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There’s a common joke in Europe about how to know that tourists are Americans: you’ll hear them before you see them. And while people from the United States are generally known for being friendly, accommodating, and open-minded, they don’t exactly have the best reputation as travelers.
Redditors from all over the world have been discussing the most obnoxious and disrespectful things they’ve seen Americans do while visiting their countries, so we’ve gathered a list of their replies below. Now, we hope it goes without saying that not all American tourists are like this. But perhaps this list will remind travelers to be a bit more conscious of their behavior while abroad!
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#1
This happened about 10 years ago. A white American guy got into an argument with a black guy at a bar in Bosnia. White guy proceeds to call him the n-word. A group of locals picked him up by his arms and legs and threw him outside on the street. It was great.
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#2
It's not something that keeps me up at night or anything, but it is slightly annoying when they try to claim some level of European heritage by saying "I'm German!" or whatever, when it turns out the last antecedent to even be born in Germany was 200 years ago.
You aren't German. You're American. Sure, you've got German ancestry, but that doesn't make you German. You're American. Own it.
If you just said "my family are originally from Germany, that's why we're here" or whatever, brilliant. Let's help you find where they lived, if you've got any relatives here etc.
General Anaesthesia 3 days ago
If they go back far enough they're from Africa like all the rest of us. Big tickle.
#3
Last year I heard some Americans mocking an Icelandic tour guide because she pronounced "biscuits" as "beesqueets".
Not "oh that's so cute" type gentle mocking, but like "Oh my god, she can't say biscuits, what an idiot". They were openly laughing at her a little while later when she slightly mispronounced another word.
Completely ignorant of the fact that this lady spoke fluent Icelandic, English, French, German and Danish.
Colleen Glim 3 days ago
Biscuit is pronounced beesquee in French. The tour guide did nothing wrong and the tourists need to learn that American English is not a universal language
Traveling abroad for the first time is extremely exciting. But along with being tons of fun, it can be intimidating if you don’t know much about the country you’re heading to or the culture that you’ll be stepping into. That’s why it’s so important to do your research before flying out. Otherwise, you might make a huge fool of yourself and represent your entire nation in a terrible way.
According to the Pew Research Center, 76% of Americans have visited at least one other country. Meanwhile, over a quarter of the nation has traveled to at least five other countries. So the stories on this list probably aren’t about the people who are used to jetsetting every year. It’s likely that these tales target those who had never stepped foot outside of their state until they bought a flight to Paris, Rome, or Mexico City.
#4
Disrespecting the royal guards.
oh my god that annoys me. they are trained specialists with ~10 years in the Army. They could destroy anybody in a heartbeat.
Forrest Hobbs 3 days ago
Umm. Thing is, if you actually do present any sort of challenge to the royal guards on official guard duty, they'll respond appropriately. They're honest-to-goodness fully trained soldiers, and part of that training is how to deal with tw3rps... Many decades ago, I had the privilege to observe some British army soldiers dealing with obstructive parking in a purely civilian setting here in the UK. The car ended up 1) out of the way and 2) in a ditch - they had made an honest attempt to get the driver to shift the thing. No machinery was involved. 😁
#5
Mexican, I saw some Americans complaining about how bad mexico was, I got curious and heard the rest of the conversation, basically they said they didn't like any of the things in the hotel, they said that the food was bad and they only played bad music and started attacking the whole country, now the fun thing is that the only Mexican stuff in that place were the employees, it was all American food, American music, American people, the menu wasn't in pesos it was in dollars.
I seriously couldn't believe they didn't realized they didn't experience Mexico at all, they were basically in a mini USA, especially designed for tourists, these people didn't realized that they were talking s**t about their own country and culture, but replicated in another country, by their own people.
#6
THEY TALK SO LOUD. And act all friendly with strangers. "How are you?" What do you care?
(Denmark).
Sudeep Sarkar 1 day ago
America is a big place, they have to speak loudly to be heard in the other end.
Regardless of where you’re from, it’s important to make sure that you respect the local culture and traditions when traveling abroad. You can’t expect people to behave the same way that they do back home, and you have to be willing to adjust your own behavior. After all, you’re the tourist stepping into someone else’s home.
It might be frowned upon to speak loudly in public, wear sandals or shorts in religious monuments, and to smile at strangers. It’s also always a good idea to learn at least a few words in the local language to show that you respect their culture. Saying “hello” and “thank you” in a shopkeeper’s native tongue can go a long way. Plus, you can’t expect everyone to speak English if you’re in a country that speaks something else. Be patient, and be kind.
#7
American here who went with a small group through Russia, Siberia, Mongolia and China. One lady with us complained about absolutely *everything*.
She complained about the food, the weather, the hotels, the trains, the airport, the places of interest, etc. Especially the food. Look lady, you are a guest in these countries, act like one. And she claimed to be an experienced world traveler.
Colleen Glim 3 days ago
Why do you even book a vacation like this if you aren’t prepared for conditions in other countries? Multiple resort vacations do not make you an “experienced world traveler”
#8
I overheard an American woman exclaiming really loudly; "Oh my Gawd! This is delicious!! You gotta try it we don't have ANYTHING like this back at home!" - the lady was with her friends in a very quiet pub talking about pork scratchings and trying to catch the eye of everyone else in the pub. - Dont get me wrong im realy pleased she enjoyed them, but the americans tend to be louder and more exuberant then us Brits.
Colleen Glim 3 days ago
I gotta admit pork scratching are crunchy crack, but pork rinds are also pretty dàmn good
#9
Scotland.
Littering the shite out if everything.
Driving on country lanes in big camper vans with zero rural experience, causing mayhem.
Calling it England.
I've been asked about the ferry to Canada once.
Gunný Petersen 3 days ago (edited)
But but they are superiour of us. You know us from the country Europe.
We would love to hear your thoughts on these stories in the comments below, pandas. Are you an American who tries to be as respectful as possible while abroad? Or have you seen Americans behaving poorly in your own country? Feel free to weigh in, and then, you can find another article from Bored Panda discussing similar stories about tourists right here!
#10
Getting way to overexcited. I live in Ireland and I'm ginger with a short temper, literally a walking stereotype, so its not uncommon for tourists, particularly American or Asian, to just randomly take pictures of me, without my consent. This has been happening since I was 5.
Somebodys grandmother 3 days ago
It's illegal in denmark to take pictures of strangers. You have to have consent!
#11
I'm mexican, so while visiting family down in Mexico, note not a heavily tourist area, they asked some servers in a restaurant if they can get someone who speaks "american" to take their order.
Gunný Petersen 3 days ago
I would love to try to order food in the US in my native language and be so annoyed that they don't have a translator waiting for me to take my order. So rude of them not having one stand by.
#12
My mom and I were downtown when an American tourist came up to me and asked where a certain restaurant was. I didn't know, so I asked my mom in French if she knew where the restaurant was. The American got mad and told me to speak English, he couldn't understand what I had asked. I said I had asked my mother where the restaurant is because I didn't know. He then says, "Why didn't you ask her in English? I thought Canadians spoke English." then my mom saw him yelling at me and said in French, "Is something wrong here?" The American just threw his hands up and walked off saying something about I thought they spoke English here. For reference, we were in Quebec City. Don't know if he ever found the restaurant.
Elladine DesIsles 3 days ago
I hope he did find the restaurant, and all of the wait staff spoke only French (or picked up on his attitude fast enough that they conveniently "forgot" their English).
#13
Trying to do the accent of the country you are in. No, you can't do it right.
#14
Not really disrespectful, just dumb.
At the Eden Project, two American women were angrily complaining to staff that the tropical biome wasn't air conditioned.
Colleen Glim 3 days ago
These are the same people who would whinge that the sun was too hot or there was sand everywhere on a tropical vacation. There’s no pleasing some people
#15
Thinking everything is super-amazing, super-beautiful, super-great, and not being afraid to say it repeatedly. It's way too much and it sounds fake.
Or, the exact opposite, but the effect is the same : it sounds fake.
Space Invader 3 days ago
I noticed that many american tourists seem to feel the need to constantly comment on everything they see. Almost as if they're narrating their own trip, like in an old point-and-click adventure when you use "Look at" on something
#16
Said that he is afraid to walk around our capital because he thinks he will get attacked by rats.
#17
Why do they clap at the end of movies???
Why are they so loud???
#18
Can you do the Riverdance? Can you speak Gaelic? Do you know the way to "Cob H"or how about the way to "you gawl"? Are you are from Cork so do you know O'Sullivan's,?you see my great great great great great great grandfather is Michael O Sullivan.I'm actually 1/10th Irish, 2/10ths polish, 3/10ths French etc, "I'm from Florida United States of America!!"
Ahhh but ye are a nice bunch of people to be fair.
Gunný Petersen 3 days ago (edited)
I felt so sorry for the lady who asked people online if the US was considered to be the "Florida man" of the world? How awful has it got when you feel ashamed about being from your own country? Americans pretending to be from Canada. Yes I feel sorry for half of the US population to be stuck with the other half. It's getting to the point of a whole empire is going down in history for being the most stupid empire of all times. Hey but they have free speach. Good for them to be able to show of that they are a stupid racist ignorant uneducated and proud beyond belief of everything that can be wrong in a single person. Good for them to make the rest of us make it so easy to stay away from them. It's horrible to think of the good people of the US who have to have these people around them all the time. Not in my wildest dreams I would one day be witnessing this in real time. A fall of an empire falling within.
#19
Once heard an american tourist ask "Why would you build a castle under a flight path?".
Gunný Petersen 3 days ago
Most people have brainfarts once in a while but americans seem to have them outloud every single time. Multiple times a day.
#20
Asked if i liked Abba in an accent, and made fun of me for being one of few average looking swedes. I mean, i’d say compared to how above average weight people look in other countries, i’m not bad, but i’m in a country of gods and godesses, i mean why do you think Chris Hemsworth was cast to play a norse god? He looks like a what a stereotypical swede is described as in fiction.
LinkTheHylian 3 days ago
It's because, aside from Bandolier Cummerbund, us Brits are ususally the villains so they got an Aussie to affect a basic "British" accent so he sounded royal.
#21
They only speak english.
Lady Gypsy Rain 3 days ago
Yea, they barely speak proper English because the education in this country is extremely lacking and it’s not the fault of teachers. It’s the administrators that decided must teach to tests and forget the rest and no child left behind. Not enough resources for students with special needs. Just a complete and utter tear down failure that needs to be replaced. The fact that we have people graduating with an ability to read at a third grade level, don’t know how to,write or read cursive….and you somehow expect Americans to have a multi lingual capability? No, not only that but I remember when a school I was in wanted to introduce us to Spanish starting in primary school. I remember the protests and threats to remove children from the school because “if they live here, they better learn to speak the language”. And that was in the very early 1980s and it never improved.
#22
I live in Sweden and my family invited a group of American students to stay with us to observe our culture over the summer. One of them returned our hospitality by drunkenly peeing all over our sacred ancestral tree. That's a big no-no and we had to punish him for it.
Another student was invited to look at our holy book since he seemed very interested in it but we very clearly told him not to record it in any way as we consider that sacrilege. Well, he had the audacity to sneak out at night to take pictures of our holy book much to our dismay. Fortunately we caught him in the act and we punished him accordingly.
Safe to say that they are no longer welcome here.
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Rick Murray 3 days ago
In a chain burger flinger in a nowhere place in rural France. Three American young adults, female, talking about having overstayed their visa. "They won't kick us out, we're American". Old bloke ambles up and says in passable English that a smart person wouldn't be having that sort of discussion loud enough that the entire establishment can hear, and yes dear, rules are rules and they apply to you too. 😂
WindySwede 3 days ago (edited)
Now lets see if BP deletes z-a-r-a's scamming comment below first, or if BP before that publish an article about adult content creator ladies with pictures, or if they stop censoring ' d**n ' before that? 😏 edit: nope, we got the daily prorm star with pictures before we got anything else of my above comment (😲 /s)
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Rick Murray 3 days ago
In a chain burger flinger in a nowhere place in rural France. Three American young adults, female, talking about having overstayed their visa. "They won't kick us out, we're American". Old bloke ambles up and says in passable English that a smart person wouldn't be having that sort of discussion loud enough that the entire establishment can hear, and yes dear, rules are rules and they apply to you too. 😂
WindySwede 3 days ago (edited)
Now lets see if BP deletes z-a-r-a's scamming comment below first, or if BP before that publish an article about adult content creator ladies with pictures, or if they stop censoring ' d**n ' before that? 😏 edit: nope, we got the daily prorm star with pictures before we got anything else of my above comment (😲 /s)
Load More Replies...
Loudawg76 3 days ago
Overheard an American in Edinburgh asking when do they take the facade of the castle down each year 🙄🙄🙄
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