About The Author

Hello, fellow traveler. My name is Diana – that’s me in the picture – and I have come to realize that I am a traveler with a specific, perhaps ill-advised interest in the unvarnished side of tourism.

It began with a complete disregard for the settled and often preferable boredom of staying put. This is not a quaint hobby, you understand, but a relentless, globe-trotting affliction that began even before the invention of digital photography. 

It is a peculiar passion that seems to involve not merely the aimless wandering of a truly unobservant person, but rather a dedicated, almost obsessive preparation. Like a particularly relentless investigative journalist, I devote myself entirely to the meticulous, thorough investigation of a destination, its perplexing local customs, its strange attractions, and, most alarmingly, its local cuisine. 

I have traversed the globe and visited more than thirty-five countries – most of which contained damp weather and unsettling secrets – and have spent my time cataloging their various miseries through the dusty lens of a phone camera and the keyboard of an Apple laptop. It is a daunting task to document so much of the world, only to find that no matter how many borders one crosses, one can never truly outrun the persistent shadow of misfortune.

And when I am not physically suffering in a foreign locale, I am likely suffering in anticipation, poring over maps and guidebooks, and perhaps even hastily scribbled, alarming notes about your next planned calamity. Or you might find my restless soul engaged in any number of preoccupations:

• Trying to convince people to buy homes with truly gaudy wallpaper, as a Realtor,
• Dispensing unwanted advice about what to eat, as a Registered Dietitian,
• Unearthing a truly spectacular amount of decay and often-unpleasant surprises while renovating old houses around North Carolina,
• Or simply being outdoors, regardless of whether I am walking, climbing, or merely standing in a damp garden contemplating my inevitable doom.

In short, I am a person afflicted with an unusual propensity for seeking out new and diverse forms of misfortune.

Mission Statement

Dismal Destinations is a website dedicated to providing travelers with the brutal honesty that glossy brochures and airbrushed influencers so carefully redact. I use the word “dismal” not merely to be difficult, but to accurately describe the crushing reality of over-tourism, the grit of forgotten history, and those inevitable, humorous mishaps that occur when one’s travel plans collide with reality.

The content here is educational – in the way a cautionary tale is educational – offering a critique-based, balanced view of global destinations and tourist attractions. My aim is to help you, the weary traveler, make slightly better and more informed choices. With any luck, we might even steer you away from the glittering tourist traps and toward an underrated alternative that is no less strange, but perhaps significantly more authentic. 

I offer you the truth, not because it is pleasant, but because it is all we have.

About This Website

It is a universal truth that while some people find themselves complaining about their jobs, others find themselves complaining about a peculiar new invention that has been forced upon them at their jobs. And so it was for a certain group of my acquaintances, who were grumbling about having to use a certain artificial invention to complete their daily tasks. The software, which was designed to assist, had the curious effect of making their work worse, much like a machete might assist a barber.

But unlike my acquaintances, who saw only the misery of a task made more miserable, I felt a curious urge. It was the same grim sensation that compels one to gaze upon a dangerously thin sheet of ice: the curiosity to personally inspect the precise nature of the disaster. And having been hounded by persistent, stinging accusations that my words were not my own, but rather the cold creations of AI, I concluded that it was far less exhausting to succumb to my curiosity than to spend my life fruitlessly defending myself and my words. And so, despite all the cautionary tales and the clear, logical evidence of impending doom, I decided to step onto the ice. 

So in the interest of full disclosure, it must be said that this entire website was composed with the quiet, unsettling assistance of artificial intelligence. Do not be alarmed. Or rather, do be alarmed, but not for the reasons you think.

The events described are entirely true, as true as taxes or the taste of regret. The information is based on my personal experiences and has also been diligently researched, examined, and double-checked in the manner of someone peering nervously through a keyhole. But the words themselves have been filtered through an algorithmic mind not born of this Earth, trained endlessly on human expression and then asked, quite politely, to mimic a tone consistent with my previous writing, albeit with a slightly less artificially cheerful air, as if it suspects something dreadful is about to happen. (It usually is.)

This is not automation. This is a collaboration with a machine that does not sleep, does not forget, and once tried to convince me that the carousel at Pullen Park is a ritual site of unknown significance.

I trust you will find something on this website worth your time, whether it be delight, dread, or a curious blend of the two.

Contact Information

If you insist on furthering this conversation, you can find out how to do so by visiting this site’s Contact Page.