"Americans of Reddit, what places in America should foreigners avoid at all cost?"
Those Signs Are Not Just Decorations
"If you go to a national park and you disregard the signs, you're going to die."
"It's not a joke."
"Treat buffalo like field puppies?"
"You're going to die."
"Try to pet the brown bear?"
"You're going to die."
"See that moose and want to feed it?"
"You're probably already dead."
"Oh look, a rattlesnake! "
"*dead*"
"Want to swim in Old Faithful?"
"You're going to die painfully and completely dissolve into a soup."
"Sh*t is dangerous here and if you don't respect it you'll be lucky to die quick."- Xanza
"If you’re in a National park, listen to what the caution signs say and don’t venture off of paths."
"One is because of wildlife and the other is because humans don’t need to ruin everything in nature, just to get a photo."
"Also, don’t fall into the Grand Canyon." - Yawheyy
grand canyon arizona GIF by Go USA JpGiphyKnow Your Limits And Be Prepared
"Don’t hike into the wilderness of Colorado (especially 14ers) without knowing wilderness survival and responsibilities."
"Tourists die on our mountains and in Rocky Mountain National Park all the time."
"Do your research!"
"Altitude is no joke."- eyjafjallajokul_
Some Things Are Worth The Added Expense...
"Not American but as a visitor trying to travel on the cheap, I made the mistake of booking a greyhound bus ride."
"There's a reason why it was cheap lol."- toadkarter1993
The Name Should Be A Clue
"Death Valley in the summer especially if you consider yourself a strong hiker, and live in a cooler climate."
"It has that name for a reason."- FabFrench
death valley documentary GIFGiphyOr Even Dip Your Toes...
"The hot springs in yellowstone are not hot tubs do not swim in them."- needs_grammarly
"Steaming Acidic hot springs in Yellowstone."- SuvenPan
Every City Has One...
"Anywhere with a Rainforest Cafe and a Wax Museum on the same street is a tourist trap."- Klytus_Im-Bored
homer simpson episode 13 GIFGiphyMaps Exist For A Reason
"Avoid going to one location thinking another location across the country is a short trip."- Jebediah_Vorbeck
So Much For "Brotherly Love"
"The Kensington area of North Philadelphia."
"Don't."
"Just don't."- amhildreth
Even If You're A Night Owl
"Most of Downtown Los Angeles at night."
"When the streets get quiet and the locals go home, that's your cue to go back to your hotel or a more popular hotspot."- muststayawaketonod·
los angeles city GIF by The Broad MuseumGiphyAracnaphobia!
"Pueblo Colorado."- External-Traffic-916
"F*ck Peublo and its mass Tarantula Migration."- paustulio
Not The Where, But The What
"It's not 'places' as much as 'situations' that you should avoid."
"Depending on where you're from, you'll have some of these instincts, but not others."
"It's not all or nothing."
"But here's some situations I can see happening to a European, as an example."
"Getting stranded in the desert."
"Whether you're hiking without water, or driving too far on a single tank of gas, there's a real risk of being stranded without very immediate help, and no cell reception."
"Underestimating travel time."
"You're not going to see NYC and LA on the same trip."
"They're three time zones apart."
"They are exactly as far apart as London, England and Baku, Azerbaijan."
"You'll either be driving for a week, or flying."
"Even things that seem close, like NYC and DC, are not actually that close."
"It would be about 6 hours of driving or train to get from one to the other."
"Trespassing."
"It is taken VERY seriously here, and you could wind up shot if you are on the wrong person's land."
"We do not have the right to roam."
"And we do have the right to bear arms."
"Some states even have 'castle laws' which considers trespassing to be sufficient reason to shoot someone in 'self defense'."
"Any places people are mentioning are places that Americans wouldn't go to either if they could help it."
"But if I can say one place in particular, it would be Camden, NJ."
"It's just across the river from Philadelphia, and has a couple of tourist draws like the Aquarium or the concert venue, but anywhere that's not those specific places is incredibly unsafe."- pHScale
Season 9 Reaction GIF by The OfficeGiphyLike any country, America has its fair share of underwhelming and unsafe destinations.
Thankfully, most of these places aren't written up in guidebooks, and won't be high on the list of any foreign visitors.
Sadly, guidebooks still might not stop them from shelling out loads of money for very mediocre food at a noisy theme restaurant...
One rock is just like any other
"Plymouth rock Massachusetts."
"Despite all the rage it's still just a rock in a cage."- BodybuilderOk3836.
"Plymouth Rock!"
'I don’t know how famous it really is outside of New England but it’s a rock that marks where the Pilgrims supposedly first landed in Massachusetts."
"It is quite literally just a medium sized rock with '1620' carved in it but every elementary school teacher around Massachusetts at least hypes it up for the class field trip to see a literal rock that is not big, impressive, or really historically relevant."
"Driving an hour on a bus to see this was the most anticlimactic thing and I would not particularly recommend."- alisoninwonderbread
Vegas of the East Coast?
"Atlantic city."
"Monopoly got me good."- mahouko08.
How do you spell that again?
"Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch in Wales."
"Nothing there except an Edinburgh Wollen Mills shop."
"Which is just silly as Edinburgh is nearly 300 miles away.'- Dreddguy.
Hooray for Hollywood...
"Hollywood, it's seedy and disappointing."
"It's full of entire industries (*cough scientology *cough) that take advantage of starry-eyed twits."- Judas_Feast.
"Hollywood Walk of Fame."
"It's a sidewalk and outside of maybe big events where they may clean the ones around where photos may be taken."
"It otherwise is just covered in dirt from people's shoes and some are barely legible because they haven't been cleaned in ages."- CaninseBassus
Los Angeles Hollywood GIF by Party LegendsGiphyWhere the land meets the sea.
"Lands End, UK.'
"Heralded as the 4th most disappointing attraction in the UK."
'It's not even disappointing enough to win an award.'
"I mean the landmark in Cornwall, not a clothing store."
"Deary me."- YellowBernard.
"They say the neon lights are bright..."
"Time Square on New Years Eve."
"Just forget it."
'It has *never* been worth it."- roman_fyseek.
Times Square Ball GIF by New Year's Rockin' EveGiphy"See the Pyramids along the way..."
"Egypt.'
"Its like if phone scams were a materialized location."
"You get there an right away the airport is going to start scamming you, take your electronics away and tell you that you need permits for them (which they will gladly sell you, and then tell you that its the wrong one and have you buy another one)."
"The hotel you stay at will check your bags again like the airport did and again tell you that you need permits or whatever random thing they decide they can get away telling you needs one."
"The police will extort money from you if they think they can."
"Fake police will come up to you and fine you or tell you to follow them to different sites where they will charge you."
"Children will run up to you and ask if you want to ride their camel very aggressively (they will cut you off with their camel and not let you move forward) tell you its free, and then try to charge you insane amounts of money and call their camel pimp over to deal with you if you don't pay."
"If you don't get on the camel they will often even get the camel to attack you."
"It's all pretty wild, its not worth it."- yovalord.
There are few worse feelings than arriving at somewhere you've been dreaming of going all your life, only to find yourself disappointing.
Maybe some places are best visited in our imaginations.
It certainly costs a lot less!
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Redditorzioooo_wanted to get the measuring stick for all of us to make some adjustments.
They asked:
"What's something people don't realize the actual size of until they stand next to it?"
I'm always stunned by buildings. Buildings are always big but then there are BIG buildings.
Water Peeps
"Manta rays. I recently saw one at an aquarium, and I was blown away by the size. I’d always assumed they were about the size of stingrays or so. Nope, those suckers are the size of a small car."
LargestD**kus
Watching Manta Ray GIFGiphyBelow
"Any pit mining equipment. It’s insane!"
Fit-Contribution2527
"My husband used to work at a steel mill and they use a lot of mining equipment like front end loaders and such that are massive but there was one vehicle that looked to be the size of a two story house and I can't remember what it was. The pot carrier is also terrifying because the driver is moving around with a pot of molten steel over the cab."
imnotacrazyperson
gentle giants...
"Giraffes! Worked with them and they are gentle giants but it’s crazy that they’re the size they are. You know they’re big and tall, but then you stand next to one and you’re like... damn, I can walk under through his legs and my head won’t even touch his belly."
You are HUGE!
"A moose."
LollipopThrowAway
"Yes! Omg I was so shocked when I saw one in person the first time. Mostly because it was on a residential road and it startled me. But also because I always pictured them to be like a very large deer or something, but it was closer to the size of an elephant than a deer!"
OffModelCartoon
Stoned
"One of the stones which make up the Great Pyramid of Giza."
myexistentialcrisis0
art loop GIF by Blobby BarackGiphyI wanna see the pyramids so bad. Then climb to the top.
Unexpected
"Wind turbines are bigger than expected when standing next to it. And Mount Rushmore is way smaller than I expected."
PointyWombat
States Selfie GIF by Ethan BarnowskyGiphyDrifting in the Wind
"Round hay bales."
agreatusernameisthis
"I like it when they use white and pink wrapping on hay bales. It looks like giant marshmallows dotted across the countryside."
the_artful_breeder
"When my kids were little, I told them that the round hay bales were mommy hohos. The ones we bought at the grocery store were baby hohos. Dang, now I want a hobo."
Wynterborne
On the Highway
"Highway signs are much larger than you might expect. https://m.imgur.com/a/g6yMU"
Alt_aholic
"Highway lines as well. I live on a rural highway that has two lanes and I have to cross it to get to my mailbox. They are like seven feet long. Also the rumble strips along the side of the road are bigger than my size 12 foot."
dreamnightmare
I've seen plenty of big things...
"The Taj Mahal. I had seen the pictures and I've seen plenty of big things, it's by no means the biggest (I actually saw the Burj Khalifa less than a week before the Taj Mahal). What blows your mind though is the massive scale as it contrasts with the extremely fine detail. I mean it's an absolutely massive building and the detail work is unreal. Really mind bending and the pictures don't do it justice."
Pokoire
Big Men
"An NFL lineman. I literally bumped into Josh Sweat of the Eagles a few years back in a grocery store (felt like hitting a concrete pillar) and I really cannot put into words how freaking huge these people are."
Zhuul
sweating red wings GIFGiphyI always thought traffic lights were suspicious. I'd be afraid if they fell.
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