“Taking Cheerful Selfies In Inappropriate Places”: 30 Major Travel Mistakes Tourists Still Make

In a recent interview with Bored Panda, the OP, ‘danielgmal’, revealed that it was their personal experience while traveling that inspired them to ask this particular question. “A couple of years ago—pre-pandemic and pre-Brexit—I was messing around on Skyscanner looking at flights. I loved travel, and thought about it a lot, but I very rarely actually did it,” they recalled.

“So when I saw a flight to Faro, Portugal that was cheaper than a coach within my own city, I impulsively booked it. That was the first trip in what ended up being an unbroken three year chain of monthly trips to different countries.”

The redditor shared that what started as one trip to Portugal turned into an accidental odyssey across Europe, which they continued once the pandemic ended.

“As a result, I've really gotten to know the continent of Europe and I've noticed that you can travel through several countries in a matter of hours and find traditions, cultures, and even laws totally change just in a matter of a few miles across a border.”

“So that’s why I asked the question,” the OP continued, “I wanted to know about the times people had come across these differences—big and small—because I think it's interesting to put a spotlight on how different customs and expectations are throughout the world.

“I also know there's a lot of anti-tourist sentiment across Europe and elsewhere and I wanted to provoke a conversation about being a responsible and conscientious tourist, mindful of ‘rules’. Often there really are clear social rules, both spoken and unspoken, and this was a chance to emphasize them.”

‘Danielgmal’ admitted being quite taken aback by the number of responses their post received and how many differences there are, despite people often saying that there’s generally more that unites us than divides us.

“It’s interesting, for example, to see the American confusion towards how seriously Italians take their food, as they will literally physically stop you from seasoning your food until you've tasted it, whereas Americans will often douse it in sauce and cheese as a reflex. For the Americans the personal liberty seems more important, and for the Italians respecting the work the chef put in takes precedence. Very different takes, but no one is ‘wrong’.”

The OP admitted being no stranger to tourist “no nos” themselves, as they have made themselves or others rather uncomfortable with certain poor choices.

“In Southern Africa, it was very clear that I misjudged the mood by appearing in my shorts in front of my employers while walking to the bathroom early in the morning. They thought I was in my underwear and they had to explain that it wasn't, in their view, modest or proper and our relationship never recovered,” the redditor shared, adding that to some extent, they posed the question on the subreddit looking for an alternative way to discover these sort of things instead of having to learn it the hard way.

In the netizen’s eyes, part of being a responsible tourist is knowing what is expected of you as a guest in someone else's home country. But it can also be a matter of safety: “If, for example, you went to Morocco and didn't know homosexuality is illegal, you could get in a difficult position. So it's practical too,” they said.

“In Germany, you can be naked in the public parks and many beaches, but I wouldn't recommend trying that in Malta where nudism isn't legal.”