“Jorts. White New Balance, jeans, ill-fitting t-shirts Traveling…”
“Pastel colors, short flat front shorts, socks and sandals, visor and fanny pack.”
“Baseball caps, university spirit wear, cargo shorts, free t-shirts from events with ads and text all over them.”
If You’ve Done 15 Of These “Very American” Things While Traveling, Then Everyone Knew You Were A Tourist
Apparently some non-Americans can pick us out just by the way we STAND.
Take this quiz with friends in real time and compare results
Check it out!
Blending in as a tourist in a foreign country can be tough no matter what. But for some reason, it seems like non-Americans can always pick out the American tourists first.
So when Redditor u/mknapp37 asked, “Besides their accent, what’s one way you know a tourist is American?” hundreds of people hopped in the thread to basically dunk on us (although a couple of comments were actually kinda nice!).
Here are some of the responses, and then after you read them, you can take a quiz to see how many you’re guilty of!
1. “The half smile they all like to do at random strangers.”
—u/official_Crusader
2. “While in Korea Traveling,
I was casually talking to a friend on the bus in regular speaking voice. Not even a minute later, the lady in front of us turns around in her seat and says very casually, ‘please calm down.’ I guess American volume is noticeably louder.”
—u/jrlags
3. “Jorts. White New Balance, jeans, ill-fitting T-shirts…”
—u/Skysoldier173rd
“Pastel colors, short flat front shorts, socks and sandals, visor and fanny pack.”
—u/M1sterGuy
“Baseball caps, university spirit wear, cargo shorts, free t-shirts from events with ads and text all over them.”
—u/Zack1018
arrows pointing to a person wearing socks with their sandals
Will Perrett / Getty Images/iStockphoto
4. “Wearing loungewear/pajamas on planes or long train rides.”
—u/mattdev
5. “Asking for the restroom Traveling.
I mean, obviously the accent was then heard too but in my little village in Scotland I was in the pub and a woman politely asked the barman where the restrooms were. He didn’t know WTF she was on about and then it obviously clicked. ‘Ye mean the toilet? Aye hen it’s joost back ‘err.'”
—u/MogadonMandy
6. “When they introduce themselves
they never say they’re from America: mostly the state/city they’re from.”
—u/hazily
7. “Saying, ‘Hi, how are you?’
to the barista, servers, retail workers. My country doesn’t quite have that culture so I find it really sweet.”
—u/tomayto_tomaahto
Disney
8. “Because whatever store they go into,
they hold extra cash in their hand and say to the cashiers, ‘Where’s the tipping jar?'”
—u/MercuryRainfall
9. “When visiting Paris my wife Traveling
and I learned they don’t seat you at restaurants. You just walk in and sit down at an available table. We figured it out after standing around at the entrance a few times. Then we started noticing other American tourists doing the same.”
—u/dcabines
10. “They think a one-week vacation is long.”
—u/juffler
11. “Went to Russia once, and they knew because I smiled too much.”
—u/Bangbangsmashsmash
12. “I was at an amusement park in my country,
Denmark. I spotted what was very obviously an American family since they had their flag on EVERYTHING.”
—u/Nannamuss
NBC
13. “They get amazed by old things Traveling.
Girlfriend used to work on a farm and an estate in the U.K. and would often have Americans in awe of the old buildings. One once said ‘some of these buildings are older than my country.'”
—u/curved_oracle
14. “Trying to interact with strangers in public areas.”
—u/Cona3704
15. “They’re looking for a store open at like 11 p.m.
Even if in most European countries stores close at like 7–8 p.m.”
—u/millennium-popsicle
16. “I was at a beach where music was playing and ‘Sweet Caroline’ came on Traveling.
I told my sister (we are both Hispanic, but I live in the US): ‘Hey, if you are wondering who here is from the US, you are about to find out.’ Ten seconds later: PA PA PAAAAAA.”
—u/ardyndidnothingwrong
NFL / Via giphy.com
17. “I read somewhere that the way Traveling
we put our weight on one leg while standing is a sign.”
—u/vinegarstrokes5
18. “If they buy peanut butter.
It sounds very weird, but everyone who buys peanut butter where I work, turns out to be American.”
19. “Handing the credit card Traveling
to the server to be taken away and processed.”
—u/SherrifOfNothingtown