" The salt got in my eyes and mouth , and the fallal fag off very tight . "
With social media feeds full of bucket-list destinations and “must-do” travel experiences, it’s all too easy to get swept up in the pressure to do it all — even when it might not be worth it. To explore the downside of travel FOMO,u/ihave22nicetoesdecidedto ask, “What’s one tourist activity you did out of FOMO that you regretted?” In response, travelers painted a revealing picture of overhyped attractions, ethical dilemmas and misadventures that left them wishing they’d just stayed poolside.
Here’s what they had to say:
1.“Mine was when I visited the Monkey Temple in Bali — one of the most highly recommended tourist activities there. I somehow ended up agreeing to include it in my itinerary, even though I’m deathly afraid of monkeys and how aggressive they can get. I was anxious the whole time, worried they might jump on or attack me. So yeah, that was the first and last time I’ll do something like that.”
2.“About 20 years ago, I visited the Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi, Thailand. I’d seen something about it on TV, and it claimed to be a sanctuary dedicated toanimalconservation and that sort of thing. I regretted going almost immediately. When I got there, the tigers were very obviously drugged. I know the temple denied any accusations of drugging the animals, but the way those tigers slept through being manhandled and posed for pictures was not natural.”
3.“I decided to buy a drink — a local shot of licorice and salt liqueur — in Copenhagen. I can still taste it five years later.”
— u / celtic1888
4.“90 euros for a 25-minute gondola ride in Venice. Yeah, maybe I should have listened to all the people who said to take it either early or during sunset, and not on the ‘highways’ but the small canals. I did it out of FOMO and really regret it. Too much traffic, not relaxing at all, and nothing special.”
5.“20 years ago, I rode an elephant in northern Thailand and couldn’t wait to get off. It didn’t seem like they treated them well, and the elephants had to be coaxed to walk. I regretted it a lot and never did animal tourism again.”
6.“Whale watching in Kaikoura, New Zealand. I can believe some whale watching tours are good, but in this case, it was sperm whales — which apparently dive for a few hours at a time and then briefly surface. They have spotters who track the whales, and once one is seen diving, your boat heads to that area — and then you just sit there waiting for it to surface. After staring at a blank ocean for an hour, the whale finally surfaces, but it just looks like a bumpy log floating there for about 10 minutes before diving again. Huge letdown.”
7.“Going to Patong in Thailand for the partying and bar-hopping experience. It wasn’t fun. It was disgusting. I have nothing against the ladyboys, but I was revolted by the sex tourists.”
8.“The so-called Diamond Beach in Iceland. It’s portrayed online as a big beach with huge pieces of ice washing ashore. In reality, it’s small, with only very small pieces of ice scattered about — nothing impressive or particularly worth seeing. Then again, maybe it’s not always like that and I just got unlucky that day.”
9.“I didn’t need to go to the Red Light District in Amsterdam.”
10.“Going on a cruise. My ex always wanted to go, but I was reluctant. The boat was nice, and the food and drinks were great, but it still felt like I was trapped in a mall for a week.”
11.“Four Corners Monument in the US. We had just started our RV trip around the US and Canada, and everyone told us it was a must-see. It was not.”
12.“A capybara café in Japan. It was the saddest thing. The poor capybara was completely disinterested in the horde of humans and cats surrounding it (I think they cheaped out on getting a capybara buddy and subbed in a litter of cats instead). It is never taken out of the small café and never will be for its entire life. I really wanted to believe that it could be ethical, but the experience confirmed that any wildlife attraction that allows you to touch the animals does not have the animals' welfare in mind.”
13.“Swimming with the pigs in the Bahamas. The epitome of a tourist trap. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”
— u / Crafty - Zebra3285
14.“In Iceland in early April, at Thingvellir, we had booked the snorkel swim between the tectonic plates. A few days before our booking, we were at the park for something else and saw some very cold, miserable-looking snorkelers returning from their tour, shivering in their wetsuits. I realized that even in my own 10 layers of specialized warm clothing, I was still so cold my eyeballs felt like freezer-burned ice cubes. I’ve never canceled a booking so fast.”
15.“I paid extra money for the freak show at a real-life circus (probably before 2008) — or maybe it was a fair — and got to meet the littlest person alive. Her name was Jyoti Amge, and she was just sitting there on a little pedestal smiling at everyone. She seemed so sweet. I felt horrible as a looky-loo because I legitimately thought the freak show would be like a Ripley’s, with taxidermy and oddities, not actual real people.”
— u / Ld862
16.“Takeshita Street in Harajuku. Just sandwiched in with people on a narrow street.”
17.“Driving the loop around Maui. We were staying in Wailea and having a good time — there was plenty to do, and I was mostly there for the beach. Somehow, we were convinced that we had to do the road trip around the island. We hired a car, but most of it was pretty boring. It took almost a whole day, and some sections were extremely treacherous and scary.”
18.“I recently sawOinLas Vegas. I was there midweek, so there weren’t a lot of options. I sawLa Rêveyears ago and loved it, but figured I should go see an actual Cirque du Soleil show. Oh man, it was not my cup of tea. If I had any way to escape, I would have.”
19.“Bourbon Street in New Orleans. It was annoying and gross to even walk on for three minutes.”
20.“We went to Universal Studios in Osaka for Nintendo Land. It was maybe the worst day of our holiday. None of the food or drink places opened until three hours after the park did, and there were nowhere near enough places for people to sit, so the walkways around the park were just full of people sitting on the ground.”
21.“The 9/11 Museum inNew YorkCity. I love museums. I love history. But I reached a point where a bunch of young Gen Z’ers were taking mocking selfies, and I lost it. I started crying and had to leave the museum early.”
22.“Giza Zoo in Cairo. We went with locals who said we would be able to hold lion cubs. The idea seemed cute — until I realized these were heavily sedated teenage lions. There was also a caged adult lion whose ear we were told to pull to make him roar. They said it was safe because they had taken out all his teeth. I declined. There were similar gimmicks with other animals — a hippo, monkeys, etc.”
23.“The Dead Sea. Not sure if it’s necessarily considered a must-visit from Jerusalem, Palestine, or Jordan, but I went as part of a bigger tour that also included Masada Fortress and Ein Gedi, before concluding with swimming in the sea. I personally thought the area we were in was quite boring and ugly — words I rarely use to describe nature — and the novelty of the black mud and floating on the surface wears off quickly once the salt gets in your eyes and mouth.”
24.“The Salem Witch Museum. For some reason, I thought it was much bigger than it was. After doing the two ‘shows,’ I asked the staff in the gift shop where the rest of the museum was. I was told, ‘Honey, you’ve seen everything. If you aren’t buying anything, you need to go.'”
25.“The Whitney Plantation near New Orleans. It’s an amazing, yet somber place. Unfortunately, we had a guide who spoke in a quiet voice and talked too much about herself. I think so much more could be done here. I wanted to feel more. I wanted the people on the tour to take it more seriously, almost as if we were in Auschwitz. I’m hoping it was just the bad guide.”
" Please go if you ’re in NOLA — maybe it will be better for you . "
— u / TrainingWoodpecker77
26.“Ate fugu sashimi in Osaka. Fugu is poisonous, and a chef needs to have seven years of experience before they are licensed to serve it. The regret? It tasted like overcooked squid — so not worth the money or the mental effort.”
27.“Bali, in general. I’ve been to three dozen countries and wish I had gone anywhere else in Indonesia. What a touristy, littered stew pot. Maybe my least favorite place I’ve ever traveled.”
Note : answer have been edited for duration / clarity .
