As many wonderful destinations there are to visit around the globe, there are plenty to be avoided.
Top of my list is anywhere with too much nature.
I'm not camping or white water rafting.
And you can keep that zipline madness for crazy people.
Also, why swim in shark-infested waters?
This is my list, but Reddit had a lot of other ideas to throw into the mix to nix.
Redditor Sweet_Polly1 wanted to compare notes on travel plans, so they asked everyone:
"What country would you never visit?"
My motto? Stay at home. Watch Buffy. Sunnydale is safer than the tropics and they've got a hellmouth.
A Failed State
"Somalia."
IchBinDurstig
"Don't let Somalia stop your from visiting Somaliland. It's an independent country just beside Somalia. Not recognized by UN. But it is safe to visit. It is so safe people leave their money in the open and no one even thinks of stealing it."
mtahsin1246
"I was trying to think of the worst country to visit and I'm not sure I could endorse than this one."
"Afghanistan right now might be a bad idea too."
somedoofyouwontlike
"When we learned about 'failed states' in AP Government, Somolia was the example they always use. Essentially one of the closest examples to anarchy that we have."
10ioio
Chaos
"I follow a lot of travel groups, and whenever someone asks for the worst travel experience, an overwhelming amount of people always say Egypt."
MacaroniPoodle
"One Youtuber said they seemed so paranoid and disorganized in Egypt. They confiscated his drone, but he had to instruct them to make some sort of receipt system so he'd have a way to get it back."
"They were just putting it in a plastic bag, with no sticker or marking, or anything. Nobody knew the rules, if there were any. He had been to a lot of African and other countries, and never had such a disorganized and hostile time entering a country."
Cantgoavay
Danger
"Haiti."
JKL555666
"Having watched all 6 parts of this series on YouTube, I can confidently say it is one of the single most eye-opening series I have ever seen, and I have tremendous respect for the wonderful people in Haiti who don't let the situation drag them down."
"Having said that, I will also likely never visit Haiti, which really is too bad."
"Nearly every video involves the host nearly getting kidnapped, killed, or shaken down and if it wasn't for his top-tier fixer, he would likely not have made it."
Lothar_Ecklord
"The Haitian revolution was insane. It's disgusting that the country was absolutely bludgeoned with having to pay reparations to France for 'taking their slaves away.' If I recall correctly they were paying until pretty recently."
Firemage007
The goal is money...
"North Korea."
insertrudename
"You shouldn't visit even if you were NOT American."
"North Korea on paper is a country, but in reality it is a criminal organization. The goal is money. All of this other weird s**t like wacky rules and nukes is just to keep people in line and nations on their toes. The goal is money for the top people."
"Visiting North Korea helps them achieve these goals. You perpetuate human suffering for these 'fringe' trips."
bromosa_mimosa
Cool Down
Cool Down Season 2 GIF by FriendsGiphy"All countries in the tropics, they are too hot for my Scandinavian genes."
Karakoima
"Summers are more enjoyable north of the Arctic circle anyway. At least if you can sleep with the lights on, because the sun never sets."
Lawsoffire
Yeah, the heat in Florida is hot enough. Them tropics are crazy hot.
Not There
"Saudi Arabia."
TailsxCream4Eva
"Saudi, UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain are on the Absolutely No list for me. Oman is the only country on the Arabian peninsula I would go to. I would like to go to Yemen too, but its currently an active war zone so that's not going to be an option anytime soon."
lal0cur4
"Anywhere you can go to prison and/or be tortured for being LGBTQ+ is going to be a no for me. That’s most of the Middle East."
drmanhattannfriends
Normal Life?
"Really surprised that Papua New Guinea hasn’t made the list. It’s not Somalia but it’s not far off either."
"A friend worked there briefly and spent the whole time in a heavily guarded gated complex (home), heavily guarded gated compound (work), or being escorted by armed guard in an armoured vehicle. He had to go through a number of debriefing sessions to adjust to the freedoms of normal life when he got back."
"That’s a big no thanks from me."
neinlights90210
Mixed Reactions
"I follow some travel subs and India and Egypt often come up as not worth it at all."
CDawgbmmrgr2
"Been to India twice. Easily one of the most amazing places I've been to and I've traveled quite a bit..amazing culture, lovely people, good food, easy travel etc. Yes you can get ripped off but it is not ever much. Traveling as a single woman would have complications though."
iforkedthelaw
"My answer is immediately India. Tons of people, any picture I've ever seen just screams you're coming home with a disease or parasite, not much I care to see, and no beef? Yep you'd have to pay me to visit it."
SpookyghostL34T
Hell on Earth
"Mauritania still has slavery. And locusts. All that oceanfront property and it still looks like hell on Earth."
knockatize
"I've been to Mauritania, Nouckachott is probably the worst thing about the country unless you venture out to the less built areas. They do have some nice vast beaches especially close to the airport and the desert is fascinating, but what's mostly sad is that even if you drive for a few miles away from the populated areas you're still bound to see rubbish and litter all over the place."
Barbygurl
Wherever...
Give Up GIF by TLC EuropeGiphy"In today's world? A whole bunch. Even if I wore the local garb and had male escorts I would not feel safe and I would not enjoy my time surrounded by animals who only see me as a sex toy."
"As much as I would LOVE to see what these areas hold, war torn countries, violent countries, places with large cartel presence, countries with a lot of corruption, countries who aren't exactly friends with my country. I love traveling and I love exploring but I also love being whole and alive."
100LittleButterflies
The world is a scary place.
I'm staying home... and if I do travel, I will be consulting tons of guidebooks and first-hand accounts. it seems you can never be too careful.
Well, which destinations would you add to this list? Let us know in the comments below.
Texas is HUGE!
Literally, it's massive. That might be why the tagline is about everything being big. Oh the metaphors of life.
Next to size is heat. Lord is it hot there.
Those are just a few of the regular Texas deets that often come to mind.
What else do others think of?
Redditor Common-Transition973 wanted to compare notes on everyone's thoughts about the Lonestar state.
They asked:
"Non Texans , what are your thoughts when you hear 'Texas?'"
I've been to Texas once. Austin. It was cute.
Shaped
"Literally just the shape of the state itself as seen from a map or something."
BirbMaster1998
All Love Baby
"I’ve been through Texas a few times and the thing that stood out to me was how much people in Texas love talking about how much they love Texas. I had a beer at the Dallas airport when I was waiting for a friends plane and it was a Budweiser bottle but instead of Budweiser the label said Texas on it."
"Diners would serve Texas shaped pancakes. Every gas station had a section for Texas swag- everything from tee shirts to shot glasses to hats to magnets and other Knick knacks."
Giphy"I’ve always found New Yorkers to be obnoxious with how much they talk about how much better they are than everyone else, but Texas is actually on another level. So, I guess when I think of Texas, I think of a bunch of people yelling 'I f**kin' love Texas'."
duh_metrius
BBQ
"Barbecue, don’t get me wrong we’ve got it here in the UK but it’s nothing like what I’ve seen from across the pond. Burnt ends, beef ribs, smoked brisket. I’ve only ever seen it on YouTube and I envy those of you who have tasted it."
LWA7299
"Honestly when I went to Texas and tried the bbq, at both that big well known place and a 'mom and pop' place that my airbnb hosts said was the best in the city. It was... Good. Like it was tasty and all, but just they way people talk about it like its some kind of religious experience or that it's just so different and unlike bbq in other countries, but it wasn't. Its still just meat + dry rub + sauce and I've had comparable bbq in London."
GDPR_Violation
No Skittles
"My Texas is essentially one of those m&m characters. I picture him with those big oval eyes and white limbs. The color of this Texas-shaped m&m is 'American flag.' He’s got a cowboy hat, a piece of wheat sticking out of his mouth, and a perfectly groomed mustache. He’s just walking around in his cowboy boots with his Ak-47 in tow. He vehemently hates the skittles."
comradekitty__
Complete Crazy
"In my native Norwegian the term 'complete Texas' means chaos or out of control."
Algorithmix9
Panic Omg GIFGiphyTexas means so much in so many ways.
Perfection
"Cadillacs with giant horns on the front driven by old men in white suits with big white cowboy hats and superbly trimmed mustaches."
Spare-Cap-3152
season 6 welcome to austin GIF by PortlandiaGiphy'gone Texas'
"In my company (in a country on the opposite side of the planet from Texas), 'gone Texas' is a term used to describe a software program that has frozen up to the point where even Task Manager can't abort it. Otherwise we don't think about it very much, except perhaps with mild horror."
NinaCulotta
Taglines
"Heavyset white people with guns and large cowboy hats yelling 'DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS!'"
OhEeAyTaleSpin88
"My favorite part of 'Don’t mess with Texas’ is that comes across as this slogan about how tough and bada** Texans are, but in reality it was an effective anti-littering campaign from the department of transportation."
Extremists
"Militant Evangelicals."
skootch_ginalola
"Man, as a Muslim in a secular country, is always a ride seeing posts about republicans go on about something something shariah law, something something freedom, something Obama... And then two posts later, there's a r/nottheonion post about Texas basically being white Taliban."
Deadpotatoz
Well there is still a lot of good in Texas. You just have to dig deep.
Democrats and Republicans are as different as day and night (or donkeys and elephants).
They have different views on big issues, from education to foreign affairs. Have you ever seen a political debate in which one candidate declares that they agree with the other? You'd be hard-pressed to!
However, there are certain things that Democrats and Republicans do agree on, from their views on voters to their views on their careers.
Curious about what those things may be, Redditor Reddit807 asked:
"What's something Democrats and Republicans 100% agree on?"
Poor Opinion Of Voters
"Voters are something to be exploited and not individual human beings with rights and needs."
– sans-forme
"That voters are stupid and have short memories"
– dpalmer4444
Not Politics, But Still Agreement
"Warm brownies with cold ice cream is delicious"
– eschuylerhamilton
"Caillou sucks"
– Ivor79
"Pineapple does not belong on pizza"
– UN_Weapons_inspector
"And Betty White RIP"
– Americium_Yttrium
Pick Me...Again!
"They should be re-elected"
– DrChefAstronaut
Two Parties Are Enough
"That they dont want a 3rd party to break up their monopoly."
– Urbanredneck2
"no 3rd party will be allowed the means to compete"
– Pepe_Frogger
Changing Timings
"Eliminating Daylight savings time. Passed the Senate unanimously and awaiting a House vote and Biden signature. It's not much, but we'll take a win where we can."
– AldoRaineClone
"Getting rid of daylight savings time"
– badger7477
"Technically they're eliminating standard time and making daylight savings time permanent"
– icecoaster1319
Equal Enemies
"The other side is evil and wants to ruin the country"
– gentlemancaller2000
"That the other side is wrong."
– Deleted User
Irresponsibility
"Lying and empty promises are the best policy."
– SqueakinSqueakers
Money, Money, Money
"Both sides love money and doing whatever they can to get more of it from their respective donors (only constituents that matter). Both sides will do anything to keep those spots and keep getting rich as hell off less than 200k/year."
– unknown1310P1
What The Problems Are
"Everyone agrees on 95% of WHAT the problems are."
"The problem is that no one wants to compromise on their solution and/or their solution is so f**ked up that compromise is impossible."
– SpaceBoJangles
Forever And Ever
"Term limits"
– SophisticatedPickle
"Neither side wants term limits for the House and Congress, but I think most Americans want them."
– Yayhoo0978
I guess anyone can find common ground, even if it's not exactly good common ground.
While it is important to know what each party believes and what they agree on, it's equally, if not more important, what you believe. After all, you're the one doing the voting!
Mount Rushmore, located in the Black Hills of South Dakota, features the carved heads of four of our most famous presidents. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln, respectively. Completion of the project finished in 1941 and since then the term, "Mt. Rushmore," can be used in any event to describe the four best people you know. "Who's on your Mt. Rushmore of NBA players?" and the like.
While the construction and occupation of the mountain lives in controversy as the Black Hills are owned by the Lakota people, technically, to this day, a fun game to play would be what honorable non-Presidential American deserves to go on there.
One Reddit user wanted to know who is worth enough to be carved into a mountain when they asked:
"You get to add another American to Mt Rushmore but it can’t be a president. Who do you choose?"
It's the internet, after all. Let's get the "Goofy But Worth A Shot" nominees out of the way first. After all, some of these candidates we can't even see.
Wa Ba Doo, Doo, Doo, Doo, Doo
"There is already a non-president on Mt. Rushmore."
"John Cena."
zoqfotpik
"John Cena? Wtf? But I don’t see—"
"Dammit. Take my upvote."
User Deleted
Makes Total Sense, Until You Think About It
"How is Nicholas cage not here yet."
deus_vult_34
"He stole the declaration of independence"
King_DeandDe
"He's buried under the mountain in a treasure vault that collapsed in on him when he discovered it. There was a documentary about the incident that came out in 2007."
Hologram22
Why Be Stingy? Put Both Versions Up.
"Weird Al."
OntarioLakeside
"Seconding Weird Al."
"One question: with or without mustache?"
MsDucky42
"With. And the UHF era tight curl."
"It’s only right."
Eternaltuesday
Thank You For Being A Friend
"BETTY WHITE"
momogirl200
"Redo it, Mt. Golden Girls"
WhoHayes
The thing about Mt. Rushmore, and it's legacy, is we should be transforming it into something positive to help ease the troubled history it has. Make it a true testament to the American who helped shape us or shaped a generation.
It's A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood
"Mr Rogers"
PitchforkJoe
"He specifically asked that there not be any statues to honor him. So I doubt he'd appreciate this. It's why I vote Bob Ross instead."
photoguy423
We're So Much More Than War And Death
"Mark Twain. The quintessential American writer."
"We always put up statues of military and politicians across this country. It would be nice to see more of our creative side get honored. Put up Poe on the mountain. Attract goths to the site."
inksmudgedhands
"That’s a damn good point."
"I’m an American who emigrated to France a long time ago."
"Just about every city in France has a street named after De Gaulle but also one named after Victor Hugo, the writer. Before the Euro, French franc notes had authors, scientists, painters, composers, etc in addition of course to war heroes and presidents."
"It would be great if we honored them in the US, too."
amerkanische_Frosch
What Do People Outside Of The Country Think?
"Im European and I would put Conan O'Brien on it. He has made me laugh for 20 years. I dont glorify celebrities usually but damm does he deserve it."
Prixm
And then there's these, people who have done beyond anything we could conceive to help advance the moral fabric of America that maybe we should consider carving another entire "Rushmore."
Somewhere else, obviously.
Yay, Vaccines
"Dr. Jonas Salk. Saved us all from polio"
Barefoot_Alvin
"He would represent American science and innovation. I like it."
WellWellWellthennow
"I do love me some Jonas Salk but then you have to get into the whole Sabin vs. Salk thing so I'd favorite Maurice Hilleman instead. 40 vaccines, this guy developed. 40."
"Late edit to add: Sabin and Salk were rivals who both developed excellent polio vaccines I mean. Salk finished first and ran massive trails in the US but Sabin developed the oral vaccine and run massive trials in the Soviet Union. They both were characters who did good science."
gonegonegoneaway211
The Obvious Choice
"MLK"
carlsquidy
"Not sure if you're aware but there's a pretty cool MLK monument in Washington, DC. If you're ever in the area, it's worth checking out."
GenghisTron17
"I came here to write a smart argument, but you came out of the gate with an ACTUAL amazing choice. I’m gonna go crawl back in my troll hole with my tail between my legs."
Tre_Altrix
Never Doubt Her Contributions
"Sacagawea"
bivalve_connoisseur
"This is the most on-theme suggestion so far. The presidents currently in the monument were selected because of their role in preserving the Republic and expanding its territory. Given Sacagawea's role in exploring the Louisiana purchase, I think she belongs."
CrabbyBlueberry
Build Stronger Children And Let Them See This
"I recently heard someone refer to Frederick Douglass as "the Black Founding Father", so I feel like he'd be an appropriate choice."
"(And, yes, we all know he wasn't a contemporary of the Founding Fathers; the point was he's as important to our history and how the country sees itself, and I'd argue that the America that emerged from the Civil War was as different to the one that came before as the America before and after the Revolutionary War.)"
mikevago
It's important to honor people who have done a great service to their people and their community. Just make sure it's on land that you own and are ethically able to use.
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There are just some hills we plant our feet on and pledge to hold out until death.
We have to put our money and influence where our mouths are.
And sometimes boycotting is the way to go.
If a certain clothing line uses child labor... and you care... as you should... you buy a different line.
I'm looking at you Kathy Lee!
You get the idea.
Let's hear what hills everyone is on.
Redditor SteelTookSteroids wanted to discuss all the things people will not support, no matter what. They asked:
"What's something you're boycotting till the day you die?"
I will not give my patronage to Chick-Fil-A. How you spend your support in LGBTQIA+ issues is important to me.
A Never Clicker
Ads on Ads on AdsGiphy"Clicking on the ads that are at the top of my Google search. I will scroll all the way down to click on the exact same link."
LurkeyMcLurkersen
I have no tolerance...
"Cable TV, I’m not going to pay $120 a month for something and still have it be 1/3 commercials, I spend half as much and have everything I need whenever I want it with no ads."
CoolGuyZone069
"Cable TV is so INFURIATING. I dog sit for my grandparents and their internet can be god awful and I'm stuck watching their cable tv... I want to claw my eyes out everytime. It's legit mostly commercials. I have no tolerance for it anymore."
Frizzycatt
'taking what you can get'
"My wife hasn’t been in a Walmart in 20 years. I admire her commitment and they are starting to feel the pressure."
njdevil956
"Same. 'No ethical consumption' etc aside, Walmart is contemptuous of its customers as well as its workers. It's stunning how few people they have running the stores now, and that hurts customers AND workers, as well as the level of actual service. What's the point of having department counters when they're all empty?"
"The quality is nonexistent, getting groceries is an excersise in 'taking what you can get' because they intentionally limit their selection to maximize return on bulk orders (hence, half an aisle of mac and cheese for instance), and the 'here's a pallet, grab it or whatever' method of leaving half-opened shipments of groceries in the aisle has turned the whole place into an uninviting supply depot. Only way I walk back into WalMart is if the zombies rise."
Mr_Shakes
but never again...
"Grubhub, for making me suffer through that cringy ad."
draiman
"For me, Postmates. They didn’t bring what we ordered. Then I called them, they said they can’t rectify it. Then after a long back and forth whoever was there spoke to their manager, and said fine, they’ll do it this once, but never again. So guess who is never again getting my business. I can’t just pay for a service and not receive it, obviously."
rstgrpr
Gross
Kylie Jenner Selfie GIF by ADWEEKGiphy"Forbes for calling Kylie Jenner a 'self-made' billionaire."
mr-nobody_458623
I am so over the any name with a K at this point. And all because of that family.
Not Them!
the loud house trash GIF by NickelodeonGiphy"Nestle bottled water. (Also, yes Nestle anything, but they own so much it's hard to avoid, f**k their water program in particular)."
SomethingWithLegs
A slightly more legal pyramid scheme...
"MLM companies. I've had to cut old friends out of my life due to this."
Individual_Lemon_139
"I'm a small business owner and sell at a lot of markets - literally every market is chock full of scentsy/Mary kay/paparazzi/etc. I don't support MLMs as a rule but I also have to befriend the Mary Kay lady and the pampered chef lady because they're the head of the local small business coalition. MLMs aren't small businesses though IMO."
ktheway
In Video
"Microtransactions in video games. Not even once!!"
Napp2dope
"Same. At first it was for principle. I shouldn’t pay a bunch of extra money to get to play the game when I already paid for it. Then it became out of a slight fear. Met a few ppl once that said they spent 6-10k a year on those transactions for a free mobile game. They said so casually to that I realized how much of an addiction it can become."
Jac1596
Stay Away
"Heroin."
ChandlerBingChilling
"Right on! Too many friends and classmates I grew up with are gone now because of that sh*t. Just lost another one 2 days ago, man. Breaks my f**king heart."
"They had kids and everything, and now they're without fathers, mothers, or both. It hits even harder when you thought they were getting on the other side of it and you were rooting for them. It's crazy to look back and remember them as kids, and just like that, they're not here anymore. We're all only in our 30s. This isn't ok."
Abject_Presentation8
Back off Ron...
crazy tom cruise GIFGiphy"Scientologists."
CDNGooner1
"Yes! I worked for a place that forced me to take L. Ron Hubbard courses! I had to take a whole course on how to control people in a workplace!"
Sammie2Dope
Damn Ed
"Uncle Ed’s oil shop. They damaged my car when I was 17 and then tried to tell me I was lying to them and my story changed. It never changed and the ended up sending it to a mechanic to fix their mistake. I’ve never used them since. I’ve also told countless people this so who knows how many potential customers they’ve lost."
Robadamous
Sorry Mark...
"Facebook."
Tanyaschmidt
"I’m on my 6th year of boycotting Facebook. Looking forward to the day I’ve boycotted longer than I was on it."
zeldasusername
"I'm on year 4. Lord give me strength. Own two businesses and thankfully my employees take care of fb messages. Damn I hate FB. It's full of nothing but happy stories about shitty/toxic relationships and ads and garbage."
dmMatrix
Never Again
"I had one pair of Nike shoes and the back part of the inside by where my heel/ankle is got worn open which happens to most of my shoes but there was this sharp bit of plastic in it that would literally cut my foot and make it bleed. I now will not buy them ever again because of that, sucks because I already was picky with sneakers and now I avoid a while brand."
iimuffinsaur
Over It
the mask time GIFGiphy"Award shows, they're all boring and most of the time are rigged."
Hour-Wheel-2219
When in NC
"This one gas station, when I first moved to NC I would buy beer every few days (I was 21 and lived with fellow young connoisseurs of cheap beer) and they had no problem then this new guy denied me for out of state ID, and he was rude AF about it, told me to put the beer back and told him to do it himself, it's his job. Walked next door and bought my beer. Looking back it's petty but seriously there was no need to be rude."
Psyco_diver
TWO DOORS DOWN
"Old age nursing homes. They left my 89 year old granddad with Parkinsons sitting in a shit filled diaper... for seven hours straight. He yelled out for help and pressed his emergency life buttons twenty times in total. They was no reason the staff wouldn't have heard him, as a large group of them were sitting on their phones just TWO DOORS down from his room at the time. The smell was so bad we had to leave his bedroom windows open for a week, and most of the poop was crusted by that point."
Affectionate-Feed538
Send it Back
"Wayfair. I ordered a poker table from them and after three months all that happened was that it went from one of their warehouses to another of their warehouses. When I canceled the order, they charged me a $250 fee to send it back to the original warehouse."
ostentia
Ticked Off...
Hungry Lets Eat GIF by TikTokGiphy"Tiktok. It’s not like I’ll completely ignore my friends that show me funny ones, but I refuse to download the app and get sucked into it like so many people have."
brutesquad98
Vandal
"We’re renting in an HOA and they sent us a fine because our nine-year-old was 'vandalizing property by throwing large chunks of ice at cars and houses.' There was video. He had thrown a snowball at his friend 20 feet away from property. His friend threw a snowball in the general direction of the parking lot."
"His second 'offense' was 'damaging traffic cones.' Someone kicked one over near the bus stop. I ripped the HOA a new a**hole and our landlord threatened to sue if they ever pull that bulls**t again."
hannahmel
Does Scientology even exist anymore?
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