6 Travel Stereotypes and How to Avoid Them
Travelling is supposed to dispel any stereotypes you have about the other places in the world. But what if you, the traveler, are a stereotype? That happens! So here is a list of common traveler/tourist stereotypes – and some advice on how to avoid them.
by Skycop team
- 2019-04-25
- 12:23 PM GMT
6. Embody Frat Boys and Football Fans
Some are there for football, others are there to party; both of them are probably drunk, sexist and rowdy. How do you save yourself from being one? Well, start by boarding your plane sober (with the added bonus that you can only get compensation for overbooking if you weren’t denied boarding due to your own fault), and not drinking too much once you get there. And if you kept your voice down just a tad in public spaces, that would be awesome.
5. Woke Up With A Changover
Works for any exotic alcohol, really, but Changover applied to people getting sloshed on Chang Beer in Thailand. What’s the issue? Well, up until very recently, Chang was a 6.4 ABV beer – compare it to, say, Heineken’s 5. That additional alcohol added up, fast, and resulted in surprise hangovers. It’s less of danger these days, as Chang types consolidated into a single 5 ABV beer, but travelers should still take note: the famous local liquor might have more kick than the ones back home – and you don’t want to waste a day of holiday with your head trying to explode.
4. Do The Thing/City
They don’t visit a city, they “do” a city, giving you the impression that however much time they spent there was enough to experience it fully. They are somewhat different from another caste of people who say they’ve done the America/London/Dubai “Thing,” which is just having lived and worked Somewhere Trendy That’s Not Home Country for a few years. Either way, a dollop of humility is in order: you probably didn’t discover everything the place had to offer in one go OR your stint at a comfortable, glitzy place overseas didn’t make you that much of a better/adventurous person.
3. Be the AUTHENTIC YOUNG Traveler
They might be hippies or earth children, or they just want to tell you about how great it is to go off the beaten track. They will stay at hostels even past the age where it’s appropriate. They will generally prefer the poorer countries to be the backdrop of their cool journeys of self-experience. If you find yourself to be one of them, rethink your need to be rebelliously different and stop fetishizing people who are different and/or poor.
2. Do the Mona Lisa In 60 Seconds
Right, this is a famous art piece and you have to see it. So you navigate the museum, elbow your way to the front, take a glance at it, maybe snap a picture and bug out. I may suggest that it’s not the best way to appreciate art. The best way to avoid is to read up on the pieces you’re going to see – not only their history but also the process of their creation. Maybe have a guide (live or audio) who could direct your eyes to the details you would miss. You will certainly appreciate the experience.
1. Sneering at the Tourists
So you dubbed yourself a traveler. Once you go online, you realize that the word “traveler” is imbued with a sense of superiority and snobbery rarely seen outside inane online reviews of restaurants. You, as a Traveler, He Or She Who Explores Stuff And Lives In A Hostel, are much better than the tourist, who’s just there to see the sights. Well, settle down, sparky, chances are you’re not doing anything that unique and arriving at Sanjūsangen-dō via a beat-up bike rather than tour bus does make you into a Great Explorer. Maybe some people don’t have the capacity for exploration as you do – but they still want to see the world. Let them do what they do and enjoy yourself, too.
But whatever type of tourist or traveler you are, you can still run into flight disruptions: delayed flights, cancellations and overbookings can strike anyone. However, you can still have a go at salvaging the situation. Why not claim flight compensation via Skycop? You stand to win up to €600 in compensation, risk-free. And while the Skycop team does all the work, you can take all the selfies.
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