Traveling Light

I read with interest a recent study by the Trans-Global Association for Travel and Tourism Commerce, which rated the behavior of tourists from all the world's industrialized countries.  Consistently ranking last in the study — bottoming out in categories ranging from airline etiquette to podiatric hygiene — were travelers from Great Britain.  "This settles it," a TATTC spokesperson was quoted as saying.  "The British are the worst tourists in the world."

Actually, I'm just kidding.  There is no such thing as the Trans-Global Association for Travel and Tourism Commerce.  I made it up just now, because I know that people like to obsess over international rankings, and I've been looking for a chance to poke fun at the British. 

Mind you, I don't really think the British are bad tourists.  To the contrary, I've usually found travelers from the U.K. to be friendly, well read, and quite prolific in their wanderings.  You can find Brits in all corners of the world, from Valparaiso to Vladivostok, and they most always make good travel companions. 

The problem I have with the British is that — to a bigger extent than other travelers I've met — they seem to be obsessed with stereotypes of national character. 

I used to think that British travelers were just disproportionately gung-ho about bashing Americans (apparently, we're noisy, over-religious, and we're supposed to use a "u" when we spell "color").  Over time, however, I've discovered that many Brits also hold strong preconceptions about nearly every nationality in the travel milieu, from the Swiss (officious and dull), to the Japanese (unimaginative and over-polite), to the Argentines (narcissistic and sex-obsessed). 

In fact, were I to base my perceptions entirely on the basis of Britannic generalizations, I could very well conclude that the world's worst tourists are roughly categorized as follows:

1. Americans:  Ignorant.  Loud.  Oblivious to surroundings.  Insincere.
   
   
2. French:  Rude.  Bigoted.  A trifle out of touch with reality.
   
   
3. Germans:  Humorless.  Rule-obsessed.  Unfriendly.  Stubborn.
   
   
4. Israelis:  Rude.  Cheap.  Arrogant.  Cliquish.
   
   
5. Canadians:  Exactly like Americans, but more soft-spoken, more polite, less ignorant, and twenty times more boring.

Before I go any further here, I will admit three things.  First, I realize the circular logic inherent in making generalizations about the generalizations of British travelers (and I apologize if you happen to be one of those Brits who isn't a nationalistic busybody).  Second, I realize that half the readers who've stumbled across my column this week have skipped straight from the headline to the above list, and are now typing angry things in the comments section below (especially if they happen to be American, French, German, Israeli, or Canadian).  And, third, I'll concede that the British fixation with national character reveals an impressive knack for world geography (in contrast to us Americans, who associate "Vienna" less with a European city than with canned snack sausages). 

Were I a more meticulous analyst, I might posit that this British tendency is the cultural residue of Victorian-era self-superiority (vivid examples of which can be found in most any 19^th century British travel guidebook, one of which described Valencian Spaniards as "perfidious, vindictive, sullen, mistrustful, fickle, treacherous, smooth, empty of all good, snarling and biting like hyenas, and smiling as they murder.")  Since I'm no scholar, however, I'll just point out that the British affinity for stereotyping their fellow wanderers is a mostly harmless amplification of what all travelers do from time to time. 

The problem here is that assessing your travel companions by nationality is rarely an earnest inquiry so much as it is a dull parlor game — an empty exercise in rhetorical one-upmanship.  The worst travelers in the world are, after all, the rude, small-minded ones — and rude, small-minded travelers can hail from any nation.

Moreover, most hostel-lounge arguments about which countries export good or bad travelers fail to take in the local perspective.  A few years ago, a survey conducted by international tourist offices found that the oft-disparaged Germans and Americans were rated most favorably by host communities around the world.  This rating didn't hinge on cultural or aesthetic opinions, but the simple fact that Germans and Americans spend money more generously than their tourist counterparts.  Economic benefit, it would appear, was more important to local hosts than the common traveler obsessions with fashion, geopolitics, and collective behaviors in tacky backpacker nightclubs.

My point, then, is a simple one:  The next time you find yourself in a heated argument over which nation produces the best or worst tourists, this is probably an indicator that you've been spending too much time yapping in hostel lounges and not enough time outside having engaged adventures. 

And that, in its own way, means you're a bad tourist.

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Tip sheet

"How to avoid being an ugly American (or wherever it is you're from)"

1) Study up on the local culture.

Get to know something about a place before you go there.  Read novels and travel books about the region, and study guidebooks to learn about customs, manners, and cultural norms.  Learn a few phrases of the language (such as greetings, thank yous, numbers, and food terms).  Keep in mind that culture expresses itself at an instinctive level — not an intellectual level — and that different standards of time, courtesy, and personal service may apply in far-off lands.

2) Listen, and ask questions.

On the road, make it a habit to talk less and listen more.  Travel is hardly the time to extol the virtues (or shortcomings) your home country; instead be curious about how people think in the place you're visiting.  Ask follow-up questions.  Seek to maintain open-mindedness, which is a process of listening and considering — of muting your compulsion to judge what is right and wrong, good and bad, proper and improper, and having the tolerance and patience to try and see things for what they are.

3) Avoid arguing politics.

Avoid political proselytizing, regardless of which end of the political spectrum you think you represent.  At home, political convictions are a tool for getting things done within your community; on the road, political convictions are a clumsy set of experiential blinders, compelling you to seek evidence for conclusions you've already drawn.  If you really are liberal and enlightened (or conservative and informed) you will stop yammering about politics and learn something about the culture you're visiting. 

4) Avoid traveling in large groups.

If your sorority or church group or wiccan pilates club decides to travel to Paris or Quito or Bangkok as an eight-some, do everyone a favor and split into groups of two.  This will make you less noisy, less self-enclosed, more approachable, and more open to what's going on around you.  If nobody wants to split off from the group with you, tackle the day solo.  I guarantee that you will have more memorable adventures on your own than with a big group of travelers.

5) Give respect and you get respect.

Having rigid stereotypes about individuals you haven't taken the time to know is silly in all contexts.  As a representative of your own country, the best way to win respect is to show respect to everyone you meet.  Odds are, your hosts will return the favor.

Next: Overseas volunteering on a budget

Previous: Exploring in and around Cape Town

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