| Young british on tour....
Posted: 8/27/2007 4:28:05 AM | I spent four months in Asia recently. Mainly Thailand and Cambodia. Had a great vacation and got to meet a lot of interesting people. Some i had something in common with, and some not of course...
But the thing was that every young british i met had this attitude like they are better then everybody else. People say that about americans, i just have to disagree on that. I lived in america and they don't have this very irritating attitude as the british have.
I can metion many examples, but its like they are all the same, with the big selfesteem even when they look like little rats with no fycshics at all.
Had some ok conversations with the older guys wich where ok. But the young big mouths around 18-30 seemed to have the same attitude every where they went.
Looking forward to my next trip down there and talk to the germans, swiss, austrians, dutch, sweeds, danish and the americans. Hope to avoid the brits... | |
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| Young british on tour....
Posted: 8/27/2007 7:38:12 AM | Can't say I totally agree with you on this one.
The Brits I've met on my travels - including Britain - do have a somewhat above average tendency to complain about stuff, but they are certainly not alone in that....
They may have a little more of a tendency to stick together than some other nationalities do - regardless of the number present, mind you.Americans abroad tend to come in one of three main flavors:
1)The 'Ugly' American - Usually older, knows that America is the best, biggest, richest, most advanced, heck ,the ONLY country in the world worth a darn, does not speak a word of any foreign language, has no inclination to learn, and thinks what Brian Williams tells them on 'NBC Nightly News' is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help them God.
2)The 'Hippie' (or wanna-be Hippie) - Usually in college or thereabouts, knows that America sucks (because they won't let them smoke pot and drink under 21, the Nazis...) and is convinced that every other culture on the face of the planet is just SO much better than the US in every and all ways (because...see above...).
Has also figured out that saying this stuff gets them laid more often abroad.
3) The Party Animal - Has 2 or 3 weeks to get the most out of their rail pass and DRINK Europe (or whereever they may be).
Couldn't care less which culture or country is good or bad, better than America or worse, as long as there's beer and babes (or guys).
There's others, of course, but those are the principal types of US tourists you are likely to find overseas.
In my experience working in various youth hostels, hotels, restaurants, resorts and similar establishments, the 'worst' traveling nationalities are :
1) The Germans - They're ok individually, the problem is that you seldom get them individually, you get them by the 3 busloads......
And they do tend to think the world belongs to them (often they are right....) and that they are entitled to Sauerbraten mit Kloeßchen in the middle of the Congo.....
2) The Dutch - Not sure how they do it, and also not sure how this jibes with the picture one has in ones' mind of squeaky clean blond girls in starched dresses with those cute little pointy caps and clogs , but man, can those people make a mess!!!
3)The Italians - You want complaining? You want demands that go WAY beyond any measure ? You want dissatisfied, constantly bickering customers you will never be able to please?
You want people asking you the tourguide to act as their pimp?
You got them! | |
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| Young british on tour....
Posted: 8/27/2007 10:11:33 AM | I think it could be group mentality...bit like the poster above said..
Get a group of anyone and they can be a pain in the arse...
One of the friendliest solo travellers i meet are Israelis...but encountered quite a few groups of them in South America and boy...talk about bulldozing your opinions /wants!
Most US ppl i meet travelling are great and openminded.
Most Scandanavians i have met travelling are also really friendly and open
The brits and irish tend to be major travellers though and suppose you see alot more of them (not quite as much as the Aussies/Kiwis/S. africans though) | |
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| Young british on tour....
Posted: 8/27/2007 11:39:37 AM | The brits and irish tend to be major travellers though and suppose you see alot more of them (not quite as much as the Aussies/Kiwis/S. africans though)
one of major reasons is the exchange rate for their currency. british pounds and euroes, in general, have higher exchange rate comparing to that of other countries, even usd, due to the historical reasons.
another reason is most of european countries are small, if not tiny. in some cases, you could drive through 3 or even 4 countries.
it doesn't mean their economy is better, actually could be other way around. if you ever lived over there, you would know that their currency is one of those less valued in developed world; what would get you for 1 pound (almost $2)? nothing, it would hardly get you a drink over there.
in general, with $$$ as a bar, they make less but cost of living is much higher than the states. the traveling is natural choice for money they could spare.
traveling definitely opens your mind greatly. most of americans learn the world via medias. do medias give real pictures of the world? hardly! then... you get the picture | |
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| Young british on tour....
Posted: 8/28/2007 1:42:20 PM | | one thing for sure, europeans tend to have more relaxed life style. they don't have that much of pressure like here. | |
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| Young british on tour....
Posted: 8/28/2007 2:46:40 PM | Disagree with the germans. Met a lot of them when I have travelled and lived abroad. Always friendly and wants to listen when you talk to them. Dutch is same same as germans. And they are all a bit like us scandinavians.
Havent met a lot of italians but it seems like the ones i met dont like to smile. Or at least if you are talking man to man. But if a girl approach them they get this sleezy smile and seeducing them right away. The majority of stupid scandinavian blondes will of course fall for this....
But the young brits, a really despite them. I know its just wrong to say this and take judge them all, but i met so many now and compared to all the people from other parts of europe there is something special about them. Sadly. | |
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| Young british on tour....
Posted: 6/23/2008 7:56:50 AM | | Hmmmm Salidan is a Scottish man and hates to be called English whilst abroad .The people Salidan finds hard work are the Israelis .They never seem content with things .Salidan travels a lot in Asia and has come across packs of rude Israelis who have just left the army and only feel safe in large groups .Salidan also finds drunk Irishmen up their own arse , convinced that everyone likes them because they are Irish . | |
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| Young british on tour....
Posted: 6/25/2008 9:15:14 AM | Well, if we're going to summarize our experiences with nationalities all the way down to stereotypes, I can add a juicy few. :)
My view of Americans abroad is pretty much the same as Wolfie's. One way or another, at least 80% of them seem to spend all their time talking about the US and things American, no matter where they are. It gets boring fast. Yet, I have travelled with Americans at different times who weren't at all like that. Like most stereotypes, there's truth to it but it isn't the whole truth.
On the "Hippy trail" in Asia, Israelis must have by far the worst reputation, generally for being troublesome, argumentative and cheap. As somebody else said, it probably comes from those particular groups of them being fresh out of the army and used to abuse. For sure, I've met lots of other Israelis who were much easier to get along with.
Englishmen, in my experience, often live up to the old joke - "Why does the sun never set on the British Empire? God wouldn't trust an Englishman in the dark." If you could measure dishonesty, I'm sure the English would be #1 on the scale among travellers (although possibly my experiences are coloured by the long time I spent living in Hong Kong). They also have a unique capacity for dirt, as well. Many English men seem to think their mothers are following them around the world, at least judging by the way they never clean up after themselves. Yet despite that, I have many English friends... and they generally seem to have much the same opinion of each other that I just recited.
And lest anyone think I'm overly critical, I saved the best for last... My fellow Canadians might not have a reputation, but abroad they have got to be the most ****ing smug, self-centered, overly proud, hypocritical group of people in existence. Yes, Canadians really are different from Americans. No, the rest of the world doesn't much care. Stitching a maple leaf on your backpack will not result in the locals fawning over you because you're Not American. No, the rest of the world doesn't really think Canadians are better than Americans, they just say so because they know it's what Canadians want to hear and that's what constitutes good manners in many places - telling people what they want to hear. Ironically, with this fixation Canadians are showing they're just as self-absorbed as Americans have the image of being. I rarely if ever travel with other Canadians.
On the other hand... I think I've only ever met one Dane that I didn't like, and I've travelled with several at different times. Someday I must visit Denmark; with a score like that, it must be a good place to go. | |
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| Young british on tour....
Posted: 6/25/2008 2:31:27 PM | oooh, interesting post.
there was a program on UK TV about 6 years ago on Channel 4 which was a fly on the wall documentary over 4 weeks. In that 4 weeks they followed eight different nationalities on holiday. 30 person group, 15 male, 15 female. Each group stayed at the same hotel and did not know they were being filmed in the communal acitivity areas.
various situations where sprung on each group to see how they would react.
groups were from
France
UK
USA
Germany
Japan
Australia
Italy
Sweden
some of the situations were
1.) one morning everyone comes down to breakfast to find no staff in the hotel at all.
UK, USA, Aussies, Italians and Japanese did well here, just knuckling down and getting their own food sorted. some washed up, some cooked etc.
2.) one morning, eveyone comes down to find their national flags have all been burned.
This I found the most interesting because it ties in a lot with national identity etc. Japanese and Americans were similar here, treating the burned flags with a great deal of reverence, both parties buried their flags. Everyone else really didn't give too much of a damn.
3.) various social situations, rude staff, poor service etc.
Overall, it was a really interesting tv experiment program because it illustrated some national characteristics that were reinforced by group presence. | |
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| Young british on tour....
Posted: 6/25/2008 3:38:10 PM | Generally the Brits I have run into seem to be likable. In recent years I 've run into very few Americans (perhaps the places I travel to) but the ones I've run into tend to be pretty cool.
Perhaps the ugliest tourists I've run into have been a couple from Canada.
In Mulu National Park in Borneo, I was staying at a camp deep in the jungle. Among the other groups was a middle aged WASP couple form Ontario, working and living in the Phillipines, travelling with their college age son. The wife never stopped complaining. First complaint was that the guide didn't tell them to bring mosquito netting. They live in the Phillipines, they should know the tropics are full of evil insects. Personally I brought along the netting to stop the foot long centipedes and spiders from cozying up to me in my sleeping bag.
Second, the next morning they joined us in a climb up a mountain to a site called the Picnnacles. The husband had recently had knee surgery, and he was going to attempt a 3 hour, 45 degree climb up the slope. Needless to say he lasted abut 30 minutes.
Third, the continually accused their guide of endangering their lives as their porter ran off to the camp with their water. They didn't think to grab a bottle before he left. | |
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