Top 5 Travel Destinations to Avoid (And Why You Should!) Pt. 5
Get ready for a whirlwind ride as we dive into the top five travel destinations you might want to avoid, as discussed by our hosts Forrest Kelly and James Hammond. The episode kicks off with a critical look at Bali, where the influx of digital nomads has altered the local culture and inflated prices, making it a less desirable stop for inexperienced travelers. James shares his insights on navigating the overwhelming landscape of India, advocating for seasoned explorers to tackle its complex reality rather than first-time visitors. The conversation takes an intriguing turn as they point out the hidden dangers in London, highlighting a rise in street crime that could spoil your adventure. Finally, James wraps up the list with a surprising take on Cyprus, revealing his personal disappointment with the destination compared to its Mediterranean neighbors. Tune in for a light-hearted yet informative discussion that blends travel wisdom with a hefty dose of humor!
Takeaways:
- Bali is often portrayed as a paradise, but it suffers from overcrowding by digital nomads.
- Traveling to India can be overwhelming for first-time travelers due to its stark contrasts.
- Caliente, a border town in Chile, is deemed unsafe and should be avoided.
- London's rising crime rates make it a less appealing destination for tourists nowadays.
- Cyprus may disappoint travelers seeking idyllic beaches and culinary experiences compared to Greece or Turkey.
- Be cautious and well-prepared when visiting popular destinations to enhance your travel experience.
Transcript
Pack your bags, let's take a ride. 5 minutes fly and we'll explore the wide with Forrest Kelly, it's travel time. It's the best five minute travel podcast. Let's go.
Forrest Kelly:I was a little hesitant about the top five places to avoid, but you jumped right in on that. Places to avoid.
And I say avoid just because if in, because of different circumstances, money, travel, if you're not experienced traveler, you may be overwhelmed or whatever, but maybe you got a top five list of places that a person might want to avoid.
James Hammond:Yeah, I can rattle off five easy.
Forrest Kelly:Okay. All right, let her rip, James.
James Hammond:Number one, there's a place I don't like and it's Bali. So I think Bali gets a really nice idyllic paradise look in the media.
But actually in real life it's been absolutely destroyed by digital nomads and the local culture is really suffering from basically Westerners moving in and jumping up prices. So.
Forrest Kelly:And that's, that's B A L I. Right? We call it Bali. Ok. And it's been destroyed by you said who? Nomads.
Forrest Kelly:Digital nomads. Yeah, yeah. Who are they?
The crowd who work remotely on laptops but have chosen Bali because it's cheap, but because of that, they've made it really expensive for local people and it's a big hot topic right now of how sustainable that's going to be for local population. I don't think the local population are getting much out of it. It's a problem.
James Hammond:The top of the list to avoid would be Bali. And then what are, what's the rest of the list look like?
James Hammond:Yeah.
So I know this can be normally like places you really don't like, but I'm actually going to go with not slight that angle, but maybe if your first time traveling. So if you're looking to go to Asia as a continent is huge. I would not actually go to India for the first time because it's super overwhelming.
So I actually do really like the like place.
But I would go to India as an experienced traveler, not as a first timer because you're going to see a serious amount of poverty, a lot of poor people and this really weird disparity between the rich and poor Indians. There's almost like not really an in between. It's like you're one or the other. But it all coincide together literally street to street.
So it's quite a strange and intense country to experience if you're not an experienced traveler. So I would 100% go there, but not until you travel to other parts Of Asia.
Forrest Kelly:Okay. Alrighty. Next.
James Hammond:Okay. And there's a place in Chile which is an absolute hole. It's called Caliente. It's a border town. And I would 100 avoid this place.
It's a bit sketchy, it's not very safe. And if you can get across the. During the day, even better. Unfortunately, I had to stay there. So Caliente in Chile is an absolute dive.
Forrest Kelly:It's not so hot to travel.
Forrest Kelly:Yeah, There you go. Yeah.
Forrest Kelly:Okay. That's just funny that there's a city named Caliente in Chile. They go together. I mean, the pepper. All right, so that's three. What's number four?
And five?
James Hammond:Okay. This might start getting to the controversial stage, I imagine.
Forrest Kelly:Love it.
Forrest Kelly:Okay.
Forrest Kelly:Love it.
James Hammond:Go for it. Okay. Number four is going to be London.
Forrest Kelly:Whoa. Right in your neck of the woods. So. Okay. And so you got everybody's attention now. Why?
James Hammond:Because I don't see an appeal for a start, but I would say as someone used to live there, even in central London, it's really unsafe. It's got a lot of problems.
And I think you need to be really careful there, especially at night in central London, because I think there's just a lot of things going on right now which are not going to be great. So people nicking your phones, people charging you at knife point, whatever it is. I just think it's not worth it.
Forrest Kelly:And you're not talking about your relatives, right?
James Hammond:No, I'm not.
Forrest Kelly:You said, nick, your phone. I've never heard that term. What does that mean?
James Hammond:I don't know if you heard about this, but there's like this little gangs on bikes just biking around central London during the day and at night, just people on their phones, right? On their smartphone, just, I don't know, reading WhatsApp or whatever in seconds, and you can't catch them.
Forrest Kelly:Oh, okay.
James Hammond:It's a huge problem.
Forrest Kelly:And they call it now Nick. Where does that. Where does that come from?
James Hammond:Oh, yeah, I guess. Yeah. Is that an English term?
Forrest Kelly:Yeah, yeah. I mean, there's Saint Nick, obviously. And then you. If you scratch your phone or something, you. You get a nick in it. But number five.
James Hammond:Okay. Last but not least, I'm probably gonna go to Cyprus and probably Lanica in Cyprus.
Just Cyprus was actually, as a whole, was a bit of a disappointment for me, apart from seeing someone who there, who I know there, who's never a podcaster. But I really didn't like it and I thought it was going to be more, I don't know, idyllic. Than it was.
If you're thinking beach, great food, I don't know, great weather. It's quite good there. I'd go to Greece or Turkey, but not Cyprus. So maybe Cyprus is a whole world, actually. Is that controversial?
Forrest Kelly:Okay. No, I don't think so. I think people can relate on that. Perfect. Okay, at least.
Forrest Kelly:Touchdown and landed. The episode's done. With five quick minutes of travel and fun.
Forrest Kelly:This is your Captain speaking. We have Touch down that completes this episode.
Forrest Kelly:Join Forrest Kelly for the next big show, The Best 5 Minute Travel Podcast. Let's go.
