Traveler Who’s Seen 100 Countries Reveals the One Place He’ll Never Return To

Gabriel Morris has spent more than 30 years exploring the world, setting foot on six continents and visiting 97 countries. Despite a lifetime of adventures, there is one destination he says he has no desire to ever see again.

The globe-trotting YouTuber has carefully documented his journeys, drawing an audience of over 613,000 subscribers who eagerly follow his travel insights. To date, Gabriel has visited "97 United Nations member states plus the three disputed countries of Kosovo, Northern Cyprus, and Taiwan, which do not have UN member status."

In a recent video titled I've Been to 100 Countries - Which Place is the Worst? he revealed that his least favorite destination is the Persian Gulf, also known as the Arabian Gulf.

"I've seen a fair amount of the world and many of those countries I've been to over and over and travelled around a lot. I'll just tell you at the beginning here, my least favourite part of the world is the Persian Gulf (Arabian Gulf)," he told his audience.

While Iran refers to the body of water as the Persian Gulf, countries along the southern and western coastline use the name Arabian Gulf. Gabriel is quick to clarify that Iran is not included in his assessment, adding: "Now, I haven't been to Iran, and Iran looks absolutely incredible. And so I'm not including Iran in this. I don't know that along the Persian Gulf there is anything especially nice to see there."

Gabriel has visited 97 countries

YOUTUBE/GABRIEL TRAVELER

"The streets are practically empty of people other than those in their cars. You don't get the bustling, busy marketplace experience.

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Gabriel is not impressed with the Persian Gulf

Gabriel Traveler/Youtube

A Region That Left Him Cold

Over the years, Gabriel has explored several destinations in the Gulf. His travels have taken him to Saudi Arabia, where he visited Riyadh and Jeddah, as well as Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, including Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Yet none of these experiences left him eager to return.

"There's a little bit more to see in the desert outside of the cities, but not very much. Mostly it's just flat desert. Basically, I am thinking of the main cities on the Persian Gulf, and then including the cities of Saudi Arabia, which aren't near the Persian Gulf but do border it. I just find these cities to be devoid of anything particularly interesting as a traveller. I find them to be very boring and stale," he said.

He described the urban landscape as striking from afar but disappointing up close.

"The streets are practically empty of people other than those in their cars. You don't get the bustling, busy marketplace experience. All of those cities are built in a very similar style of massive skyscrapers. It makes for an impressive skyline, but then you get there on the ground and it's big, wide streets that can be almost impossible to cross. There's lots of traffic, massive distances, and not really anything that I want to do there. You can go in malls, you can go to some restaurants. Alcohol is banned for the most part, so that's another drawback."

"Soulless and Not Unique"

What bothers him most is the lack of individuality. "I just find them to be kind of soulless and not unique in any way. You could drop me in any one of those cities and not tell me which one it is, and unless you had a view of, say, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai or some particular landmark, if you were in a typical neighbourhood you couldn't distinguish it from any of the others. They're all built exactly the same and just super boring. Now, they aren't bad places to live necessarily or to raise a family. They are safe, they're clean, and they're hassle-free. There's no hustling, scams, or anything really to worry about."

Gabriel ranked Qatar and Dubai slightly higher than other Gulf destinations, but overall he insists he has "no desire to go back to that part of the world," even though he acknowledges the culture is "certainly fine."

Part of his criticism stems from the lack of authentic cultural exchanges. "Most of the people you're going to interact with aren't even the local Saudis, Emiratis, Qataris, Kuwaitis, or Bahrainis, because the local populations in all those countries are actually a minority.

The majority of people you'll encounter are workers from South Asia - Indians, Pakistanis, lots of Bangladeshis - who are working in restaurants, malls, hotels, and other service positions.

"The locals, as I understand it, receive paychecks from oil revenue and don't really have to work, at least not in the typical service jobs. Maybe that's not true in every country, but in general, if they are working, it's more likely to be in business or professional roles, so you're unlikely to interact with them as a visitor. That's just one more thing that makes the experience feel kind of watered down - you don't really get much of a local cultural experience. So, it's nothing personal against the people," he explained.

I just find them to be kind of soulless and not unique in any way

Gabriel Traveler/Youtube

Gabriel lists his favorite places

A Tense Experience in Kuwait

Not all of Gabriel’s memories are neutral. He recalls a stressful incident in Kuwait City when security forces stopped him while filming.

"I think it was in Kuwait City where I got questioned for filming. I was filming near one of the palaces - or something like that - and I had made a point of not filming one particular place that I thought could be a problem."But then I started filming something else, and a security guard waved me over. At that point, you definitely don't want to run or try to avoid them, because that just makes things worse. So I walked over, and I believe he spoke English. He asked me what I was filming for, asked a few questions, and then let me go. But despite the relatively harmless outcome, it was still a very harrowing experience in the moment - being questioned by an authority figure without knowing how it's going to play out."

The encounter left him unsettled.

"They could easily say, 'I want you to talk to my superior,' and then you're being taken into some office where they're suspicious of you and start asking more questions. It's always a pretty traumatic experience, and it basically makes you want to leave. That's exactly how I felt afterward-I just hoped I could get out of there without any more hassle. So that was one more drawback."