What's on your 'Duck-it' list?

[jastel]

How do you boycott your own country? I guess follow 'Germs' to London?

Not hard, you holiday overseas and give them your money.

It is a bit hard if you hate Turnbull, or whoever but you can move overseas if you like.

 

[Boca68]

Not hard, you holiday overseas and give them your money.

It is a bit hard if you hate Turnbull, or whoever but you can move overseas if you like.

Ok, but I think the premise that because one chooses to travel to a foreign country because "you hate Turnbull or whoever" is kind of a leap!

You may have missed the subtle essence of the discussion.

And for the record,about 50% of my travel is local.

 

[jastel]

That wasn't MY premise??

Roo asked how to boycott your own country, I suggested a way to do it, temporarily or permanently.
Spending your money overseas rather than locally hurts Australia...a very tiny bit.

If you really hate (insert politician here) that much then go elsewhere and get away from them.
The same way people were not going to the USA because of Trump etc.
Granted it is easier to change your holiday destination than your home address.

In the end your protest only hurts you, if you really did want to continue to live in Australia or travel to the USA in the fist place.

Subtle essence of the discussion?
If you (or whoever's essence I missed) cant explain yourself clearly then please don't expect me to understand what you mean.

Not sure who is keeping records but I too have travelled around most of Oz.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Yes Spain may overtake the USA in arrival numbers but will not overtake it in tourist receipts which surely is the most important statistic for the value of tourism for the economy.

Not sure about the surely, for if your equate it to receipts earnt per head of population then Spain with a much smaller population that the USA is considerably in front.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

No where except the war torn and most violent/lawless places are off my list to visit. Though the world is a big place and so many of the more boring and/or ugly may not get visited simpy due to lack of time.

I actually enjoy places that are very different from Australia, even when in visiting them some places may be hard or confronting. To me that is what true travel is all about. I do not travel just to be happy, I travel to experience things. Different sights, sounds, foods, cultures, environments.

Pushing yourself to me can be more rewarding and satisfying than just pure delight.

 

[drron]

Not sure about the surely, for if your equate it to receipts earnt per head of population then Spain with a much smaller population that the USA is considerably in front.

But the usual measure is spend per tourist.As tourist numbers are virtually equal it means the US tourist spends ~ 3 times as much as the tourist in Spain.

 

[carambola]

Apart from the more lawless / dangerous parts of the world, I find that I struggle with hot, humid and bug-heavy places - whether they're mosquitoes or "harmless" bugs. It's just so uncomfortable to run around covered in DEET and sweat.

I don't mind hot and dry places like deserts, but I need compelling reasons to book a trip to the tropics. (Like the DSC promotion combined with discounted J flights to NOU... But I'm aiming to spend most of my time either in air-conditioning, or underwater with my scuba gear!)

 

[Deleted member 29185]

I've been following this thread trying to think of somewhere that's off my travel list. I can't really think of anywhere except space. RB can keep his galactic aircraft. Although staring down on Earth would be novel, there's more than enough "must see and do" places on Earth to keep me busy until I croak.

I think most places have a tendency to change. There are any number of places that I won't visit "just now" because of various reasons, but give them 1, 3, 10, 20, whatever years and those reasons may not exist anymore.

Personally, the overall reason I'd not like to visit many places would be boredom (or perhaps more correctly, perceived boredom). +1 wants me to go to Europe next year, so I'm busily trying to find the non-boring, non-draconian, non-arrogant venues. Walking around gay Paree (gay in the traditional sense ) with stuck-up PITA locals or visiting ancient churches is high on my "duck-it" list. Visiting a bull fight or running with them is cruel and should be outlawed, so that's off the list, visiting a freezing country without the intention of skiing is also usually off the list (although I would like to visit Antarctica at least once). Returning via Cuba takes my fancy yet isn't that one of those countries that even just 10 years ago would have been on many peoples duck-it list? Sitting in a coffee shop in (insert any of the history-steeped European capitals) will happen, provided it takes no more out of my life than about 1/2 an hour a day! Sitting on a tour bus, or a cruise ship IMHO is akin to poking toothpicks in my eyeballs and that's also not likely to happen, not just yet anyway!

I think the most sensible thing is never say never and decide on the merits of a destination at the time of travel. These "duck-it" destinations will change from time to time.

 

[OATEK]

Sydney.....although like JohnK, and the places he has no desire to visit, I finish up transiting there.

You keep saying it enough and perhaps you will finish up on a no fly list!!

 

[carambola]

although I would like to visit Antarctica at least once

...I realise this comment is now completely missing the point of "duck it", but Antarctica is incredible and well worth a visit, as are Svalbard and Iceland (though I'd self-drive the latter) if we're talking about Europe. All of these are clearly tourist destinations where the tourists greatly number the locals at any given time - which I normally try to avoid! - but the scenery and otherworldliness more than make up for it.

 

[OATEK]

Russia was on my duck-it list but my arm was well and truly twisted by MrsOatek/Daughter who have long wanted to visit the lost land of the Romanovs. So in 2017 we finished up in StPB, and I have to say I loved it. I am like many I have read that have little interest in the Americas. May do a RTW at some point and call in at NYC, but US, Central and South America are low priorities. And apart from Egypt where I would seriously love to visit if I didn't think I was putting MrsOatek at risk, would be there in a flash.

Having visited Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong, the latter is the only one we return to regularly. Bali, Fiji and Philippines and most of SE Asia hold little allure, but not because of safety concerns. Just not the style of place we are interested in. So mostly concentrating on Europe for next few years, from East to West and North to Mediterranean.

I loved reading books like Caravans, Travels in the Empty Quarter, Much Sounding of Bugles, but sadly a visit to the roof of the world andthe old caravan routes, Chitral and down to Yemen are firmly on the duck-it list.

 

[JohnM]

And apart from Egypt where I would seriously love to visit if I didn't think I was putting MrsOatek at risk, would be there in a flash.

There's no risk in the classic Nile Valley part of Egypt. Now is a great time to go as tourist numbers are down, but the Chinese are coming. It would not be pleasant in the crowds if tourist numbers reach their previous peak.

It's the Sinai that's basically no-go now.

 

[Jurahn]

With so many places on the planet to visit, I have no intention on going to Bali.

I never had any intention of going to Bali either, but my (now ex) husband insisted we went as "EVERYONE goes to Bali" (he was always a slavish devotee of doing things that "everybody" did - FOMO? He also loved anything cheap). Hated every minute of the trip and swore that I'd never go back there and in fact SE Asia in general has no appeal for me.

Dubai is another place I'd prefer to never to go back to. As a female, I've never felt so uncomfortable or unwelcome in a place in my life as I did in Dubai, I was very relieved I wasn't travelling on my own. Mr J disliked the place as well, so now we always transit through Singapore when travelling to Europe.

Other places we've been to and neither of us want to revisit were New Orleans (didn't feel safe there at all) and San Francisco.

Also not at all interested in visiting:
India
Vietnam
Korea (N or S)
Egypt
Turkey

 

[sinophile888]

I am not keen to visit any of the three countries in the world which have not metricated.

 

[flying_duck]

India. No desire to go there at all. I hate Indian food and smell, hate crowds, hate mayhem. I would not survive it without a meltdown unless I had my own driver and guide and VIP access to avoid the crowds/queues.

I watch the Amazing Race and India is always when I would say, Im done.

Everyone loves curry so much, I have never met anyone who is the same as me and would do ANYTHING to avoid India. I walk on the other side of the food court to not smell the Indian food place. I would probably lose it on the flight to India, simply from the smell of the food on the plane.

So basically, anywhere with excessive food smells that you cannot get away from, is a place I will not be going. And the four countries my travel insurance wont cover, which I can't recall right now.

 

[debgow]

I love Indian food, but wouldn’t want to visit there

 

[Limewood]

Sitting in any class for 17 hours like PER/LHR.

 

[JohnM]

I love Indian food, but wouldn’t want to visit there

It's actually a very interesting place.

 

[debgow]

It's actually a very interesting place.

I’m sure it is. I maybe would do it on a guided tour. In saying that I have just thought, a few years ago I was looking at travelling to Chennai to check out hospitals that were doing kidney transplants as the waiting list in Brisbane was taking too long. Our neighbour was Indian Malay and spoke the local language for that area and would accompany me.

 

[Pushka]

It's actually a very interesting place.

Agree. It’s fascinating. But also very tiring dealing with all the humanity.