Globe-trotter and YouTube creator Gabriel Morris has spent over three decades exploring the planet, successfully reaching six continents and more than 90 nations.

Specifically, Gabriel has travelled to “97 United Nations member states plus the three disputed countries of Kosovo, Northern Cyprus, and Taiwan which do not have UN member status.”

Yet there’s one ‘soulless spot’ from his extensive journeys he has no desire to revisit.

Boasting 613,000 YouTube subscribers, Gabriel’s content typically attracts considerable attention and interaction, with fellow adventurers and enthusiasts keen to hear his perspectives and experiences.

In his post entitled ‘I’ve Been to 100 Countries – Which Place is the Worst?’, the content creator disclosed the least appealing destination he’s encountered is the Persian Gulf (Arabian Gulf).

Addressing his audience, Gabriel said: “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).”

While Iran refers to it as the Persian Gulf, nations situated on the southern and western shores of the Gulf call it the Arabian Gulf. So, why does Gabriel consider the Persian Gulf region his least favourite destination globally?

The content creator explains: “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 explored numerous locations across and surrounding the Persian Gulf.

These include Saudi Arabia, particularly Riyadh and Jeddah, where he hired a vehicle for a day to venture somewhat beyond the urban areas, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, encompassing Dubai and Abu Dhabi – yet none managed to capture his enthusiasm.

He added: “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.

“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.”

Describing them as “soulless”, Gabriel adds: “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.”

Apart from Qatar and Dubai, which Gabriel places in his top two positions respectively, Gabriel believes that generally speaking, out of all the destinations worldwide, he has “no desire to go back to that part of the world”, though he acknowledges the culture is “certainly fine”.

However, Gabriel believes there’s a further concern.

He explained: “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,” Gabriel says.

In fact, the digital creator was once detained in Kuwait City and interrogated for filming – an incident he described as “harrowing”.

Explaining, Gabriel said: “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.”

Contemplating all the ways the situation could have unfolded, Gabriel said: “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.”