Loving the Hate. The most “popular” posts on the Blog
Updated September 2024.
I’ve written 700 posts on the blog since starting the Travels of Bbqboy and Spanky 10 years ago. When you write a post, you sometimes know when something will or won’t do well. Controversial or negative posts, will almost always do well.
Some people will accuse me of writing negative posts on purpose. As I say, I’ve written 700 posts on this blog. Of those, I’m overtly negative in about 10 posts. So I don’t go around writing negative posts. The reality is that nobody will love 100% of every destination they visit. Appreciate it or not, I’m just honest about our feelings.
But besides negative posts, certain destinations do well, like our posts on the Balkans. They always seem to get people riled up.
This post revisits some of our most popular articles measured in terms of comments received. You might, like me, get a kick out some of the posts listed here.
1. Why I won’t be going back to Brazil.
When you arrive in some countries you’ll see photos of terrorists posted at immigration checkpoints. In Brazil they probably have a photo of me. This trip dates back to 2006 and the post was among the first published on the website. I’ve gotten some very nice comments from Brazilians inviting me back to their country…but mostly I get lots of angry comments (and many more were deleted because they just weren’t very polite).
2. Why we didn’t like Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The smaller sister of the above post. Many seemed to find humor in this post. I realize reading some of these earlier posts that I was pretty direct about how I felt. I think I’ve toned that down (slightly) with time.
3. Is Krakow overrated? And why a month in Poland was enough for us to not come back
We travelled full-time from 2014 – 2020. Of all the places that we used as ¨bases¨, Poland was our least favorite (we were there in 2018). It wasn’t because of Krakow, just like in Brazil, it was about the people. And whereas I received the hate in Brazil, Lissette was the one who felt it in Poland.
Poland left us with a very bad taste in our mouths and I was honest about our thoughts on this post.
4. Falling for the Bangkok Gem Scam.
Another of my very early posts. An embarrassing story from my early trips abroad. I wasn’t going to write about it until I saw a TV show called Scam City covering it. I decided to write my story. Since then I’ve had many comments and, thanks to some very helpful readers, was also able to help a lot of people who got swindled get their money back.
The terrible thing is that I still get comments today from people who get scammed in Bangkok (more than 20 years after I was a victim). This scam keeps on going because the Thai police and the people in power allow it to keep on going….
5. Wild, Wacky Skopje (Macedonia). One of the Strangest Places we’ve Been.
One of the strangest cities you’ll ever see, but one that we really enjoyed (it’s also among the cheapest places we’ve ever been). Most of the comments are very positive – when you go places that don’t get much written about them you get a lot of locals who really appreciate reading about their city. But then you have the others who accuse you of “government sponsored propaganda”. Others accused us of “anti-government propaganda”. Then there are the Greeks and Albanians who get all angry and throw around comparisons to Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. This post was the first to show us how crazy people get when writing about the Balkans. Note that recently Macedonia was renamed North Macedonia after years of disputes between Greece and Macedonia.
6. Photo Essay on Lisbon, Portugal. And why we were happy to leave…
Lisbon is an attractive city. If you’re the usual tourist visiting the city for a couple of days you’ll probably love it. It’s a city set up to cater to tourists. But of all the cities we’ve used as a “base” (ie. for a month or more) Lisbon was the worst ever. It’s the only capital city we’ve ever been where we could never find the “basics” one needs to live. Just very strange. Add to that too many tourists and “Airbnb guettos”. I was very critical of Lisbon in this post. While I got a lot of negative comments, I also had a lot of Lisbonites who agreed with me.
7. Belgrade – Visiting Serbia, Bad Boys of the Balkans…
Maybe I prodded the bear with that title. But we really enjoyed Belgrade and said nothing but good things about the city in this post. It’s a typical Balkan post where people get all worked up over nothing. You just have to read the comments in this post to realize that there are a lot of unresolved issues in the Balkans.
8. Reasons why I don’t visit your blog.
I really had fun writing this post and I think it showed. It’s one of my favorite posts. I got a lot of comments from other bloggers on this one. Things change quickly in the blogging world and I’ve got a lot of pet peeves to add. Maybe it’s time to do a follow up post.
Related: Why I’ve had it with Instagrammers (and some travel bloggers)
Related: Ps. If you enjoy our blog, please consider using our links to book your flights, hotels, tours, and car rentals. Have a look at our Travel Resources page.
Marcelo
Wow, the first 2 are brazilians, haha. I am brazilian and this shows how people here get absolutely furious when a foreigner say some “not good” things about Brazil in the Internet. Quite sad that people here often reacts any negative comment about the country with an almost lifelasting rage.
tom
Never understood the hype for Chiang Mai. It’s a useful base for tours but the city itself is rather dull. Not much nightlife and the night market area is very tacky with loads of junk on sale. It has cheap guesthouses but after 2 weeks when you have done many tours there’s nothing much left.
Frank (bbqboy)
You’re right Tom. HATE the market and the crowds. Temples are impressive though. I think we liked CM for a change of pace from Europe but it did get a bit boring after a few weeks and the pollution and traffic get to you after a while.
Teri
Totally agree with you. Another pet peeve I would add is ’10 BEST’ lists. There are just too many of them. And they are usually posted by someone that has visited the place for 3 days. How could they possibly know the BEST? AND, the list is the same from blog to blog.
Frank (bbqboy)
Very, very true. That’s right up there among pet peeves…along with people who write an “impressions” based on stopping somewhere for lunch.
Truth is that a lot of people copy from others, so not very much originality. And it always bothers me when people are too PC – always loving everywhere they go. We all know that’s not true in real life…
Ric
Always interesting to see what posts resonate with readers. A lot of time controversy sells and of course great, useful content. Impressed, you are really prolific with 300 plus posts!
Anita @ No Particular Place To Go
An intriguing blog title and, as always, I love your blunt humor!
Frank (bbqboy)
Thank you Anita 🙂
Andrew Boland
yeah i think in some ways a negative view prompts more responses. Still, you could always give Rio another go 😛 Nice post btw
Frank (bbqboy)
Maybe we should one day. Especially since I lost almost every photo when my hard disk crashed a few years back…
Katherine
I sometimes joke to blogger friends that if they want to go viral, they should write about a place they don’t like – or bash another blogger. It’s funny but it’s true.
Frank (bbqboy)
Hi Katherine! Yes, it’s unfortunate that negative posts get more attention than positive ones. I think people should be careful though because you don’t want to be defined by those negative posts, it wears thin. It makes me a lot happier seeing a positive post do well than a negative one.
Marti L. Bridges
Frank, just wanted to let you know I enjoy your blog and have utilized your Thailand thoughts. I found Prachuap Kiri Khan a delightful place. Didn’t see any other Americans, save one, and he was actually Thai and a dual citizen. Mostly Germans and a lot of chain smoking Boorish French. What is it with their inability to sit for a meal without ruining the ambiance by lighting up a cigarette, especially where it states “no smoking”?And I met some very nice Canadians from BC just across the border from Idaho. The Wing 5 beach was great. I went two days in a row for 4hours each. My TukTuk driver retrieved me when I called him back. The Friday night Market was an epicurean delight. And I really was impressed with the community recycling program they’ve embraced at events like that. I stayed away from the monkey Wat because several females were in heat along the road below it, and the measles were going crazy and aggressive. I was only in town for three full days but could easily have stayed a week or two. And I met several others who did exactly that.
Sukhothai was 98 degrees and extremely humid. I rented a bike at the Park and actually saw what I wanted before boredom took over. Thank goodness for the pool at the lodging. I probably wouldn’t recommend this site based on cost of getting there. There just isn’t much else to do there or in that area of Thailand. The logistics of getting there by train and shuttle or plane and shuttle didn’t justify the effort for me.
Chiang Dao is another place step walk up to the Monastery every morning for some inspiration and the view.
The air pollution in Bangkok was so severe right after I was there they closed schools for 4days, and vehicles that had altered their exhaust systems.
The most disheartening thing about Thailand is the ever present trash, especially on several islands. Some Canadians told me it is even worse in Cambodia.
Chiang Mai is a great city, and the Flower Festival took place while I was there. Sadly the field burning was starting up early. Renting a scooter for those who actually know how to ride a motorcycle is the best way to get around, though I still found the Moat and being inside or outside of it quite confusing as well as all the u turns.
Frank (bbqboy)
Thank you for the comment Marti.
Glad you liked PKK. I think maybe you like the same kind of places we like. You would probably also enjoy Nong Khai – another quiet, clean place with friendly locals. Another place I loved was Mae Hong Son near the border with Burma (Myanmar). But that was a long time ago.
Sukhothai. Agreed, a day or two does it, with time spent relaxing by the pool.
Bangkok. We have a love/hate relationship with it. At its worse it can be complete misery…but it can also be the most exciting city on earth (mostly if you’re single).
Chiang Mai. We arrived there in early March last year and it was getting into the burning season and only got worse and worse. I don’t know how people live there for those months. You’re courageous renting a moped! Glad you liked Chiang Dao, haven’t been there in 10 years.
I think the key in Thailand is getting away from cities and into nature.You can probably say the same thing for most of SEA.
But I’m especially happy you enjoyed PKK. It’s quiet and I don’t know how long we could be there…but I think we were there about 5 days and really enjoyed it.
How long were you in Thailand all together Marti? Was it part of a larger Asia trip or just Thailand? Was it your first time there?