don’t bother going to Liberty Island (statue of Liberty). all you’re going to end up doing is craning your neck upwards for a shi**y view of the statue.
Instead, take the Staten Island Ferry out to SI. It’s FREE. 100% Free. read that again because it’s not common in NYC. IT IS FREE.
It’s a 30 minute trip from Financial District down to Staten island. The ferry has concessions which serve alcohol, or you can actually bring your own on board and drink. It offers an awesome view of the statue of liberty, and Ellis Island. 30 minutes to Staten, then just jump on the next boat back to Manhattan. That’s an hour of your life and is totally worth it and fun.
Disney World. The lines are terrible. Expensive as hell. The rides are not even that impressive anymore. You’re surrounded by weird people and jerks. The service is crap. It is completely packed. It’s either raining or hot as hell.
Well, lots of people say the United Arab Emirates, and I’ll agree. It held my interest for a while with the craziness of its modern elements, and I saw quite a lot of it, enjoying the rural places like Liwa and Al Ain, but it really gets tired quickly. The facilities just don’t stack up to western cities and they always seem like a pastiche, with the repressive undercurrent throughout the place never fully hidden (did you know they had a spate of foreign maids falling out of apartment windows?).
Anyway, the reason I bring it up is because, for a better Arab experience, you can go next door to Oman. Old forts, dramatic mountains, dunes, beaches, souqs, old men drinking tea and playing chess on the corniche, it has it all and feels much more authentic and friendly than Dubai. It’s certainly not as advanced and easy to visit but the roads are good, crime is low, and English is widely spoken, so it’s actually not that difficult a place for tourists.
LA.
Lots of stuff to do, but it takes forever to get there. I feel like I spent my whole LA stay in the car, stuck in traffic.
The rest of California that I saw was great, I’d do any part of it again, but not LA.
Boise Idaho, I know what you’re thinking “It’s hot, brown, nothing really interesting about it, and it’s full of …….