Iceland is one of those places that is now trying to deal with the tourists’ impact on their country. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
When you fly, think about the fuel burned to transport your body and your stuff. I do not believe in buying carbon offsets, but I am a firm believer in packing light. At least my suitcase is not contributing to the global warming.
This is will be a little bit of a bad generalization but FLORIDA. As much as I’m a beach lover, my experiences (Orlando-ish area, Tampa-ish area, Daytona-ish areas) left me unimpressed and without plusses. I don’t love the humid heat and the landscape in general is not my cup of tea.
I took a class down on Rector Street this past spring. Every week I’d walk past the huddles of tourists gawking at Hamilton’s grave. While I no longer have a great desire to live in the city, I do still love catching views down the canyons of buildings, the unexpected corners of Central Park and the unexpected museum shows that never fail to surprise.
The thing about Iceland is that 200,000 of the 300,000 people live in Reykjavik. Once you get out of the capital, the best way to describe the scenery is UNSPOILED. Granted, there are more tourists at times than the infrastructure can support. So so many magnificent waterfalls on the side of the road that would merit at least a state park back in the US are just a 300 foot fall on some farmer’s farm.
Here’s a good reason not to give your tourism dollars to Iceland:
4 years or so we drove the entire Iceland country. It was interesting, but would I advise it? No. An exhausting trip to plan–had to know how many miles from bed to bed and if you did not there was nowhere to stop. The berm on the side of the roads is soft and if a tire went off --well, then. H and I do not travel well together but this trip was the worst we have ever done. Beautiful? sure. Did I find very very good food? 
of course. Nice people. I would suggest just be a tourist there and don’t go to extremes.
An Icelandic friend bemoans the effects of climate change there. Glaciers they knew as kids, no longer the same.
Twice, in the last few years, I’ve visited a friend who gets a winter rental in Naples, FL First time was painful, beaches weren’t that great (and I’m like a 45 minute max gal.) We did see the Everglades, which was amazing. But this last time, we did the botanical garden (super) and Key West, which I really liked. (Yup, my usual refrain, “The people are so friendly.”) I’d go back to that general area. But around Naples it sure is a lot of rich older folks. And malls, endless malls. Same stores, many of the same fancy restaurants we have here.
My desire to see Iceland was because my plane from Indianapolis to Florence landed there to refuel when I was 22. I had no idea it had become so popular but was in my tiny teacup of a so called bucket list.
I still remember Key West as fun. Even with my narcissistic mother who smoked like a chimney–H and the kids and I loved it.
Guess this should be a new post! My bucket is empty and much of that is to do with what we are all discussing. I think I would rather walk on one of my beloved local hikes now that see any other place in the world. But am so very glad that I have seen as much as I have in the past.
I thought I was the only runner who did not like the Boston Marathon. Ran it in '96 - the first time they had huge crowds. It was a mess and not even a nice course. Ran it again with a friend in '00. That was slightly better, but still. Super expensive weekend for a crowded jog. No thanks. I can jog 26 miles whenever I want to. I said the only way I’d go back is if I was in a sub 3 corral. Never happened.
I wasn’t fond of Cape Cod. We are spoiled with Carolina beaches. Cape Cod’s were crowded and narrow with big horseflies and the water was cold. The seals were cool though! I wouldn’t say I hated it, but it was not what I expected.
I also didn’t enjoy our last trip to Pigeon Forge a few Christmases ago. I enjoyed Gatlinburg in '00, but not this time. The mega crowds were awful. It took something like 30 min to go 1-2 miles every time we went out.
I like the Cape for sailing and kayaking through marshes and small harbors. Not so much for the beaches.
I still never found what one does on Cape Code besides water things.
@newjerseygirl98 I’m so sorry you did not enjoy your time in Philadelphia, but there is no “uptown” Philly. I assume you may mean North Philadelphia, possibly where Temple is?
Hand raised for not liking Boston Marathon. I ran 3 Bostons “back in the day” and didn’t enjoy them. That was before chip timing, and the start was a mess and it started at noon! I was coming there from Dallas where I lived back then and getting the downhill training in was very difficult. I am not a fan of big races in general, though. I did like eating Cannolis!
Drink. 
And if you want to blend in with the weekenders/vacationers from Boston, note that “beer” has 2 syllables - bee-ah
@doschicos In a word, china? Ya, with 2 billion people they can flood. Also, it could be that people all are going to the few same famous places. I hate lines. I takes joy out of going anywhere.
I have young friends who just got back from Iceland a few days ago. They circumnavigated the whole island in a rented sleeper van. Their trip looked incredible and you don’t have to make advance reservations at the camping areas. It looked like a lot of physical activity and it looked COLD!!! They could cook in the van and everything. I think I would like it if I had a sherpa to cook for me.
Thanks! I went to La Salle U. I used to call it north, but then people would say “uptown is above north”. Maybe that’s just a college kid thing haha
Places that I didn’t care for: St. Martin, Las Vegas, Jamaica.
Venice, Italy. Didn’t like it much at all.
If I want canals, cozy squares, museums, etc. I’ll take Amsterdam over Venice any day.