Every summer I’m an American tourist for a couple weeks. Since it’s hot, I’ve found t-shirts and shorts to be the most comfortable. Since I do a lot of walking, I wear sneakers. And yes, I always have a camera hanging around my neck.
At least I’m not obese, and I don’t wear Aloha shirts or baseball caps, and I’m not loud or rude.
So what can I do to look less like a typical American tourist?
If you wear a fanny pack; don’t. Use a day pack. Wear sandals rather than sneakers. They are cooler and more stylish. Avoid conspicuous labels and logos like collegiate sweatshirts or T-shirts or gear with sports teams’ logos on them. Get a facial piercing. They look awful but I don’t see many Americans (the ones that go abroad at least) with them. Funny that I’ve met so many young Americans with tattoos though. Smoke. It’s also awful but Americans seem to smoke less than many other people around the world. Fiji is an exception so don’t smoke there but I doubt you’d blend in anyway.
Sensitive, culturally aware types like yourself generally make for good unofficial ambassadors. If nobody knows you’re American then the stereotype of the ugly American will be reinforced so don’t go overboard with playing down your Americaness. It could backfire and people might think you’re from somewhere else objectionable depending on their prejudices. If you’ve travelled much then you’re probably aware that Americans are generally well received (with good reason). It’s just the ugly Americans that many of us dislike.
What’s a day pack? And I don’t think people should have to take a couple of minutes off their lives by puffing coffin nails to fit in, thanks. I remember a minor scene in the Harvard Coop cafe when a French girl tried to smoke, right there in the store, with her coffee–she was so obnoxious about her rights and how they do things in Europe, and I guess they don’t mind not tasting their own food over there.
One weird thing happened to me in NYC recently; I was on 8th Avenue, headed to the gym, and munching on a protein bar. That was it. I wasn’t dropping the wrapper in the street, I wasn’t eating a hero with onions and gravy flying everywhere, I wasn’t making noises like the Cookie Monster or anything like that–just quietly walking and eating a little protein bar. When I stopped near Penn Station for a light, the guy next to me asked his American companion in a German accent, “So, people eat on the street in the States?” The guy was as surprised as I was and said, “Yeah, that’s pretty common.” The man from the continent where people spend half their lives in sidewalk cafes shrugged and changed the subject.
So, I guess the moral is, don’t do that.
The locals will recognize you as a tourist no matter what you do, but if you don’t want to stand out quite so much, don’t wear shorts. You can buy longer pants (either cropped or full length) in very light, breathable fabrics. But if you must wear shorts, I see nothing wrong with longish, tailored khaki-type shorts.
You didn’t mention whether you were male or female or where you are going, so I’ll just describe what I wear.
When traveling in SE Asia, I wear very light cropped pants in a dark color. I prefer cargo pockets, which come in handy. I wear the pants with a tank top, with a super-light long sleeve cotton shirt over everything, plus walking sandals. Tennies are way too hot. One way to stand out as a tourist, especially in a conservative place like SE Asia, is to expose acres of skin.
About bags: I take a small digital camera with me, which I put into a medium-sized bag with long straps. I wear the bag across my chest rather than over one shoulder. Either this kind of bag or like the previous poster mentioned, a nice day pack is preferable to a fanny pack (or bum bag, or whatever).
As well as having no logos/large text on your clothing, wearing conservative, neutral colors also helps.
Hang the camera off your right shoulder; then people will think you’re a professional photographer. Really. You only hang a camera around your neck if you’re carrying three or more.
A day pack is a small backpack.
A day pack is just a small backpack.
I don’t think people should smoke to fit in either though. Or to suppress hunger or any of the other reasons people usually take up the disgusting practice. However, all he asked is how to fit in. Smoking would indeed fit the criteria for fitting in. Really though, it was a tongue in cheek suggestion. I wasn’t seriously suggesting he should get his face pierced either for that matter.
Your Frenchgirl-at-Harvard was an example of an ugly foreigner. For her, not smoking would seem to be indicated not only for health and aesthetic reasons but also for the purpose of fitting in in an American setting as opposed to an American in a European one.
If you’re ever backpacking around Europe put a Canadian flag on yours. From a lot of my friends who’ve done it, it saves you a lot of problems.
Maybe he was surprised because he thought that only Europeans eat on the street. I’ve never seen more people eating while they walk than the Dutch. But they don’t normally eat packaged foods like Americans do (while walking anyway, [in my experience] ). While Yanks are often shoving their hands in bags of chips or eating candy or nutrition bars, the Dutch seem to favor fresh foods-- maybe a fruit (or vegetable) or perhaps a sandwich or pastry they made or bought fresh and unpackaged from a street vendor. And while Americans are hauling 196 oz. Big Gulps around with them, I don’t notice beverages consumed on the street so much in the Netherlands.
Maybe that’s why they are so much healthier then us.
[generalization] They also sing loudly while riding their bikes. [/generalization]
Imagine the looks you’d get in the States for doing that.
Such a young country, ours–with still so much to learn.
Without wanting to be in any way rude, the appearance of tourists is probably far less annoying than their ignorant (in some cases) behaviour; statements like:
“What do I have to do to get a good hamburger around here?”
“You call this a pizza? Back home we have better pizza than this”
“Your toilets are weird, why don’t you have toilets like we have back home?”
“I don’t want any of these things on the menu, can you make me an omlette?”
etc. are bound to raise hackles.
And I’m not suggesting that this is the kind of thing that the majority of any national group of tourists would do/say, but I’ve seen the above done by American tourists in England, by English tourists in Spain, by German tourists in Cyprus and so on… Part of the joy of travelling is immersing yourself in everything that is different about the place and the locals are much more likely to accept you if you take the trouble to absorb a bit.
In my opinion your goal should not really be not to look like an American tourist:
One, it’s perfectly OK to be an American tourist.
Two, it’s pretty hopeless to try. I for one do try to blend in but I have been ‘made’ as a German tourist in Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, Greece and Spain before opening my mouth.
It is a worthwhile goal, though, not to look like an obnoxious tourist:
be aware at all times of your immediate surroundings in all directions, just like you are when you walk around in your home town. That way you avoid being in the way. (This is sometimes referred to as situational awareness.)
when standing around in a group, make sure the group is not in other people’s way.
when you are walking in a crowded street etc. and you need to stop and look, don’t just stop. Move out of the flow, then stop.
when talking to other Americans, be aware that other people cannot help but overhear you. Be discreet enough so that the locals can pretend not to overhear you. Also don’t let the conversation monopolize your attention to the extent that you are unaware of your surroundings.
Practice taking photographs without fuss, i.e. swiftly but not hastily, the way professional photographers and good amateur photographers do. When taking a photograph or filming, don’t back up all the way against a wall, i.e. make it possible for people to politely pass behind you.
I have a lot of my experience of walking round city streets in third world countries where you stand a chance of being hassled or worse if you’re a white westerner.
Obviously, carrying a camera or - ultimate giveaway - openly looking at a map or guide book will mark you out as a visitor. Wearing expensive items is a no-no anywhere.
Otherwise, it seems to me that it’s not a question of what you wear; it’s a question of attitude. If you seem hesitant or lost, or you leer at everything slightly out of the ordinary, you’re exposed. If you walk like you own the place and have seen it all before, you blend in and people (for better or worse) will ignore you. If other tourists/visitors come up to you and ask directions (or better still, locals ask you for directions), you’re doing it right. Act like you live there. Plenty of Americans and other westerners live in foreign countries - just act like them.
Seriously, what problems? I know they don’t like Shrub over there; I don’t totally blame them myself, but has it come to the point where obvious Americans are being hassled in the streets? Refused accommodation in taxis, hotels, and cafes?
Sometimes being from elsewhere allows you to be impressively vague about where you come from. I lived for a year in Germany, myself, and eventually my German pronunciation had become good enough for me not to be immediately identified as an American. After that, I found that when I traveled outside Germany, I was mistaken for every country on the map, including even Germany, one time in Holland. Usually, however, people thought I was from one of the southern countries…Italy, Spain, or Greece, which is odd because my heritage is entirely northern.
I have a largish leather satchel-type bag, which I bought for frequent trips to libraries, but I’ve found it invaluable in not looking like a tourist. When I use it, I look like somebody who’s on a trip with some purpose, and is just killing a couple of spare hours looking round the cathedral/museum/etc. It’s also far less pickpocket-friendly.
Agreed on the shorts - a light pair of trousers and a short-sleeve cotton shirt is my clothing of choice in a hot country.
Rather than try to disguise your American heritage, wouldn’t it be more productive to educate our foreign friends by showing them that we are not all “Ugly Americans”? Wear the red, white and blue (figuratively, of course) with honor and pride.
Between my husband, my son, and myself, we’ve spent about a year and a half in Germany. It was quite obvious we were Americans, actually. This was several years ago but one of the biggest things I noticed was that Europeans don’t seem to wear sneakers like we do. Black shoes were the norm.
I wish everyone traveling abroad would take thier American Embassadorship seriously. Unfortunately, it wasn’t hard to find people that have Ugly American stories.
Avoid wearing US flags on T-Shirts and other stuff. People react badly immediately to that since its not so common to show off your flag all the time elsewhere.
All the tips above are great… I’ll add some more:
Don’t talk loud. Either because the locals might normally talk in quieter tones… or because your broadcasting your nationality.
Wear a Maple Leaf. (Noticed that Every Canadian makes sure he wears one ?)
Try… PLEASE try to learn some local words. Thank You, please… good evening. Americans are infamous for being lazy bums about learning other languages. Don’t ever complain about people not knowing english for example. Take a small guidebook that helps.
Get a bit of suntan. We notice foreigners of all types by the fact that they are white as ghosts. Going somewhere tropical ? Get a bit of tan before you come !
DON’T wear a Maple leaf. Everyone knows that half of those sporting one are really Americans. And you’ll feel really silly describing your backpack at your home airport if it gets lost on the return journey.
This is what I was going to say. If people see that you’re interested in learning about their country rather than just seeing it through American lenses, they’ll help make your travels a better experience.
Try not to look so tall, well fed and healthy all the time.
Do something about the good teeth. Tweak them a little. Don’t be afraid to experiment. You only need to put about three of them at an angle to get the right effect.
To be honest you’ll probably be busted in Scotland anyway, but it’s alright, everybody will just hang on your every word and assume you know Elvis personally. Seriously. You’ll be glamorous. We’re bored and desperate. Except that you may as well get ready to justify every US Foreign Policy decision since 1916, because obviously you had a personal hand in it.
Hey, try handing out nylon stockings and chewing gum. We love that. 