Where not to visit in 2018

Agree on Venice, Santorini, Cinque Terre. Some places have become mere shells catering to tourists. Too many other beautiful places to keep overcrowding the same ones. Dunno why some travel and only seek out the exact kind of hotels and amenities they experience at home. Local often crumbles in the chase for tourist dollars.

Stay in Oia away from the crowds and go to the back side of the island for a more local experience - vineyards etc.

I can imagine being somewhere when a cruise floats in is akin to when a Chinese tour bus rolls up on you.

You must have not been somewhere when the Chinese show up. It isn't one bus.

The amount of Machu Picchu Facebook posts I’ve seen in the past few years is unreal

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The amount of Machu Picchu Facebook posts I’ve seen in the past few years is unreal

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Ya, I know it's Millennial generalizations, but if it's true that we "value experiences more" and travel more, with a good economy it's going to be frequent. Not to mention I also read an article that we also tend to try to do things others don't, hence why Antarctica travel is up and my arse will be in Myanmar later this year

MP is really accessible too. It's a 4.5/5 hour flight to Lima from Houston and then an hour to Cusco. A couple hours after that you're at the base.

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Antarctica travel is up

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Yeah, but it's REALLY expensive (especially for millennials) and Antarctica is a big place so I doubt it's really being overrun. This is the one on the list I plan to do in a couple of years when I hit retirement.

Machu Picchu is one I'll probably have to do but have been avoiding because of the crowds and the fact that there are things I'd rather do instead. But it's only going to keep getting more crowded. I may hit it for a day or two within the next few years, but as part of a trip that focuses on Manu.

Cinque Terre - It's a shame it's getting overrun. We did it 25 years ago and it was my favorite spot in Italy that summer. Not too many people on the trail back then but it's easy to see why so many go there now.

A few things off the top of my head:

-The internet plays a huge role in this. There's almost not a single place in the world you can't read a blog or review about.
-Travel is becoming super cheap. Flights are insanely cheap internationally today, making it easier for the average person and young people to not think twice about hopping a plane halfway across the world.
-The younger generation right now seems to value the "nomadic" lifestyle over their parents lifestyle (i.e. buy a house, have kids, 9-5 job, etc). That definitely allows them to travel more.

-And I'll say the internet again. It's the number one thing IMO. Even 20-25 years ago it was much more of an unknown to travel somewhere even a little obscure. I doubt you could find much travel information on a place like Bhutan besides books and whatnot. Now you can find a million guides on how to get there, what to do, where to stay, etc. It's much less daunting for the average traveler.

-Also I laugh at Antarctica on this list. Is 45,000 people really that bad for the largest continent on Earth? And I'm sure it's only possible to visit a very tiny spot on the entire continent.

Eta: Machu Picchu was indeed crowded when I went a couple of years ago. But they limit the number of visitors, and if you have no qualms going early and staying late, there will be times when you feel all alone at certain spots on the mountain.

This is a major reason we went to Italy in the off season last year. Avoided tourists, missed the heat and still got to see it all. Plus it was like $1000 less a person

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Also I laugh at Antarctica on this list. Is 45,000 people really that bad for the largest continent on Earth?

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Actually Antarctica is less than a third of the size of Asia, less than half as big as Africa, and even smaller than both America's.