514Kviews
30 Of The Biggest No-Nos When Visiting These Countries, As Shared By Folks In This Online Group
Traveling is an incredibly vital aspect of human life – and although we occupy the same planet, we each live in a separate world that everyone must explore at least once.
Visiting places allows us to experience different cultures and become closer to each other; on top of that, it also does wonders for our mental health and gets our batteries recharged.
However, before heading off on your new adventure, it's important to keep a couple of things in mind:
“What should tourists NEVER do in your country?” – this online user took to one of the most informative and thought-provoking subreddits to ask locals about the things visitors should never do in their country. The thread has managed to receive nearly 8K upvotes and 20.4K worth of comments discussing the unspoken rules of folks’ home countries.
More info: Reddit
This post may include affiliate links.
Canada here. Please don't litter in our wildlife preserves. Please.
Don't talk so damn much. Don't sit next to us. Keep at least one meter of personal space. Don't tip. Don't haggle. Shut up. Drink more.
Finland, in case you were wondering.
I have found my country and my people. Standby while I figure out how to migrate to Finland.
Don't just walk up to a kangaroo and pat it in the wild. Those f**kers will kick the s**t out of you. I'm looking at you Japanese
South Africa
Wearing khakis And hiking boots screams tourist. It makes you a target for criminals and that sweet camera you bought for your trip is going to find a new home. And besides, if your trip is going to involve hiking of any kind S&R would prefer you wore bright clothes so it makes your a*s easier to find if you get lost.
If you are going on a game drive (no one here calls it a safari) keep your doors locked and windows rolled up. Otherwise, enjoy being Simbas lunch. Respect the wildlife, they are wild animals and have no qualms about making you unalive.
There have been instances of tourists getting out to go pat the lions and being eaten. DO NOT.
Britain - Do not antagonise the Queen's Guard. They are well within their rights to lay hands on you if you provoke them.
I liked when Prince Phillip dressed like one to prank the Queen prince-phi...a2294d.jpg 
In America, don't get out of your car and approach the cop when being stopped by a cop unless told to.
Iceland: Just because you watched Top Gear, don't think you can drive all over nature. Actually, this probably applies to most countries Top Gear has visited.
My godmother and her wife have been to Iceland. Apparently, it's very pretty and scenic.
Australia: Don't go to our beaches without first applying sunscreen. Wear clothes and POLARISED sunglasses. We have the highest rate of skin cancer in the world due to extreme UV during summer. Also don't go swimming in your clothes at a beach, you'll drown.
Swim between the flags and take note of any warnings ie jelly fish, crocs, sharks etc.
Quebec here, well Canada. Don't buy maple syrup from the first stall you see, it will be way overpriced. Just go to a grocery store you'll do great economy
America: Plan too much. If you wanna see the Statue of Liberty, the Smithsonian, the Alamo, and the Grand Canyon, you're going to spend all of your time driving. Pick a specific area, and do everything you can in there.
Distances are a real problem in a big country like the U.S.A. Same in Australia, where most visitors miss the best places by sticking to the East Coast.
Go on a hike unarmed when visiting the Svalbard archipelago here in Norway. You are required to aways have a firearm with you to protect against polar bears when traveling outside the populated areas.
Denmark:
Don't f**king walk out of the bus without looking both ways. There is an actual bike path between the pavement and the road at almost all bus stops. This means that if you just walk out of the bus once you reach your stop, you will get hit by a person on a steel contraption, moving at a very dangerous speed. It can get bloody, expensive and very embarrassing. This same thing applies when you need to get onto a bus. Don't just walk up to it and hop it: Look both ways before you cross the bike path
UK: Don't ever - ever - criticise the BBC or the NHS.
It's ours; we can complain all we like because we pay for it. And we like to complain too. It's our unofficial national sport.
You are merely a guest - if you ever need to use the BBC or NHS, you do not get to complain about it!
So Scots person here you are 100% allowed to criticise the BBC ( many of the reasons gotmyself4pandas states ), its awful, we all do it and tbh non of us would take offence of it. NHS is another story though, most of those guys worked their asses off for very poor pay during the pandemic and did they get a pay rise after nah our goverment decided that claps were far more useful. So we don't make fun of the NHS purely out of respect and not knowing if it could be us that needs their help next
USA: Tell anyone your political opinions they will never treat you the same whether they agree or disagree
With the USA in the political condition it's in right now, this is solid advice.
the Netherlands.
Please don't say we are like Germans in any way. We do not sound like them, we do not look like them, in fact, just don't mention anything German.
Also; Don't walk in the bicycle lane, don't feed the doves and don't be a cool with the weed. Yeah it's fine to smoke in public but don't do it in crowded places or when kids are around.
Not to rub Dutch people the wrong way, but the languages are similar. Dutch is easier to learn.
UK: Don't sit at a table in the pub and wait for someone to come and take your order.
Reason why? They won't.
Would depend on the establishment really, and usually whether the pub sells food. Not going to lie, when pub reopened after lockdown I quite enjoyed the fact everywhere was required to provide table service - much better than playing the how many drinks can I carry at one without spilling anything game
Japan: stop with the stereotypes, don't mention the war, don't try to hug people/hand shaking, keep tidy.
Funny: who starts a conversation with "hey, what about that war 70 years ago."?
INDIA-
Do not kiss in public.
In India it is okay to pee in public but not okay to kiss in public.
I'm going to poop at the side of the road and then throw a corpse into the Ganges. This is more acceptable than kissing.
In S. Korea tipping is acceptable is some places, but is mostly considered rude and belittling
I feel like tipping is big only in the US. We have it here in the Caribbean now in some places but it isn't very popular.
Barbados.
Dont wear camo/military style clothing.
When the lifeguard tells you "dont swim near the rocks", DONT. F**KING. SWIM. NEAR. THE . ROCKS. You will either pass away, or break every bone in your body.
Camo is also illegal in Trinidad & Tobago, only the military or special forces are allow to wear it.
Brazil. Don't go to the favelas (slums), it's usually not save for people that don't live there. Even worst don't go without someone that knows or lives there. I honestly don't get why so many tourists want to go to the worst part of the country.
Hawaii:
Decide you don't need sunscreen because you're from California and it's pretty much the same. Yes, I know your hotel is only ten miles from the airport and you paid extra for a convertible. You're toast. Literal toast.
Figure it's a tropical theme park, not a place where people live and work. Yes, folks, that's a road. For cars. Don't walk right down the middle. And no, I am not a cast member.
Seriously, people, just wear sunscreen or cover up no matter what season it is or what the weather's like or where you are. Skin cancer is no joke.
In France : don't ever sign a young deaf girl's petition (she's actually not deaf at all) she's just doing this to make money. And no, don't buy this amazing gold ring this old lady found on the floor right behind you..
Poland:
Maybe not never, but be cautious while getting a cab at the airport/train stations. Most of the guys will try to rip foreigners off.
Also, never leave our country without trying traditional polish cuisine, because it's awesome. I recommend some pierogi, bigos, żurek and zapiekanka.
Dublin, Ireland(didn't realise there was so many dublin's): don't go to Temple bar, tourists always stop to ask directions, i try and tell them there are nicer, much less expensive places, but because all the guide books tell them it's the place to be they don't want to listen.
Venezuela : Show $ in cash on the sreets or any kind of smartphone.
I'll say the same about neighboring Trinidad & Tobago. The smartphone...maybe not as bad...but definitely the cash. Don't make yourself a target.
Singapore: Act like we cannot speak English, insult the elderly, or criticise the working class (meaning stuff like the public transport and things working class people use), or do crimes and expect the law to be lenient to you because you're a foreigner.
We may not react to you irl but the passive aggressiveness will turn into a s**tstorm online as swarms of wrathful keyboard warriors descend upon your sins.
Go to another country and disrespect them (as per posted list), you'll rightly get what you deserve!
Have [your] windows rolled down. In Tijuana especially. You'll be guilted into buying so many f**king churros.
Don't get a traditional tattoo and then go get it covered up when you leave... I'm not Maori so I don't have much of an understanding of the beliefs of it all, but I'm pretty darn sure that's not something you should do. They aren't going to welcome you back and look at you in the same light very easily. Looking at you Rihanna
Country: New Zealand
whaaaaa, she did that?! I'm kiwi and would not dream of getting a moko or traditional tatt because I'm totally pakeha (white, dad is from uk), and it would feel like cultural appropriation. I found a big chunk of pounamu (greenstone) when gardening last year, clearly a river rock and quite stunning. Emailed the local iwi immediately to ask how to return it to then (they met and decided it should stay with me 😊 an honour)
Canada: Put ketchup on your poutine.
Who puts ketchup on poutine?!? What kind of barbarian degenerate twat would think of doing that?!?!
Singapore : Don't ever go to Sim Lim Square OR Lucky Plaza to buy electronics, no matter how good the prices seem! You will get screwed!
Jamaica: Take a public taxi. Unless you wanna know what NFS Most Wanted feels like irl
Nicaragua: Do not drink tap water. Beware of hitchhikers. Beware of street vendors in the city, even if they're children. Do not drive. But if you do, watch out for random animals and people. Do not cross busy intersections in the capital and don't stand too close to the road. Beware of cops. DO NOT let Mosquitos bite you.
Hungary: Never ever talk about the peace treaties closing the first world war. They are called Trianon treaties here, if you do not want to get into a heated argument with locals simply agree that it was an unjust treaty. Never ask why anyone has a map of Hungary showing a completely different country, it is Great-Hungary, as it was before 1541. Explanation: We hungarians somehow have the psychosys that we have every right to expand our country to the borders of the long dissolved Kingdom of Hungary at an arbitrarily chosen time point four hundred years ago. This is insane, but eve our politicians nurture this delusion.
An anecdote: On of my relatives has a small hotel, and have befriended one of the guests, a frenchman. They were drinking late into the night, when somehow the topic of Trianon arose, and the frenchman made the mistake of telling him that it was a pretty fine peace treaty. My relative simply took the guy, threw his baggage out and promptly told him to look for another hotel well past midnight.
Philippines here. It's rude to refuse food here. As a Filipino, I never understood that. I refuse food all the time (cos it ruins my diet) when I visit friends, and they always give me bad looks whenever I do.
Sweden, sit next to a local on the bus.
If it's the only available seat, I'm sitting next to you. I don't care if you're a local or from Mars.
If you're ever visiting Denmark and specifically Copenhagen, you might have been told to go see the little mermaid. Don't. That tiny sculpture is the biggest disappointment ever and Copenhagen has so much else to offer!
In Germany anything goes, really. As long it's in Ordnung. Pay your train tickets, drive according to the Straßenverkehrsordnung and keep away from the Ordnungsamt.
Same here in Switzerland. Some things are illegal. If it's not illegal it can still be verboten. If it's neither illegal nor verboten then it's compulsory. Oh, and the Swiss are very much like the Germans, except for the Germans' reckless disregard for authority. And if you can't work out the joke here then you may be suffering from a German sense of humour.
Apparently women's health doesn't matter anymore in a large portion of America, so I'd avoiding asking for that.
Women are now second class to assault rifles in the US so I agree that it would be best to stay the heck away.
Load More Replies...
Canada. Particularly Winnipeg. Unlike New York, our cities sleep. Small shops and coffee places start closing by 6 and nearly everything is closed by 9pm, unless it's a bar or night club. Winnipeg seems like a super safe city. It is for the most part. But we're very high on car/bike thefts and violence, and it's been getting worse. Don't walk around alone downtown at any time. Don't stick around downtown. It's like a ghost town with a lot of aggressive panhandlers. Locals tend to just either work there or pass through. The surrounding communities have a lot more to offer. Book a hotel in another part of the city than downtown. You'll feel safer and have a better time. Just watch for the seedier ones. Do ask the locals recommendations of where to go and they may know some of the hidden gems and where to avoid. Also, some of the bad neighbourhoods are not necessarily that bad. Be careful taking the bus. If you go looking for trouble, you'll find trouble.
Apparently women's health doesn't matter anymore in a large portion of America, so I'd avoiding asking for that.
Women are now second class to assault rifles in the US so I agree that it would be best to stay the heck away.
Load More Replies... Canada. Particularly Winnipeg. Unlike New York, our cities sleep. Small shops and coffee places start closing by 6 and nearly everything is closed by 9pm, unless it's a bar or night club. Winnipeg seems like a super safe city. It is for the most part. But we're very high on car/bike thefts and violence, and it's been getting worse. Don't walk around alone downtown at any time. Don't stick around downtown. It's like a ghost town with a lot of aggressive panhandlers. Locals tend to just either work there or pass through. The surrounding communities have a lot more to offer. Book a hotel in another part of the city than downtown. You'll feel safer and have a better time. Just watch for the seedier ones. Do ask the locals recommendations of where to go and they may know some of the hidden gems and where to avoid. Also, some of the bad neighbourhoods are not necessarily that bad. Be careful taking the bus. If you go looking for trouble, you'll find trouble.
