The Anti-Bucket List USA: 9 Famous Tourist Traps I Skipped and What I Did Instead

I have a confession to make for a travel blog. For years, I was a checklist traveler. If the guide said go to Times Square, I went to Times Square. If Instagram said I had to wait 45 minutes for coffee at a certain shop, like the first starbucks in Seattle, I waited. I have photos of me in front of every single famous sign in America, smiling, while being completely exhausted.

"I thought that was travel. Collecting places like trophies. It works too. But the real stories and moments come from taking a break from that mindset and doing something else"

But after doing it all - and I mean all - from New York to California, from Seattle to Miami, I started to notice something weird. My favorite memories were never from the famous thing itself. They were from what happened right next to it. The side street. The quiet coffee shop I ducked into to escape the crowd. The local who said, "Oh, you don't want to go there, go here instead."

A while back I wrote about struggling with bad sleep. And that post made me think about my travel sleep too. I was sleeping badly on trips because I was doing travel badly. Rushing, standing in lines, surrounded by thousands of people all taking the same photo.

So I started creating an Anti-Bucket List.

It's not about being negative. It's about being honest. It's a list of famous places that you can absolutely skip, not because they are terrible, but because there is something better, cheaper, quieter, and more real right next door.

This is that list. This is what I would do if I had to do it all over again.

1. Instead of Times Square, New York City - Go to Roosevelt Island and Gantry Plaza State Park

Everyone tells you that you have to see Times Square. And you should, once. For about five minutes.

After that, it's just loud screens, chain restaurants, and people selling you bus tours. You can't hear yourself think, you can't find a place to sit, and a bottle of water costs $6.

Do this instead: Take the Roosevelt Island Tram from 59th and 2nd Avenue. It's $2.90, same as a subway ride, and it glides you right over the East River. Roosevelt Island itself is quiet, almost village-like. Walk to the south tip to the Louis Kahn Four Freedoms Park. No one is there.

Then for sunset, go to Gantry Plaza State Park in Long Island City, Queens. It's just one subway stop from Times Square, but it's a different planet. You get the full Manhattan skyline, the Empire State Building lighting up, and you can actually sit on a swing and watch it. Food trucks, locals walking dogs, no one trying to sell you anything.

Same iconic view. Zero anxiety. That is a trade I will make every time.

What to add to your itinerary: Stay for the sunset and then walk to get Thai food on Jackson Avenue. That's the real Queens.

2. Instead of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Los Angeles - Go to Griffith Observatory and Los Feliz Village

The Hollywood Walk of Fame is probably the biggest letdown in American travel. It's a dirty sidewalk with stars on it, next to souvenir shops selling the same t-shirt. You will spend an hour looking for your favorite celebrity's star, step in something sticky, and wonder why you came.

Hollywood is not actually Hollywood. The real Los Angeles is up in the hills.

Do this instead: Go to Griffith Observatory. It's free. You get the best view of the Hollywood Sign that isn't behind a fence, plus the entire city laid out from downtown to the ocean. Inside, the exhibits make you feel like a kid again.

When you're done, drive down the hill into Los Feliz Village. This is what people think Los Angeles will feel like. A perfect bookstore in Los Altos, vintage shops, great coffee at Maru, and people who actually live in the city. Get tacos at Tacos Tu Madre. Sit outside. No one is rushing you.

You still get your Hollywood photo, but you also get a neighborhood you will actually remember.

3. Instead of Bourbon Street, New Orleans - Go to Frenchmen Street

I love New Orleans. But Bourbon Street is not New Orleans. It's a theme park version of it.

It's loud, sticky, expensive, and the music is mostly covers from a speaker. After one hurricane drink that costs $18, you feel like you need a shower.

Do this instead: Walk ten minutes. Literally ten minutes to Frenchmen Street in the Marigold. This is where the musicians from Bourbon go to play after their shift.

You walk in, there is a $5 or $10 cover, and suddenly you are hearing the best jazz, brass, and blues of your life in a tiny, sweaty, perfect room. Spotted Cat, d.b.a., and Blue Nile are all on the same two blocks. You can hop between them. The drinks are half the price and the people next to you are from New Orleans, not just visiting.

This is the street that taught me to stop going where the tourists go and start going where the artists go after work.

4. Instead of the First Starbucks at Pike Place, Seattle - Go to Capitol Hill

Pike Place Market is incredible. Keep that on your bucket list. Throwing fish, fresh flowers, the view of the Sound - I love it.

But there is a line that snakes around the building every single day for the "First Starbucks." It's not even the first anymore - the company moved it. You will wait 45 minutes to get into a small, crowded store to buy the same latte you can get at home.

Do this instead: Enjoy Pike Place, then take a 15-minute walk up to Capitol Hill.

Seattle's coffee scene left Pike Place a decade ago. On Capitol Hill you will find Victrola, Espresso Vivace, and a dozen tiny shops where the barista actually cares. No line, better coffee, and you are in Seattle's most walkable neighborhood with indie bookstores like Elliott Bay, record stores, and Volunteer Park with a perfect view.

If you want a tourist photo, take a photo of your coffee in Volunteer Park with the Space Needle in the background. Way better story.

5. Instead of South Beach, Miami - Go to North Shore Open Space Park and Bill Baggs Cape Florida

South Beach looks perfect on Instagram. In real life, it's $40 for a beach chair, $25 for a cocktail, music blasting from three different hotels, and you can't see the water for the crowd.

If you want to actually rest - and after my last post about bad sleep, I know a lot of you do - South Beach will not give you rest.

Do this instead: Two options depending on your mood.

For a quiet city beach day, go to North Shore Open Space Park at 79th Street. Same beautiful water, same white sand, but it's a state park. Locals only, sea grapes for shade, you can hear the waves. Park for $2 an hour.

If you want something truly special, drive 30 minutes south to Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park on Key Biscayne. You walk to a historic lighthouse from 1825, climb to the top, and see the Atlantic on one side and Biscayne Bay on the other. The beach there is ranked one of the top 10 in America almost every year and there are hardly ever crowds on weekdays.

This is Florida as it was supposed to be. Quiet. Warm. Restorative.

6. Instead of Rushing The Alamo, San Antonio - Bike the Full Missions Trail

The Alamo is important. You should see it. But what happens is everyone sees it in 20 minutes, in a huge crowd, surrounded by Ripley's Believe It or Not.

What most people miss is that The Alamo is just one of five missions. The other four - Concepcion, San Jose, San Juan, and Espada - are connected by a beautiful 10-mile bike trail that is flat, paved, and almost empty.

Do this instead: Rent a bike from the Blue Star Arts Complex. Ride south. Mission San Jose is called the Queen of the Missions and it is stunning - massive stone walls, no line, you can sit in the 250-year-old church and just be quiet. The priests still live there.

You get history, exercise, peace, and you see how people actually lived instead of just a gift shop.

It taught me that sometimes the famous attraction is just the introduction. The real story is down the road.

7. Instead of Navy Pier, Chicago - Do the Riverwalk and Millennium Park

Navy Pier is built for tourists. A big Ferris wheel, chain restaurants, expensive parking. Chicagoans don't go there unless they have family in town.

Chicago has one of the greatest city centers in America. Don't waste it at a pier.

Do this instead: Start at Millennium Park. Yes, it's famous too, but for good reason - it's free, huge, and locals actually use it. See The Bean early in the morning when there are no crowds. Then walk directly onto the Chicago Riverwalk East.

For $5 you can rent a Divvy bike or just walk along the river with the architecture tour boats floating by. Stop at the Riverwalk cafes for a coffee. In 20 minutes you see more beautiful architecture than anywhere else in the US, and you are surrounded by people who live and work in Chicago.

That feels like Chicago. Navy Pier feels like anywhere.

8. Instead of Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco - Go to the Ferry Building and Outer Sunset

Fisherman's Wharf is another one. Old crab stands, a few sad sea lions you can barely see, and sweatshirts that say Alcatraz.

San Francisco's food and ocean culture is so much better than that.

Do this instead: Start your morning at the Ferry Building. It's a food hall, but it's all local - Acme Bread, Blue Bottle Coffee, Hog Island Oysters. On Tuesdays and Saturdays the farmers market outside is one of the best in the country. You can take the ferry to anywhere from here and it's beautiful.

Then for the ocean, skip the Wharf and go to Outer Sunset. Get to Ocean Beach. It's wild, cold, foggy, huge. Get coffee at Andytown and walk the Judah Street murals. This is where San Franciscans go to breathe.

You still get the seafood, the sea lions (at Pier 39 you can see them better for free anyway), and the ocean, but you get the version that locals love.

9. Instead of Staying on the Las Vegas Strip All Day - Go to the Arts District and Red Rock Canyon at Sunrise

I used to think Vegas was just the Strip. And if you only stay on the Strip, you will leave thinking Vegas is fake, expensive, and exhausting. Because the Strip is.

Do this instead: Wake up early - I know, Vegas and early don't go together - and drive 25 minutes to Red Rock Canyon. For $20 per car, you get a 13-mile scenic drive through giant red cliffs. At 7am, it's just you, the desert, and maybe a few climbers. It is silent. It is the opposite of Vegas and that's why you need it.

Then come back into town and go to the Arts District on Main Street. Vintage shops, incredible coffee at Makers & Finders, murals, and a brewery called CraftHaus where you can actually talk to the person next to you.

Vegas has a soul. It's just not on the Strip. Finding it felt like finding a secret. 

The Real lesson of the Anti-Bucket List.

When I started travel blogging, I thought my job was to show you the most famous places. Now I think my job is to show you how to have a better time once you get there.

The anti-bucket list is not about hate. I have been to all nine of these famous places and I'm glad I did. But if I could do it again, I would spend less time waiting in line to prove I was there, and more time right next door where life was actually happening.

It's a travel lesson, but honestly, it's a life lesson too. Just like I had to learn with sleep and rest - more noise is not more experience. Sometimes less crowd is more memory.

So, make your bucket list. And then make your anti-bucket list. Ask yourself: what am I skipping so I can find something better?

If you have a swap that I missed - a famous spot you skipped and loved what you found instead - leave it in the comments. I want to add it to my list for my next trip around the country.

"We chase these lists on vacations that last a week, sometimes just 3 days. It makes sense to try to knock out the bucket list like collecting trophies. I'm as guilty as anyone. Looking back at the photos, the places that actually stuck in my mind were the ones where I slowed down. So next time you check something off the bucket list, look for the quieter spot nearby that gives you a pause to actually take it in."

P.S. for you: Want a downloadable checklist PDF.  Like "9 Tourist Traps to Skip"  Printable go to the link below? 

"Anti-Bucket List: Florida Edition" 

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