Traveling the world is exciting—you get to experience cultures you never have before. However, many places across the glove have different traditions than Americans do. And that can mean that Americans can do some unintentional disrespectful things while touring a new place.
In a recent Reddit thread, people shared the top most ignorant things they’ve observed other tourists doing while on vacation. Here are the top responses.
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Stealing Bones
“When I was in France a couple of American tourists tried to sneak out of the Paris Catacombs with a bone they had stolen.”
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Not Buy Their Round
“In a pub in Ireland. When the pub round system had been explained to them. And they had happily taken drinks from everyone. And when it was their round, and everyone had empty glasses and it was mentioned that “Think it’s your round..” and they responded “I think I’m good now thanks” Mortified for bringing them with me!! (and yes I bought the round for everyone else on their behalf.)”
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Disobeying “Do Not Touch” Signs
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Not Using the Right Currency
“I overheard the guy standing in front of me in the queue at mc D’s having a meltdown: “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON’T ACCEPT AMERICAN DOLLARS THIS IS A MCDONALD’S!!!” This was in Poland, Europe.”
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Downplaying a Tourist Spot
“I was at a lavender farm in the South of France a few years ago. Two coach loads of American tourists pull up, they all got out on the standard “you won’t get long enough to really see this place” type tour. One lady very proudly states she is an expert on lavender and that this place was “cute but it’s all fake, the lavender isn’t the right colour”. There were bees and other insects all over it, the whole farm smelled amazing and there was a harvest taking place! It was very real.”
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Wildlife Park Woes
“In Australia, shook a koala out of a tree at a wildlife park.”
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Wearing the Wrong Shoes
“I live in Norway and 30 minutes from my house there is this mountain called Pulpit Rock. It is the biggest tourist attraction nearby. It is not the most difficult trail, but it is pretty steep, and every year I would see American women struggling because they were wearing flip flops or high heels.”
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Disrespecting Concentration Camps
“German here. Never go to visit any concentration camp museum without understanding that in less than 10 minutes your blood will start to boil because of how disrespectful tourists can be. It’s unbelievable. I remember seeing photos of “influencers” doing yoga and interpretative dance in places like Dachau. Like, WTF? How does that occur to you to do? So inappropriate and disrespectful.”
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Being Impatient During Fine Dining
“I used to work in a high end restaurant. Five or six course meals are the standard. So people take their time to eat, chat and enjoy the evening for at least two to three hours. It is normal to have half an hour in between meals. If we would serve faster the guest would complain about the food being served to fast. Anyway, this table of mostly local people plus one American woman being very loud with a thick, i guess, New York accent was complaining after three minutes after every course where her food was. First i explained the above. The rest of the table was also getting a bit awkward about her behavior. She kept complaining though. Telling how incredible disappointed she was. I kept explaining that the food we serve is freshly made, it takes time to prepare. And that the whole idea is to enjoy the evening in with the people you are. She just would get concept and react with so much disbelieve. Lady you are abroad, if you want to stuff your face with food in under five minutes go to a fast-food chain or even better stay at home.”
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Thinking a Historical Monument is Fake
“When walking round the Coliseum in Rome, my wife remarked she didn’t believe it was really that old as it seemed ‘suspicious’ that it was built so close to the centre of the modern City. I had fun unpacking that one.”
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Going Against Church Rules
“I live in New Zealand and we have our special kind of churches called maraes. You are not allowed to wear shoes in them. One day i was in the marae and i saw this middle aged woman walk in with her shoes on. I walked over to her and politely asked her to leave her shoes at the door and i kid you not this is what she said ‘what is this some kind of savage church?’ The men immediately kicked her out.”
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Being Annoyed About Not Speaking English
“Iceland. We get a lot of tourism when there isn’t a pandemic and about half are American. It’s mostly just ignorance and the refusal to accept that things work differently here. Also, while most people here speak English to some degree there are a few tourists that are furious about it not being the default language in businesses that aren’t even connected to tourism. God forbid we speak our own language at work.”
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Acting Like They Own the Place
“I live in a beach tourist town in Australia. Have had numerous Americans I’ve encountered act like they own a patch of beach because where they’re staying is adjacent to the beach.”
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Being Mad at Accents
“The guy got pretty angry that my English sucked when asking me for directions, I mean yeah It can be frustrating but I’m taking the time to help you wtf dude. He said I lived in Canada so I was supposed to speak it flawlessly like dude I spoke French my entire life but I’m doing my best over here to communicate sorry for the accent.”
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Being Angry About Canadian Change
“In Canada some stores will accept American cash as payment, but by law have to still give Canadian change. I worked in a city that got a lot of American tourists, and it was crazy how often someone would get really frustrated with us for not giving them American change. I had someone even accuse me of lying about it being the law. To what end lady?”
What’s the most ignorant or disrespectful thing you’ve ever witnessed in a different country?