Travel nightmares. The destinations people avoided for the rest of their lives. Manila. I loved

the other places I went to in the Philippines, but Manila was awful. The air quality, the traffic,

the garbage, and the weird proliferation of air-conditioned shopping malls. Most of all, the child

poverty was heart-wrenching. A good wake-up call for a privileged

Westerner, but not one I want again. You know why they charge you 20 bucks to leave at the Manila

airport? Because they don't know you'd pay 50. Pueblo, Colorado. It's perpetually a Tuesday in

1988 there. Every day. My best friend lives there and says it's probably one the most

boring places he's ever lived. He's from Oklahoma like I am, so that's saying something.

United Arab Emirates. Why anyone ever decided to start a city where it's 120 degrees is beyond

me. Very underwhelming experience in Dubai. It's just another Las Vegas,

but nobody is having fun. Probably the Hollywood Boulevard bit in L.A. It's not interesting,

and it's fricking busy. I came here just to search the answers for my good old hometown of Gary

Indiana. Yep, every time. Hobimer, Alabama. This place had such a bad

reputation they changed to the name two years ago. It's obviously not fooling anyone, guys.

Freeport Bahamas. The beaches were very dirty, and I just felt like I was in a shipyard.

They've also got a problem with feral dogs. They were everywhere.

It broke my heart to see the skin and bone dogs. I guess so many of them starved to death

that they can't keep up with the body pickups. I saw too many decaying dogs to count. Seriously,

I'd never go back. Although I didn't enjoy going to Freeport, it made me realize how nice I

have it here in the US. Another reason I didn't care for my trip was due to the fact that I was out there vacationing, sipping on martinis, while the locals were struggling to put food on the table. I saw where they lived and it really broke my heart. I felt very guilty knowing that my tourist butt wasn't assisting them in any real way. I'm not familiar with Bahamian tax laws and government-issued programs,

but I can't imagine that the tourist money goes back to the people, if that makes sense.

And I also really started upping my volunteer game, especially with the Humane Society after that trip.

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