No country has a monopoly on bad tourists. Chinese government has published a rulebook for its traveling citizens:

New Chinese tourism rules promise politer visitors, but will they work? | South China Morning Post

Some of the rules are funny: "use shower curtains in hotels", others are useful: "don't touch people with your left hand in India".

War is not the solution, war is the problem!
 

Super Markharf's implied question " what to make of my own country's warmongering" is common ground for many "travelers." Who cannot help but be in shock and awe themselves simply by witnessing firsthand or the aftermath of man's inhumanity to man- WAR.

Two books take on the why of war and, in my opinion, answer the question. Most notably the why of covert and and overt wars planned, financed and implemented by my country for resources needed by US corporations.

Please read John Perkin's "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" and the followup "Hoodwinked"

Or, just watch these short video presentations: at least watch Part 1, although Part 2 covers South America and is very interesting....... might as well watch Part 3 too.

John Perkins | Phil’s Stock World

Or, do your own research: One simple example.....Tantalum from coltan is used to manufacture tantalum capacitors, used in electronic products.
Cell phones and Computers.....
Coltan mining has been cited as helping to finance serious conflict, for example the Ituri conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Want to know why, a few years back, there was a shortage of PLAY STATIONS - answer lack of Tantalum.... Want to know who really finances the terror in the Congo? Answer: You and I - who buy cell phones, computers that require tantalum - found only in several countries -especially the Congo.

Don't buy the cover stories.... do you own research.

thanks for your time

xfiltrate

Yep the British, Australian, South African and other Commonwealth members may have been in your opinion the worst behaved.....But.....as you so rightly pointed out, the US have been the worst behaved, starting and sustaining wars throughout the world, i wonder what's worst, bad behaviour bought about by alcohol or attempted genocide for profit :thumbdown:

A chinese friend of mine that lives in Singapore, has a very low opinion of his countermen whilst over seas, and his favourite quote when someone non-chinese has a dig at the SG chinese is,

"remember that you are someone else's dick-head"

I am not proud of how Spaniards just don't pay public transport. Whenever you don't have to show your ticket to the bus driver, nor to use it to enter subway, they just don't pay. So, they are always targeted by keepers when they hear them, sure they won't have paid, so you can see big groups of Spaniards fined in Berlin subway and places like that.

This is a more unusual behavoir, I'd say. The typical way is not respecting the rules in poorer countries, as Swiss drivers speeding in Spain or many travellers feeling proud about briving or being arrested for stupidities in developing countries, things they would never attempt in their own countries or neighbouring countries.

Regarding Brits' behaviour, years ago the British honorary consul in Ibiza resigned arguing he felt embarrassed about his countrymen behaviour. We Spaniards all thought that yes, it could be embarrassing, but he was obviously in the wrong place if looking for peace and tranquility. Arturo Pérez-Reverte, the most successful writer in Spain, wrote an article which did not actually criticize the British tourists -not praised them either-, but our general approach to these matters, saying that "there is nowhere like Spain to vomit in the streets". Not only British/French/German tourists used to do it, WE ALL have done it, we all have pissed in the streets while drunk. We Spaniards are just like that. Our own attitude fostered this behaviour from tourists, so we should not blame them for doing it massively.

If Spaniards don't mind puking in the streets then it's nothing to me. On the other hand Latvians seemed to mind greatly, as did Malawians. The issue in a lot of places is not that tourists learned from locals. IMHO.

I think it's not so much 'countrymen', but humanity in general. Individually, humans can be wonderful, but as a collective we are sadly lacking at times. When I travel, I see some folks travelling in a way that is respectful of other culture and people, and yet other folks behave like morons.

I don't think you can or should generalize by nationality.

Individuals can be pretty idiotic as a single entity too. No national prejudices on that - I've met dickheads from all corners of the world. However, fortunately they are far, far outnumbered by the huge number of great people I've met, again with no generalization regarding origin or class. Although on second thoughts, the British "upper class" types tend to be over represented in the dickhead category.....

It is a cultural difference though, surely?
In France, is it still the right, and legal, for a male to piss in public?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pissoir



You really should not talk about the large majority of our Members of Parliament in that tone of voice!
:innocent::innocent:

Nooooo, we all get fined, Spaniards and foreigners if got pissing by the Police, I know many people who experienced that. BUT, through the (in)famous botellon (ice cubes bag, bottle of spirits, bottle of soft drink and plastic glasses) and our good weather, young people got used to drink a lot in the streets and piss anywhere available when drunk. It's been such a big movement that authorities tried to concentrate people in areas, when ban it was not effective. Not something to be proud of, but all younger generations have gone through that. More than cultural is an ethilic experience.

Obviously we did not teach tourists to vomit in the streets. Nor we do not care at all if they do. But if Brits/French/Germans come to Spain because we got that niche of tourism that others refused (party place) since we relied on cash from tourism, are they really to blame more than us? In addition, we all have done it at some point, so even if they do it massively, it’s harder/a contradicition for us to complain. Well, if we don’t like it, then we should ban it, but not complain and get their money.

If Latvians were heavy drinkers and you could see drunken Latvians in the streets, other drunken foreigners shouldn’t be perceived as more offensive than locals… as sometimes happens, otherwise it’d be pretty susceptible. I know the line is pretty thin and the issue tricky, but that was my/our point.

I agree, if you prevail from the fact of coming from a rich country, being a X passport holder so that you don’t respect the local rules, then I complain. Furthermore, IMO you should give example, if locals throw papers on the streets, you don’t do it. Same as feeling proud of having bribed someone or having been arrested for a stupidity; you wouldn’t do at home, don't do it elsewhere.

Quote:

I agree, if you prevail from the fact of coming from a rich country, being a X passport holder so that you don’t respect the local rules, then I complain. Furthermore, IMO you should give example, if locals throw papers on the streets, you don’t do it. Same as feeling proud of having bribed someone or having been arrested for a stupidity; you wouldn’t do at home, don't do it elsewhere.

or, as is pertinent to those of us on here, driving too fast and inconsiderately in other peoples countries. I get very annoyed by people thinking they are Colin McCrae (insert your own choice here) just because they are off road.

I was dismayed to read a report in Ride magazine where the journo went on an organised trip to Morocco. It was with a group of Italian bikers who seemed to get great enjoyment from pulling wheelies everywhere and crossing the terrain as fast as possible, like they were on some kind of endure rally. The (English) Journo seemed to think that was quite ok, and rather fun, although it is behaviour that would earn you a driving ban in this country. They also satisfied their own subconscious guilt by handing out sweets to the local kids. This is the kind of behaviour that gives travellers a bad name and will lead to increased restrictions on where and how we travel.

Although it doesn't make it any less embarrassing to me, as estebangc says above I do feel the Spanish resorts rather bought the problem on themselves by encouraging those types of people to come to them for their holidays, as did Prague with Stag parties. They are now trying to get away from that as they have decided they don't like it, but really, what did they expect by selling themselves as a stag destination with cheap booze and a cheap and available sex industry?

I think people maybe notice the embarrassing behaviour of their own countrymen more when abroad because they 'zone in' on the familiar language.

Believe away Ted, but in Oz I can tell you we loath the pommy bastards who come down under. It's just as well you like to spend up, otherwise we would probably send you back where you came from!!! hehehehehe :clap:

I truly believe that we were lucky you poms sent us boat loads of Irish (and later Greeks, Italians, Croatians, Turks, then later still Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese, Malaysians, and more recently, Sudanese, Nigerians, and I must not forget the South Africans), it helped even things out quite a bit...

All Tonge-in-cheek of course!!
:Beach:


But on a serious note, I often feel ashamed to see how boisterous fellow Australians are and I do tend to avoid them when traveling (it's a bit hard at home ;-))

Of course I'm embarassed by my fellow countrymen - I'm Dutch, that's why...
It's been said before, idiots are not bound by borders. There'll always be a bigger idiot than yourself (I hope).

Just to spread the misery:
have you ever seen an american at a buffet, overfilling his plate, half eating it before going for seconds?
or a russian on vacation, loudmouthed, belligerent and perpetually drunk?
an italian family anywhere abroad, refusing any social etiquette?
an englishman (and his family) all sporting body art, pasty white and overweight, holding a first beer at 09:00?

and of course the sandal wearing loudmouth dutchman, carrying 20 kgs of cheese and 50 kgs potatoes, slowly puttering along on the péage in his overloaded caravan

and the list goes on...

We've got some more convicts to send to your poisonous, baked desolate land if that's okbier

I tend to avoid places where potential countrymen would embarass me. So no, I am not offended by my fellow Germans. As others have pointed out, every country seems to have it´s share of abnoxiuos people and hey, someplace they have to play. This summer DW and I went camping in Austria, all the people of several nations on the campground were good.

What drives me howling mad are the wealthy holier-than-thou types regardless of their nationality.

Like markharf, it embarasses me to belong to a nation which has brought death and destruction over such a large area of the world, in this case in WWII. I look at the map and ask myself where would these countries be - and where would my own country be - if the atrocities of the Nazi-era would not have happened. But then history cannot be reversed, it just can be learned from.