Traveling to cities are boring, or am I boring?
Cities are pretty boring, I mean lets be honest here. Yea sure you can have a great time and I have in a lot of cities but after a while, they just aren’t for me ya know.
I don’t want to be the negative “Nazi” on this subject, but I think it is time for me to retire from visiting cities. I have been to 5 famous cities in a row now and they are basically all the same and don’t particularly boast fun, extreme and mind stimulating activities, at least not for me anyways.
It all started when I packed my life back into my backpack in Niseko, Japan where I had just spent 2.5 amazing months snowboarding some of the world’s greatest powder (check out this video if you don’t believe me). Then I was headed for Tokyo and which had me feeling stoked and super excited to move on and experience more of Japan. I headed there to browse about, have a look at one of the world’s most popular cities and get some photography done recording my gallivants about the place. You can see my pics in this through the lens Tokyo edition if your intrigued.
Next up though was Kyoto and i loved this city for its special Japanese feel. I was staying with a friend and it felt a lot more homely and welcoming, than the city hostels. Just a short trip whilst there had me headed south to Osaka within 4 days. By this time I had spent enough days trekking from shrine to shrine, temple to temple, palace to palace and of course my personal favorite, from shopping street to shopping street.
Here is where I get worn down the most. Shopping, I can’t say it’s something I love to do, unlike a lot of people (eh-hem girls). I am a little strange in this way and some people would agree and most, well they think I am a nutter. Mainly because shopping to me is a waste of my time, money and most of all I don’t feel the need to impress people or make myself feel better by buying new things. I do this in the odd case when I really need something. That and also that it would be taking up important space in the small area where I keep my life, called a backpack.
So after Osaka, the shopping areas were out of the way while I headed to Beijing to hike the Great Wall of China, to tick off number 2 on my bucket list for the year. The Great Wall was very spectacular and heading back to into the city was, well a drag. I knew the only thing to do would be to visit more Temples and historic sites. Which I often love, don’t get me wrong, but I had just been worn a little low by this point and the sight of another temple didn’t bedazzle me as much as if I hadn’t seen one for a year or more.
Hong Kong was next and basically was just as a stopover to get number 3 on my bucket ticked off, the 233m bungee jump from the Macau Tower (world’s highest). Although in this city I loved seeing the cityscape at night, but the consumerism that went down in this metropolitan made me throw in the towel.
That was it; I was done with cities and needed to catch a break. The Philippines, where I headed to next would be the perfect option and I was ecstatic to head there. But something that doesn’t surprise me is the thought of not going city hopping ever again. Unless of course it involves segregated breaks with fun and adventurous activities to allow me to release some of the energy I store whilst strolling about in a city. You see cities aren’t all that bad for me, but only in certain doses and at this particular time I felt I had overdosed 5 times over.
So I think it is safe to say that my next adventures are going to be actual adventures instead of bordering my fun and exploratory side with sky scrapers, shopping and metro rides.
So look out Hawaii!
How do you feel about traveling to cities, is it your preferred option or are you much like me and can’t stand to much traffic, people, buildings and mayhem? Please feel free to share in the comment box below how you feel about visiting cities. Do you love it or aren’t amused one little bit and, of course, why?
I can see how city hopping could get old. It’s one thing if you love museums and the craziness of a big city, but 5 cities in a row seems like a lot! When I went on a trip through Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, by the time I got to Montevideo I was so tired and didn’t even enjoy it!
Yea Hannah your right, 5 cities in a row is too much. It’s just not enjoyable as you say going to the next one. Which is a huge shame even if it is a really cold city to visit.
This is what I told myself when coming back from a visit to Barcelona, while I really enjoyed the city and its architecture, my highlight of the trip was going of of the city for some hiking in the mountains. You can’t compare man made structures to what nature has built throughout millions of years. Same with Berlin. I have been living here for the past 2 years and I swear, every time I hear from someone what a great city it is I just want to explode. What is so great about it? Cafes? you have them in every other city? same with club or with the fact how International it is. So yeah….it is just a city, and definitely not the greatest in the world as others say.
Your so right Marta, but thats the thing, most people don’t know anything else other than cities. Its a shame that cities vs other cities is all they can compare instead of beautiful landscapes as you said that have been formed naturally.
True that there’s more than just cities! It all depends, but taking your time in a single place to see the quieter side that maybe only locals know can make a better experience.
I occasionally do a city trip but just for a day or two. I much more prefer the outdoors, so most of the time you’ll find me in the mountains far away from any city.
I love cities as well as small villages/outdoors – both offer very different travel experiences. Cities can be boring but so can the wilderness sometimes too – I find endless desert boring. Each to their own though – if you don’t like cities then don’t visit them.
Your so right, everything can get boring and this was the case for me after city stopping on the reg. I won’t be doing that for a while now. Cheers Katie
Wow, I’m surprised at this. I never thought travellers got bored of cities! I understand (some of) your points – after you’ve passed your 15th Maccy D’s or been jostled for the umpteenth time you can get a little jaded. But cities are also home to pockets of communities where you can turn up treasures, plus museums, art galleries, theatres, concert halls, shops selling weird stuff, great places to eat… I could go on! Most cities I have visited have parks to escape to for some down time as well.
Thank you for this post, it’s good to read other points of view.
Hahaha And i thought I was the only one who was sick and tired of cities!