5 Awful Travel Destinations You Think You Should Visit

The city of Ubud -- made famous by the book Eat, Pray, Love -- is packed with people who don't realize that what they're experiencing is the Epcot Center version of Indonesia. Pretentious westerners attend overpriced yoga retreats and tell you "How zen this place is" in their quest to get spiritually drunk and soulfully laid. It's an island of people trying to be Julia Roberts.

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I saw more BBQ restaurants, sushi joints, Italian restaurants, and trendy coffee shops than I did tiny local Indonesian restaurants serving local cuisine. Basically, it's the foreign city you visit if you don't want feel like you've wandered too far from home.

My suggestion? Skip Bali and head to the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia. It feels a lot less like a theme park attraction there.

What more could you want out of such a storied city with a history that stretches back centuries -- a city that that helped establish the basis for much of modern civilization -- and left us treasures of their influence in the form of their beautiful ruins, incredible food, and vibrant culture?

Well, cleanliness, for starters. And maybe a little less foreboding sense that I could be mugged and stabbed while I'm distracted by ancient piles of rubble.

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Athens has been called a "destination to watch" in 2015, because when a city is one giant construction project that stalled-out after the demolition phase 2,000 years ago, you want to pay close attention to the exciting things they have in store for us in the year ahead.

Outside the Plaka (the historic area with the ruins), Athens has few redeeming qualities, unless you consider filth a redeeming quality.

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The buildings (the ones that aren't ancient ruins) are run down and covered in graffiti. It's a sprawling city, yet the metro is often not running due to strikes, and crime has grown in recent years. To put it bluntly: Athens is repulsive.

I'm a former history teacher who read books on ancient Greece as a child (yes, I'm a huge nerd). I wanted it to be the Athens of my dreams, the one I romanticized. It's not only far from that dream, but at this point I'd be happy if they at least sprayed the buildings down with a hose and sponge.

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It's brings me solace knowing I'm not the only one who thinks so either. Whereas Lisbon might be run down and charming, Athens is just run down. I'm fascinated by the achievements of the ancient Greeks, it's just too bad it's getting to the point where I can't tell the difference between an ancient ruin and a modern building.

Located near the border of Costa Rica, these islands in Panama are one of the most visited destinations in the country, with many travel publications touting their "sleepy" charm. And, don't get me wrong, the islands do make for some beautiful photos, but they're a lot like a Monet painting - beautiful from afar and a mess close up. The beaches are small and often lined with seaweed and broken tree branches, the water is rough, there's almost nothing to do on the islands, and the scuba diving is as basic as it gets. The main island is a one road town where locals often commit petty theft against tourists, because that's how you treat the people who keep your local economy afloat.

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I wanted to love Bocas since so many people told me I had to visit. But it turns out it is like the Krakow of Central America on the backpacking trail. While it's fun and the parties are sometimes intense, as a beach paradise, it's grossly overrated and overpriced (Thanks, tourists!). What Bocas offers can be found in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica, Roatan, Honduras, Caye Caulker, Belize, and countless other beach towns throughout Central America.

What it does not offer is anything unique except maybe a lot of cocaine, which the locals sell to the hordes of tourists visiting the islands looking for a good time. So if you're in need of some booger sugar to make your trip to Bocas del Toro at least a tiny bit interesting, you should have no problem there.

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And for all the partying that goes on here, accommodation, food, and drinks is about 30% higher than it is in other parts of the country. Bocas del Toro is hyped up to be the beach paradise to end all beach paradises, when in reality it's just a tiny island that offers nothing beyond decent weather and cocaine on every corner.

When you picture islands in the Caribbean, you picture tropical paradise - white sand beaches, turquoise blue water, and nearby reefs for snorkeling. When everyone told me Curacao was going to be paradise, I believed them. After all, it's been named one of the best destinations to visit two years in a row. When I got there, I scoured the island for those beautiful beaches people talked about and came up empty. The beaches were rocky and the best ones were often in private resorts you had to pay for.

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Taxis across the island cost upwards of $50, and buses only ran every two hours. There was some good local food at the market in Willemstad, but the beaches are better for pictures that make your friends back home jealous than for actual swimming.

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The island is overpriced, the night life is seriously lacking. Clever photography and a smart marketing campaign have made Curacao one of the most popular islands in the Caribbean. If you never left your beautiful resort, you might think so too. But once you explore the island, you'll find that there's not much there. If you want a better Caribbean paradise at a more affordable price, try St. John, an island with personality and life. Curacao is person you date who's actually quite boring once you get over their good looks.

With meals that expensive, it's impossible to eat out often. Furthermore, the weather in the city sucks. It's often cold, cloudy, and rainy. Additionally, the tube closes early on weekends (1AM) and is frequently shut for maintenance. London is a great city for the 1% of the world with its high fashion, expensive restaurants, clubs, and homes. If you're loaded, go to London and have a ball. But if you want a modestly priced international vacation destination, you can do a lot better. I've never seen my money disappear so quickly for virtually no reason.

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Some will say "Yes, but the museums and theater are wonderful and the city has a lof of history." That may be true but that doesn't mean we have to fawn over London and put it on a pedestal! If we are going to write odes to a city, it should have it all. London does not have it all. Give me Berlin, a city with a growing food scene, art, music, diversity, and cheap prices. It is vibrant. London is your stuffy grandfather who goes to bed at 8pm. Go there if you have to, not because you think you want to.

Matthew Kepnes is the author of the book "How to Travel the World on $50 a Day" and runs the popular budget travel website, Nomadic Matt.