In order to get those lasting memories, broaden your horizons and grow as a person in many ways, when traveling, you will have to get out of your comfort zone. It’s part of the deal, really.
New customs, different lifestyles, and never-before-seen societal norms may indeed feel challenging for you as a visitor, but it’s all worth the stories you will make when traveling abroad. Some cultural differences when traveling are more testing than others, so you want to gather as much information about the country you’re visiting as possible.
Or, ask the locals! This illuminating Ask Reddit thread may also help, as it has non-Americans sharing things they “wish Americans knew before visiting their country.” From not patting koalas in Australia to not buying bottled water in Iceland, there’s a lot to learn from!
#1
Don’t make selfies in front of the memorial of murdered jews in Berlin.
Image credits: Marnathan
#2
If you’re outside of your home country, YOU are the one with the accent.
Image credits: Bizmark_86
#3
We don’t tip here. You are making it worse for all of us. The servers get payed according to their skill level, many above the minium wage. But they are startign to get pissy when lockals don’t tip them for their mediocre service.
Image credits: ilikecakemor
#4
Be careful what you’re saying in a public place. We all speak English. We all understand you.
Image credits: anon
#5
Africa is a *continent*, made up of 54 *different* countries.
Image credits: aralleraill
#6
I’m from Kazakhstan.
Eating horse is part of our culture. The same way you do not offend people in France when they eat frogs, they same way please don’t offend Kazakhs when they eat meat. We led a nomadic lifestyle and since in the steppes you could not farm, cattle was the main source of food. During the Great Purge in Kazakhstan cattle was taken away from us , in Russian’s attempt to progress our agriculture. It didn’t work and many tried to migrate, but failed due to dehydration and starvation. Over a million Kazakhs died during that period. That’s 40% of the population, it made as a minority group in our own country up until 1990’s.
You do not have to eat it nor is anyone forcing you to, but making rude remarks on it is uncalled for especially since now the majority of youth understand Russian, Kazakh and English.
Image credits: witchfromthemoon
#7
Don’t buy bottled water. Well, maybe buy one and then just refill it at literally every bathroom sink you come across and the quality will be just as good. (Iceland)
Image credits: percyspetgiraffe
#8
Don’t ask why we use the Russian alphabet in Bulgaria – we don’t! If anything, the Russians use the Bulgarian alphabet – Cyrillic was invented in medieval Bulgaria centuries before Russia was even on the map.
Image credits: greinhed
#9
Here, the customer is not always king.
Image credits: Stockholm-Syndrom
#10
We speak Portuguese in Brazil, not Spanish.
Image credits: sadskulll
#11
if you are visiting East Europe and you are black don’t mind the weird looks. People are not racist. They are suprised because some of them haven’t ever seen a non-white person
Image credits: Guacamole_Fucker3000
#12
How the metric system works. We dont sell beer in ounces ffs…
Image credits: 3xp0se
#13
Paris isn’t France, France isn’t Paris. Don’t think you know France if you only went to Paris. Most of the country is really different.
Image credits: Damaskinox
#14
It’s Ed-in-BRUH, not “Ed-in-Burrow”
Also, it’s sweet that you are coming to Scotland to ‘connect with your ancestors’ and stuff, well, I think it is, but a lot of Scots you’ll speak to will be thinking *”here we go again”* if you talk about it to them, *especially* if you actually describe yourself as “Scottish”. And your “clan tartan” is not really…well, real. Tartans being associated with specific families and clans is a Victorian fabrication, since they loved Romanticising about that era. Don’t buy into it that much.
Image credits: Usidore_
#15
Amsterdam =/= Holland =/= the Netherlands.
Get out of Amsterdam, there are many places that are much nicer than that touristic hellhole.
Don’t call the country Holland, it’s called the Netherlands.
Image credits: anon
#16
You can’t do Scottish accents. It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve seen Braveheart, no American has ever been able to do a convincing Scottish accent.
Image credits: R97R
#17
Canadians don’t apologize all the time because we’re afraid of you. We apologize all the time because we’re polite.
Also not all of us say *’aboot’ becuz weer kenaydien, eh*? The people on the East coast only *kind of* sound like that, and only on the East coast. Literally no one here talks like Cheech & Chong.
Image credits: SableGear
#18
Don’t invite someone over / for drinks / for dinner and then expect them not to come. If you make an invitation, it’s a promise to keep it as well
Edit: what I mean is that when someone says for example ‘let’s have drinks on Friday’ without actually meaning it.
Where I come from (Finland) if I would say this to someone, we would actually get in touch again later that week or latest on Friday and decide on the time & place. From American perspective, it seems to be just something that is said out of courtesy, without meaning the plan will actually take place
Image credits: potatofan666
#19
Bali is not the only one that is worth to visit in Indonesia.
Image credits: keongmanja
#20
MADAGASCAR IS AN INHABITED ISLAND WITH ACTUAL HUMANS…not just fricken lemurs. We’re kinda like the opposite of Australia in the sense we still have very unique animals but most of them are not deadly.
Edit: can’t English despite it being my first language
Edit: my bad for making the stigma about Australia. Just like Madagascar, there’s a lot more to it than its animals, who btw aren’t all dangerous.
Image credits: mintyisland
#21
Romania is not Dracula. Dracula is an invented story!
Image credits: _calm_bomb_
from Bored Panda https://ift.tt/eDVifqc
via IFTTT source site : boredpanda
