And also have no conception of just how huge America is when they visit here, apparently.
At least according to an amusing story told to us by the proprietors of a B&B in Big Bay, Michigan (NW of Marquette, which is way up in Michigan’s U.P.). They said they had a Euro couple among others staying with them, and at breakfast were asking the guests what their plans for the day were. The Euro couple said they were going to drive down to Disneyworld and back on a day trip.
My sister and her husband planned a three-week American tour in a borrowed RV. They stayed the first night at the RV owner’s house and they convinced them to vastly reduce their trip. They had to be driven 100 miles just to collect the vehicle from where it was parked.
Even after the reduction, they had to curtail their plans even more because they had failed to take the low speed limits that were in force then.
Americans in the UK, usually underestimate how long it will take them to get anywhere. “Oxford is only 60 miles away, we’ll be there in less than an hour and have plenty of time for shopping.”
“Ha!”
I have met some travelling Americans. They have some idiosyncrasies, but they are all individuals. As a rule, Americans who travel elsewhere are often more informed and reasonable than those who do not. In all cases, however, they are called upon to account for their country’s actions and perceived failures of leadership. Yet most love American culture. My 2𝇍…
1.“They act so amazed by things that are more than 200 years old, presumably because they don’t have many things that old in the USA.”
This has not been obvious IME. Americans often like beautiful and historic things. Not old stuff just because.
2.“You can hear them in museums when everyone else is extra silent.”
Lots of people talk in museums. Americans noticeably do, but not everyone is quiet.
3.“They’re constantly wearing their college t-shirt, sweater or cap.”
Yes, see clip below (if it works).
4.“Tipping. Americans will try to tip everyone, even in countries where tipping isn’t a thing and can even be considered insulting.”
Plenty of Americans are cheap. Some travellers have to be.
5.“Asking for the bathroom in a restaurant or public place. Do you need to take a shower? No. What you’re really looking for is the toilet.”
Who cares? It doesn’t take a genius to belittle small national differences.
6.“They are the first to take their shoes off at airport security…even when there is a sign blatantly saying not to remove your shoes.”
Perhaps. But many places don’t have this sign. Still, if you are travelling, keep your footwear on. No one wants to see your socks.
7.“When Americans introduce themselves they never say they’re from the US. They always start with the state or city they are from.”
Not at all true.
8.“They say ‘hi, how are you?’ and make conversation with the barista, restaurant servers, retail workers, etc… My country doesn’t quite have that friendly culture.”
Some do, some don’t. Lots of others do too. In France you sometimes say hello to the shopkeeper on entering.
9.“They are absolutely fearless when it comes to asking any random person on the street about anything. I’ve watched Americans approach people in my home country and abroad starting conversations with strangers that I wouldn’t dream of.”
True. But not universal.
10.“They always look cheerful and are constantly smiling and seeming happy. Tourists from other places look more neutral or even unhappy.”
In many places they consider you touched if you smile too much. Americans put a positive spin on things. Sometimes too excess.
11.“They’re always asking for extra ice in their drinks.”
Many places are pretty chintzy with ice. Refills too.
12.“They ask for cheese on everything.”
This is truly the American way.
13.“They ask for to-go coffee cups. Everyone else in Europe sits and drinks their coffee, but Americans always seem to be in a rush so they take their coffee to go.”
In Italy you play at least an extra Euro just to sit down. And everyone knows when you have a short time to see a place and want to, your schedule is busy.
14.“They ask things like ‘what is that in degrees Fahrenheit?’ ‘How many miles?’ and ‘That’s two pounds’???”
Why would they want to understand things in the system they understand and use often?
15.“They assume stores stay open late or 24/7, even in European countries where most stores close by 7 pm.”
Argentina has a convenience store called “Open 25 Hours!”. It closes at 7pm. But if this is true, it is a lesson quickly learned.
16.“They have impeccable facial hair. Maybe Americans get a trim before they go on holiday, but I’m always impressed by the tidy beards and mustaches.”
Not noticed this particularly true of Americans. Maybe a bit in the other direction.
17.“The way they dress. For some reason Americans abroad dress like they’re doing some hard core exploring in the Amazon…even when they’re just visiting a European city.”
Sometimes. I am amused by Americans who wear cowboy boots in a city; though they generally claim they are well received.
18.“They wear white socks pulled all the way up.”
Older dudes do this. Don’t know why.
19.“When they cross the street, they expect cars to stop for them. In my country, a car will run you down without the driver thinking twice.”
Americans are worth fifty points.
20.“They ask for ketchup no matter what they’re eating.”
A great man once called this sauce “the catch-all of garbage.”
21.“Everyone else is freezing outside and then there’s that American walking around in shorts as if it’s nothing.”
If you live in the Northern states, European cold often is not very cold.
22.“They get over-excited over very ordinary events and say things like “OMG look that grass how green it is!”
Looking at the other side is always part of travelling. The other day in Canada, I saw tourists taking pictures of vending machines.
23.“They pronounce things horribly and make zero attempt to say it correctly.”
True, it is unusual to see attempts at speaking the local language.
24.“They complain that the portions at restaurants are too small.”
Portions are smaller in Europe. If you eat in tourist traps, portions are very meagre and prices high. Eat where the locals eat.
Note [3]:
In case anyone from out of the country wants to visit Southern California, remember that Los Angeles is an hour’s drive from Los Angeles.
When I lived in L.A., 42°F was freezing. Up here in almost-Canada, I might wear a long-sleeved T-shirt.
In Paris which is different to the rest of France, if you want service from an assistant, especially in a department store, you have to say “Bonjour”, or better still “Bonjour M’selle” or they will ignore you.
I don’t really see how my point was mistaken? In some places all the customers do and in others they don’t. Sometimes.
20: they think we all take our social cues from Donald Trump. 
I tend to agree, but that’s because to Americans the word “toilet” pretty much means the porcelain fixture itself; we use euphemisms like “bathroom” because we don’t want to talk publicly about toilets or what one does in them. In Europe, my guess is that the word has much stronger associations with the older, broader usage, as in “the ladies were at toilet” i.e. fixing up their hair and such. Perfectly OK to talk about without calling up associations of bodily functions.
When I travel abroad I say I’m from California. That is one of the few US states most Europeans have heard of and have some idea where it is. But then again when I tell them I live near Sacramento they don’t have a clue where that is.
I lived in Lancaster, which is in L.A. County. So I just said ‘L.A.’ because that’s the general area and everybody knows where it is.
Most travellers just name the nearest big city, preferably one with a major sports team.
My problem is that Sacramento is the nearest big city, but it’s not big enough to be well known outside the US. I’ve tried “About halfway between San Francisco and Lake Tahoe”, but Lake Tahoe doesn’t seem to be that well known, either. It seems like the best I can do is “About 2 hours northeast of San Francisco”.
Much as I adore a wide variety of interesting and tasty cheeses, I have to agree with this. As I just mentioned in the American Cheese thread, I’ve tried some really good and flavourful cheeses on burgers, and generally, the more flavour they have, the more they interfere with the enjoyment of the beef. Stilton on a burger sounds like a great idea, but it’s sort of not.
A mild, melty cheese is what you want on a burger - and American Cheese is that thing. It’s cheese sauce that doesn’t drip.
It all depends- there is such a thing as real American cheese. There is also Pasteurized product cheese food. But Mozzarella &· Cheddar are more popular than various processed cheese in America.
The white socks wearing thing is weird- I have rarely seen Americans wearing them with shorts- in America.
I concur.
Ice- yes, but Americans arent even in the top ten for eating cheese per person. France is #1, Germany #2.
American Cheese comes from cows- even the pasteurized product stuff.
Not just Europeans- Americans from other states- I was working in Oakland, and a team from Birmingham thought they’d drive down to Disneyland after work. 
I have heard directly more than once someone visiting Los Angeles and thinking about driving up the coast and popping-off to San Francisco for lunch, and then returning to Los Angeles for dinner. That’s an 800 mile round trip. Even going from San Francisco, a tourist favorite, to Yosemite, another tourist favorite, as a day trip is near madness - you would spend about 30 minutes in the park, if lucky, before having to head back to SF to make dinner.
When I was in Sweden in the early 2000s, we stayed briefly with friends of my parents, The wife of the couple taught visiting American students at the University during the summers, so I asked her what differences she found between American and Swedish students. She pondered, and then said, ‘American students eat like children’ (i.e. switching hands all the time like we do) … ‘and they are never afraid to ask questions’.
She found the latter trait very refreshing.
Outside of California (and maybe Nevada), everywhere is in relation to San Francisco if you’re in the north or Los Angeles if you’re in the south. There are no other cities anyone knows about.
The article smacks of one of those low effort “we asked our readers to share their anecdotes about American tourists” listicles.
It almost certainly is. There are similar lists on Bored Panda all the time.