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How to Not Be a Bad Tourist
BY: Gage Woodbury
Entertainment 2 Editor It’s that time of year, Spring Break: the time to hear about dumb college students in Florida on the news and maybe even go on a trip yourself if you’re lucky. If you’re traveling this year, you should learn how to not be a jerk, because it's the right thing to do, and because places all around the world are passing anti-tourism laws for very understandable reasons (so if you want to keep going on vacation, don’t be dumb). Abide by the local culture. Americans are loud by international standards, so what might be an appropriate conversation volume in America in public might not go over well elsewhere. Additionally, it's important to understand customs with things like eating or talking to strangers. Perhaps most importantly, understand and respect local religious beliefs. Caden Fellows admitted that he had accidently dropped his phone down a sacred well on an Indian Reservation. What’s really bad, though, is when tourists genuinely desecrate sacred sites; one woman visiting Bali desecrated a sacred tree by taking explicit photos next to it, per The Guardian. Abide by local laws. You could get kicked out or worse end up in a foreign prison, maybe even becoming a diplomatic tool. Even if you dislike the law, or your country has different laws, breaking the law in a foreign country is an extremely stupid idea. No explanation needed. Don’t be an obstacle to daily life. Remember that the people living in Kyoto or in Paris are not NPCs, so don’t be an obstacle to their daily lives by doing things such as blocking streets to take pictures or film Tik-Tok dances. To quote signs put up by the government in Japan, where influencers doing this are a major problem, “Japan is not a theme-park.” Try traveling to less frequently visited places. Some places are overcrowded because they receive too many tourists, for example, ski resorts in states like Utah and Colorado frequently get too much tourism. According to DenverDavis.com, traffic times for skiing in January can reach up to 3 hours of waiting. There are plenty of underrated places to travel. Lastly, if you're going to a foreign country, make an attempt to speak their language. You don’t have to be perfect by any means, but locals will be very appreciative of even minor attempts at saying a few phrases, rather than just assuming everyone speaks English. It’ll also make your trip more fun. In all, have fun, but remember that you’re a guest in someone else’s home. POSTED: 4/7 |
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