BATE: Stereotypes in travel

[Basel Gill]

Hi everyone!I'm your host for this discussion in the Brown Ajah travel event. Travel seems to be one of those things in life that develops lots of stereotypes around it, and we can talk about that here. I'm going to throw up a new topic for discussion every few days. What I'm going to be starting off with is the stereotypical tourist. If you're living somewhere that gets visitors from elsewhere, what about people screams "TOURIST!" when you see people? How does this affect your impression of them, good or bad? When you are on vacation, do you do anything which you consider stereotypical tourist behavior?

[Daruya]

Their driving skills (or lack thereof; honestly, sometimes I think they leave their brains at home) and their sunburns. Oh, and their lack of inhibition (they leave that at home, too). Although, some locals lack those, too . . . LOL!

 

When I'm on vacation (which I haven't been in forever) I take pictures. I guess that's considered touristy.

[Basel Gill]

My own answers would also include their driving skills. Quite a few folks from out of town coming here tend to get sunburned during the summer just because they assume the stereotype of upstate New York as wintry and cold applies year-round. During the winter months, some of them seem improperly prepared for the cold. I associate tourism anywhere with t-shirts, hats, or other merchandise prominently marked with where they visited, either the city or a place to visit there.

 

On my own vacations, I've gotten sunburned to some extent or another. My last vacation I forgot sunscreen and got heavily burned. And I have been known to buy tourist t-shirts.

[Moon Sedai]

I work at a Wally World near a boardwalk.

Tourists come in wearing flip-flops, bathing suits, and little else.

 

And they usually have sunburns or boardwalk wrist-bands. Locals usually take those off before leaving.

[Elgee]

1. Sunburn. One would think that people would KNOW that the African sun is not to be treated lightly, but noooo. We call them "foreign lobsters"

 

2. Carelessness. Mostly with their personal belongings, but sadly quite often with their personal safety too. Spot the idiots tourists with their wallets in plain view, or venturing into unsafe areas then wailing about getting mugged/murdered/raped/highjacked/combination of all.

 

3. Cameras. Refer to point 2.

 

4. American tourists: "where's the nearest MacDonalds?" :P

[Moon Sedai]

When I lived in Germany, as long as I kept my mouth shut, I could pass off as German.

 

But usually, it was easy to spot us Americans in the crowd.

 

Even if you ignored the fact that most had a military hair cut, Americans were Loud. They tended to look around at the surroundings as they walked, instead of focusing straight ahead. They hung out in crowds.

Americans were easy to spot.

 

 

 

 

[Majsju]

1. Sunburn. One would think that people would KNOW that the African sun is not to be treated lightly, but noooo. We call them "foreign lobsters"

 

 

 

Of course, there is also the complete opposite. I heard several complaints from people who went to last years football World Cup, and had to go shopping as soon as they arrived since it was freezing. Apparently it came as a chock to many that you do get winter

[Jeannaisais]

4. American tourists: "where's the nearest MacDonalds?" :P

 

The number one reason to hate Americans....oh wait dangit I am one.....

 

After having been all over Europe this last Spring, I'd say a major tourist identification is def the t-shirt, baseball cap with the city name and camera. Also, those still crazy enough to wear fanny packs (those hideous things should be burned, every last one of them....it technically makes the money easier to steal not harder). Oh and the large hats to 'block the sun'. And, use of small maps will always immediately label you as a tourist. After week one in Granada I put my map away and just started roaming the city so I wouldn't look like a tourist anymore!!!

[Daruya]

McDonalds? *barf* Please don't give me directions to McDonalds! In Germany, just give me directions to somewhere that has good schnitzel, sauerbraten and potato pancakes (with applesauce to top them with)!

 

Speaking of McDonalds, though, I did eat at McDonalds in Japan back in 1992 and found that it tasted quite different than McDonalds in the U.S. Oh, and everyone in Japan knew I was a tourist, with my then golden-blond hair and blue eyes!

[Jeannaisais]

That's a good point to, sometimes you can't help looking like a tourist because of your own personal appearance!

 

I got lucky in Spain because I have Indian blood in me and can tan pretty well (when I feel like getting outside) so after I got a bit of a tan I fit in like one of the locals...and I was in Spain long enough to know how to act like one of the locals as well!

 

And I agree that McDonald's is disgusting...I did go to Burger King while in Spain and ended up getting really sick off of it....same thing happened with fast food when I got back to the states...I was sick for about four days and couldn't keep anything down. From what I've heard, if you travel outside of the US for a week or two the food won't give you an issue upon return...but I was over there for four months so my system had gotten used to the delicious diabetically friendly meals my host mom prepared daily....fast food was not taken well lol

[Basel Gill]

Also, those still crazy enough to wear fanny packs (those hideous things should be burned, every last one of them....it technically makes the money easier to steal not harder).

 

OMG. My father wears a fanny pack... and sometimes not just when he is on vacation, either. I always wanna laugh at him.

[Rasheta Ardashir]

tourists with their wallets in plain view,

 

I know this is probably weird but when I travel unless I NEED it. My wallet stays in the room hidden away, my money and ID are put in my bra. So when I travel I have everything I need, easy to carry around and done. LOL Most people have no idea I have it there either.

[Senexx]

I'm only in a small town but even it gets the odd American tourist, boisterous would be a fair description. Or thinking Uluru and other attractions are a short drive from Sydney or whatever other metro-airport they enter through.

 

Another common one lately in this country is German tourists swimming in the rivers in the outback & then getting eaten or bit by the crocodiles.

 

And I presume this one is common to all countries - cultural insensitivity. To be fair though I think most of it is due to naivety than ignorance. They/We just don't know.

[Elayrin Eleazar]

Another common one lately in this country is German tourists swimming in the rivers in the outback & then getting eaten or bit by the crocodiles.

 

Maybe that's because we have neither an outback nor crocodiles (zoos don't count)... well, this stupidity is something for the Darwin Awards.

 

We don't have tourists in the small city where I live (okay, maybe they are disguised), but a lot of them in Cologne. What I've noticed: Tourists are pack animals. When there's one, there are usually at least ten more near by, all of them equipped with cameras - and often from Asia.

Oh, and tourists tend to think that the food choice in Germany is rather limited: Bratwurst, Sauerkraut, Schnitzel... these are the favourites of tourists.

[Jeannaisais]

We don't have tourists in the small city where I live (okay, maybe they are disguised), but a lot of them in Cologne. What I've noticed: Tourists are pack animals. When there's one, there are usually at least ten more near by, all of them equipped with cameras - and often from Asia.

Oh, and tourists tend to think that the food choice in Germany is rather limited: Bratwurst, Sauerkraut, Schnitzel... these are the favourites of tourists.

 

It is often large groups of Asian people, that are large groups of elderly. I've noticed that the younger the tourist, the more likely they are to travel with just two or three others and avoid tourist groups while the elderly will go with any tourist group they can find!

 

And I did have Schnitzel when i went to Vienna and later when I was in Bolzano, Italy. I would have tried more in Vienna but the gal I was traveling with had the stomach flu and I had an allergic reaction to some tree or plant there and literally could not breathe the entire weekend :)

[Elgee]

1. Sunburn. One would think that people would KNOW that the African sun is not to be treated lightly, but noooo. We call them "foreign lobsters"

 

 

 

Of course, there is also the complete opposite. I heard several complaints from people who went to last years football World Cup, and had to go shopping as soon as they arrived since it was freezing. Apparently it came as a chock to many that you do get winter

 

 

There is that. Luckily the vuvuzelas turned them braindead pretty quickly, so they didn't really feel the cold any more

 

American and Asian tourists do seem to be the ones with the cameras. Asian ones also have the tendency to give any passing stranger their cameras, with a request to take pictures of them in front of some tourist attraction. Needless to say, they seldom get their cameras back, over here

[Basel Gill]

Well, I originally was planning to shift gears a bit tomorrow, but computer issues are making that unlikely. So while I'm online from the local library, I'm putting the next concept up for discussion tonight. What things that stereotypically go wrong when traveling have you had experiences with? Lost luggage? Forgetting something important and leaving it at home, or forgetting something at your destination and coming home without it? Or any other mishaps you feel are stereotypical?

 

Last month I spent a weekend in Texas. Southwest Airlines lost my checked bag and it never showed up on the baggage carousel at the airport in Houston. They took my contact info, my cell phone, and the address and phone number of my hotel. When I got to the hotel I walked 7 blocks to a drugstore to buy some essentials I had in the bag. Out of everything I bought, I only needed a toothbrush and toothpaste that night. The airline got the bag to the hotel overnight, and it was waiting for me at the front desk when I woke up.Losing it was aggravating, but they were good about fixing the problem. As for forgetting things, the worst I ever did was the first time I went on vacation with a cellphone. It was 2006, and I'd only gotten my first cell a month before a trip to St. Louis. I brought the phone, but forgot the charger. The hotel had a big box of forgotten chargers they kept on hand for people to use, but none fit my cell. I never needed to charge the phone, but it was very close. I was almost completely out of battery power when I got home.

[Basel Gill]

Bump.

[Majsju]

My biggest whoopsie musthave been a couple of years ago. I was going to a conference in Rome, flying from Copenhagen. I had carefully checked the trains to Copenhagen, so I knew excelty when to go without having to rush like a maniac. Unfortunatly, I had missed that this was the week when the time table shifted from spring/summer to autumn/winter, so the train i had set my eyes on did not show up. As a result, I missed my flight...

 

So, with a heart going at 200 bpm, i rushed to Alitalias desk, and explained the situation to them. And they were amazingly helpful, and got me on a new flight. They did not even charge me a single Euro.

 

Of course, when I arrived in Rome, it was so late that the trains from the airport had stopped going (public transport in italy is about the worst in Europe), so i had to take a taxi to the hotel, for the nice sum of €50 (and that was thanks to my bargaining skills, at first he wanted €70).

 

About 12 hours late, I arrived at the hotel, found some of my colleagues in the bar, and could sit down and relax with a nice glass of red.

[Mystica]

I live in Ghent, Belgium and we get quite a bit of tourists here, though not as much as you would think. Most go to Brussels, Antwerp and Bruge (eventhough none of those were rated in the top 10 best/most beautiful cities of the world, as Ghent is). More even use Belgium as the passing through place to get to Germany, France or Holland.

 

Asian tourists are easily spotted, typically by their humongous cameras and usually they walk around in a group following a guide.

Americans are not as easily spotted, though they usually walk about in shorts, with a sports bag or back pack (small one, for a one day trip, not the travelling backpack type) and yes.... they tend to comment a lot on how everything is bigger/better/higher/deeper/etc in America lol. On the other hand, I personally love the American tourists (the majority of them). I find their open approach and enthusiasm very appealing and they're always ready for a good laugh and eager to see new things and meet new people. If you know how to counter their tendency to sound dismissive, they're really fun to have around.

 

Don't have a lot of experience with Canadian tourists, as the only ones I ever met immediately went on about how difficult european girls are to seduce.

 

To be honest, I don't pay much attention to tourists, because we have so many nationalities here anyway and it's hard to tell which are tourists and which are not. We have a lot of international students, phd's, etc, for instance. And it's not always apparent by their age, since a lot of 'older' (+30) people also follow university classes or are working on their phd or some such.

[Majsju]

 

 

To be honest, I don't pay much attention to tourists, because we have so many nationalities here anyway and it's hard to tell which are tourists and which are not. We have a lot of international students, phd's, etc, for instance. And it's not always apparent by their age, since a lot of 'older' (+30) people also follow university classes or are working on their phd or some such.

 

Very much like it is here. And the city I live in is such a difficult place to find your way around in that not even seeing somecarrying a map is conclusive evidence, as it can take months for new residents to get comfortable walking around town.

[Mystica]

same for me, I've lived here 41 years and still have to check google maps to find where certain streets are lol

[Raena]

In the town where I live, I know people are tourists if they speak Norwegian or German. We get lots of those. Other things mentioned here aren't really applicable - people in my town are terrible drivers, it's hard to get a sunburn here, and you kinda don't need a map to find your way around. I don't know how many tourists the town gets, but they mostly come in the summertime and I don't spend a lot of time there in the summer so I don't really notice them.

 

As for things that go wrong... Well, this one time I was going to Canada. I live in Sweden, so it's a pretty long trip, even more so because I live way north in Sweden so I have to get to one of the bigger airports before I can even get on a flight to Canada. Because I like to have plenty of time between flights, I had decided to leave my town the night before, spend the night at the airport in Stockholm, and then fly onward to London-Heathrow and from there to Toronto.

 

When I got to the airport in my city it was full. It's a small airport, so it can't hold a lot of people, but it was FULL. Found some people my mom knew there, and they informed us that all flights between my town and Stockholm were cancelled because of snow storms in Stockholm. By this time I started to get anxious... because I had booked the flight between my town and Stockholm separately from the flight between Stockholm and Toronto (much cheaper that way) and when you do that, they can't help you with connecting flights if you miss them. So if I missed the flight from my town to Stockholm - which was also the last flight for the day - I wouldn't get to Stockholm in time to catch my flight to Toronto.

 

Fortunately there was one plane that had managed to depart from Stockholm, and luckily for me that plane was the one scheduled to return to Stockholm with me on it. So I got to Stockholm, a little bit late but that was OK, I checked in at the hotel just fine and thought the rest of the trip would be easy. Yeah, I was wrong... but I'll post more on that later, because this is already a wall of text.

[Basel Gill]

Well, it's going into the seond week, and it's time to change gears again. Today I'm bringing up the topic of national stereotypes. Ealier I had sterotypes of tourists in general, but there are a number of sterotypes dealing with people from specific nations. Have you encountered any of these... or even personified them? I haven't spent much time out of the US, except for the occasional jaunt across the border to Canada, and the people there I found to be close enough to Americans in so many respects that I didn't feel I was much different. I've encountered foreign tourists while on vacation over the years, and they tended to be distinct individuals. I saw many Japanese tourists at a few places during family trips as a kid, and they didn't seem more into taking pictures than anyone else was. The only exception was one man who made a point of filming for several minutes a bunch of bananas on a tree at a botanical garden somewhere (can't recall where). The bananas just hung there, without moving, yet somehow this was worthy of several minutes of video footage, without even any narration, rather than a still photo. I had trouble not laughing.

[Basel Gill]

Bump.