Some Trends That Make Many American Tourists Stand Out When Traveling Abroad

Years ago - perhaps as long as 20 years ago - I had a coworker who once misunderstood something that I said. He was actually a pretty cool guy, and hardly the stereotype of a close-minded American spiteful of the outside world. In fact, he was a former "peace and love" kind of a hippie, and still an active artist, even. Fairly open-minded, in other words.

However, again, he misconstrued what I was saying, not so much taking it out of contest, as specifically hearing only what he believed I was saying (and which I was most assuredly not saying), and then taking offense.

Here is what I said, more or less: It's been my experience that when I travel to other countries, the loudest people that you hear tend to be Americans.

Apparently, he heard that Americans in general are pretty much always loud and obnoxious as a rule. 

There is a difference, of course. In the original thing that I was saying, I was not condemning all Americans, but simply noting that, indeed, it seems that Americans tend to be the ones you hear the most often, and the most clearly, when you go to foreign countries. I have not traveled as much as some people have, and not nearly as much as I would have liked to have done, but have done a fair amount of traveling nevertheless. And yes, it has been my experience that when you hear loud people, they tend, more often than not, to be Americans.

He was intent believing that what he believed he heard me saying was accurate, and that it was an insulting stereotype. It took several attempts, angling my argument a little differently each time, for him to finally get what I was saying. He then apologized, and even said that he had been acting like the stereotypical "ugly American" (his words). 

Yet, this kind of misunderstanding often feels common among Americans. Indeed, far too many Americans really are guilty of many of the traveling sins, if you will, that are highlighted in the article below. That is most certainly not to say that all Americans engage in this behavior, but only to suggest that far too many - and far too many to ignore or dismiss - are guilty of these things, like being too loud, or feeling that all foreigners should learn English to accommodate Americans who do not want to be bothered with having to learn another language, or even simply a few phrases just to get by and show respect to the country that they are visiting. 

Take a look at some trends (some I am not sure about myself) that many people in other countries notice about Americans:

Things American Tourists Do That Confuse The Rest Of The World By Hannah Pennington, Published on Sep 5, 2019

https://www.journeyranger.com/tips-tricks/things-american-tourists-do/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_campaign=TouristSFO%20V5%20GS%20US%20Auto%20UV15%20JA6%20F.e02%20FB&utm_medium=Facebook_Desktop_Feed&fbclid=IwAR3QkWMnDenu7vVZaqEqMnDQio7-DrJqlc5tNZNrxvWFXkSvW7lRUh3Rmso