Rumors and gossip don’t equal the truth. What you’ve heard about some of the best holiday destinations in the world might not actually be what going there is really like.
And pretty much each and every place that’s worth going to has some stereotypes about it. From the romantic and culture-infused Paris to the party beaches of dozens of different towns and countries. But the locals are here to set the record straight.
A group of redditors dispelled the myths about their home cities and countries in a viral r/AskReddit thread, and we’re bringing their insights to you, dear Pandas. Read on and when you’re done, drop on by the comment section to tell us all about the myths about your home town.
Bored Panda got in touch with former art gallery director Shelby Bercume to have a chat about some of the myths about her home state, Florida, a place that got over 122 million visitors in 2021 alone.
"The sun shines all the time. I know we are called the Sunshine State but do recall this is also the land of hurricanes and floods. Also for whatever reason, our ads are always at these solitary beaches and stuff. We are so crowded! I don’t know where people got the idea we’re this laid-back remote beach place. If you know about Florida, so do all your friends. And they are all here to visit." she quipped. Scroll down to read the rest of Shelby's great insights, how to easily recognize tourists, as well as her warning about alligators in freshwater sources.
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I live in Las Vegas. Listen. What happens in Vegas stays on the internet and also in the stories of every local who saw you do it. Don't do stupid [things].
Shelby told us a bit about what's popular in sunny Florida. "Key West is super popular. It has the typical Florida experience with the beaches and the huts and the drinks and the cute beach houses," she shared with Bored Panda.
"Orlando is also a fun one for the theme parks. If you are a little more adventurous you may also enjoy an airboat ride in the swamps of Everglades National Park," she gave some awesome suggestions.
Australia is big, varied, and safe. There are dangers here, but your biggest risk is yourself. Just read the signs (not a metaphor - there's signs about every danger everywhere) and use common sense.
Honestly, I've seen Americans and Canadians, who have been near f*cking grizzlies, freak out over a lizard. Just relax man, it's nice here.
Los Angeles, specifically Hollywood. Literally everything about it is underwhelming. The Walk of Fame is cool for 2 seconds, Grauman's Chinese Theatre is smaller than you'd think, the Hollywood sign is just a big a** sign, and no, you're not going to run into a celebrities walking around. All the while it's incredibly crowded, smells terrible, and you have to dodge costumed street performers in droves.
Agree with things here. But yet… Santa Monica, Venice Beach, Malibu, Laguna Beach and Griffith Observatory are just awesome places. And don’t forget the amazing weather all year around.
According to Florida-based Shelby, it's always easy to spot someone who isn't a local. "You can literally tell how long a tourist has been here by how bad their sunburn is. That aside, it is really easy to spot a tourist though. Lots of pictures, walking slow, driving slow, stuff like that. As far as I am concerned, as long as you stay off the road during rush hour and are respectful of others, you are all good in my book," she subtly noted that tourists have to be considerate of the actual locals, too.
"If you are visiting Florida, assume that there are gators in every source of freshwater. DO NOT go swimming or let your kid or your pet swim in unfamiliar waters. Even if you think, 'This is a manmade pond. There can’t be gators,' trust me, there can and there are. Stay out," she warned everyone to be extremely wary of freshwater sources that they are unfamiliar with.
Tokyo here. I could name a few, but the one that always gets me is the misconception that people are going to accept (or even respond politely to) outrageous weebishness. If you roll up in Shibuya with a Naruto headband and a Hello Kitty backpack, trying to communicate through a handful of anime catchphrases while creepily leering at schoolgirls, people are rightly going to give you a wide berth.
Common sense has "common" in it for a real good reason. And then you live long enough to see the rather ironic humour in that the phrase. It is actually an oxymoron. Good sense isn't common and most people you meet lacked sense.
I only lived there for a little while, but it’s a common misconception that Hawaii is a great place to live. Don’t get me wrong - it might be the most beautiful place on earth and there are many, many exceptional things about living there. But it’s terribly expensive just to grocery shop, let alone try to buy a house. Many people just live with their parents and grandparents because no one can afford to move out. So many houses and apartments/condos are bought as vacation properties, which drives up the price. Then, houses/apartments in residential neighborhoods have a revolving door of vacationers coming in and out, which is disruptive to normal life. (People on vacation care very little about how much noise they’re making, etc.) It’s a catch-22 because so much of Hawaii’s money comes from tourism, but tourism is making it impossible for locals to buy homes.
Groceries are super expensive if you continue to eat what you ate on the mainland. It's significantly more affordable if you transition to eating foods grown, manufactured, or packaged locally.
Banff, Canada
The bears aren't friendly, if you feed them, they will come back.
All deer are not Bambi, they will hurt you.
Cougars are not kitty cats, you look like a nice steak dinner to them.
Don't go hiking or skiing in the back country if you aren't prepared. You make my job as a search & rescuer hard when you make stupid decisions like that.
Yes snow may be fun for 2 or 3 days of your trip, but from September to July, it gets dull fast.
Am I salty about tourists? You bet
Professor Christine Vogt, the Director of the Center for Sustainable Tourism at Arizona State University, went into detail about traveling and respecting other cultures with us.
She said that learning a bit of the local language and about the local customs is a must when you’re going abroad. "More than likely that is what draws a person to visit a certain place. The more local knowledge a traveler has, the more a traveler can feel like a local and fit in," she told Bored Panda during an earlier interview.
"Local customs can include how a traveler dresses, eats, uses a cell phone, etc. When a traveler is out in a community such as walking in a downtown area or eating in a restaurant, these local customs can come into play,” Professor Vogt said.
Scotland is seen as a wild and untamed land. In reality our hills have been burned for grouse or grazed into oblivion by sheep and deer after all of our large native predators were hunted to extinction. A lot of those iconic barren hills used to have actual scrub and plant life on them. Livestock farming and hunting have ruined our countryside. A report came out the other day that also states that wildlife is declining faster in Scotland than anywhere else in the uk. The people want change - particularly doing away with the big estates causing a lot of the destruction - but money talks like anywhere else. I still love my country with all my heart which is why it is incredibly difficult to watch it being destroyed.
Your country is absolutely beautiful and I'd like nothing more than to see it revert back to its true glory in the countryside and its creatures come back into their large numbers again.
Florida here.
It's called the 'Sunshine State' but it rains every single day in the spring and summer. Tourists always seem surprised by that.
No there is no dome over Disney to control the weather or the bugs - though Disney does have a great mosquito control program.
Also, Miami is nowhere near as sexy as they make it seem on TV. That's like 2 streets by the beach and that's it, not that you want to be in that area because everything is more expensive and also sinking into the ocean so things keep collapsing.
The wealth disparity is disgustingly clear.
The REST of Miami is full of poverty, construction that gets abandoned, and tons of homelessness because of the batsh*t housing prices. Florida is only fun for the rich-rich. Don't come here if you're not, you WILL struggle.
We lived on the beach in San Diego for years and apparently everyone who comes to visit thinks we like to party 24/7. Especially the AirBnB next door to us.
We would ask nicely the day before to please knock off at 3am but often they would party til 5 and there's no reasoning with drunk young people.
Since we woke up and left by 7:30am, we would put on a YouTube video titled "12 hours of a crying baby" and turn up the stereo and let it play the 5 or so hours we'd be away.
It certainly opened the channels of dialogue and respect from there on out.
I would report it to AirBnB, tbh. My sister rented a house for her bridal party, but the renters had to take it down because people who lived in the neighborhood full time didn't like the parties and noise. (Edit - this is not a post pointing fingers or blaming the neighbors, as I would have done something similar. It is an observation of what I have experienced and what can be done about said noise.)
“For example, in Buddhist countries, a woman who has not covered her shoulders or legs may not be allowed into temples or even a restaurant. Learn as many local customs as you can and a few key words to enhance your experience," she urged.
Unfortunately, some tourists are so disrespectful, they even take ‘souvenirs’ from historic sites. According to Professor Vogt, the locals can post the penalties for stealing, set up signs that would discourage this sort of behavior, and set up cameras to catch any rule-breakers.
Even something as setting up a display of items that have been returned by tourists can help motivate people to respect the local culture and history.
Alaska. Where to begin?? It’s not always dark. In fact, in the summer it’s quite light. Hence some difficulty viewing northern lights in summer months. Ditto cold — we do have summer. In Fairbanks we regularly hit 80° in the summer, sometimes hotter. But also our state is HUGE. So what’s true of Fairbanks isn’t necessarily true of Anchorage. Or Juneau. In fact southeast (Juneau, Ketchikan, etc - the cruise ship circuit) is almost like a separate state. They’re more like Seattle than the rest of AK.
People don’t ride around all day on dog sleds. We don’t live in igloos. We are Americans. Our Indigenous cultures are diverse and are not all Eskimo. Oh, and most of us can’t see Russia from our back yards.
(Bahamas) What's funny is when people come to the main island, and are surprised to find out that the entire place isn't a clean, beautiful, sandy tropical island no matter where you go. It's also funny when they find out the murder rate (which is high in comparison to the size and population).
Other popular misconceptions by people who know nothing about us are that we are (and I have seriously heard every last one of these) loin cloth wearing savages that fish all day, drink out of coconuts, and live straw houses, and sleep in hammocks. That does however perfectly describe the native people who were killed off by the Spanish hundreds of years ago soon after the western world was discovered. Someone once seriously asked me, "Do you guys ride dolphins or are they just friends." My response, "They are our main form of transportation as decreed by King Aquaman."
I live in the Caribbean and a lot of people (foreigners) seem to think in my island we live by the sea sipping coconuts all day.
In reality my country is struggling.
We had a hurricane like 3 yrs ago and people still live in sh*t (the government has helped a lot of people with housing to be fair) The man in power may or may not have stole like 1.5 billion dollars, this led to a major protest the other day and election is coming soon so yay more drama.
In other words the Caribbean is not a heavenly get away where nothing bad happens.
"Speaking of bad things, as a random side note" if you take a trip to any Caribbean island rape, robbery especially of white tourists (not really a race thing but a lot of people falsely think they are rich cus white skin) and human trafficking are a very real problem stay safe guys.
I noticed the same about folks from developed countries going to less developed countries. It's not as safe as your home country. I lived in these cities for work before. Imagine you going into the shady parts of your city, where you wouldn't want to be walking alone at night. Now that is the norm in a lot of these places.
London. People think it's really quaint and idyllic and we all fart around drinking tea and twirling canes. A huge majority of it is a sh*thole. The buses look very nice on a postcard but they generally stink of piss. The Thames could probably kill you if you dip a toe in. The London Eye is boring as sh*t.
Pubs are good though.
That's if you live there. Also when people plan to visit London they don't intend to roam around alley ways and have a picnic on the road. Central London has a lot to and the city's museums are among the best in the world. The Thames and the London eye are meh I agree, but then again for tourists it's something new.
This article is literally about the misconceptions of tourist cities written by people who live there. So yes, that is “if you live there”, because whoever wrote this blurb does live there.
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Also, don't come to Oxford Street for the shopping any more. Unless you like American Candy stores. We counted 26 (!) in just about any vacant lot while walking between Marble Arch and Piccadilly Circus. Who the hell needs that much American Candy!! (Yes, we know it's a money laundering thing)
Has this person even been to London? There’s lots to see and do, amazing museums, beautiful parks, historic landmarks, world class galleries etc. The view from the London Eye is pretty spectacular actually and it’s well worth a visit, but avoid Madame Tussaud’s, it’s pretty naff and expensive and don’t bother with Piccadilly Circus, it’s literally a traffic roundabout.
This person lives in London. The literal title of this article is “60 People Who Live In Vacation Destinations Dispel The Most Irritating Misconceptions About Their Cities”.
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The Thames is pretty clean actually except for microplastics, where it has a real issue. That's why you get sea horses, seals, sharks (yes really). In total it is home to over 115 species of fish and wildlife according to the latest study. Not sure when the OP lived there but if you die in the Thames, it's because you drowned.
I think that's the point - the Thames will kill you as soon as look at you. Tower RNLI is the busiest lifeboat station in the country, followed closely by Chiswick. Don't fall in. If your dog falls in, call 999 and let the lifeboat sort it out. My OH kayaks on the Thames, we treat her with respect.
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Going to Hyde Park when the weather permits - with a coffee and a book use to be my pass time. And then there are also load of other little parks that are less popular and therefore much quieter. Covent Garden.... just around the corner from the tube station is also another favorite.
This person has a negative and twisted view of London. I've never been on a London bus that smelt of piss, they are generally amazing and we are incredibly lucky to have night transport through the city. When I was in Tokyo I was shocked to find they didn't have night buses. You really do get stranded after the last train there.
I've been told by people who live in England and my family who've been there to visit to just not bother with London. Go to the other towns and cities. But any city, big or small, is going to have it's less charming aspects no matter where you go in the world. If you really want experience a countries culture, get out to the small villages.
You know we have salmon and sea horse colonies in the Thames right? It's cleaner than it's been in centuries.
Same in Paris lmao, people call it the city of love when it's literally piss and garbage piles on the sidewalk... Also some parts of the city tend to be rather edgy... And it's a pain in the a** to get around in a car or a bus but metro stinks... You can get on top of the Eiffel tower but it's incredibly expensive and it leads to a bar that is also incredibly expensive... Only good thing is the food tbh you can find amazing restaurants there (and also pastry shops that are just amazing but kinda expensive but it's definitely worth it)
Oh yeah also to come back on what they said on the Thames, it's the same for the Seine still every summer we have that thing called "Paris plage" which is basically them turning this over polluted river into a beach you can "have fun" at and SWIM INTO that's crazy disgusting I really don't get why they do that
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at least something is good about it, but you ruined harry potter land for me, i didn't even think you guys walked around, drinking tea, eating crumpet, having fancy canes, and wearing monocles everywhere you go.
Haha been living in London for 10yrs now - most tube lines are old, tiny, overcrowded and suffocating, with trains so dirty you dont want to sit (but will anyway). Unless you go to fancy areas like Kensington, Chelsea, Notting Hill etc. everything else will be pretty much meh. London is far from perfect but I still love it cause it is great in areas of life that matter the most to me.
Been to England and stayed for a month, it is a really fun place to visit, plenty to see and do. The museums are awesome and second hand book stores were heaven. The food was not the best, and I agree about the water there, I saw a lot of dead sea life floating in the water it was really gross.
And the tube is stinking hot and filthy and makes your snot turn black. And the variety and quality of fruit and veges is good cuts of meat are average (unless you have time to hit up the good markets). On the up side.... best curry outside of india and it is truly miraculous to see witness how the first few days of spring sun convert almost everyone into happy cheerful people who flock to parks and smile at strangers.
I agree, there's a lot of London that's just a shithole if you live there. Yet my dad lives in a sleepy little place on the coast in Spain and they manage to take away all the business waste every night - but inner city London? Nah... you're lucky if one of the rats carries it away before the council get round to it.
I will second that. The Thames is basically an open centuries old cesspool. Do not approach
Also, London does not emcompass or in any way represent the rest of the (dis)United Kingdom.
Oh, come on! As a London East-Ender, I must defend my city. Yes, as with any city, there are a few run down areas, but also some beautiful places with amazing history. The buses are well run, and do not "stink" of anything in particular. The Thames is the cleanest it has been for centuries. The London Eye is an interesting construction. The problem lies with the fact that it is situated in a bit of a "meh" area of London. True, it has a marvellous view of the Houses of Parliament but, apart from that, very little can be seen of other London landmarks (you can't see the Tower of London or Buckingham Palace, for instance). So the trip "aboard" can be a bit disappointing. But I love London - you will too! Come and visit us soon!
All I saw of London was from the taxi taking us from Paddington Station to a hotel near Heathrow. I wasn't to go back and see more.
Londoner here, all of this is true. Never go swimming in the Thames, it's a killer. If you want a good view of the city and to feel like you're flying, go on the Emirates Air line which is a 5 min cable car across the Thames, or the Sky Garden. Only go on the bus if you know where to get off, and never late at night unless you have to - the Night Buses aren't like Harry Potter...
Agreed. The London Eye is just a fancy way to see all of London from the air but you go up for about ten minutes and it can cost about a tenner. Its not really worth it. It just looks cool at night because its lit up in colour. I dont live in London, I live in the suburbs in Outer London but I've been into the city a few times and I don't see the attraction tourists have for the place. Also everything to buy and eat will be ten times more expensive IN London than anywhere else in the country.
I visit London as often as I can and I still adore the place. That said; People are friendly, but go to the north of the country if you want friendly. Nottingham is nothing special as a city but holy s**t the friendliness was actually the biggest culture shock I ever had, coming from London.
The price of a decent pint in London is incredibly disgusting. Visit the North or England - Lake District, North Yorkshire (well anywhere in Yorkshire), Northumberland, even Wales. You’ll get fantastic views and relatively cheap beer. Bette Midler has the right idea. Ask her about it.
Great museums. Gorgeous green spaces. Food is good thanks to Charles.
The museums are full of stolen property from other countries histories. And they refuse to return them to the rightful owners.
I thought you guys just wondered around offering tea things to people.
I lived ther for five years and I don't remember the busses stinking of piss (well, Nr 20 was a bit pungent). london eye is ...well...not worth the money. pubs really are great. As are the fashion stores. but, God, it's expensive to lvie there.
The Thames killed a man once with a stink bubble. It burst and I guess the man walking by died from lack of oxygen
I'm a foreigner and have never heard London called quaint and idyllic.
The London Eye moves SOOO slowly! You wander around for an eternity until your section (car?) moves high enough for a good view, ooh and aah for a few minutes, then wait another eternity to get down to the ground. And that's not counting the line to board! Definitely not worth the time.
I live in Munich. We just had Oktoberfest. The most aromatic of all events. Vomit. Urine. Mostly vomit.
I lived in Amsterdam for five years. I realized pretty quick for the rest of my life saying you lived in Amsterdam means people assume you’re really into weed, illicit drugs, crazy parties, hookers, or a combination of all that. In actuality, most of my going out was for drinks with colleagues, I don’t like pot, and only ever went to the red light district when someone visiting me was curious enough to see it.
I live in California. Non-Californians be like "ohhh wow I love all the palm trees and the beaches, you are so lucky!".
I live in the middle of a desert. Nothing but dirt, joshua trees, 70 mph winds, and sagebrush.
For real. The beach? Optimistically, that's an hour and a half away. Disneyland? That's at least an hour, maybe two. Six Flags? Two, three hours, easy. But we've got two Amazon warehouses and an old Air Force Base in town, so if that seems like paradise, by all means, come visit.
Not all of New York City is as crowded as the touristy areas. The vast majority of us aren't navigating through Times Square as part of our daily commutes (but mad sympathy to those who actually have to).
I live in Las Vegas. People are occasionally shocked when they hear I work at a school. I've been told several times, "I didn't even think Vegas had schools."
Idk if Ireland necessarily counts as a vacation destination but something that gets really old really fast is that tourists expect us to be drunk and roudy all the time? We are pretty proud of how friendly and welcoming we are, even in our biggest cities there's always someone willing to help a lost tourist close by. We are not always drunk or always looking for fights.
I live in Paris and all the tourists go to eiffel tower or the louvre museum. Sorry but noooo, there are so much other superb place in Paris.
Also I hate how everybody says Paris is city of love. Sorry but noooo, you walk out of your appartment and you have 1 000 cigarets/meter on the street. It's just disgusting.
PS: To all tourists, please go to other cities in France, there are many better places in France, Paris is the worst.
Been to Paris and loved it, even drove my car through the city and was impressed by the flow of traffic. And at the end of the day found some acceptable kebab for like 5 euros...
Australian here.
Sydney and stuff are expensive. But the one thing that people underestimate about our country is the sheer size of it, people go to the hotspots like Uluru, GBR, Sydney and Melbourne but they forget that it is a country nearly the size of USA. It's not small and you will meet people who have never left their state before.
The bigger mistake people make is not realising that Australia is virtually unpopulated. So while it's as big as America, you can't cross it like you can America. You can't even get to quite a bit of it, or at least not without a lot of expense and trouble.
I used to live in Bangkok, Thailand.
Not all Thai women are prostitutes and easy. In fact, they're pretty conservative and preserved.
Most of female millennials are educated white collar workers. And we're more into Korean or Japanese culture/people than the western. Everyday BKK women won't approach men first because it's a big NO NO unless they're from certain areas.
Those who work in sex industry come from the poor parts of Thailand or near by countries where there're not many job opportunities.
That New Yorkers are rude.
We can be totally. But it’s because you mess up the flow of the rest of us who need to get somewhere.
If you get lost a New Yorker will jump at the chance to help. Need a photo taken for your vacation someone will take the snapshot.
New York really did surprise me with this. Super nice people and if I was looking at a map, people would voluntarily stop and ask if I needed help. Even a guy that didn't speak English could tell I was looking for a connecting bus to get me to the airport. He made sure I got on it. New Yorkers are awesome people.
I don’t live there, but a lot of my family does and I’ve been there (Jamaica)
It’s a paradise
No, it isn’t. A lot of people can’t afford food, water, and electricity at the same time (apparently electricity used to be cheaper but since the government is a total assh*le they sold it to some company and now it’s expensive)
Probably not a misconception because it’s sadly one of the things we are known for (especially if you live in the uk) crime. Our crimes are pretty bad. Not as bad as Latin America, but it’s still bad, and our job market isn’t exactly helping its case (it’s pretty bad, and the mlms also are not helping) (do keep in mind that some places are saferthan others, like port Antonio)
The people here are nice
Well yes, but actually no. We tend to be vain and general assh*les to other Jamaicans . We will treat tourists nicely if your a tourist because your basically one of the few things that fuel our economy
And don’t come if your gay, they won’t mind killing you and your spouse for being bad to the Bible or some sh*t.
The country is nice, but we could really use a do over..
New Zealand here. It's sold as a clean green eco country where there are views out every window and you can romp along the empty tracks and beaches to your heart's delight... The realty is a lot different. The country is going through an eco crisis, water quality in most rivers has dropped to the point where they are not swimmable, old school sewerage overflows are contaminating the beaches and every track of international note is shuffling room only. While there is still stunning scenery, the rest of the country is struggling to keep up with an influx of people alongside a housing crisis that's made home ownership a pipe dream for many.
Tourists often think that, being such a small country, they can drive from A-B in X hours as that's what it would take back home for that distance. The realty is that the majority of our roads/highways are single lanes on winding roads with one way bridges and few chances to overtake. The drivers suck and you will cop a gesture or two if you dare look at another driver.
For the most part people are nice and friendly but it's like every other developed country. Leave something of value in your car and it'll get nicked. Walk down a dark Street at night and some P head will try one over on you. Flash a bit of coin and someone will figure out a way to part you with it.
New Zealand's a great country but it is a heavily developed country which comes with all the associated problems. It's a long time since it's been 100% Pure.
Please do not make it sound as though a lot of this happens up and down the whole country. It does not.
Tokyo. It's not the perfect paradise people imagine it to be. It's a major city, just like London, New York, Toronto, etc, and has major city problems.
The trains run at 130% capacity; garbage & graffiti almost everywhere; rats, cockroaches, feral cats, & attack crows (no robots just yet) roam the city; the homeless population just gets shunted around or thrown in jail (little support for them)...
I live in a touristy part of Wales and would like this cleared up.
We don’t all suddenly switch to speaking Welsh when an English tourist arrives.
There are genuinely people that believe as soon as an English person enters a pub, say, that all the Welsh people who were previously speaking English suddenly switch.
Yep. They don't, the visitors hear the person that had been speaking Welsh before they entered continuing to speak it, because it's distinctive if you're not used to hearing it. I live in less touristy a place but we're big enough that tourists stop into the convenience shops or the pubs, and this area is very heavily Welsh speaking, so get to hear this claim said often.
Appalachian tourist destinations.
Unless stuff in the giftshops is advertised as locally made, you can get it in bulk for cheaper off the Internet, because that's totally where the boss did. And the locally made stuff is sometimes nice, sometimes makes you miss Regretsy.
The food stuff, check the labels.
No, the locals do not like to be called hillbillies, except Hillbilly who owns Hillbilly's Junkyard, and he is a character, let me tell you.
Yes, we genuinely are this friendly and really do like to talk with strangers this much, but it comes from either the terrifying isolation of deeply insular small towns where everyone knows everyone else's business or being a transplant who has to drive three solid hours to so much as a decent-sized Costco.
Some of the kids get backpacks full of food every Friday from volunteers at the schools because even if their folks had the money for groceries, they might not also have the hour and back's worth of gas to get them that week from the nearest store.
No, we are not paid a living wage at this tourist site. Incidentally; management is a family and doesn't understand why $8/hr isn't enough to live on.
When I lived there, I had four jobs and the two that were tourism-related were purely to stave off the boredom and have an excuse to see people."
But if you go about four, maybe five hours that way, depending on the traffic, it's our nation's capital, so...yeah.
Living in Bali. Yes there are some beautiful places but its really dirty here. There is literally garbage everywhere as the local government doesn't have a trash collection program. People burn their trash everywhere. Also tons of corruption by police that try to supplement their income. Lots of poverty and poor people from whole of Indonesiz trying their luck here. There is a reason why the Indonesian government is trying to steer tourist to the "new Bali's" : it is overcrowded.
The tourist spots were over crowded, mainly in the southern part of Bali. There are many hidden gems in the island that are still very beautiful. Untouched by the drunk tourist. See the problem?Overcrowded drunk tourists. Oh about the homeless dogs. When tourist stay for months and decided they want a dog, and then abandon the dogs when the decided to go back to their country. This is the root of the stray dog problem. If you're a tourist in Bali please take care of it too.
I'm from Spain, we don't drink Sangría and we don't have Paella (not PAELA, PLEASE) every day.
And there's more than football, every time I meet someone and they ask me where I'm from, the one and only question appears... Madrid or Barcelona? F*off
Cape Town, South Africa. Firstly, the moment people see AFRICA, they think we all own baby lion cubs and ride on elephants from A-B.
They also expect great things due to our rich culture and history. Table Mountain, penguins at Boulders beach, you name it.
Sadly, They don't think we have Internet or any other form of modern technology.
Big surprise when they get here.
I think the biggest surprise is the way our poverty will hit them when they land in Cape Town. We have a "settlement" filled with clusters of shacks right next to the airport. So the scenic drive from the airport to the main city is filled with shacks. It can be very... Underwhelming.
It’s like this all over South Africa, massive unplanned settlements that sprawl for miles. It was a real shock to me to see the poverty and the disparity between the haves and the have-nots. A real eye opener.
On some occasions, here in Italy, when visiting medieval towns tourists ask where people go at night when the city closes thinking of it is an amusement park
Those type of tourists make me laugh. Just because they have no buildings more than 400 years old they think all of them are like their fake ones in theme parks.
"Paris Syndrome
is a condition exhibited by some individuals when visiting or going on vacation to Paris, as a result of extreme shock at discovering that Paris is different from their expectations. The syndrome is characterized by a number of psychiatric symptoms such as acute delusional states, hallucinations, feelings of persecution (perceptions of being a victim of prejudice, aggression, or hostility from others), derealization, depersonalization, anxiety, and also psychosomatic manifestations such as dizziness, tachycardia, sweating, and others, such as vomiting.[1] Similar syndromes include Jerusalem syndrome and Stendhal syndrome. The condition is commonly viewed as a severe form of culture shock. It is particularly noted among Japanese travellers"
"It is particularly noted among Japanese travellers" and avid watchers of Emily in Paris. Hahahahaha
New Orleans.
Seriously, just visit us outside of Mardi Gras.
It's a crowded cesspool during Mardi Gras season. We know how to entertain you all year, but the city isn't a nonstop drunk party all year long.
The cajuns don't really live in New Orleans...many of the accents in the city sound closer to a Jersey/Brooklyn accent.
Also, the people working in tourism use 'Nawlins' because you're expecting it. None of us refer to the city that way...a thick accent pulls off maybe a 'Nu'ahlehns' at the worst.
Several visits to "Nawlins", which is how my friend from Covington says it in his long drawl. Never on Mardi Gras. Beautiful City. Bourbon Street district is very old school historical. Outside is Very Garden-like & Deep South Southern. Great Music. Excellent french-inspired Coffee, pastries & cajun cuisine. If you can chill with their vibe, you'll fit right in & make new friends.
I’m from Hawaii. People live here, full time- and not in grass huts. The poverty back home is terrible, drugs are rampant, and our beaches are being destroyed by foreigners (including mainlanders) that don’t respect our land. Yet, I moonlight working in an industry that is pretty tourist-centered, because that’s what brings in money. It’s a vicious cycle.
Yes I've read that there is quite a lot of homlessness and disadvantage amongst the indigenous population in Hawaii, and I've always wondered ( as an Australian , where indigenous rights and post colonialism are a major issue with a long way left to go) do indigenous Hawaiians feel like a state or a colony of the USA? Is there real recognition of their culture and rights to the land and sea? It might be offensive to americans , sorry, but I've always wondered how strong the land rights issue is amongst Hawaiians? Do you feel like your land has been stolen?
I live in Orlando, so basically we only exist as a tourist destination. It’s actually a fun city away from the Disney and tourist area. Downtown and Winter Park, one of the suburbs, have great local restaurants. Also a short drive away are a few springs which really give you a really wonderful nature experience.
FL native here. Orlando is just one big construction zone. Once a highway/rd project is finished, they rip it up and start over. It's total BS.
I used to live in Madrid, Spain.
I usually avoided tourists in the city because of how loud they are.
The most irritating thing I find is how they think that taking high school Spanish is equivalent to the Spanish we speak in Spain. (Just of everyone to know we speak Castilian Spanish).
Another thing, we don't eat tacos and burritos; that's Mexican food. Sorry to disappoint but Mexico and Spain are two different countries with two different dialects and cultures.
NO IN HAWAII WE DO NOT COMMUNICATE PURELY BY ALOHA AND MAHALO
When I tell people I live in New York, they think I live in a penthouse overlooking Central Park. Let me be clear there’s much more this state has to offer.
Boston.
If you're expecting everyone to talk like a Ben Affleck movie you'll be sorely disappointed.
Also, all caps for those in the back, HARVARD YARD IS A PEDESTRIAN ONLY AREA. SHUT THE F*CK UP ABOUT LEAVING MOTOR VEHICLES THERE!!
No a single person calls this place Beantown. None. Zero. Zip. Nada.
Now the Beanpot....that's some good local sh*t and you should totally go if you're in town in February.
I used to think that Floridians were the worst drivers in the world. But since living here I've discovered that it's actually New Englanders who live in Florida half time and get Florida tags on their 5th car for tax reasons who are the sh*tty drivers.
They're yours now, Florida- us northern new Englanders are sick of them 🤣
I grew up on the seacoast of Maine. You've definitely seen a picture of my hometown at some point in your life.
Lots of people spend their summers here. Which is cool! But they mostly don't interact with the locals, so their ideas about what real Mainers are like is largely influenced by stereotypes and internet inside jokes. One thing in particular that stands out is tourists ordering coffee brandy with milk at the bar because they think that's what locals do. While it's true that Allen's Coffee Brandy is the #1 selling liquor in Maine, that's because locals put it in our coffee in the morning. It gets wicked cold up here, bub!
Florida here.
The best beaches are on the gulf coast, not South Florida and definitely not the Keys.
Alligators are mostly big shy scaredy-cats . Attacks are very rare. They’re not out there eating everybody.
We love the Florida Man meme more than anybody. But most of the people and events here are just as disappointingly normal and boring as they are where you live.
Florida is not a very homogeneous state culturally. The panhandle and most of north Florida is “the South”, but the rest is this mix of Midwest, Northeast and Cuba.
To clarify, they mean that the northern part of the state is part of 'The Deep South', which to any non-Americans is a region that includes several states such as Georgia, Louisiana and Alabama. The southern part of Florida itself has been overrun by people from the Midwestern and Northeastern states, and Cuba. It's sort of a meme that old people go there to retire since it's warm and because they have money to do so.
I lived in Hawaii for many years. You wouldn't believe how many people legitimately think everyone in Hawaii lives in grass huts or who are shocked to find out everyone there speaks English or don't know Hawaii is part of the United States, including quite a lot of Americans.
I'm American and it baffles me that others don't know that Hawaii is a state. In elementary we learned the states and in music class in third grade we learned the Fifty Nifty United States Song. Animaniacs also had the Wakkos Fifty state capitals. We also have United States maps. Hawaii is there on all of them.
I lived Liverpool for a long time, American tourists in particular used to be amazed that not everyone was obsessed with the Beatles.
My home town, so much culture, brilliant galleries and museums. Other brilliant bands from the area though we are proud of the Beatles. Just as famous for football. Also not English, Scouse.
I used to live in Puerto Rico. No, not everything is just life on the beach and having a good time. And contrary to what many people, the beautiful and picturesque sights that you often see in photos are specifically taken to attract tourists, so not everything in the island looks like that.
My friend lived in a town in Puerto Rico with one stop light. Told me to keep driving through it at night or I get carjacked. Have to say most of where we drove was captivating. Love the old spanish style architecture.
I live in Seoul but moved here from the UK, so I'd probably say it's how everyone expects it to be super high-tech, convenient, and modern because South Korea managed to get that reputation due to having (at the time) crazy fast internet. The super high-tech/convenient stuff (in my opinion) would be:
Constant wifi, even in the subways.
Almost every PC Bang (essentially gaming cafes) I've been to allows you to order food and drink FROM your computer and people will bring it over for you. I thought it was really interesting that they had their system for ordering food and drink without leaving your chair.
In the 5 or so years I've lived here, I've never lived in or been in apartment that still uses physical keys. Usually it's an electronic number lock and you will usually get a card that unlocks it as well.
The less than modern / inconvenient things would be:
Doing almost anything online requires you to have a phone contract that's bound to the ID card you're legally required to carry at all times.
Banks charge fees for EVERYTHING. Even my own bank charge me like 50c to withdraw cash.
Online banking usually requires you to use third party security software, which is starting to get better but still an issue. I literally just use my phone to do all my banking because it's soo much easier.
Korea websites usually look like a 2005 forum, like the whole website is made using tables.
If you live in an older part of Seoul or in a less modern city in general, you'll probably have terrible sewage systems that require you to put used tissue in a bin, rather than flushing it down the toilet.
I grew up on the jersey shore near seaside heights. I hate that people think we are like the dingbats who come to visit. They are all from NY and North Jersey. Locals are not tanning bed fried rageaholics.
It's True. The Jersey Shore after Labor Day with just locals is like the midwest. So chill.
I live in Florida between Disney and Universal.
Everyone things we live and breathe theme parks and that neon signs are everywhere. We have regular neighborhoods just like everyone else and we have working days just like everyone else.
And we know better than to go to the parks on weekends, holidays, etc
Actually, there's not really much to do in FL if you're not a tourist. Beaches... again? Theme parks... not! Springs are crowded with littering tourists. Space industry is boring and not exciting w launches every 3 days /s. (I live 6 mi from the Cape). Golf is for the old folks constantly in your way. I liked it better back in the 70-80's... less people.
They're always like" hey u got like 30 bottles of maple syrup right" and they end up somewhere else because of my response that goes Canadians don't only eat maple syrup.
A little late, but I grew up and live in Hawaii and the most common misconception is that it's paradise.
The scenery is amazing with the unique mountains and actual beaches, but the cost of living is extremely bad. In my house hold getting a month or 2 worth of groceries cost easily a minimum of $600 for 3 people.
A small 3 bedroom house goes for half a mil.
Being a local the food, family, and friends are really the only reasons why I would keep living here... that's if I can afford it
German here. Been to expensive places like Monaco, Seychelles, New Zealand, Australia and I can confirm: Never so such high grocery prices as in Hawaii. Even basic things like bread, veggies etc. were ridiculously expensive. That's not only because of the fact that Hawaii is a remote island and most things need to be imported. One of the differences to other countries is a law from 1920 called the "Merchant Marine Act" specifically Section 27, which is called the Jones Act. t requires that all goods transported by water between U.S. ports be carried on ships that have been constructed in the United States and that fly the U.S. flag, are owned by U.S. citizens, and are crewed by U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents.
I'm in Chicago.
Despite its reputation for gang violence tourism is surprisingly strong. All the places tourists go are mostly safe.
New Orleans here for tourist the city always seems to stop and start in the French Quater there really is so so much more to see and do.
I live in Miami.
Everyone thinks all of Miami is like in the movies: beaches, parties, clubs, tropics. Yes, we are part of a tropical climate. But the party lifestyle is only a small fraction of Miami (Brickell, SoBe, Miami Beach, Wynwood)....everywhere else is basically...tropical suburbs.
Lots of immigrant/latino & hatian working class neighborhoods.
Yet there’s an influx of gentrification because people from other states/other countries are buying cheap/urban areas and making them hip. People from other states fall in love with 'X hip new neighborhood' and buy a condo/luxury apartment.
That neighborhood slowly gets eroded and becomes 'hipster hood #3' or so and now those working class families can't afford to live there anymore.
It sucks. Everyone is hating how expensive it is, more people are forced into homelessness daily, but it doesn’t seem like it’s gonna get better anytime soon.
Austin, TX - People who arent from Austin tend to think of it like a cool hipster town. Lots of good craft beer, quirky and fun stuff to do, nice bars, live music, good food.
While all that is true, at least for parts of the city, it wasn't always the case. Somehow we got really popular, drew in a lot of tech talent and tourists, and anything that was a local hangout or some kind of Austin legend got pushed out or bulldozed. Yeah some of the new eateries are cool, but anything over 15 years old probably isnt around any more, and a lot of it was better and cheaper. Now we have expensive condos where our pubs, clubs, and burger joints once stood.
It's like Austin was known for being a college town where you could live off street tacos and cheap beer, and then everybody figured that out and it all just vanished.
It's a well known fact that Austinites hate tourists. I'd say we dont really hate tourists (unless they're on those stupid scooters and then yeah, definitely), we hate what their traffic did to our city.
Another misconception about Austin is that I can afford to live here and enjoy all the city has to offer. Cost of living is a joke, and so is the job market. Can't enjoy SXSW or ACL if i have to work through it to pay rent, you know?
Napa Valley Wine country is really just that ...country. Lots of cows and their ...smells
Phoenix
People plan a desert resort vacation then complain the entire time that they’re in a desert.
It’s mostly brown if you come from a place with lush vegetation, the air is as dry as it gets so if your skin likes humidity, you probably won’t like this city & it’s quite possibly one of the most sprawling cities in the US with a heavy emphasis on suburbia so it’s not like it’s poppin’ all over like Scottsdale/downtown Phoenix. Seen people book an Airbnb in Gilbert & bitch the whole time that it was just surburbia. Yes. Yes it is. Do your damn research.
Also it is NOT warm in the winter. It may be warmer than the Midwest/northeast (thank god for that) but it’s pretty much not warm enough to swim from October to May & the warmest it gets between December and March is maybe 75-80 if we’re having a warm winter. Don’t expect 90+F in January my dudes. It doesn’t happen regularly, if at all.
Let me add a couple of other things. 1- it's no joke hot. If you come between late June to mid October, it's hot. Not what you think is hot, but hot as hell. There is a big difference between 98 (36 C) and 115 (46 C). Make sure to hydrate and stay out of the sun. If you plan to swim, do it at night. 2- Dust storms (Haboobs). They can come on fast and aren't predictable . If you get caught in one while driving, try to get off the interstate. If not, pull off the road, turn off your lights and stay off the brakes. Don't try to drive. Visibility is about a foot in front of you. If you are not driving, stay indoors. The dust gets everywhere, including in your camera and phone cases. It can also carry a bacteria that causes Valley Fever. This isn't curable. 3- Check your shoes for scorpions before putting them on. 4- Don't damage, vandalize, or cut down the cacti. They are protected.
Dubai. That just because people have expensive cars doesn't mean they can drive them well. At all...
Unless you're really rich, there's no point in visiting Dubai. The place seem like a giant shopping mall. If you don't want to shop, then there's nothing.
Grew up in SoCal (LA area), Norcal(SF area), and spent 5 years+ on Oahu.
LA and SF is crowded af (obviously). The tourist traps of downtown LA isn't all that great. The walk of fame is good for a second, and that's about it. the Graumans Chinese theatre (TCL) isn't all that big. The Hollywood sign is a pain in the ass to get to and isn't worth the drive/traffic.
SF, Fisherman's wharf is highly priced sea food you can literally buy if you travel 5 miles away. The Golden Gate Bridge is just a bridge. Lombard Street is just a Street. Dolores park is filled with hippies and homeless people (including mission district). Downtown is filled with traffic, homeless, and smells of uniqueness.
Oahu, the "you're so lucky you live in Hawaii" from friends and family gets tiresome. When they visit, you HAVE to play tour guide. It gets rather expensive. Driving down to Honolulu/Waikiki area is a pain due to traffic and the amount of overly priced parking spots (unless you're military...wooo for the halekoa)
A lot of tourist that visit have limited English and don't follow rules about littering in the ocean / staying off the coral reefs. The amount of people that try to do the stair way to heaven hike is stupid as most get injured. Same goes with a VERY touristy hike of diamond head. A lot of tourist get heat stroke due to the elevation and humidity. Yes living on Oahu was great, but the thing they don't tell you, flying cockroaches and centipede. Those f*cking centipedes!
Time Square is garabage.
If I even have to go into the 42nd street train station my day is just ruined. Also on new years or any holiday I can't even go into the city because the trains are so backed up.
Speaking of the trains, unless you live in Manhattan or a really gentrified part of BK or Queens the trains dont even work half the time.
They claim that they are fixing the mta but the trains from the 6 line are the same as they where I'm the 90s. But yeah screw Time Square
From Blue Ridge Mountains: Bears will, do, and can hurt you. Stay. In. Your. Room. Or. Car. If you cannot grasp that a baby bear means Mama is nearby. She didn't abandon them. As with human toddlers, they're exploring a little, but she *does* know how to get to them at light speed.
I love being a tourist, but I hate how tourists can behave. Take some time to learn about your destination, how people live there and the living standards, and for f**k's sake take your s**t with you afterwards. I've visited Greece a few years back when the country was on the verge of going bankrupt (or so I was told), and prices for hotel rooms etc were incredibly low. Parallel to that, lots of Greek people were either working non-stop or were just sitting at their empty hotels, it was really sad. We left feeling incredibly priliveged (which we are).
I grew up in a little village in the UK that became a bit of a tourist attraction. Yes it’s very pretty but people actually live here. Please don’t stop in the middle of the road to shout loudly about “It’s so quaint y’all”. Please don’t all cluster around your umbrella wielding tour guide, standing on people’s flower borders and blocking the pavement. Really, don’t trespass and peer in people’s windows, I shouldn’t have to tell grown adults that’s rude. We live here, we’re not entertainment.
Actually peering in your windows?? I cannot fathom the stupidity of some people...just wow!
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I live in Southern California in a beach town. Had a friend visit from Arizona. She was stunned to learn that I don’t go to the beach every single day. I also don’t go to Disneyland and/or Knott’s every day, even though they’re only about a half hour away. XD
I've often lived in or near tourist hotspots. I have to say, for the most part, tourists are respectful and interested and happy to learn and adapt. But the ones that aren't ruin it for everyone else. Working as a safari guide in Africa was so eye-opening. I lived in the town of Victoria Falls, next to the actual falls. The things people would do... trying to explain to them that you can't play with the baby vervet monkeys because the mother will bite you and then you will have to go through the rabies treatments. Explaining that a hippo can run at 30 kph. That the baboon in the rain forest will tear your face off if you challenge him. That the lions WILL eat you if you hang around the wrong place at the wrong time. That you can't swim in certain places, because the crocodiles WILL eat you. That some water is not safe because of bilharzia. And no, we cannot "turn the sound down" at night. That is what the wild animals night chorus actually sounds like, and we have no control
Not a misconception, more of a common mistakes by tourists. In Montreal, the best restaurants are NOT in the Old Montreal! Most of it, like more than 85%, is overrated and overpriced. A short 10-15 minutes subway rides and you can find some really good restaurants in other neighborhoods with fair prices.
It can no longer really be called a holiday hotspot, and I don't think it ever was one internationally, but Blackpool's domestic seaside holiday image still persists, despite the fact it is also consistently at the top of the "most deprived" and "most miserable" places to live list. People don't live here, they survive. Jobs are seasonal at best. Crime rates are scary high and there is significant racism against Romany (connected to the temporary and seasonal nature of the jobs, as well as the crime rate - chicken and egg applies). People only ever see the Illuminations - lots of coloured lightbulbs that haven't been updated in more than 40 years - or the Tower. Blackpool is LGBT welcoming - and that *baseline level* is the best thing I can say.
I know there is a big push for tourism in Manitoba. People think it's all about Winnipeg or Churchill. If you want to go to Churchill it has to be in the summer months, since the only way to get there is by a seasonal train. Winnipeg downtown as some interesting sites, but they are spread apart and most of the whole inner core is desolate, especially after office business hours. Most places are closed by 6pm. If you really want to experience more of Manitoba it's best to get out into the other parts of Winnipeg, and ask the locals of those communities where the locally owned shops and eateries are. But don't expect everyone to know where everything is. It's a vastly spread out city, and a lot of the independent places are going out of business these days. Just because we're geographically in the middle of the continent doesn't mean we don't have beaches and plenty of lakes and rivers. Manitoba has thousands of lakes and rivers. Grand Beach is not the only one but most crowded.
On that note, Winnipeg is not the only city in Manitoba. You can visit Brandon. I believe there is still a bus that goes there from Winnipeg. And there's also Portage La Prairie. Morden has a cool museum of ocean dinosaur fossils found locally. There are many festivals around the province. It just takes some planning. Also take note that even though McLean's Magazine has deemed Winnipeg "the most racist city" it was met with a lot of backlash by Manitobans. Racism is everywhere. We're not perfect. There's not any more of a problem here than anywhere else in Canada. No matter where you're from, you'll be safe as anywhere else in Canada.
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Tourists miconceptions are in the base of the whole tourism industry.
Branson Mo. I'm not from there, but I have family near there, so I used to go there a lot in the summer. I've heard people describe it as Bible Vegas, but that's not really true. The main drag and the surrounding amusement parks are more like a cutsey, family-friendly version of Vegas, but there isn't really anything religious about it. They also think everyone is going to be walking around in cowboy hats and spurs. Hate to disappoint you, but in the summer it's mostly shorts and flip flops. The town actually grew up because of all the lakes in the area, so there's quite a bit of boat-mentality, lots of fishing and glamping. Lots of dense woods in the area, coupled with the steep landscape makes for some great hiking trails.
Most of the things on this list are simply that tourists forget that people actually live in the places that they are traveling to.
I live in maine. It's a nice place and the people can be friendly enough, but in my experience most of us want the tourists to go away. Also, not all of us hunt. Only about half of us do, and the rest of us have never even fired a gun.
I have absolutely no interest in traveling as it would have to be alone. However, I do enjoy reading about other places, including my own home (America). My parents traveled to Europe twice in the 1970's, and they loved it. They were very polite people who spoke to the locals intelligently, but also explaining that they didn't know some things, and could they have help, please. They always got the needed help, and generally with smiles all around. I'd be afraid for them now, if they were alive and wanted to travel.
Australia:if you visit Sydney don’t think you can go to Melbourne or Brisbane or Uluṟu in one day they are not close to each other and if you ever go away from Sydney inland please don’t ask where the kangaroos are also don’t ask if we ride them and don’t say put another shrimp on the barbie we don’t do that and they are not shrimp they are prawns
The downside to most of these places is caused by overpopulation. Pollution, dwindling resources, inadequate housing.......... all of it caused by too many people.
We just moved from San Diego to Oregon. Biggest misconception people have about San Diego is that your friend who lives there is just dying to entertain you. Yes, we had 3 bedrooms for just the 2 of us. Not one of them was a guest room because we're not an AirBnB. We have jobs, so again, NO, we will not be driving you to the beach (40 minutes away) every day. And HELL NO we will not take you to Disneyland!
"Rumors and gossip don’t equal the truth." No. They equal dollars in the bank, don't they Bored Pansy.
Living there is always different from being a tourist. Being a tourist is always different from living there. Case in point, Bermuda.
Huh no one in the list talked about new orleans. Lived there for 5 years. Mardi gras is cool but dont go to bourbon st unless you like being packed like sardines having a difficult time moving around to get to any bars. Also, throws (beads) for flashing is only a thing tourists do. Indecent exposure is still a crime there and cops will arrest you if they feel lile it. Also, the french quarter smells like alcohol, urine, vomit, and BO on mardi gras. I recommend to skip that entirely. The weeks leading up to mardi gras are way better, have parades all the time, everywhere. Also come to the city during voodoo or jazz fest much more fun. People in nola are generally very nice and yes the food is amazing (go to mom and pop run places not some place like commanders palace). Halloween is huge there too but all year they do "ghost tours" which are neat and provide a different side of history of the area.
Brazil. We don't speak Spanish. A lot of people hate Carnaval, it's noisy and a waste of public money that could be used for many better things. People are poor. Minimum wage is about U$250 when exchanged and many people live under it, and the ones who live above is just slightly above. People are rude and very verbally aggressive. I'm autistic and extremely afraid of people due to fear of verbal aggression, but I'm more comfortable talking to a random foreign online that talking to a neighbor. You will be robbed. And hopefully nothing else.
I both loved and hated this gallery. I loved hearing what locals think of their homes, and was saddened to hear that they aren't the paradises I was seeing on TV. I wasn't really surprised, but it was a really lovely way to think of them. Since I was a little kid I held Bali in my mind as a beautiful and unspoiled island paradise, and thought New Zealand was eco-heaven, and Japan was a clean and orderly place. I guess a little dose of reality was probably called for, even though I know no place is the way it seems on television or in the movies.
I grew up in a city which fits the bill for being a 'quaint' tourist destination. It's a small historical city, which has beautiful Tudor and Medival buildings (it's in the UK) and many of the houses were very old. I used to live in a house from 1659 which was extremely cheep. Never any tourists though, probably one of the reasons it was so nice.
From Blue Ridge Mountains: Bears will, do, and can hurt you. Stay. In. Your. Room. Or. Car. If you cannot grasp that a baby bear means Mama is nearby. She didn't abandon them. As with human toddlers, they're exploring a little, but she *does* know how to get to them at light speed.
I love being a tourist, but I hate how tourists can behave. Take some time to learn about your destination, how people live there and the living standards, and for f**k's sake take your s**t with you afterwards. I've visited Greece a few years back when the country was on the verge of going bankrupt (or so I was told), and prices for hotel rooms etc were incredibly low. Parallel to that, lots of Greek people were either working non-stop or were just sitting at their empty hotels, it was really sad. We left feeling incredibly priliveged (which we are).
I grew up in a little village in the UK that became a bit of a tourist attraction. Yes it’s very pretty but people actually live here. Please don’t stop in the middle of the road to shout loudly about “It’s so quaint y’all”. Please don’t all cluster around your umbrella wielding tour guide, standing on people’s flower borders and blocking the pavement. Really, don’t trespass and peer in people’s windows, I shouldn’t have to tell grown adults that’s rude. We live here, we’re not entertainment.
Actually peering in your windows?? I cannot fathom the stupidity of some people...just wow!
Load More Replies... I live in Southern California in a beach town. Had a friend visit from Arizona. She was stunned to learn that I don’t go to the beach every single day. I also don’t go to Disneyland and/or Knott’s every day, even though they’re only about a half hour away. XD
I've often lived in or near tourist hotspots. I have to say, for the most part, tourists are respectful and interested and happy to learn and adapt. But the ones that aren't ruin it for everyone else. Working as a safari guide in Africa was so eye-opening. I lived in the town of Victoria Falls, next to the actual falls. The things people would do... trying to explain to them that you can't play with the baby vervet monkeys because the mother will bite you and then you will have to go through the rabies treatments. Explaining that a hippo can run at 30 kph. That the baboon in the rain forest will tear your face off if you challenge him. That the lions WILL eat you if you hang around the wrong place at the wrong time. That you can't swim in certain places, because the crocodiles WILL eat you. That some water is not safe because of bilharzia. And no, we cannot "turn the sound down" at night. That is what the wild animals night chorus actually sounds like, and we have no control
Not a misconception, more of a common mistakes by tourists. In Montreal, the best restaurants are NOT in the Old Montreal! Most of it, like more than 85%, is overrated and overpriced. A short 10-15 minutes subway rides and you can find some really good restaurants in other neighborhoods with fair prices.
It can no longer really be called a holiday hotspot, and I don't think it ever was one internationally, but Blackpool's domestic seaside holiday image still persists, despite the fact it is also consistently at the top of the "most deprived" and "most miserable" places to live list. People don't live here, they survive. Jobs are seasonal at best. Crime rates are scary high and there is significant racism against Romany (connected to the temporary and seasonal nature of the jobs, as well as the crime rate - chicken and egg applies). People only ever see the Illuminations - lots of coloured lightbulbs that haven't been updated in more than 40 years - or the Tower. Blackpool is LGBT welcoming - and that *baseline level* is the best thing I can say.
I know there is a big push for tourism in Manitoba. People think it's all about Winnipeg or Churchill. If you want to go to Churchill it has to be in the summer months, since the only way to get there is by a seasonal train. Winnipeg downtown as some interesting sites, but they are spread apart and most of the whole inner core is desolate, especially after office business hours. Most places are closed by 6pm. If you really want to experience more of Manitoba it's best to get out into the other parts of Winnipeg, and ask the locals of those communities where the locally owned shops and eateries are. But don't expect everyone to know where everything is. It's a vastly spread out city, and a lot of the independent places are going out of business these days. Just because we're geographically in the middle of the continent doesn't mean we don't have beaches and plenty of lakes and rivers. Manitoba has thousands of lakes and rivers. Grand Beach is not the only one but most crowded.
On that note, Winnipeg is not the only city in Manitoba. You can visit Brandon. I believe there is still a bus that goes there from Winnipeg. And there's also Portage La Prairie. Morden has a cool museum of ocean dinosaur fossils found locally. There are many festivals around the province. It just takes some planning. Also take note that even though McLean's Magazine has deemed Winnipeg "the most racist city" it was met with a lot of backlash by Manitobans. Racism is everywhere. We're not perfect. There's not any more of a problem here than anywhere else in Canada. No matter where you're from, you'll be safe as anywhere else in Canada.
Load More Replies... Tourists miconceptions are in the base of the whole tourism industry.
Branson Mo. I'm not from there, but I have family near there, so I used to go there a lot in the summer. I've heard people describe it as Bible Vegas, but that's not really true. The main drag and the surrounding amusement parks are more like a cutsey, family-friendly version of Vegas, but there isn't really anything religious about it. They also think everyone is going to be walking around in cowboy hats and spurs. Hate to disappoint you, but in the summer it's mostly shorts and flip flops. The town actually grew up because of all the lakes in the area, so there's quite a bit of boat-mentality, lots of fishing and glamping. Lots of dense woods in the area, coupled with the steep landscape makes for some great hiking trails.
Most of the things on this list are simply that tourists forget that people actually live in the places that they are traveling to.
I live in maine. It's a nice place and the people can be friendly enough, but in my experience most of us want the tourists to go away. Also, not all of us hunt. Only about half of us do, and the rest of us have never even fired a gun.
I have absolutely no interest in traveling as it would have to be alone. However, I do enjoy reading about other places, including my own home (America). My parents traveled to Europe twice in the 1970's, and they loved it. They were very polite people who spoke to the locals intelligently, but also explaining that they didn't know some things, and could they have help, please. They always got the needed help, and generally with smiles all around. I'd be afraid for them now, if they were alive and wanted to travel.
Australia:if you visit Sydney don’t think you can go to Melbourne or Brisbane or Uluṟu in one day they are not close to each other and if you ever go away from Sydney inland please don’t ask where the kangaroos are also don’t ask if we ride them and don’t say put another shrimp on the barbie we don’t do that and they are not shrimp they are prawns
The downside to most of these places is caused by overpopulation. Pollution, dwindling resources, inadequate housing.......... all of it caused by too many people.
We just moved from San Diego to Oregon. Biggest misconception people have about San Diego is that your friend who lives there is just dying to entertain you. Yes, we had 3 bedrooms for just the 2 of us. Not one of them was a guest room because we're not an AirBnB. We have jobs, so again, NO, we will not be driving you to the beach (40 minutes away) every day. And HELL NO we will not take you to Disneyland!
"Rumors and gossip don’t equal the truth." No. They equal dollars in the bank, don't they Bored Pansy.
Living there is always different from being a tourist. Being a tourist is always different from living there. Case in point, Bermuda.
Huh no one in the list talked about new orleans. Lived there for 5 years. Mardi gras is cool but dont go to bourbon st unless you like being packed like sardines having a difficult time moving around to get to any bars. Also, throws (beads) for flashing is only a thing tourists do. Indecent exposure is still a crime there and cops will arrest you if they feel lile it. Also, the french quarter smells like alcohol, urine, vomit, and BO on mardi gras. I recommend to skip that entirely. The weeks leading up to mardi gras are way better, have parades all the time, everywhere. Also come to the city during voodoo or jazz fest much more fun. People in nola are generally very nice and yes the food is amazing (go to mom and pop run places not some place like commanders palace). Halloween is huge there too but all year they do "ghost tours" which are neat and provide a different side of history of the area.
Brazil. We don't speak Spanish. A lot of people hate Carnaval, it's noisy and a waste of public money that could be used for many better things. People are poor. Minimum wage is about U$250 when exchanged and many people live under it, and the ones who live above is just slightly above. People are rude and very verbally aggressive. I'm autistic and extremely afraid of people due to fear of verbal aggression, but I'm more comfortable talking to a random foreign online that talking to a neighbor. You will be robbed. And hopefully nothing else.
I both loved and hated this gallery. I loved hearing what locals think of their homes, and was saddened to hear that they aren't the paradises I was seeing on TV. I wasn't really surprised, but it was a really lovely way to think of them. Since I was a little kid I held Bali in my mind as a beautiful and unspoiled island paradise, and thought New Zealand was eco-heaven, and Japan was a clean and orderly place. I guess a little dose of reality was probably called for, even though I know no place is the way it seems on television or in the movies.
I grew up in a city which fits the bill for being a 'quaint' tourist destination. It's a small historical city, which has beautiful Tudor and Medival buildings (it's in the UK) and many of the houses were very old. I used to live in a house from 1659 which was extremely cheep. Never any tourists though, probably one of the reasons it was so nice.
