# What warnings would you give to tourists to the US? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 1, 2008, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-warnings-would-you-give-to-tourists-to-the-us/443546 "2008-04-01T16:38:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![MarcusF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@MarcusF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarcusF)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-warnings-would-you-give-to-tourists-to-the-us/443546/141 "2008-04-04T21:54:59Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by_ **Ludovic** : > I love the one around here where I think Lake Underhill has a section that mysteriously drops to 30 for about a city block then goes back up to 40. As an Brit tourist in the States this is what got me - the sudden changes of speed limit for no apparent reason. After a week of driving around Florida I thought I had the hang of it when I misssed the third or fourth change in a couple of miles on US 1 north of the Kennedy Space Centre and sure enough there was a police car waiting behind a billboard :smack: Fortunately he took pity on the poor Brit flying home the next day and waved me on with a warning. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-warnings-would-you-give-to-tourists-to-the-us/443546/142 "2008-04-04T22:06:12Z")
[QUOTE=MarcusF] Fortunately he took pity on the poor Brit flying home the next day and waved me on with a warning. [/QUOTE] Well, of course. How exactly did he expect it to be enforced? ---
**Author:** ![SylverOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@SylverOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SylverOne)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-warnings-would-you-give-to-tourists-to-the-us/443546/143 "2008-04-04T22:59:32Z")
To add to the valuable advice already given in this thread… How many miles it is to \_\_\_\_\_? How long does it take to get there? These can have vastly different answers depending on where you are visiting. In Montana, 60 miles is 60 minutes, (or less if you drive like me.) In a major metropolitan area, 20 miles can be 60 minutes or, very likely, more. Doesn’t hurt to ask both questions. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Cheez\_Whia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d26b3c/32.png) [@Cheez\_Whia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheez_Whia)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-warnings-would-you-give-to-tourists-to-the-us/443546/144 "2008-04-04T23:49:36Z")
[QUOTE=BlinkingDuck] Yea…let me tell you how I was caught up in the Bighorn Mountains in July camping at night…IN A BLIZZARD! [/QUOTE] [Here](http://photoswest.org/cgi-bin/imager?10006318+X-6318) is a photo of Leadville, CO taken on July 5, 1902. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-warnings-would-you-give-to-tourists-to-the-us/443546/145 "2008-04-04T23:54:22Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] Well, of course. How exactly did he expect it to be enforced? [/QUOTE] Depends on what you mean by ‘enforced’. Leave a fine unpaid and leave the country, and you might have an interesting time if you apply for a visa, even many years later. ---
**Author:** ![whistlepig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/73ab20/32.png) [@whistlepig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whistlepig)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-warnings-would-you-give-to-tourists-to-the-us/443546/146 "2008-04-05T00:09:06Z")
[QUOTE=Bites When Provoked] Warnings for Australian tourists to the US: [/QUOTE] If you come to Montana, we expect you to drink lots and lots of beer. Like we do. Don’t drink any beer you see on billboard or on a magazine ad. Stick to microbrews made in Montana. Just about any bar has better stuff than Budwieser. Montanans, particularly in the eastern part of the state, really like Australians. It’s the ranching thing and that Australians are pretty straightforward people with a good sense of humor. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-warnings-would-you-give-to-tourists-to-the-us/443546/147 "2008-04-05T00:14:01Z")
[QUOTE=whistlepig] Montanans, particularly in the eastern part of the state, really like Australians. It’s the ranching thing and that Australians are pretty straightforward people with a good sense of humor. [/QUOTE] Because all Aussies grow up on a ranch? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-warnings-would-you-give-to-tourists-to-the-us/443546/148 "2008-04-05T00:19:02Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] Because all Aussies grow up on a ranch? 😉 [/QUOTE] That’s what they tell us. We think that wild animal wrangling is a good point of commonality as well. ---
**Author:** ![Abraca\_Deborah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e495f1/32.png) [@Abraca\_Deborah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abraca_Deborah)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-warnings-would-you-give-to-tourists-to-the-us/443546/149 "2008-04-05T00:25:15Z")
All I have is a bit of practical advice: If you don’t want to loose your appetite, don’t go to an “All You Can Eat!” buffet. Just seeing so many people loading up their plates with massive piles of food while riffling through the salad bar and steam table will leave you feeling a bit ill. It is just a gross spectacle of over-indulgence that seems particularly ‘American’. I can say this as an expat American. ---
**Author:** ![whistlepig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/73ab20/32.png) [@whistlepig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whistlepig)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-warnings-would-you-give-to-tourists-to-the-us/443546/150 "2008-04-05T00:52:49Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] Because all Aussies grow up on a ranch? 😉 [/QUOTE] Nah, but most of the ones you meet in eastern Montana are there to work as sheepherders, on a ranch or as custom combiners. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-warnings-would-you-give-to-tourists-to-the-us/443546/151 "2008-04-05T01:01:20Z")
[QUOTE=Abraca Deborah] All I have is a bit of practical advice: If you don’t want to loose your appetite, don’t go to an “All You Can Eat!” buffet. [/QUOTE] Surely, if you wish to loose your appetite, it can be best loosed at an All You Can Eat buffet? This message brought to you by the There’s Only One ‘O’ in ‘Lose’ Society ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-warnings-would-you-give-to-tourists-to-the-us/443546/152 "2008-04-05T01:25:55Z")
[QUOTE=Aesiron] no more than the cashier at a pub in Dover is going to be terribly familiar with a Wyoming driver’s license. [/QUOTE] Well, a Wyoming driver’s license is the rarest driver’s license in the states. I can honestly say I’ve never seen one. For that matter in all my years driving, I have probably _seen_ a Wyoming license plate, but for the life of me can’t remember a particular occasion in which I have. ---
**Author:** ![Abraca\_Deborah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e495f1/32.png) [@Abraca\_Deborah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abraca_Deborah)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-warnings-would-you-give-to-tourists-to-the-us/443546/153 "2008-04-05T01:48:21Z")
[QUOTE=Usram] Surely, if you wish to loose your appetite, it can be best loosed at an All You Can Eat buffet? This message brought to you by the There’s Only One ‘O’ in ‘Lose’ Society [/QUOTE] “O”, pardon me! 😃 :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-warnings-would-you-give-to-tourists-to-the-us/443546/154 "2008-04-05T01:57:33Z")
[QUOTE=Martin Hyde] Well, a Wyoming driver’s license is the rarest driver’s license in the states. I can honestly say I’ve never seen one. For that matter in all my years driving, I have probably _seen_ a Wyoming license plate, but for the life of me can’t remember a particular occasion in which I have. [/QUOTE] I wish I’d had a way to keep mine, but I think the next state I moved to kept it. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-warnings-would-you-give-to-tourists-to-the-us/443546/155 "2008-04-05T02:01:42Z")
[QUOTE=Kilvert’s Pagan] I wish I’d had a way to keep mine, but I think the next state I moved to kept it. [/QUOTE] I have to say that I have definitely seen more cars with Hawaii licence plates than from Wyoming here in the lower 48. That says to me that more people own amphibious cars in Hawaii than all the cars in Wyoming combined. :rimshot: ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-warnings-would-you-give-to-tourists-to-the-us/443546/156 "2008-04-05T02:03:13Z")
Don’t bother trying to talk sports to most Americans unless you follow American sports. Don’t expect Americans will know anything at all about the country you come from. Don’t imagine you can see America by any form of public transportation. If you can’t drive, say home. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-warnings-would-you-give-to-tourists-to-the-us/443546/157 "2008-04-05T02:36:17Z")
“home” ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-warnings-would-you-give-to-tourists-to-the-us/443546/158 "2008-04-05T02:46:42Z")
If you ask an American for directions, he or she will be happy to give you a “better way” than the guidebook recommends. The directions will almost certainly include obscure routes, hard to locate streets and references to landmarks that no longer exist. The best way to ask for directions is to pull out a map, point to the place you want to go and ask the American to draw a route for you. We know nothing about your country or your culture, but we love to be friendly. Therefore, we will ask questions that perpetuate the most ridiculous stereotypes about your homes. Do not be offended, we don’t know any better. If you are from, say, Albania, don’t be surprised if at least one American says something like “oh, we have a neighbor who went to Poland once!” Except for a few parts of the Northeast and some other isolated cases, rail transportation in the U.S. ranges from inadequate to unavailable. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-warnings-would-you-give-to-tourists-to-the-us/443546/159 "2008-04-05T03:01:21Z")
Americans have a bigger “personal space bubble” than people from most other countries. If you’re talking to an American, and they keep edging away from you, it might be that you’re simply standing too close.\* When I (an American) first heard this from my 7th grade French teacher, I didn’t believe it. Non-Americans stand closer to each other when they’re talking? Nonsense! I’m offended by the generalization! But it’s been true everywhere I’ve gone. UK, continental Europe, Middle East, Japan. Everyone stands about a foot closer to you than you would have chosen yourself. \*(Of course, don’t count out body odor either.) ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2008, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-warnings-would-you-give-to-tourists-to-the-us/443546/160 "2008-04-05T03:26:57Z")
[QUOTE=Really Not All That Bright] Well, of course. How exactly did he expect it to be enforced? [/QUOTE] He was lucky. It could have been Wisconsin, where the Highway Patrol will either take your credit card on the spot, or escort you to the nearest police station to process your payment. They take it very seriously! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-warnings-would-you-give-to-tourists-to-the-us/443546.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-warnings-would-you-give-to-tourists-to-the-us/443546.md?page=9)