People Explain Which States Folks Should Skip On A Cross-Country Road Trip Across The U.S.
America is quite a place.
There is so much to see, perhaps too much.
And as much as there is to see there is a ton not to see.
Just like any country and continent, there are skippable places.
And skippable isn't a bad thing.
Redditor ArdianNuhijiwanted some advice about traveling this great land of ours.
So they asked:
"What parts/states of America should be avoided during a cross country road trip as a European?"
I'm not a fan of super hot, so watch out in the South.
The heat can kill you.
2 Weeks
"We just did a road trip from Chicago down through St Louis and Memphis to New Orleans. Then back to Chicago through Huntsville, Nashville and Indianapolis.
"Took 2 weeks. We've previously done road trips on the east and west coasts and I did a Miami-San Francisco-Seattle-Vancouver-Chicago-New York trip back in 2000."
Giphy"The interstates are great when you need to get between cities fast but it's fun to take the smaller roads and stop in the places you pass through."
"In some states there's a lot of nothing but then it's even more fun when you can stop for lunch in a great diner in a tiny town."
"Depending where you're from you might be alarmed by the poor road design and poor driving."
"Be aware that there can be sharp exits and traffic lights on huge wide highways. Exits on the wrong side (from the fast lane) are pretty common on urban interstates."
"'Welcome Centers' at rest areas at state borders are (in my experience) often staffed by really lovely and helpful people. Have fun!"
bature
'Deliverance'
"As a Canadian: We took a road trip down to Mississippi one time, just me, my ex and a friend of ours. We decided to take the backroads there instead of taking the Interstate, so we wound up in lots of places in rural US."
"Quite frankly, as a guy roaming in the middle of nowhere with two college girls... I never felt unsafe."
"There were some interesting 'Deliverance' moments, like when we stopped at a gas station in the middle of nowhere to get gas and hit the head. Two guys wearing only overalls, chewing chaw sitting out front, greeting us with only grunts and spits."
"It was like something right out of a movie and we were expecting to get skinned... but everything was fine."
b-monster666
DO NOT SPEED THROUGH SMALL TOWNS!!!
"As far as danger, you're not gonna be in any danger, unless you go hunting for bears or wind up in the bad neighborhoodsof Detroit."
"Don't drive into NYC (mainly Manhattan island) the traffic is awful and parking will cost you a pretty penny (Pence? Man, I'm American.)
"DO NOT SPEED THROUGH SMALL TOWNS. Police get bored and they will pull you over faster than you can hit the brake."
"On the interstate you can match speed with the rest of traffic, but good rule of thumb is to not go more than 10 mph over speed limit."
"Finally, avoid side-of-the-highway tourist traps, like random moccasin stores or giant rubberband balls."
"They're not dangerous, but the products will be subpar and overpriced. (I'm looking at you, Osceola Cheese Factory)."
Napotad
It's a lot bigger than it looks on your Eurocentric world map.
It's so Big!
"I feel like I should warn you that many Europeans vastly underestimate how large the USA is. You could drive for 7 hours in Texas and still be in Texas."
"It would take you three days to get from one end of California to the other. Pick which states you want to go to, plan your route that way, plan for it to take at least a week."
"Because some Europeans got pressed in the replies, no, I’m not insinuating that you don’t know geography. I’m warning you about the mistakes that European tourists tend to make while visiting the US."
"You’re not gonna road trip from New York, to Las Vegas, to San Francisco, to Seattle. It’s just not going to happen."
Faeiey
Several Destinations
"Nowhere is really worthy of 'avoiding,' the actually dangerous areas aren’t places tourists would really seek out anyway."
Lets Go Falling GIF by BARMERGiphy"I suppose certain areas could be boring, depending on your preferences. Really I would advise the US is vast, so pick like 6 or seven destinations and do research."
"Don’t try to see the whole country in one go. I’ve lived here for decades and haven’t seen half of it."
Karatekan
It's all a give and take.
Every road has a different journey.
Just Blah
"The biggest threat is boredom. Are you sure you don’t want to road-trip the east coast and then fly to Vegas and then drive up the California coast? I have driven cross country twice and it’s a lot of hours of nothing. Then maybe you see the worlds largest baseball bat or rubber band ball and then several more hours of nothing."
SnoootBoooper
Spongebob Squarepants Reaction GIF by NickelodeonGiphyScenery
"If you're interested in scenery, the upper west has some phenomenal mountains to see. Montana and Idaho offer some spectacular scenery in my opinion."
FreakOnALeash72
"Only thing I'd warn about Montana or other more rural states is that understand that you won't always find a hotel for miles, cell service can disappear for like 100 miles, and GPS does not necessarily work off of highways. You don't want to go up some dirt road and end up stranded in hot/cold conditions with no idea where you are and no cell service."
Violet624
good sense of the character...
"If you’re doing a road trip, keep in mind that the huge main arteries (like I-95 on the east coast) usually wont give you a good sense of the character of cities or the towns. Those large interstates are really just for traveling, and to get you from one place to another quickly with food, gas and restrooms easily accessible. Most of the really interesting stuff in a town or a city will be on local roads and highways. Don’t judge a place based solely on what you can see from an interstate!"
ask*ich
Awesome
"'I support you OP. Quit listening to this There's nothing to see in the middle' bulls**t. If all you want to do is the same touristy crap as everyone else, then sure, see NY, California, and go home. But if you're coming here to say you've experienced American life, go out in the middle. Hang out with the locals and let them show you why they're still there. There's so much awesome crap to see that's completely underappreciated."
scottevil110
Just Go Out There
"None of them; every state is unique and has amazing parts to them. They also have shi**y parts, but most of them places tourists would want to go aren’t bad. No tourist is going to some small racist town in the country or going to visit the shi**y part of the city."
AcidSweetTea
turning up road trip GIFGiphyGet out there kids and see it all. Be safe.
What would you add or remove from this list? Let us know in the comments section!
Traveling is one of life's greatest pleasures. To see new places, meet new people, and witness different cultures in action can be both a thrilling and rewarding experience.
But travel can also feel intimidating, especially if you've only just started to get a feel for it. What do you pack? What if you forget something?
And when you get to your destination, how should you behave in order to blend in and to avoid making yourself an easy target for scams and the like?
People shared their best advice with us after Redditor swankyhank asked the online community:
"What travel tips do only the pros know?"
"Ignorance..."
"Know the rules/laws/currency exchange rates for the country you are going to. Ignorance is not a get out of jail free card."
CptSmarty
This is so important. You should know it and come prepared! It'll save you a big headache later.
"Do not entertain..."
"Do not entertain people asking questions in other countries."
CptSmarty
Similarly, know the common scams for wherever you're going. If you travel around it's inevitable that you'll be targeted at some point, probably more than once.
"My tip is to download..."
"My tip is to download the map of the towns you are visiting. You can do that easily in the Google Maps app. If you have the map downloaded on your phone you can easily find your way around town even if you don't have any internet connection."
"It won't show you the route you should walk from A to B, but through the magic of GPS you will still see where you currently are and if you are moving in the right direction."
Bassmeister
Google Translate as well. You can download an entire language onto your phone, and type back and forth.
Obviously don’t physically hand your phone to someone else, unless it’s like a hotel concierge, and not a random guy at the metro station who might just run off with it.
"If you are traveling in a group..."
"If you are traveling in a group, give yourself breaks from others. Some people want to do everything together, and that can lead to a lot of fighting."
HobbitFoot
Indeed. Getting some alone time to wander or nap or whatever can make or break a trip.
"Clean or at least..."
"Clean or at least leave your home in some state of clean prior to leaving on your trip. It feels terrible to come home to a mess when you're likely exhausted from a plane or long road trip. Especially if you have to work the next day."
Racthoh
Yes! It is such a relief and I always make sure to clean before I head out anywhere.
"You are allowed..."
"You are allowed to have your ID and boarding pass out and ready before your turn in the security line. You don't have to begin fumbling for these things only once it is your turn to go."
chicagotim1
I seriously don’t get how people don’t understand this. It's so frustrating.
"If you don't know..."
"If you don’t know where you’re going, walk and act like you do anyway."
Marquetan
Same goes for any busy location, metro, train station, bus station, busy park...
"If you're going on vacation..."
"If you’re going on vacation and can swing one more day of time off, take it after you arrive home and give yourself an extra day to mentally prepare and get organized."
NuthingToHoldBack
A vacation from your vacation. This is the way.
"Navigate before going..."
"Navigate before going into a massive crowd. A simple mind map of 'right in three blocks, left in two' usually suffices for the walk, and makes you look like you're walking with purpose, instead of standing out immediately as a target."
UnoriginalUse
Excellent advice. The less you stand out, the better for you (and anyone in your party).
"It's worth it..."
"It’s worth it to pay more for accommodations in the city center close to all the action rather than a cheaper place far away. It’s less stress and you have to pay for transport back and forth anyway."
lakersforever21
Very important. I am generally quite frugal but spending the extra money to have a place close to the airport saves a lot of time and makes the trip relatively stress free.
Get out there, young traveler! There's so much to see! And watch out for pickpockets. They're always around.
Have some suggestions of your own? Feel free to tell us more in the comments below!
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Being a tour guide of any kind is sort of like being a parent to toddlers. And, as any toddler parent will tell you, they try to do three things simultaneously:
- Not listen to your directions.
- Get lost.
- Accidentally, but really on purpose, try to get themselves killed.
Now replace "toddler" with "full-grown adults" and you see the issues tour guides face on a regular basis.
Reddit user, [usernameredacted], wanted to know how things went wrong overseas when they asked:
"Tour guides of Reddit, what's the worst thing a tourist has ever done under your supervision?"
Can we all just agree that we should leave animals alone when they're out in their natural habitat? Please?
Don't Tick Off The Bulls
"I worked at a living history farm museum."
"I had a kid that was climbing on stuff the whole tour in the farm house and trying to get behind the Smith in the blacksmith shop during a demo."
"After the tour when people are allowed to roam the grounds, I hear his mom screaming and look over to the barn and this kid has climbed the fence into the field with our long horn oxen and is trying to poke them with a stick."
" I walk over and calmly told him to get out of the field before our lazy oxen decide they've had enough, but this jack off decides to look me in the eye and smack Ted on the butt with the stick like it's a riding crop."
"Ted, bless him, just kinda jumps a little and whips his head around with a WTF dude look on his face."
"But seeing as he's a long horn, he just wipes this kid out with one of his horns when he turned his head."
"Kid goes flying into the dirt and is having a melt down."
"Mom is freaking out. I'm like dude, get the hell out of the pen before Ted actually gets mad."
"So this kid is crying and trying to climb the fence out of the field and Bill, who has been watching this whole thing waits until the kid is almost over the fence and walks up to him and nudges him in the butt with his nose and pushes him off the top of the fence."
"It was everything I could do to keep from laughing."
"Kid was fine, Ted was fine, but the kid and his mom were promptly kicked out of the museum."
"Their dad and little sister were allowed to stay because she was well behaved and was just enjoying petting the goats at the petting zoo."
"So since the kid had to leave but his sister didn't there was a temper tantrum in the parking lot that could be heard all the way to the other side of the farm."
"But the oxen got some extra grain that night, so I guess they won in the end."- PtolemyShadow
Crypto Bitcoin GIF by ProBit GlobalGiphySnap, Snap
"Tour guide at a university."
"Small group gets into our gardens where there's a big turtle pond."
"Girl gets excited and wants a close up of the largest snapping turtle."
"Girl loses her phone to the turtle and tries to get the university to buy her a new one."
"Girl was lucky she still has all her fingers..." - Bengmann
Yank, Yank, OW
"My cousin is a tourist guide and biologist, most of his tours are in Africa."
"He instructed his group of 20-25 people including kids not to wear any type of earrings or collars especially shiny stuff since they were about to go into a thick forest to try to see a bunch of animals."
"This is very important because 20-25 make a lot of noise which makes wild animals run away or hide, it's even worse if they're wearing shiny stuff they can spot from far away."
"Ok so this woman complains, decides to wear shiny earrings anyway, cousin tells her to get rid of them or she ain't coming with the group so she obeys but puts them on a bit later."
"Some species of monkeys in that area LOVE shiny stuff. They ripped the earrings from her ears."- shave_your_teeth_pls
Learn To Keep Your Hands To Yourself
"I was working on a tourist island in Australia when this man pulled out almost all the back feathers of a peacock because he wanted to keep one."
"He sneaked up behind it, and grabbed a huge handful and yanked them all out."
"He was immediately escorted off the island."
"The peacock had a huge bare patch and most of its beautiful feathers were gone :("- mugsandcoveve
Dance Dancing GIF by BBCGiphyPunching Way Above Their Weight Class
"I had a guest, snorkeling try and grab the tail of a barracuda as he swam up behind it."
"Luckily I was able to hit the guest with a dive fin from the boat to stop him before he got ahold. If he had grabbed on, I’m sure he would have been ripped to pieces by that fish." - fkirwan82
You have to wonder what kind of people aren't going to listen to the tour guide. Honestly, it's not hard. Just don't do the thing they're telling you not to do.
Why Wouldn't You At Least Take A Swimming Lesson First?
"Former whitewater rafting guide."
"There's a calmer section of the river people can, if they choose to, hop out and swim through."
"They are wearing life jackets so you can just float through it."
"This woman decides she wants to try it and hops out."
"After she pops up she slowly tilts forward until just the back of her jacket is out of the water and she's completely still."
"After 5 or so seconds of this I start to realize this might not be intentional and paddle over and physically pick her head up above the water followed by her gasping for air."
"I haul her in the boat and ask what happened."
"She said she didn't know what to do as she'd 'never been submerged in water before'."
"1) why are you on a whitewater rafting trip?"
"2) why didn't your strategy involve moving your body?"- b771
GiphyThankful For Teachers Every Day
"I used to work at a heritage site. It was an old military installation with a lot of remaining original structures (bunk beds, cafeteria equipment, computers etc.)."
"Everyday it was a constant effort to remind people (read: kids) NOT to jump on the beds, not to slam doors open, not to punch every button like it owes them money."
"The absolute worst was a group of kids on a school trip."
"Within the first ten minutes we're walking through the tech portion of the exhibit, where we had a wall lined with Burroughs large systems machines (B5000's), all behind this little fence about waist-high."
"I turn to demonstrate some of the pieces, and when I look back at the group one of them had jumped over the barrier, opened one of the units and started pulling out handfuls of digital tape from the reels inside."
"I just about jumped on the kid when their teacher did just that."
"She jumped the barrier, smacked the kids hands and took him outside."
"I immediately ended the tour and had them all refunded, as I couldn't imagine what else could happen."- sassymatty
But, of course, they don't listen.
And bad things happen.
You Tell Them What Would Happen, And Then It Happens
"I work at a brewery tap room and take people on brewery tours."
"During fermentation CO2 is produced and excess comes out through a run off pipe and into a water bucket."
"One of the attendees, who was being a pain and trying to be funny but nobody was laughing, asked me what the pipe was for, so I gladly explained."
"He then asked what would happen if he breathed it in... in disbelief of his stupidity I told him he would pass out/damage his brain, he then proceeded to grab the pipe and take a breath."
"He was then ejected and barred. Some people are just beyond belief."- tedandrassy
But...Why?
"Friend of mine does tours of whiskey museums in Dublin."
"Someone took a sh-t in one of the exhibition rooms."- Eoinoconn
You Get What You Deserve
"I work at the National Cathedral, and a tourist took a small votive candle, and lit their friend's hat on fire."
"It didn't spread or set off any alarms, but it got through most of his hat and almost caught his hair on fire."
"He was also really overreacting, and he threw his burned hat into the organ."
"The Cathedral suffered from earthquake damage in 2011, and we borrowed one of their ladders to get it down."-not_hacking12
Fox Tv Fire GIF by Bob's BurgersGiphy"You're trying to seduce me... aren't you?"
"Bit late to the party, but what the heck."
"I gave tours in the French Quarter in New Orleans for about a year, and I had this one drunk older woman who kept nip-slipping and trying to flirt with me as I was trying to talk."
"It was really uncomfortable and kept throwing off my focus, but thankfully she wandered off about halfway through the tour."- Throway9591
We like to live dangerously
"Ran after a bear cub trying to get a picture."
"Was astonished after I yelled at them and asked 'are they dangerous?'
'Yes they are'."
"'They're bears'."
"Two days ago I warned a few people about an agitated moose up the trail and two of them got excited and ran towards it with cameras while I tried to explain why that was an awful idea."
"Tourists f*cking crave death I swear to god."- plantoyo
Maybe I'll listen next time
"Not a tour guide, just an idiot."
"About ten years ago, my grandma took me and my sister on what we decided to affectionately call an 'Old People Bus Tour' out west for a couple of weeks."
"Our parents decided to come along as well because it seemed fun, and it totally was."
"We went all over and saw some really amazing sights, but when we got to Arches National Park, for SOME unknown reason my Monkey Brain kicked in and went 'IMMA CLIMB IT!' as soon as we got to the entrance of the first path."
"Thankfully, it wasn't enormously dangerous, but it wasn't until I spontaneously scaled the bottom half of the arch and turned around to sit proudly looking at everything that I saw everybody's faces and it clicked that maybe I should climb back down and knock it off."
"I wish I could use the excuse that I was just a dumb kid, but I was in my mid 20s at the time."- MyLaundryStinks
Fall Climbing GIF by KletterRetterGiphyHow long have you got?
"I was a tour guide in hollywood for a few years."
"I cannot even begin to choose a story."- adhominem4theweak
Putting everyone in danger
"Tour guide here, there was this one guy who tried to swim in the ocean at Peggy’s cove."
"As some of you may know the currents are incredibly strong and I had warned everyone to not even go near the ocean."
"But this one moron didn’t listen and I had to hall his a** back to shore."
"We both almost drowned."
"D*ck."- LegendaryPineappleYT
Mind the gap
"Customer."
"So the tourist was in front of the tour guide."
"He said SHUT YOUR’E F*CKING MOUTH UP to a woman."
"I think was on a vacation with her child and she only yawned before She said SIR DO NOT SAY THAT INFRONT OF MY CHILD and she smacked him and he fell of the cliff and almost died."
"I went down and I said Sir are uh you okay?"
"He said NO IM NOT F*CKING OKAY YOU FUCKING DUMBASS."- f*ckboymigeee
Why do American tourists get such a bad rap?
"Not the worst on here but still bad."
"In between years one and two of uni, I took a job in a musem showing people around talking about the stuff on show."
"The group was behaving mostly ok, but this one American family, trying to touch things that out not be touched."
"And just being loud and obnoxious."
"I think I have it all under contorl untill we enter the Gree/Roman rooms."
"We have a replica Roman Legionary armor, weapon sheild and stick which held all the equipment."
"All in all its about 45KG (about 7stone) in weight for everything."
"Now this can be tried on to show people what Roman Legionaires had to go thorough on a march. we stopped to let those that wanted to, to try it on. now it was very clear that the dad, think Gun toting Texan from the Simpsons, was far to large for the armor, but i didn't say anything as even if he and his kin have been d*cks."
"I don't want to be rude."
"Anyway after it becomes clear even the helmet wont fit he gets moody and just drops it to the floor, lucky another group member caught it in time, and wanders of to 'look' at the real weapons that had been revoved from dig sites."
" Now one of the pride and joys of this museum is a fully intact Roman short sword with battle nicks showing that it had been used in battle, now these are far and few between, so anyone thats found is hightly exsiting for the Achaeologist that uncovers it."
"Anyway I am giving my speech about how far the Legionnaires had to march in a day and the set up of camps and the like, when there is a loud SMASH from the sword case,followed by the alarm going off."
" This dumb American had tried to prize open the case to get a better 'look' at it."
"There's lots of yelling as guards rush in."
" The damn fool still tried to pick it up but when he saw the guard rushing him he dropped it back into the stand THANK THE GODS IT DIDN'T BRAKE."
"He and his family were promptly kicked out and band for life but not before he offered to buy the sword."
"'I'll give y'all $20 for the thing and maybe we can for get the glass'."
"$20 you heard read it right."
"These things if sold, they really shouldn't be, go for 10 of thousands of pounds."- Emrys91·3y ago
GIF by The Last TouristGiphyWhen you Gotta go...
"Cave tour guide."
"South American man pisses on the floor during total darkness."- ZootZephyr
"Would you like to ride in my beautiful balloon?"
"Not a tour guide."
"Went on a Hot Air Balloon Tour of the Temecula Valley and our tour guide told us this story he experienced."
"For those that don't know, Hot Air Balloons have ZERO safety features for the passengers."
"You can fall or jump out very easily."
"So our guide was on a tour and somebody jumped out of the balloon."
"Turns out he had a parachute on."
"Don't remember exactly what happened to him, but he did get in legal trouble, of course."-
Who's the real animal here?
"I was on a trip to Thailand and we were at this Night Safari place, it wasn't a legit safari thank goodness, and we were all on the tram type thing and we went into the hyenas cage and this guy jumps out and tries to take a selfie with it."
"Luckily they were just fed and weren't as wild as the ones in the wild."
"He ran back as a few started to get up and yip."
"Afterward he was kicked out with no refund as you would expect."
"Some people just blow my mind."- SirDankius
the lion king laughing GIFGiphyJust follow the rules next time you're in a tour group?
It's that simple.
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Americans Break Down The Biggest Culture Shocks They Ever Faced When Visiting Europe
Leaving your homeland, even for a quick little getaway can be quite a surprise.
There is a whole world out there.
And no country is quite like any other.
That's why it's fun to experience a new place.
Though it might leave many people surprised, especially Americans.
America has a radically different way of life than say, Europe.
And it's a blast to revel in.
Redditor jrusjwanted to hear about what Americans need to prepare for when leaving the homeland. They asked:
"Americans that visited Europe, what was the biggest shock for you?"
It is so easy to travel through different countries in Europe. I was astonished. Some countries are connected by minutes in travel. Not days. So breezy...
ANYWHERE!!
Happy Hour Drinking GIFGiphy"You can drink a beer anywhere, anytime. I mean I woke up in Berlin and bought a bottle of beer at a small breakfast stand in a park it was like 6am."
CregSantiago
Back in the Day
"History. I followed a tour of American tourists into the church in downtown. Question gets asked: Is this the oldest church in town? Heard reply:"
"(Chuckle) Oh no, the old church is on the North side of the river. This church was built in 1310."
"Just a different perspective on history."
diogenes_shadow
"100% true. And also, for me, was the SIZE of those cathedrals. The size of the huge stones they are built with, and the fact that they were built over a thousand years ago. Like… HOW!? How did they get those massive stones, get them here and then hoist them up 12 stories (or whatever) to place them there. It hurts my brain. Does not compute!"
Liznobbie
Wheels Up
"I’m Dutch, but I’ll never forget my American girlfriend’s reaction to seeing rows and rows of parked bicycles in front of the train station when she came to visit the Netherlands. 'Oh my God look at all those bikes!!'"
Jockelson
"I'm from Germany, so I used to a few hundreds bikes In front of big train stations. But at Amsterdam Central I thought: 'Oh my God, look at all those bikes!!!'"
Natural_Influence_21
Distance
"Finally, I can walk to a store."
MonsieurAppleSauce
"I lived in Rio de Janeiro and now in a small town in Pennsylvania. I like living in the city, I miss being able to walk 5 min to the small grocery store in my street if I wanted to make a recipe but didn’t have the ingredients, and buying fresh bread from the bakery shop."
"I also like living in the residential area of my small town now, the house is nice, I have a backyard with trees and 'wild' animals, I can walk with my dog on the path between the houses’ backyards without worrying about cars. Both ways of building a neighborhood has positives and negatives. Delivery services for groceries and fruits/vegetables help a lot nowadays but it can get expensive."
agiab19
Blind Faith
Party Pedestrian GIF by Wegen en VerkeerGiphy"The only thing that really surprised me was how much pedestrians trusted cars to not hit them."
MrGoalden
In London I was shocked and thrilled by that drinking thing. Anywhere. Just walk around the streets with wine.
Pardon Me?
Sam Heughan Dancing GIF by Men in Kilts: A Roadtrip with Sam and GrahamGiphy"I went to Scotland. Ran across some German tourist who asked us to translate what the scot was saying. We were all three speaking English. They just couldn’t understand each other."
ARgirlinaFLworld
Infancy
"How young the U.S. truly is."
Strong_Ground_4410
"I went to one of the many Roman structures in England (I cant remember which one) and the tour guide said something like ‘mind, the floors are a bit uneven. Cant be helped, they were lain 1950 years ago.’"
OwMyCandle
"Americans think 100 years is a long time, Europeans think 100 miles is a long way."
locks_are_paranoid
Urban Planning
"How old a lot of the cities are. People still living in buildings older than the U.S. Walking down some of the old streets feels like you’re time traveling into a medieval fairytale."
Adventurous-Canary78
"It's crazy to think I live in a house older than the US (over 350 years old), and it's not like I'm living in a historical monument. Loads of the houses around here are that old, and it's not big or expensive. It's a regular mid-terrace."
onchristieroad
"The building I rented a flat in last time I was in London was built in 1731 according to the plaque next to the entrance. I'm a huge history nerd so my jimmies were tingling."
lilcaesarsuave
Size Matters
"When I ordered a small drink, it was actually small."
HutSutRawlson
"Sizes are definitely different. I remember going to a Domino's in NYC. Was surprised at the size difference in pizzas. Your small was our medium, your medium was our large and your large would be a 'where the hell did you get that giant pizza from' here."
domin8r
Happy
Dance Smile GIF by Mediaset EspañaGiphy"First time in Spain… 22:30… Sun still out… parents sitting, drinking, relaxing while kids run up n down… felt so completely safe and comfortable."
mapplejax
We could really learn a thing or two about de-stressing from Spain. We need siestas.
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People Describe The Scariest Thing They've Ever Witnessed In A National Park
I'm going to be perfectly honest–I'm a city boy. I'm not a huge fan of hiking or camping. I happen to be a huge fan of running water. Have you heard of it? It's great. Highly recommended.
I admit, I do want to go and explore some national parks sometime. They're big, they're beautiful, and the United States is full of amazing swaths of gorgeous, federally protected land.
But going out there would mean dealing with nature and stuff I don't want anything to do with... to say nothing of the potential for creepy things to happen.
People shared their stories after Redditor DamageAcceptable1880 asked the online community,
"What's the scariest or strangest thing you've seen in a National Park or National Forest?"
"Several years later..."
"Once I was driving into Yosemite at 4 a.m., saw something in the road as I came around a corner, and slammed on my brakes. It turned out to be a wolf."
"Several years later, I mentioned this to someone offhand, and they said Yosemite didn't have any wolves. I looked it up, and they have exactly one wolf in the park."
"I realized I nearly plowed through Yosemite's one single wolf. I am very glad I managed not to."
turnpot
Something tells me that if you had done so you would have awakened a centuries old curse or something.
"One time I went up Yosemite..."
"One time I went up Yosemite with my cousin during a light rain and enjoyed the snow with my family. On the way down, on the same road we took up, there was a GIANT boulder in the middle of one of the now-closed lanes."
"It was about 1.5 times the size of the average vehicle. Now that was some scary s**t."
CousinFromCali
Imagine if it had fallen on you!
Or... perhaps not. Let's not imagine that.
"It stayed still..."
"Saw a toad that looked like it weighed 10 pounds. Illogically huge. It stayed still and just looked at me. I just carefully went on my way in silence. Over the night I could hear it off in the distance from my tent."
Dangercakes13
This had to have been a wild Pokemon in the flesh. I am convinced!
"A pair of female cops..."
"A pair of female cops fishing in a pond with a grappling hook on a line trying to drag in an arm that was sticking out of the murk."
idyllicmarsh
Yep, best to just forget what you've seen and keep on moving.
"We haven't been back to that spot."
"My friend and I would go camping pretty often near a pond and a big clearing that pretty much nobody knew about. We had never seen signs of anyone else being there and it's hard to get to. it is on the edge of a national park/forrest in California."
"One morning when we pull the truck up to the area we parked before the hike in we see two mountain lions having sex. That alone was enough for us to just call the trip a loss and turn back but we decided to stick around for a bit to watch the lions.
"They finished up their business pretty quickly and kind of just hung around the area so it was cool to see them. After about 10 minutes they perk up and are on alert. We have the windows up obviously so we can't hear anything."
"They get scared and run off and from the direction they ran away from 3 deer come running htrough with a big ass bear chasing them."
"We havent been back to that spot."
iamacannibal
Aww, so you're saying you didn't want to go camping in an area where several different types of wild creatures could spy on your every move?
"Scariest was a group of tourists..."
"Scariest was a group of tourists (I'm guessing) at the Hoh Rainforest in the Olympic National Park who thought it was a good idea to take pictures posing with huge elk."
"Some people were even making their kids go over and pose with these wild animals. I'm pretty sure it was during the elk mating season too."
"We and other people shouted at them to not get close to the elk but they didn't listen us. Luckily nothing happened."
dustbunnee
There are some people out there who think that when they are on vacation, the world only exists for their entertainment.
"Raccoons."
"Raccoons. They get up to all kinds of shit in the middle of the night. It's not quite so adorable when they're trying to break into your car and steal your bacon."
SirThatsCuba
Raccoons are bad enough in a big city. I definitely wouldn't want to deal with them out in the wild.
"I carefully walked away..."
"I saw a large, deep, rectangular pit in the middle of a national forest. It looked like someone was about to be buried. I carefully walked away as quietly as I could, afraid I'd fall into a different pit with a body in it."
"The mind can play some mean tricks on a person."
DatabaseSolid
This sounds like the beginning of a horror film. And you got out!
"Hiking a narrow trail..."
"Scariest thing? A chipmunk."
"Hiking a narrow trail cut into the side of a ridge in Ventana National Forest California. In the middle of the trail was a mangy chipmunk with only about half its fur still attached running around in circles. No way to get past."
"I threw a rock at it to try and scare it into running off the trail and the bloody thing ran straight at me. Nearly had a heart attack as it ran past and kept going down the trail."
"Area known for rabies and bubonic plague."
temmoku
Even the smallest critter can be a dangerous!
"Riding a bicycle..."
"Yellowstone. Riding a bicycle (fast) down a great curve. Cars are stopped. To look at a grizzly. Damn. Could have hit the cars. Could have hit the bear!"
PebbleBeach1919
So many different ways to get yourself killed, so little time!
So, what's up?
Still feel like hitting up a national park or commiserating with nature?
Rein that in, man. I'm staying indoors.
Have some stories of your own to share? Feel free to tell us more in the comments below!
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