India. I visited three cities and the Taj Mahal. The history, the people's attitudes, the food, it all surprised me. The Taj is amazing as architecture, engineering, history, and has a backstory out of a novel. The attitude of the people that everyone needs a job, so you don't do things yourself. The sheer number of people in the cities. The stench of the air pollution. How delicious the food is, even the vegetarian dishes. The religiousness of the population. The poverty. Everyone should go to India once in their lives.

I spend a lot of time in most of those places, and most of the others that nobody goes to (Bangui, CAF, for example), and there aren't any that surprise me. Some are interesting. I've lived in various parts; a few years in Australia, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, etc, and I'm all over the map often daily. For the most part, there are few places I'd rather be than in the US, and there are plenty of places to explore without ever leaving the country.

Two of my favorite places, however, are Alaska, and Hong Kong (for very different reasons).

If anything came as a surprise, it may have been New York City, where on my first trip into the city, I found people friendly, helpful, and not at all like the stereotype. That's not to say NYC is all roses, but few places really stand up to the trope.

Given a choice, I wouldn't travel at all.

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If anything came as a surprise, it may have been New York City, where on my first trip into the city, I found people friendly, helpful, and not at all like the stereotype.

I've had the same experience every time I visited. People were without exception sweet and helpful. I kept wondering where the stereotype came from.

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Originally posted by kkina:

I've had the same experience every time I visited. People were without exception sweet and helpful. I kept wondering where the stereotype came from.

It was kind of funny, the first time I went into the city. I used the subways and trains, and asked for directions; people from fellow travelers to police fell over themselves offering directions, sometimes competing directions, and though I often didn't end up where I wanted to be based on those directions, there was always someone at the next stop to offer their take on how to get there.

In fairness, not knowing the city, there's a high probability that they gave good directions and I didn't manage to follow them.

NYC felt more like a foreign country to me than most foreign countries. I don't think I could ever live out there, but it's an interesting place to visit.