I kept an eye out for costs and prices. Except for fancy meals, I did everything the other travelers did. I lived off groceries for a bit, took advantage of cheap goon and beer, I took the same buses, and overall, tried to get an idea of what New Zealand on a budget would look like, which would be something like this:

Hostel: $27 NZD per night for a 6 bed dorm.
Food: $20-40 NZD per day if you eat out or about $50 per week if you are cooking your food.
Drinking: $5-7 NZD per beer, $7-10 NZD for a mixed drink.
Transportation: $20-40 NZD per trip on the public bus.
Internet: $4 NZD per hour, $15 per day, $150 per month.
Activities: $80-500 NZD.

On a super tight budget, you can expect to spend about $40 NZD per day not counting transportation or activities. Two German girls I knew got by on around $30 NZD per day by Couchsurfing, working on farms in exchange for room and board, and cooking every meal. It is possible to spend very little if you really pick and choose your battles.

However, for most travelers that isn’t realistic. Realistically, you’ll stay in hostels, eat out a few meals, and have a few drinks. A realistic daily budget, including dorm bed, food, drinks, internet, and miscellaneous spending would be about $70 dollars, excluding major activities. Depending on your food and drink needs, you could probably do it around $50 NZD per day if you ate the majority of your meals in.

After that, you’ll spend the rest on activities. A bungy jump is between $100-250, a skydive is $500, the Waitomo glowworm caves are $100-200, Fox Glacier trekking is about $100, and the Tonagriro crossing is $50. AND those are just a few of the many activities you can do. The point: these activities are not cheap and can really add up.

Transportation costs vary depending on whether you take the greyhound, backpacker buses, hitch, or hire a car. Hiring a car is the cheapest way to go and great if you can find a group of people. Backpacker buses can also offer good value.

If you are a person who doesn’t want to WWOOF (farm work) or hitchhike your way across New Zealand, I would say your total daily budget with transportation and activities would be around $110 NZD. That’s assuming, like most travelers, you spend a month or more in the country, letting you spread out the cost of everything. That may seem very high but given that people tend to do a lot of activities here, I think it is the most realistic. Even if you live cheap on $35 NZD per day, a few activities and bus passes will shoot your daily average close to a hundred dollars.

The lesson I walked away from New Zealand with was that despite the favorable currency rate, it is simply not a cheap country. Tourism in NZ is really built around activities- activities that eat through your budget quickly. If you want to do a lot of them but are on a limited budget, you’ll need to pick them carefully or cut drastically in other areas. Food and drink costs here are extremely high but are also the easiest place to save money. New Zealand is a country where the old adage “pack half and take double the money you expect” really hold true.

©Nomadic Matt's Travel Site. Learn to have your blog pay for your travels!

When My Website Was Down…

2010-03-03T04:46:15Z

On Sunday, my website down for about 24 hours. I’m not 100% sure why but, according to my hosting company, there was an issue with the domain name and to the servers it pointed to. I’m still confused about the reason and will soon be switching companies because of what occurred. There is no reason why my domain name should “expire” when I have paid for it for 10 years or when it comes up for renewal it stops pointing to the right place.

How did I find out about this awful incident? While sailing through the Whitsunday islands in Australia, I checked Twitter when I got reception and found myself bombarded with messages alerting me to the problem. I then had to spend all my phone credit calling my hosting company figuring out why they took my site down. After some excuses to cover themselves, my site was back up by the time I hit land again.

Yet this was no way to enjoy a holiday. How could I enjoy the last day of my sailing tour when all I can think about was how I needed to get to land to solve the problem or see when my site would be back up. It’s a buzzkill.

Which brings me back to the age old debate about balancing work and travel. As I mentioned in a previous post, there are many things you can do to try to balance the work load and ensure that neither work nor travel takes up all your time. However, lately, I’ve found that I am having trouble with the balancing act.

Running a travel blog is a lot of work. No matter what the purpose of your website is there are pictures to post, tweets to twitter, blogs to write, and RSS’s to read. Even those who blog as a hobby can spend hours per day maintaining their site.

I don’t blog as a hobby. Nomadic Matt pays my bills- it keeps me on the road, buys my plane tickets, and puts food on my table. Without my website, I have no income and I’d have to return the cubicle. And frankly, I have no desire to do that. When your travel blog is your business there is a lot more work to do than what I mentioned above and, lately, that work has begun to dominate my life.

Over the next two months, I plan to launch two new ebooks, redesign my website, and create a travel guide section that covers backpacking in over 60 destinations around the world. These projects are quite time consuming and lately I’ve found that work or travel suffers when I need to do one or the other.

When my website was down, I learned the invaluable lesson that right now, I can’t do both. I can’t run off everyday and socialize at night while attempting to build my website. I can’t build my website and travel like I want too. I’d love to be out on the beach in Magnetic Island right now but I have work to do. I would have loved to have gone hiking in Queenstown with my friends but I had work to do.

After 7 months of non-stop travel, I need a break and work. I need a solid month to bury my nose in my laptop in order to get these projects done. I had planned on going to Bali for a month to explore Indonesia. Now, Bali will the be perfect place for me to live cheap, eat great food, enjoy a few hours at the beach, and get lots of work done. I’ll take a few day trips here and there but I’m canceling most of my plans to do work.

In truth, blogging is a lot of work and if you plan to turn your blog into a life then you need to find a good work balance. I’ve managed to become good at increasing my productivity while working. I get a lot done and can get rid of my daily list quickly. That’s important. Wasting time on the internet wastes days. Moreover, I’ve managed to dedicate a few days here and there in order to get ahead, because eventually, you’ll get behind again. After 7 months, I’m behind again. Instead of taking a break, I have just let it pile up. When my website was down, I had my wake up call.

Bali here I come- to work!

©Nomadic Matt's Travel Site. Learn to have your blog pay for your travels!

New Zealand’s Backpacker Buses

2010-02-28T15:03:46Z

One of the biggest ways travelers get across New Zealand is by backpacker bus. These buses offer a hop on/hop off service allowing travelers the flexibility to go at their own pace but also the convenience of having travel and activities organized for them. New Zealand has three major hop on/hop off buses: Kiwi Experience, Magic Bus, and Stray. I tried the Kiwi Experience and the Stray bus.

Kiwi Experience

The Kiwi Experience is the biggest and most popular backpacker bus in New Zealand. The bus mainly attracts young gap year travelers. Nine times out of ten I was usually the oldest traveler on the bus. I say it’s about 50% 18-22 year olds, 40% 23-27 year olds, and 10% 27+.

What I liked: The Kiwi Experience goes out the way to make sure everyone socializes and gets to know each other. The drivers play a lot of games, icebreakers, and there are group dinners at most of the hostels. Most of the group ends up sticking together making it a good way to find travel partners. Additionally, the Kiwi Experience gets you discounts on most attractions, activities, and hostels.

What didn’t I like: Size. The buses seat around 55 people and when they are full, they get a little bit clicky. Little groups form and in the end it feels like a Contiki Tour. I had more fun when the bus was less full and you could get to know people better. During the busy season, the bus is pretty much always full. Moreover, I wished the bus didn’t make so many little side stops. While it’s sometimes nice to see something different, by the 9th or 10th stop, most of the people are simply like “can we get to the destination already?”

Who’s it for: If you are 25 or younger or just looking for a party, this bus is for you. It’s predominately filled with young people who want to have a good time. Out of all the buses I took, I only saw one couple- most formed on the bus. Moreover, if you aren’t looking to get off the beaten track and just want to see the highlights of New Zealand, this bus is also for you. They’ll drop you of at all the main destinations.

Stray Travel

Stray is new and their goal is to “take you off the beaten path.” While they hit all the major destinations the Kiwi Experience does, they also take you to a few different ones. I was really happy that they take you right into Abel Tasman National Park for two days instead of just dropping you off in Nelson.

What I liked: Stray has smaller buses providing a more intimate setting and making it easier to meet people. While there are many gap year travelers on the bus, Stray tries to pick up more older independent travelers. On my buses I saw a lot more couples and people generally less interested in getting drunk every night. They went out but it wasn’t the only thing they were interested in. Stray seems to have a better balance than the Kiwi Experience when it comes to this.

What I didn’t like: The bus drivers I had didn’t play as many games or have as many icebreakers making it a bit awkward when you first step on the bus alone and aren’t an extrovert. Moreover, compared to the Kiwi Experience, the buses weren’t as comfortable.

Who’s it for: Stray, unlike Kiwi, goes both ways. You can defiantly find a party bus full of gap years kids, but unlike Kiwi, you are more likely to find travelers more interested in seeing something other than the bar. If you aren’t really looking to party a lot or want to spend time with more mature travelers, Stray is for you.

Overall, I liked the Kiwi Experience better. But then again I tend to enjoy a livelier atmosphere while I travel. I spend a lot of time online doing work so I am usually ready to cut loose by nightfall. The Kiwi Experience is definitely the place to do that. I thought Stray does a great job and I would recommend them to people looking to do one of these buses but not be surrounded by young travelers. But no matter what bus you choose, do not buy your ticket before you get to New Zealand. You will get better deals and discounts if you purchase your ticket from a hostel or travel agent inside the country. Many of the people I traveled with learned that lesson the hard way.

(Disclaimer: Both the Kiwi Experience and Stray Travel gave me a free bus pass.)

©Nomadic Matt's Travel Site. Learn to have your blog pay for your travels!

The Weekly Photo: Bordeaux, France

2010-02-27T09:27:55Z

A beautiful winery in Bordeaux, France

©Nomadic Matt's Travel Site. Learn to have your blog pay for your travels!

Great Places to Teach English

2010-02-24T22:35:20Z

Every year thousands of people leave their home to travel and teach English overseas. They go to experience a new culture, work overseas, put off getting a “real” job, and earn lots of money doing it. Sometimes they are just backpackers who ran out of money and are looking for an easy job that can get them back on the road quick. Whatever your reason is, here are many places around the world to teach English. If you are looking for a place to go, here are the top ten places to teach English overseas:

Korea – Korea is one of the best, if not the best, places to go teach English. Jobs are abundant, the pay is great, and you get awesome benefits such as a completion bonus, free housing, and airfare reimbursement. A lot of recent college graduates are attracted to teaching here because of the money and the benefits. Korean culture is a hard culture to get into but the country is filled with a lot of young people making it a great place for those looking to work overseas, make money, and have a lot of fun doing it.

Japan – Japan’s great culture and food as well as its reputation for good jobs means it also attracts a lot of people looking to teach. Though the fat years of teaching in Japan are over, people willing to stay at least a year can earn a lot of money. You don’t get as many perks as you might in Korea but teaching here is still an amazing experience. The cost of living can eat up a lot of your salary, especially if you live in Tokyo, but the amazing culture more than makes up for it. No one ever walks away disappointed.

The Middle East – The Middle East lures many teachers in for one reason: the salary packages. There isn’t much to do in this part of the world and some of the societies can be very restrictive but Middle Eastern countries offer incredibly large salaries, lots of benefits, and no taxes. A teacher here can walk away with around $50,000. However, this is no place for the recent college graduate. Countries here want certified and experienced teachers. No teaching degree means no job. Most of the teachers here are older, more settled, and have families. You don’t move here for a wild and crazy adventure but you’ll get live in a very unique part of the world and make a lot of money doing it.

Thailand – Thailand attracts lots of young people and new teachers with its cheap cost of living, great weather, tropical beaches, and party atmosphere. Most of the language school teachers are ex-travelers looking to save for future travels. Or travelers who thought they were doing that and ended up never leaving after marrying a Thai or just falling in love with the country. The pay in Thailand isn’t great. Unless you teach right in Bangkok or at an international school, you won’t earn much money but people don’t come here for the money. They come here for the atmosphere, the nightlife, the beaches, and the destination. Thailand won’t make you rich but no one ever walks away wishing they never came or without a massive hangover.

China – China is the rising star of the ESL world. Its continued rise on the world stage keeps attracting more and more interested people looking to figure out what the middle kingdom is all about. Jobs here can be very hit or miss. In the countryside and, at most schools, you’ll only get paid a small amount. However, in places like Beijing and Shanghai, you can find excellent paying jobs, especially if you have experience or teach business. But the money isn’t why you should come here- it’s the absolute cultural shock you’ll experience. China is the brave new world and there’s nothing like it on Earth.

Mexico – Mexico is a popular destination for Americans. It’s close, it’s not that “foreign” and it’s warm. Most of the jobs can be found in Mexico City where Mexico’s upper class hires teachers for their students. However, you can also find small language schools and government schools that hire teachers. Riches won’t be found here but if you are interested in Latin American culture, friendly people, mouth watering food, and feisty approach to life, Mexico is where it is at.

Central Asia – Central Asia is one of those places you hear very little about and know about even less. That makes it one of the most exotic places to teach English. Forget about money and benefits- you get none. Coming here is all about stepping into the past and exploring one of the most rustic and friendly areas on Earth. No matter what country you pick in the region, you’ll be stepping into a world devoid of most modern conveniences, which isn’t necessarily bad thing.

Prague – Teaching jobs in Europe are hard to get. EU visa rules make it difficult to just pick up, fly over, and find a job. Luckily, Prague doesn’t have all those complications. You can find a lot of ESL jobs at language schools. Again, forget about pay- you won’t make money like you do in Asia or the Middle East. But you are in Prague and a stone’s throw away from everywhere in Europe. Prague is a hip city with an outgoing and lively population. You’ll never be bored and if you are, you’re doing something wrong.

Argentina – Argentina is where most ESL teachers go to find work and in particular Buenos Aires. Famous for wine, beef, and beautiful women, Argentina lures native speakers looking to experience that fiery South American culture in a “not as dangerous as Brazil” way. If salsa dancing, good beef, wine, and a culture that places heavy value on siestas is your idea of a good time, then Argentina is where you want to teach.

Teaching English was a very rewarding experience for me. Even though it wasn’t always the most glamorous work, I had a lot of fun teaching overseas. While there is an opportunity to teach wherever English isn’t the native language, these ten destinations draw the biggest crowds, pay the best, or offer the best perks.

Vote and Send Someone to Costa Rica

2010-02-26T01:50:29Z

I finally went through all the applicants for the two week free trip to Costa Rica from Gap Adventures and I. To be honest, I thought I would get more. I only got 42. Apparently, people don’t really like free trips, even when you include airfare. While that’s disappointing, it gives the applicants a better chance at winning. As mentioned on the information page, there’s a public voting section for this contest. Originally, I had planned to select the top 50 but I had planned to get more than 50 entries, so rather than voting on everyone, here are the top 15 applicants. You can choose your favorite by checking off the poll at the bottom of the page.

Contestant #1- Meggie Weirich

Contestant #2- Gina Morra
Gina wrote an interesting blog as to why she should go to Costa Rica.

Contestant #3- Chris Richardson
Chris wants to go to Costa Rica and push the limits.

Contestant #4- Pamela MacNaughtan
Pam wants to go to Costa Rica and become a better photographer.

Contestant #5- Catherine Best
Catherine hopes to not get naked this time in Central America.

Contestant #6- Joshua Johnson

Contestant #7- Shawna O’Flaherty
Shawna wrote a pretty funny post involving a monkey as to why she should go to Costa Rica.

Contestant #8- Wes Nations
Wes explains why he is the wrong candidate for this trip, which he claims makes him the perfect candidate.

Contestant #9- Rob Blasko
Rob’s feet explain why they need exercise in Costa Rica.

Contestant #10- Darren Alff

Contestant #11- Chris Christensen
Chris made an interesting video about why he needs to go to Costa Rica.

Contestant #12- Keith Savage
Keith is looking for a new path.

Contestant #13- Anthony
Anthony the Travel Tart wrote a poem as to why he needs to see Costa Rica.

Contestant #14- Allison Carlton
Allison wants to go to Costa Rica to get a better understand of the world and the people who live south of the border.

Contestant #15- Kate Bowen
Kate wants to go to Costa Rica to get a tan, experience culture, and because she hates resort travel.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Voting will go until March 1st. A winner will be picked sometime before March 10th. We’ll be factoring in the number of votes you get here was well as creativity, style, personality, and story. Important note: If you are suspected of voting fraud (I’ll be checking for bots), you will be disqualified from this contest.

The Saturday Cities I Don’t Like

2010-02-20T12:52:29Z

Back in 2008, I wrote about some of the cities in the world I didn’t like. Since then I’ve been to a lot more places in the world. I liked about 99% of them. But, you can’t like everywhere. While I always try to look for the good in place and be fair my judgment, sometimes I just dislike a place. Places like these:

Auckland

Auckland isn’t a bad city. It’s just boring. Sure, it might be different if you live here or have a car but Auckland lacks a soul. It’s a sprawling city of buildings and suburbs where business gets done. It has very little character. It’s a nice place to spend a day but I’ll take Wellington or Queenstown over it any day.

Athens

Crowded, polluted, ugly, and prone to riots, I have no love for Athens. It’s just awful. Even my Athenian friends don’t like it. There is trash everywhere. It smells. And the Greeks could take a few lessons from the Italians on preserving ruins, which isn’t saying much since the Italians do a pretty bad job as it is. I just have nothing nice to say about Athens.

Berlin

I know- how can I not like Berlin right? I don’t hate Berlin but it doesn’t do anything special for me. I prefer Munich to Berlin. Berlin is too industrial. I’ll probably go back one day but I am no rush. A turtle will probably get there quicker than I will. After hearing so much about the city, I was extremely disappointed at how mediocre it was. I did enjoy it’s nightlife though. I bit too much.

Los Angeles

This sprawling megacity is polluted and filled with wannabe actors. After a few sights, there’s not much here. Los Angeles is a love it or hate it city and I hate it. I can’t love a city where with so little public transport, wannabee actors, vain rich people, and people who only care about looks and botox. The place is vapid and disingenuous. I’ll pass and head to San Francisco.

Phuket

People love Phuket and I won’t deny that on this large island there is more to it than Patong beach. But Phuket is the capital of Thailand’s island tourism and as such it is expensive and over developed. There are a million other islands in Thailand that are far more beautiful, pristine, and lack sex tourists. Give me Ko Taruatao in the south any day.

Siem Reap

Boring and overly built for tourists, the only good thing about Siem Reap is that Angkor Wat is right there. I find Siem Reap a city that exists only to serve Angkor Wat and as such, a city not worth spending time in. It lacks life. I loved Phnom Penh a lot more and would rather lose myself there.

Belize City

No one stays in Belize City. People fly in and then get the first bus to anywhere but there. The city is ugly, dirty, and crime stricken. It’s one of the few places in the world I felt unsafe in…during the day. I would love to go back to Belize but I’ll never stay in Belize City.

The world is a big place and just like you don’t like all the people you meet, you don’t always like the places you go. Sometimes a place just rubs you the wrong way. I try to look for the best in every city but sometimes, there’s nothing I like. However, considering all the places I have been in the world, I think disliking so few is pretty impressive.