How to Not Be a Typical American Tourist

Everyone has seen them: Obnoxious American tourists showing up and ruining everything. Perhaps they have made you embarrassed, sad, and a little bit angry because they reflected poorly on you and your country. You can’t do anything about others, but you can make sure you never act like an ugly American.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

1. Know thy enemy. To avoid being a typical American tourist, it’s important to know what one looks like. The stereotype is that all American tourists are loud, obnoxious, ignorant and unappreciative. It’s a stereotype for a reason, many American seem to travel with a sense of superiority.

2. Study the local culture before you go to a new place. In order to not stand out, it’s vital that you know what the people are like in a foregin country. Look online and read about the country you’re going to visit. You won’t be mistaken for a native, but you can prevent yourself from making obvious and insulting mistakes.

3. Make the effort to blend in. Try to look and act like a native. Don’t walk around with your guidebook in your hands, or stop and look at a map in the middle of the street or wander about with a camera around you neck.

4. Keep your voice down. Loudness is one of the most often cited complaints about American tourists.

5. Don’t compare everything you see with the United States and don’t automatically look down on some place because it’s different. Many things will even be better than they are in the U.S. Keep an open mind.

6. Remember, you’re not always right. Your way is not always going to be the best way. This is why you travel; to learn new things, have new experiences and see new places.

Tips & Warnings

• Dress as inconspicuously as possible. You don’t want to stand out from the very beginning as a foreigner. Your accent will do that soon enough.
• Watch out for people who judge you immediately when they find out you’re from the U.S. Ignore them. If they immediately stereotype you, they’re not worth your time.

[lissa80]

on 11/15/2009 The best way to do this is to play 'the spy game.' Me and my dad used to see how long we could go before anyone worked out we were American. You just act like everyone else and learn a few cover-all words and listen to how people pronounce them. It's so much fun. I was in Sorrento and ran out of my very basic Italian, the guy at the cafe looked at me, summed me up and then went into German, and we heard him speaking english to some other tourists. So he knew we weren't Italian but he didn't guess we were from the US!

[AudreyBrown]

on 3/10/2008 This is so true. I followed most of these tenants by instinct last time I was in Europe, and I was still spotted.