A solo American traveler has revealed what she hated about each of the 11 countries she visited this year, including London and its 'unfriendly' residents.
Grace Cheng has a TikTok account dedicated to her travels, which she visits @gracietravels.
In a recent video, she wanted to “be real” with her 62,000 followers and share what she wasn't a fan of in the places she visited in 2023.
She captioned the TikTok, which has already been seen by more than 14,000 people: “Before you start attacking me, I just want to say I'm real with all of you.
“I'm not a creator who sugar-coats travel. Traveling is NOT just about having positive experiences. you will NOT like every place you visit and that's normal! It is not necessary.
A solo American traveler has revealed what she didn't like about each of the 11 countries she visited this year
“We can all give our own opinions and I like using this platform to do that because it allows me to help people around the world who don't know such things.”
She added: “If your country is mentioned here, please do not take offense. I really loved every country I visited, every country is so unique and special! but if I had to pick one negative thing out of each thing, that's what my video contains'.
London
As part of her 2023 travels, the influencer made a stop in Britain, specifically London, but she was left unimpressed.
She told viewers: 'Then in London I also felt like it was a huge disappointment, it was a bit overhyped in my opinion.
“The locals here didn't seem very friendly.”
One commenter agreed, jokingly writing; 'Londoners unfriendly? Never. One time I fell down the stairs on the subway, my suitcase almost knocked me out and people just stepped over me and moved on.”
Although another wrote: 'I wasn't expecting much from London but was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed it. I would even consider going back'.
As part of her 2023 travels, the influencer made a stop in Britain, specifically London, but she was not impressed
Singapore
Another country Grace visited this year was Singapore, where she stayed at Marina Bay Sands.
In this case, it was the hotel that left the travel professional disappointed.
She revealed: 'Staying at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore was a huge disappointment. It's definitely not worth the hype and the price.
'There isn't much to do here other than eating and shopping.'
Japan
She then spoke about Japan, explaining that “in some places there can be a huge difference in the way they treat foreigners.”
She added: “They even have Japanese-only branches here – if you don't speak Japanese, know that sometimes you'll be looked down upon.”
However, one commenter disagreed, arguing, “I've been to Japan and never felt uncomfortable or looked down upon for not speaking the language. Actually everyone was super nice.'
Turkey
Moving on to Turkey, she claims there is a habit that “most” people have that she didn't like to be a part of.
Grace said: 'In Turkey I didn't expect that everyone smokes here, even your taxi or Uber driver will smoke in the car with you.
She added text to the screen that read, “Okay, not everyone, but a lot of people!”
Concluding that it was “personally so difficult for her to bear.”
Egypt
The fourth country on the list was Egypt, where she revealed she “never knew” who she could trust.
The content creator said: 'In Egypt the scammers and harassment here were so rampant and made my trip so stressful and overwhelming.
It comes just after travel vlogger Sam Mayfair revealed four popular scams at Egypt's pyramids and shared advice on how to thwart the fraudsters.
Grace even made a TikTok in September this year, where she talked about how a visit to Egypt quickly turned into one of the worst travel experiences of her life.
She spent a week in Northeast Africa visiting the Great Pyramids of Giza and other historical monuments, but felt unsafe the entire time.
Her holiday was ruined by 'aggressive' scammers who lurked 'everywhere' in an attempt to scam innocent tourists out of their money.
Australia
Subsequently, while she had no major complaints about Australia, she had no rave reviews either.
The traveler said: 'Australia, I didn't think the places we went to were anything special. We definitely need a better itinerary for next time – it made the trip very boring overall'.
An Australian viewer said: 'Compared to other places you've been, Australia is boring and we have very little to offer that compares to other places in the world.'
Kenya
On the way to Kenya, Grace spoke about the Giraffe Manor, a giraffe conservation facility and hotel in Nairobi, as part of 'The Safari Collection', a portfolio of four luxury boutique camps and lodges.
You can view the animals up close. It's also the only place in the world where you can feed and photograph giraffes from a breakfast table, or watch them from your bedroom window.
Grace commented: 'In Kenya, this was probably the highlight of my trip for the Giraffe Manor, just because I'm a huge giraffe lover.
“But I'll be honest with the general public and say it's not worth it.”
The Maldives
When discussing her stay in the Maldives, the TikToker only talked about the hotel she stayed in.
She explained: 'In the Maldives we stayed at the Ritz Carlton and they gave us the worst service ever.'
Addition: 'If you want to hear more about that, you can comment below.'
Taiwan
Grace made a point about safety in Taiwan that she wasn't happy with, explaining, “In Taiwan, I hate that pedestrians don't have the right of way, so you always have to be careful not to get run over by a moped.”
One viewer said: “Taiwan's pedestrian is much better compared to the Philippines,” alongside laughing emojis.
America
Towards the end of her list she mentioned America, but she was strangely cryptic about her reasoning.
Despite living in the US herself, she simply said: “In the US, I think this speaks for itself, but I won't go into it.”
Grace added a photo of Seattle's Pike Place Market, a daily market with seafood vendors, produce stalls and other retailers.
Confused viewers said: 'What was wrong with the US? (There's a lot wrong lol) but I'm just curious about what you thought was wrong' and 'what happened in the US, we're not from there'.
Canada
Finally, the TikToker reflected on her time in Canada.
She said, “I recently went to Vancouver and Banff in Canada, but for Banff I don't think I can find anything negative about this.
“The only thing is we didn't spend enough time on it.”
In the comments, she mentioned Vancouver, writing, “I didn't mention it in the video but it's super trashed now since they legalized everything! the center is the worst'.
Grace concluded the video by saying, “But these were the things I didn't like about every country I visited this year. If you guys agree or disagree, or have something else to say, please comment below.”
One viewer wrote: “Girl is rich, rich,” while a second added: “Always good to hear people talking about things they don't like when traveling.”
Others wrote: 'The traveling whiner! You better stay home' and 'Oh no, not the Ritz'.
Marina Bay Sands, Giraffe Manor and The Ritz Carlton Maldives have been contacted for comment.