Traveling internationally can be an amazing adventure: experiencing new foods, cultures, and languages. However, there’s always the concern that there are things you don’t know about these places: how to behave, what spots to avoid, and where the tourist traps are. Recently, someone posed the question over on Reddit, “What’s one thing visitors should NOT do in your country?” And these 39 answers have me taking COPIOUS notes for my next trip:
1.
Australia: “Don’t swim outside the flags at the beach. Don’t forget to wear a hat and sunscreen. The hole in the ozone layer right above Australia may have healed a bit, but the strength of the sun is NOT the same as it is back home. When someone says ‘Howyagoin,’ they don’t expect or want a detailed reply. The only correct response is ‘Yeah, good. You?’ Learn the difference between ‘Yeah, nah’ and ‘Nah, yeah’. And it’s thongs, not flip flops.”
2.
Brazil: “Don’t use your cellphone in the street. If you are a woman, don’t walk alone at night. Also, don’t leave your drink unattended. Avoid too-cheap-to-be-real cocktails. Don’t accept ‘free stuff’ from anyone; say a firm ‘no’ as many times as necessary. Don’t enter any favela by yourself. It is not for your amusement.”
3.
Canada: “Don’t try to take selfies with wildlife.”
4.
Chile: “Don’t say anything originated from Perú, unless someone else said that before. Don’t say aguacate or avocado (for us, it’s palta, and giving it any other name feels blasphemous). While driving, don’t expect a pedestrian to stop crossing the street when you are coming. Don’t talk about Augusto Pinochet if you don’t know how the people around you feel about him. Don’t be ashamed to eat a sandwich with a fork and a knife.”
6.
Czech Republic: “Don’t: Exchange money on the street (scam). Visit those fancy-looking restaurants next to tourist landmarks, where the staff tries to lure people in (tourist traps). Buy trdelník (scam). Buy ‘weed’ in the ‘weed shops’ (scam). Only visit that tourist path in the Prague city center (you’ll avoid all the points mentioned above once you leave that small area).”
7.
Denmark: “Don’t walk in the bike lane. Also, don’t ride a bike if you aren’t used to it. You’ll put yourself and other people in danger.”
9.
Finland: “Don’t talk to strangers unless you actually have something important to say. Asking for directions is fine; idle prattle is not. Keep the small talk to a minimum, too. You don’t need to use empty buzzwords and ‘polite’ phrases. Finns are literal-minded when it comes to a conversation: For example, ‘How are you?’ is considered a genuine question about how their life has been going, not a meaningless stock phrase that requires a canned reply.”
10.
France: “In France, it’s very rude not to say bonjour, merci, s’il vous plaît, and au revoir. Not saying hello (bonjour) is considered HIGHLY rude here. It’s politeness 101 in France. Same for the other words. You say hello to clerks when you enter a store. You say hello to any service worker, basically. You say hello to every person in a room when you enter.”
11.
Georgia: “In Georgia, DON’T say ‘no’ when someone’s grandma offers you food. She will take it personally. And also, you will end up eating anyway, and you will have the meal of your life.”
12.
Germany: “Don’t send your heart out to people in this particular way.”
13.
Greece: “Greece is a mountainous country, and it also suffers from lethal heatwaves. Hiking or taking long walks in the summer can quickly become dangerous — even deadly. I cannot stress this enough. The number of tourists who have perished simply because they underestimated how extreme our summer heat can be is heartbreaking and frustrating. Our mountains are also considered a ‘hard’ difficulty level. So please avoid the ‘off the beaten path’ approach here. It’s not recommended and can easily turn deadly.”
14.
Hong Kong: “Don’t take outside food/drink inside a restaurant. It’s the top cause of clashes between tourists and locals. Culturally, we see it as equivalent to theft: You’re stealing the restaurant’s rent money to use its facilities to consume products unrelated to the restaurant. Keep in mind that rent is often the main cost of running a restaurant, and you’ll understand this.”
15.
Hungary: “Don’t make the fucking ‘ARE YOU HUNGRY?’ joke. Please fuck in an unmistakably offwards direction.”
16.
Iceland: “Stay the everloving fuck away from the shoreline at Reynisfjara, the famous black sand beach. The ample signage and warning lights to stay the fuck back are not there for show, yet every year at least one numbnuts gets sucked away in the current and dies.”
17.
India: “Don’t waste your entire time in the cities of Delhi, Varanasi, Agra, or Mumbai. Do waste it instead in Aizawl, Kohima, Ziro, Andaman, Lakshadweep, and Auroville. Most of your ‘India problems’ will melt away, and you’ll have a great, relaxing holiday.”
18.
Ireland: “Don’t say ‘Happy St. Patty’s Day.'”
19.
Italy: “Don’t go up in the Alps without knowing what you are doing or having adequate equipment. Mountains are no joke, more so if you want to do complex trails that need specific equipment. Yes, people will try to save you, but you still place yourself and others at risk for nothing.”
20.
Japan: “‘郷に入れば郷に従え.’ ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do.’ The teaching that one should adapt to the land and environment one visits and follow the local customs and traditions. This is a phrase Japanese people use when they find themselves in other countries or new environments.”
21.
Malaysia: “Don’t eat the goddamn banana leaves!”
22.
Mexico: “Don’t engage in illegal/shady activities. That means don’t buy drugs, don’t go to brothels, etc. The country is not as dangerous as the media makes it out to be, but engaging in this type of shit is gonna put you in bad situations.”
23.
Morocco: “Hanging around secluded and high-crime areas could get you seriously hurt. Even I wouldn’t venture into bad neighborhoods in Casablanca or Salé. Fuck that.”
24.
Netherlands: “Don’t walk in the bike lane.”
25.
New Zealand: “Don’t wander off the path. There’s basically nothing in New Zealand’s wildlife that will kill you; it’s just the bush itself. People wander off, get lost, try to get unlost, and get more lost. Search and rescue will come to find you, but if you keep trying to find your way, you’ll probably just die instead. There’s a lot of bush here, a lot of it is difficult to navigate, and it’s incredibly easy to get turned around.”
26.
Philippines: “Not every woman you see is an ‘escort’; don’t disrespect us. As a matter of fact, don’t even visit for the sex tourism. A friend of mine got harassed by a foreigner assuming she was ‘for sale,’ and that is so insulting.”
27.
Poland: “NEVER say Poland is Eastern European. This is the one thing you could genuinely get bad looks for, or maybe a broken nose in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s the golden and number one rule.”
28.
Portugal: “Don’t take a taxi ride. You will probably get ripped off.”
29.
Romania: “Don’t treat people who look unhoused like they are unhoused. They are not, and you will get piss on you for mentioning it.”
30.
Russia: “If you’re in Saint Petersburg, don’t take photos with the people in historical clothes. It’s a tourist trap, and they will make you pay for the photos, even if they said it was free.”
31.
Scotland: “Don’t play music, watch shows, play games, etc., with the speaker on when travelling by bus/train. Nobody will say anything to you directly, but the glares will burn a hole through your soul. Seriously, please don’t.”
32.
Singapore: “Do not bring any sort of controlled drug.”
33.
South Africa: “DO NOT get out of your car when you visit the national parks and you see lions. They are wild animals and will attack you. The same goes for elephants, hippos, and rhinos. Don’t ask where all the wild animals are, and if we ride them to school. We are a civilized country and have internet and tarred roads, and sometimes we have working street lights.”
34.
Spain: “Don’t refer to a group of Catalan people as ‘Spanish’ within their hearing range unless you know how they feel about being called Spanish.”
35.
Sri Lanka: “Please don’t ride the elephants.”
36.
Sweden: “DO NOT sit beside someone on any public transport if you can avoid it. Bonus points if you choose to stand up if every inner seat is taken. And don’t tip. Don’t ever tip.”
37.
Türkiye: “If a place sells Turkish delight with a price tag in Euro, avoid it at all costs.”
38.
United Kingdom: “Don’t ignore the queue. If you don’t think there is a queue visible, then it’s on you to remember who arrived before you and who has arrived since. There is still a queue, it’s just a virtual one.”
39.
And finally, the United States: “Don’t speed in a small town. Interstate? Sure, go nuts. Matter of fact, use the flow of traffic to judge how fast you should go, which is likely 10-15+ MPH above the posted limit. Small town? Hands at ‘10 and 2,’ make sure your seatbelt is on, and heed the speed limit.”
Now I need to know: What should people not do when visiting your country? Let us know in the comments. And if you’d like to remain anonymous, you can use the form below.