Daily writing prompt

What place in the world do you never want to visit? Why?

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This may be one of the easiest questions in the world to answer, because there are plenty of places I have no desire to see up close.

Let’s start with the obvious.

North Korea does not exactly scream “relaxing getaway.” I’m not drawn to destinations where a wrong facial expression could become part of an official government report. I prefer countries where looking confused is not considered political commentary.

Iran also does not make my travel wish list, mostly because if international tensions are already high, voluntarily stepping into the middle of that seems like poor vacation planning.

The same goes for any place where the evening news regularly uses phrases like “escalation,” “armed conflict,” or “the State Department has issued warnings.” If your vacation requires checking whether missile defense systems are currently active, maybe choose somewhere else.

I don’t need to test whether I can remain calm while hearing distant explosions. I also don’t need to discover how quickly I can locate an embassy. And I definitely don’t need one of those stories where somebody says afterward, “Well, we thought it would be safe if we stayed near the hotel.”

That sentence has never once ended well.

There are also places where the danger is less political and more practical. Certain neighborhoods in Chicago at the wrong hour? No thank you. Certain corners of Jacksonville after midnight when even the streetlights look nervous? Also no. At my age, if a location has people casually telling you, “You probably shouldn’t stop there after dark,” I consider that a complete travel review.

And then there are the places where nature itself seems personally offended that human beings arrived.

• I have no desire to visit a desert where the air feels like someone left the oven door open.
• I don’t need to hike through a jungle where every plant appears to have either poison, thorns, venom, or an attitude.
• I don’t need to stand somewhere in Australia while someone cheerfully explains that nearly everything nearby can bite, sting, chase, or kill me.

Australians are fascinating because they say terrifying things in a completely calm voice.

“That spider? Oh, he’s harmless unless you annoy him.” How exactly does one know whether a spider feels annoyed?

And while we’re at it, I do not need to swim anywhere that requires a sign warning me that something in the water considers me lunch. If the beach includes shark alerts, jellyfish warnings, crocodile advisories, or anything involving the phrase “stinger season,” I am perfectly happy admiring the ocean from inland.

Then there are the tourist experiences that people call adventurous and I call unnecessary suffering.

• I do not need to climb a mountain just so I can stand at the top, exhausted, cold, short of breath, and pretending the view was worth the pain in my knees.
• I do not need to camp in the wilderness where sleeping means lying awake listening for sounds that may or may not be wildlife preparing to investigate my tent.
• And I have never once looked at a packed airport, delayed flights, lost luggage, and connecting gates half a mile apart and thought, “What a wonderful way to begin a relaxing week.”

Truthfully, the older I get, the more attractive safe places become.

A good chair. A decent meal. Air conditioning. No political unrest. No venom. No chance of accidentally becoming part of a breaking news story.

That’s not fear. That’s maturity.

The world is full of incredible places. I’m just perfectly comfortable admiring some of them from a very secure distance.

Copyright © 2026 Doug DeBolt.