When you’re travelling, the most annoying thing you could do is act like an obnoxious tourist. We all know the type: they’re unnecessarily loud, disrespectful and just plain irritating. The good news is that there are some measures you can take to prevent becoming this tourist without even realising it.

Honestly, respect and sensitivity go a long way. Chances are you’re already doing some of these things, but it’s always better to be on the more prepared side of things.

I got the idea for this article when I was thinking about my previous travels and I thought about what went wrong and what could have gone better. In most cases, one of those things was the group of annoying tourists messing up the holiday for people around them. That’s why I decided to gather all of my knowledge on this subject and write this blog post to try to help the international travel community get rid of them.

Act like a local

You know how it’s incredibly easy to pick out the tourists in your home city? Yeah. It’s like that everywhere. If you want to avoid being treated like a lesser person and falling for tourist scams, it might be a good idea to consider mirroring the locals’ behaviour.

One thing you have to be very careful of when acting like a local is that you don’t take elements of their culture and use them as, say, a fashion accessory. This phenomenon is called cultural appropriation and it’s actually a remainder of colonialism. It’s often seen as a very racist and offensive thing to do.

Study up about the local culture

If you want to do what the locals do, you’ll obviously have to do some research as to what it is that they do.

Books are a fantastic way to find out what’s really going on. Read a book about your destination (no, not a travel guide – an actual book) or find books or stories that take place there. For example, if you’re travelling to Dublin, James Joyce’s Dubliners would be a terrific option.

Another thing you could do is look up how it would feel to live there. Just by googling “Moving to (Insert your destination here)”, you’ll come across hundreds of websites and articles like “15 Things You Need to Know Before Moving To …” and “What It’s Really Like To Live In …”. Often, you’ll also find a Quora question on the first page of Google where a local explains what the city/country/region is like.

Respect the locals

You’d be surprised by how many people have no respect for the culture of the country they’re visiting.

If you really want to get to know a country, you’ll have to experience it like a local does. And you can’t do that if you don’t even respect them.

When you’re at the entrance of a buddhist temple that asks you to cover your shoulders before you enter, it’s not the place or the time to make a point. You’ll find that the staff will greet you with a smile if you follow the few simple rules that are imposed on you.

Also, please set your phone to airplane mode, lower your voice and remove your headphones and hats. It’s just common courtesy.

Don’t discard a way of living just because it’s different than yours. You can learn a lot if you’re open to learn about the way that other people live their lives.

Avoid talking about politics

In some countries, talking about politics is always frowned upon. In other countries, it’s okay in some circumstances. Some countries just don’t give a hoot.

These are things you should know about before boarding the plane and travelling halfway across the world. Even if you’re not usually someone who exclaims their opinions about everything to anyone. You might be talking to a local and slip up about something.

If you do find yourself in a conversation about politics, just respect the person you’re talking to. Don’t expect to change their mind, because you’ll be disappointed and they’ll be annoyed at you.

Accept the fact that you’re probably not going to come to an agreement and you may actually have a conversation that’s worth having.

Move past offensive stereotypes

The whole point of travelling is to experience other cultures and become more open-minded about other people. You can never achieve that if you’re stuck with stereotypes about them.

It might seem harmless to believe that all Brits are obsessed with their royals, but if you’re travelling to the United Kingdom, you could very well offend someone without even realising it.

Eat what the locals eat

One of the best ways to act like a local is to eat like a local.

Since the rise of the internet, it has been easy for anyone with a smartphone and an internet connection to find literally anything. Why not look up where locals eat in the place you’re visiting?

You can use a website like Spotted By Locals to get a really in-depth guide to visiting your destination as a local would; you can use an app like LocalEats (Android / Apple) to find the restaurants outside the city centre that locals go to; or you can even ask a by-passer where his favourite food truck is.

Don’t dress like a tourist

One of the easiest ways for locals to recognise a group of tourists is by their fashion choices. Think about it: the Hawaii shirt, the cargo shorts, the fanny pack, the bottle of water and the hat that never seems to fit.

Don’t be that person.

Research the culturally appropriate way to dress

When travelling to a summer destination (such as Cabo or Mallorca), a bikini or a pair of swim shorts is the perfect attire to spend a day relaxing by the hotel pool. However, consider changing into something more appropriate should you decide to head out to the city.

When travelling to a part of the world that has a strong religious connotation (such as Southeast Asia), you should DEFINITELY pack something to cover your legs and shoulders for when you visit a place of worship. As a traveller, it’s your duty to be considerate of the local culture.

It goes without saying that you shouldn’t go around wearing clothes that have offensive language or images on them. You should also not be wearing anything that portrays overly religious or political subject matter – especially not in more conservative countries.

Check out a weather report

You don’t want to be that one person stuck in a pair of short shorts and a tank top when rain is pouring down from the sky.

Even if the weather report says that there are going to be clear skies throughout your entire holiday, pack a raincoat just in case. Mother Nature is very unforgiving and unpredictable, no matter how hard meteorologists try to convince you otherwise.

Don’t flash your expensive camera around

Not only is having a bulky, expensive camera around your neck a great way to get robbed abroad, it might also offend some people at specific locations (see also Put down your camera once in a while below).

Locals don’t usually walk around with a camera strapped to them, so neither should you.

Show some cultural sensitivity

As a traveller, you have to be conscious of the cultural differences between your country and the country you’re visiting. You have to do this without assigning a value to these differences. Your culture isn’t better or worse just because you do something differently.

Avoid a Heart of Darkness scenario

The 1899 novel by Joseph Conrad called Heart of Darkness tells the story of Charles Marlow, an English captain for an ivory trading company. His boat travels to the yet undiscovered inland of the African continent.

Marlow is quite possibly the worst example for travellers. He goes to Africa with a mind full of prejudice and stereotypes. This story is located during the time of imperial colonialism, though. Of course, that doesn’t make Marlow a better person, but it does help to give the reader some context.

All I’m trying to say is: don’t be a Marlow.

Don’t visit places that have a negative impact on locals

Mass tourism is ruining places all over the world, period.

The only one of the original Seven Wonders of the World, the Pyramids of Giza, were originally built on a rather small plot of land, but because of mass tourism, it’s been transformed to one of the biggest tourist hotspots in the world.

Like the Pyramids, there are hundreds of other landmarks that negatively impact local residents. Please, do some research to find out how the attraction you’re planning to visit influences locals.

Avoid haggling

Don’t haggle.

It’s pushing people who live in poverty down the ladder even further. While you’ll likely only save a marginal amount of money, their livelihood depends on the products and services they’re selling. If a bakery tells you the bread you’re trying to buy is $2, you wouldn’t say “How about $1?” either, would you?

Again, it all comes down to having some elementary respect for the trade and skills of the person you’re buying from.

Put down your camera once in a while

Oftentimes, travellers are so busy trying to capture the moment that they forget to live in it. I must admit that I’m guilty of this too.

Although a memory of a moment is much less tangible than a picture or a video, it’s still more valuable.

What I’m ultimately trying to say is that it’s okay to want photos, but don’t forget to actually be there and enjoy your time.

Respect the cultural differences in personal space

Personal space is a concept that’s highly dependent on culture.

South Americans generally tend to be closer to each other physically than people from Europe and North America.

These differences in personal space could even help explain some cultural stereotypes (stand-offish versus intrusive people).

In the end, it basically all boils down to this: respect the local culture and you’ll get respect in return. After all, you reap what you sow.

Don’t be afraid to indulge in the occasional tourist trap. If you try too hard not to act like a tourist, you’ll likely end up not even enjoying your holiday.

Has a tourist ever annoyed you at home? Why?

Thanks for reading!

-S