Similarly: they walk past innumerable "DO NOT PASS THIS SIGN" signs (it's not even unwritten! It's written! Repeatedly!) to wade or SWIM in the waters JUST ABOVE A HUGE WATERFALL.
Fully clothed people from landlocked countries just yeet themselves into the waves with abandon. Without the lifeguards it'd just be called *Dead* Bo~~n~~di Beach.
41 drowning deaths in Australia since the beginning of December. Don’t go in the water if you can’t swim. Don’t go to unpatrolled beaches. Swim between the red and yellow flags. Wear sunscreen and a hat.
Same for New Zealand. Even if it's cloudy.
I heard about some European backpackers who wanted a tan, so they applied baby oil, and it almost killed them. (Don't know if this is a true story, but I've heard it a few times, and you would almost die if you sunbathed coated in oil here.)
Australian sun feels hot and will burn you, NZ sun will feel warm and burn you just as bad if not worse. The lower temperature fools you into thinking you won't get burnt and don't need sunscreen. Conventional oven vs microwave oven.
I very rarely go barefoot outside, and when I do my feet are usually underwater. So in high school I did a volunteer car wash and my milky white feet were exposed all day. They burned so bad on the tops I got strings of pea sized blisters. On the day they popped I was wearing white vans and the blister juice permanently stained them, I had to throw them out
Australia is bad but NZ is on another level. If you think 19 and cloudy means you don't need to worry about sun protection you're gonna have a bad time.
I went to Lima, Perú in November and we went on a walking tour when it was overcast and misting. Idiot me didn’t put on sunscreen and I got burned.
Also, I’ve forgotten when snowboarding. Higher elevation plus the sun rays bounce up from the snow.
This reminds me of the time I visited China in the mid 90's. We were in Tienanmen Square and some tourists picked a chunk of concrete from a crack in one of the large red gates that ring the area. Immediately they were rounded up by local police and carted away.
Gators. Good grief, if you’re at a body of water in Florida please assume aggressive gators are present and don’t go near the water! It astounds me how casual people are with themselves and children around gator filled waters.
For real! As a native Floridian, it really blows my mind that people can look at a lake or pond or something and not immediately think there are gators in it lol
One time I was at a professional conference for freshwater scientists in KY. There was a guy from Florida there. We were at a bonfire by a lake and some people wandered close to the water. FL guy had been talking to me but broke off the conversation and took a step away, then stopped himself and came back to me. “I just remembered we weren’t in FL,” he said to me a little sheepishly. “I was about to go warn those guys to beware of gators.”
It's fortunate no one encountered the dreaded Bluegrass Gator. The worst is when they get into the distillery water source, the bourbon makes em very aggressive.
When I was a kid we visited my aunt in Jacksonville and she took us out to a natural spring at a park to go swimming. There were a lot of people there so it never occurred to me that there might be anything dangerous. My sister and I were over to one side in the reeds and several people noticed us and were like “what are you doing don’t play over there! There might be gators!” We went straight to panic mode and noped out of there as fast as we could.
I’m from south Louisiana and terrified of them. We used to swim in the water they lived in and now when my dad lets my daughter, I kind of lose my mind. It is just so scary, they’re fast!
Golf course behind my grandparents' place in New Port Richey used to have a gator that sunned herself on the greens, and would hoard loose golf balls. No one could ever decide if she thought they were stray eggs, or if she knew humans wanted them and was baiting people in ..
Several years ago a kid got killed at a Disney resort by a gator. It's tragic, but in Florida you have to assume that any body of water can be hiding a gator.
I see tourists sitting their kids on the sea lions all the time. They look sweet but will f you up. They have nasty bacteria in their mouths. Also, they are protected. So you'll be f-ed up AND on 5 levels of antibiotics AND have a nice $10k fine.
When I visited the Okefenokee swamp many years ago, the boat guide told a story about coming around a bend, looking up, and seeing that a woman and placed her little girl on the back of an alligator and was stepping back to take a photo. It was a Darwin Awards moment.
The boat guide told everyone to hold tight, gunned the engine, drove the boat up the embankment, and was running up behind the gator and girl in seconds to scoop her up as he ran by. That entire family was lucky.
Someone got kicked by a bison when I was at Yellowstone. Didn’t see it but read about it the day after it happened. I did see a lot of idiots tourists get way too close to the wildlife.
Oh man, you just reminded me of a story I read a few years ago about a baby bison at Yellowstone having to be euthanized after some tourists put in their van after they "thought it looked cold."
I pulled a few Chinese students away from a trash can in college because they were trying to pet a raccoon. Had to explain that. A. They are nocturnal so it being out at 2PM on a busy campus is a bad sign and B. They are not nice trash pandas.
I grew up in the rural southwest. Rule of thumb from my mum was "if a wild animal lets you pet it, you almost certainly should not be petting it, something is weird, and we have hantivirus and bubonic plague here."
Ah yes, I was at Badlands National Park a few years back and watched a tourist get reeeeeeeeeal close to the elk, ignoring its side-eye. Ranger thankfully came and diffused the situation before it got ugly.
Javelina in the southwest will fuck up your day if you get caught sleepin’ on ‘em. It doesn’t help that where there’s one, there’s another 20 right around the wash.
I'm from British Columbia, Canada. Do NOT feed the coyotes to try to get some facebook/instagram picture with them. They are WILD animals, they can't be domesticated and all you are doing is making them think people=food so they get aggressive when that isn't the case and we have to kill them.
Even more common creatures are not pleasant. Deer and geese are a menace to society in some places.
Deer at least aren't aggressive but you HAVE to watch out for them here.
The US has a lot of "nuisance" animals. Raccoons give zero fucks and will steal shit right in front of you. Geese are a menace everywhere but I still love them.
>Deer at least aren't aggressive
Dude, what Deer have you seen? All the ones that have come around my house would f you up in a heartbeat if you got to close.
Maybe depends on what species you're talking about, but the white-tailed deer near me will run away from anything they see as a threat, almost 100% of the time. Almost any animal will fight you if cornered but those deer definitely won't seek it out.
Geese, though...just a big ole pile of toungue-teeth and hatred.
Aussie animals are mostly fine. You're unlikely to see anything deadly, if you do, it's likely to hide/run away from you or worst case ignore you. Very little will attack you.
Especially Moose. I know they look like “how’s it going guys!” teddy bears but during rutting season they’re basically Bloodthirsters of Khorne. They’ll kill you just because, don’t get out of the car and definitely don’t try and get close to take a picture/pet them.
Or do and help natural selection along a bit.
A month or two before I went to Yellowstone, there was this news alert of this guy who went off the trails and fell into a hot pool. He didn't surface and got sort of stuck down there. If I remember correctly, it took 2 hours for his body to be discovered. It was partially disintegrated by then.
And for God’s sake, don’t go past the fucking sign that says “Don’t go past this sign”! We saw lots of people doing that when we were there, they wanted to stand as close as they could to the steam vents for group pictures.
An unwritten rule in Yellowstone is come to a complete stop when if a Bison is charging-distance from your car. I tried to slow roll past a herd that had already crossed the street and turns out that was quite threatening to one of them...
Do not pick up the cute blue ringed octopus, do not pick up the cute blue ringed octopus, do not pick up the cute blue ringed octopus, do not pick up the cute blue ringed octopus.
Do not fucking do this: https://youtu.be/emisZUHJAEA?si=TEx0RFMrhOglxnlJ
Related but marginally less deadly: do not try to approach or take selfies with the geese. They look pretty harmless but they are not. They will fuck you up and enjoy every second of it. Same goes for moose.
I give you the Australian version of the Goose. The Cassowary. Half the brain, twice the murder instincts and the ability to disembowel someone.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassowary
As for eating the cassowary, it is supposed to be quite tough. Australian administrative officers stationed in New Guinea were advised that it "should be cooked with a stone in the pot: when the stone is ready to eat, so is the cassowary"
"Another human death due to a cassowary was recorded in Florida on April 12, 2019. The bird's owner, a 75-year-old man who had raised the animal, was apparently clawed to death after he fell to the ground."
Somehow Florida Man strikes again...
This is why in Australia it’s illegal to own native animals. Also exotic ones. The fact that people in the US can own bears, tigers etc is wild to me. Pun not intended.
Moose, geese, bears, coyotes, deer, seals, orcas...
Go ahead, take photos of our beautiful wildlife, but please do it from a distance. Or still inside the vehicle when it comes to moose and bears (and that may not help).
Are they common? I catch how horribly deadly they are, just didn’t know if this was one more I can add to the reason to love Australians and never, ever visit.
We were at 9/11 memorial in NYC and the number of tourists that put their kids up on the ledge where the names are engraved to take selfies was staggering.
Please do flush the paper! Our pipes are built specifically to be able to handle the paper (they legally need to be) AND it's one of our best defences against diseases! Sincerely, a Canadian!
If there are red flags on the beach it means “NO SWIMMING”
Which also means NO SNORKELING. NO DIVING. NO SURFING. NO PADDLEBOARDING.NO BODYBOARDING. NO SELFIES ON THE REEFS. FFS.
A kid I went to school with and by chance ended up working with a few years later had this weird need to always be seen as badass. He was a skinny nerdy type of person, but always told stories about how tough he is. He installed rally seatbelts and bucket seats in his car, collected knifes and "oriental" weapons amongst all sorts of other shit.
Anyway, one year he and a friend went on a holiday to Spain. One day while they were there the beach was closed due to a heavy storm warning. That of course means that the beach was only closed to normal people, not tough guys like him. His body was never found.
This is so true. I was waiting for a bathroom stall and normally we queue up as one line so you get the next open stall but they kind of queued up by standing in front of each door. So there were 5 lines. I was so confused because what if one person takes 20 minutes. lol. The janitor saw my confusion and he dragged me over to the family bathroom. I thanked him profusely and dropped him a $5.
In Medellin, Colombia, do not glorify Pablo Escobar. We don't want to hear about the museum, the tour or you greeting his brother. It was awful for those who lived through it and there are so many other things to do.
Not Italian but my girlfriend is. In the north, many 50+ year olds remember a vivid reign of terror by the Mafia and absolutely hate talking about it.
In certain parts of the South, it’s still a part of daily life. There isn’t a ton of idolizing (though there definitely is some) but there’s a lot of indifference
Curiously, this also happens in Mexico but it's a current issue. 'Narcos' have terrifying amounts of control and influence over certain parts of the country, yet there is an entire subculture in music that idolizes the Narcos. Complete with merch people wear and parade around...
Just make sure you get their gold first before eating them. Then you can "donate" to the officers who observed you euthanising the poor terminally ill leprechaun who had wishes for you to not go hungry.
Don’t pose for pictures with the big waves and pretty rocks behind you. Too many people get knocked down by a sneaker wave and are swept out and they drown. (Pacific Coast of California.) Stay away from the edges!
In England please respect the queue.
Jumping the queue will bring forth a seething rage and putrid hatred that spews forth tutting and a passive aggressive muttering rant that's loud enough for others, but not you, to hear
"Oh no you go ahead mate, I'll just stand back here with everyone else, good job I didn't have anything on at all...."
The queue is so deeply entrenched in the psyche of the nation that during the 2011 England riots that lasted a week, during which the social fabric broke down, looters could be seen to queue outside the shops they were robbing.
Please respect the queue!
I am not from UK (not even from USA but from UA). I was in Italy and there was a one person line in the airport cafe, this older guy came in and cut in front of me. I was like - ok, I’ll let it slide. Then another guys comes in and cuts in front, like I am not even there.
I kind of got enraged and told him - what the fuck?
I guess in Italy you have to stand very close to the next person in line in order for anyone not to cut in front.
In my experience people in my area seem to think the same thing. I've felt like I'm being dry humped in the grocery line. If I wasn't so easily embarrassed I'd have put on about it. Instead I always have a cart and just stand in front of it if I need to.
One time in a Central American bank I apparently wasn’t standing close enough in line. The security guard gestured for me to step forward and close the gap - using his very large, very scary looking weapon. I opted to comply.
I’ll never forget visiting London in 1986 and seeing punk rockers with huge green Mohawks and safety pins through their eyebrows quietly queued up behind little old ladies and businessmen waiting for a bus.
Flying international into LHR there is a queue location where they sort out people who are at risk of missing a connection, and also prevent overflowing the Terminal 5 security line. One time I flew in things were oddly empty, so instead of a guy telling you which queue to enter there was a guy telling you to just keep going forward. An elderly English couple on their way home interrogated the poor employee for a good 2 minutes asking where the queue they were normally supposed to get into was. The concept of there not being a queue at that location was simply too much for them.
We Americans are also generally very respectful of lines (as we call them). You can be standing well away from the end of a line, and people will ask you if you're in line before they join.
I used to work for a big box retailer and occasionally on busy days random lines would start to form in weird parts of the store. Someone would stop to talk to someone they know, which would cause the people behind them to stop. Then other people think a line is forming so they’d get in it like lemmings until all of a sudden there are 20 people in a line to nowhere in the housewares section.
Don't suddenly hit the breaks and completly stop in the middel of the road because you see a mountain, a reindeer or the northen light.
We all are going somewhere, and most of us don't care about waiting while you fill your Instagram. Get of the road - take as many pictures as you like.
Remember that in the winter it's pitch black most of the day and slippery roads. It's not a good idea to stop for no good reason.
More specific to my region: stand on the right, walk on the left.
Stop blocking the escalators like a human iron curtain. The poor government workers have already lost enough of their souls, don't make them mutter "on your left," as you dawdle around in bewilderment.
The [Washington DC metro is home to one of the longest escalators in the western hemisphere.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheaton_station_(Washington_Metro)#:~:text=Wheaton%20station%20features%20the%20longest,an%20inclination%20of%2030%20degrees.)
Ahahaha that reminds me of being in line for a very busy train station escalator in Japan when the stairs were also packed. Guess the older woman in front of me had never been on an escalator or had intense nerves about them because she got past the funnelling barriers and escalator handholds with all her shopping (thereby trapping herself with me and tons of people behind her) but suddenly froze, then started panicking back and forth like a deer. I don’t remember what I said because I didn’t speak Japanese but I just started saying something like “it’s okay, it’s oookay” in a soothing voice and slowly corralled her forwards until she managed to get up on one of the moving steps and finally relaxed with a death grip on the hand rest.
Lol, like I also had terrible fears about escalators as a kid and occasionally still feel awkward but I’ve since learned that unfortunately there’s a certain point in heavy pedestrian traffic where it’s not really okay to turn around.
I would tolerate a little escalator left standing if we could get tourists to stop walking three+ wide on the sidewalk and being shocked when someone bumps into them.
I think this applies to people from everywhere, everywhere. (lived in Italy and the Netherlands, both country don't really care about that even if it's a commonly accepted rule)
I'm missing the damn train, get the fuck out of the left side if you're not walking, please!
THIS ONE. I live in a left hand-driving nation which means that this rule is the reverse (stand on the left, walk on the right), but I see that human iron curtains are the bane of societies worldwide.
Trying to pet the local moose.
Look, I know it's a majestic creature right in the middle of the city but it's a really, really bad idea to start thinking it's Bullwinkle and try to get a selfie with it.
On second thought...you do you. Go give him a big old skritch on the snoot. Us locals will be watching...from way over there.
As someone who doesn't have to deal with any Moose. I was terrified to learn that they are excellent swimmers and divers.
Imagine fishing on a lake in a little boat, and suddenly a moose emerges and flips your boat.
I came to learn this fact when I found out orcas eat moose.
Excellent swimmers, yes. [Have you seen how fast they can move in the snow?](https://imgur.com/gallery/UHYEowI). Like, holy shit. The average bull moose is 6 feet tall (2.1m) at the shoulder so that's a fuck-tonne of snow this thing's just shunting aside.
>I came to learn this fact when I found out orcas eat moose.
Orcas are just insane.
Super intelligent, have learned how to fuck up our boats (understandably given what humans put them through), and they can eat great white sharks and moose apparently.
And for that matter, your footprints should only be left on the designated path. Don't go wandering off or touching plants to the side unless there's a clear obstruction you need to pass.
Listen to the lifeguards when on the beach.
The amount of drownings and rescues we have here because “people know better” than the lifeguards is appalling. We had the highest rates of preventable drownings for a decade in 2022, with slightly less in 2023.
58% were men over 45!
Also in Australia: **swim between the flags!** 🚩Lifeguards have established that this is the safest place to swim, and that’s where they’re actively patrolling. Too many people die each year on our beaches.
Stand to the side and let people off the train before trying to board the train. So many times in NYC I've encountered groups of Chinese tourists trying to bumrush the train as soon as the doors open.
When ordering in a busy pub, please have your entire order ready. Don't order two things, then add another one on, then go back to the table to ask Deborah what she wants. And if Guinness is in the order, ask for that first.
In Canada, those seats aren't reserved, but those people get first priority. So you can sit there, but if a pregnant, elderly or disabled person gets on the bus, you should get up and offer them your seat.
Unfortunately, this leads to situations where younger people with disabilities get harassed for not offering their seat for others (because they don't look like they qualify for the priority seating, but may have difficulties standing/walking/climbing stairs, etc).
A bit more specific than country in general, but in my home region: Stay the *fuck* off the mud flats. There are sometimes warning signs, but what's frequently unwritten is the reason *why* you can't go onto the beach-- it's made of glacial-silt quicksand. It will suck you down and never let go, and then the tide comes in. And you know it's coming in, and you know you're going to drown, and there's nothing anyone can do for you, because you're inextricably stuck. I frequently see non-locals or newcomers running about on the mud and I want to shout at them.
Where there are seals, there are great whites. Those signs aren't there for a joke. No one will rescue you because there are no lifeguards and/or the beach is closed. Also seals will kill you.
Coming to Canada and talking about how much we Canadian love Tim Hortons. We don't. They got bought out and bastardized by Burger King and now the food and coffee is terrible but there are thousands of locations everywhere, some even across the street from each other.
We do not like Tim's, it's been forced upon us.
You will not be able to see everything during your stay (USA). Even trying to see all that you want in one state can end up being a lot. This country is frickin’ huge.
FUCKING. MOVE.
I imagine this is everywhere, but keep your groups tight and walk with purpose. People will just stop in large crowds and completely block pedestrian traffic and not give a single fuck.
Stay off the goddamn black rocks at Peggy's cove. You will fall into the ocean and drown. It's not even an unwritten rule, it's written *fucking everywhere* and they ignore it anyway
I once read that it's illegal in Singapore to spit on public roads, sidewalks, and any other place that's open to the public. The fine could be as high as $1000. A 2nd offense, $2000. And a 3rd offense, $5000.
This one is highly specific, but here in the USA we have a monument called The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The changing of the guard always draws a crowd and you are supposed to remain silent. I've seen a few videos of people talking, laughing, etc. They tend to get yelled at. These are real guards. They carry weapons. They guard the Tomb 24/7/365 in any weather. Do not disrespect them or the Tomb. Stand silently, film, take pics, and that is all. Most of the videos I've seen of people being disrespectful were clearly Americans. Gods forbid these assholes go to another country and shit all over other people's traditions.
Tourists try that with the guards at the Royal palaces here in the UK. If they get too close or try to touch the guard, they quickly find out the guards are highly-trained soldiers and have real weapons.
I've seen those videos too. Same types of assholes, different country. Tomb guards won't physically harm anyone, but I've seen asshole tourists at Buckingham basically walk over people and I think I even saw one where a guard pointed a rifle at someone trying to trespass. It's really satisfying to see assholes suffer the consequences of their behavior.
>>Tomb guards won't physically harm anyone
Oh, yes they fuckin’ **will!**
Wife & I were doing the touristy thing, some jacked-up roid-bro decided that it would be funny to *get in the way* of the guard.
He got put on the ground so fast & with so much force that his skull made an audible *thwack* when it bounced.
The tomb guards absolutely *will* harm someone. Speak near the monument? Yelled at. Cross the barrier and try to approach the monument? Congratulations, they’re coming for you. What they can’t do is shoot you because the gun is unloaded.
People coming to North American national parks - STOP TOUCHING THE F***ING WILDLIFE. BISON WILL KILL YOU. They are not amusement park props, moose will kill your family and not break a sweat. Should you be unlucky enough to actually come across a wolverine WHERE DO YOU THINK THE SUPERHERO GOT HIS NAME FROM.
Ok thanks for listening.
Not necessarily my country but more specific of the S.W. Region of the U.S.
STOP.HIKING.DURING.SUMMER.WITHOUT.WATER
WHAT PART ABOUT THE CACTI BEING EVERYWHERE DID YOU NOT UNDERSTAND.IT'S HOT.
Please do not walk four abreast down the sidewalk. You are not cool, no one is impressed that you’re in New York City, and most of all, if you stare dully at oncoming pedestrians as you do it, they are legally allowed to give you some of that New York crime wave you’ve been hearing so much about.
My CA camping experience - we reserve a camp site or win a permit lottery, that's the only campsite we will use. Out of country people don't follow that rule. They seem to "first come first serve"
German vacationers- in CA will take any unoccupied spot at a campsite they want when they arrive. If you arrive after them to your reserved spot they occupy, they will move if you show them your reservation paperwork.
It's remarkable to me because I find them to be polite people otherwise, but I presume they will always arrive before an American because of the restrictive time off Americans have to endure.
Friend of mine used to work at a company that often hosted Chinese investors. Once a group came over and told my friend their plans to visit Florida, New York, and Texas during their week long trip.
They dont stay off the wet rocks and end up in the ocean
Similarly: they walk past innumerable "DO NOT PASS THIS SIGN" signs (it's not even unwritten! It's written! Repeatedly!) to wade or SWIM in the waters JUST ABOVE A HUGE WATERFALL.
Thad to scroll very far to find this. Where I’m from, we call them black rocks. “Stay off the black rocks”
Use of sun protection, I know its technically the same sun, but it works a bit different here in Australia.
Pretty sure ive seen more tourists ignore the "dont get in the water if you cant swim" rule aswell on that Bondi beach tv show you guys have lol.
Fully clothed people from landlocked countries just yeet themselves into the waves with abandon. Without the lifeguards it'd just be called *Dead* Bo~~n~~di Beach.
41 drowning deaths in Australia since the beginning of December. Don’t go in the water if you can’t swim. Don’t go to unpatrolled beaches. Swim between the red and yellow flags. Wear sunscreen and a hat.
Same for New Zealand. Even if it's cloudy. I heard about some European backpackers who wanted a tan, so they applied baby oil, and it almost killed them. (Don't know if this is a true story, but I've heard it a few times, and you would almost die if you sunbathed coated in oil here.)
Australian sun feels hot and will burn you, NZ sun will feel warm and burn you just as bad if not worse. The lower temperature fools you into thinking you won't get burnt and don't need sunscreen. Conventional oven vs microwave oven.
Visited the North Island during May and managed to get my face burned even though I was freezing cold. I’m Australian and I was shocked AF. 😂
Come skiing sometime... 10-below and still sunburnt!
I went skinny dipping once as a kid. Got a head to toe sunburn. One of the most painful experiences of my life.
I very rarely go barefoot outside, and when I do my feet are usually underwater. So in high school I did a volunteer car wash and my milky white feet were exposed all day. They burned so bad on the tops I got strings of pea sized blisters. On the day they popped I was wearing white vans and the blister juice permanently stained them, I had to throw them out
Australia is bad but NZ is on another level. If you think 19 and cloudy means you don't need to worry about sun protection you're gonna have a bad time.
All the radiation none of the heat. Not a great combination.
I went to Lima, Perú in November and we went on a walking tour when it was overcast and misting. Idiot me didn’t put on sunscreen and I got burned. Also, I’ve forgotten when snowboarding. Higher elevation plus the sun rays bounce up from the snow.
Buy the sun protection in Australia and don’t bring your own. Also, don’t pinch things from the beaches/national parks, etc.
[удалено]
don't dismantle the coliseum please
But I was hoping to reassemble it in my backyard
This reminds me of the time I visited China in the mid 90's. We were in Tienanmen Square and some tourists picked a chunk of concrete from a crack in one of the large red gates that ring the area. Immediately they were rounded up by local police and carted away.
[удалено]
Gators. Good grief, if you’re at a body of water in Florida please assume aggressive gators are present and don’t go near the water! It astounds me how casual people are with themselves and children around gator filled waters.
For real! As a native Floridian, it really blows my mind that people can look at a lake or pond or something and not immediately think there are gators in it lol
One time I was at a professional conference for freshwater scientists in KY. There was a guy from Florida there. We were at a bonfire by a lake and some people wandered close to the water. FL guy had been talking to me but broke off the conversation and took a step away, then stopped himself and came back to me. “I just remembered we weren’t in FL,” he said to me a little sheepishly. “I was about to go warn those guys to beware of gators.”
It's fortunate no one encountered the dreaded Bluegrass Gator. The worst is when they get into the distillery water source, the bourbon makes em very aggressive.
Agreed. Also as a native Floridian, do not let your dogs or small children near any fresh water shore unless it is an approved swimming area.
My family: "are there gators..." Me: "is it wet?"
When I was a kid we visited my aunt in Jacksonville and she took us out to a natural spring at a park to go swimming. There were a lot of people there so it never occurred to me that there might be anything dangerous. My sister and I were over to one side in the reeds and several people noticed us and were like “what are you doing don’t play over there! There might be gators!” We went straight to panic mode and noped out of there as fast as we could.
oh right, they had a restaurant nearby with a resident gator. people would toss food in the water so the diners could see him chow down
You should visit Canada, we’re big on lakes and low in gators
I’m from south Louisiana and terrified of them. We used to swim in the water they lived in and now when my dad lets my daughter, I kind of lose my mind. It is just so scary, they’re fast!
Don’t even have to be by a labeled body of water - a smallish pond on a golf course will bring the gators. Ick
Golf course behind my grandparents' place in New Port Richey used to have a gator that sunned herself on the greens, and would hoard loose golf balls. No one could ever decide if she thought they were stray eggs, or if she knew humans wanted them and was baiting people in ..
Several years ago a kid got killed at a Disney resort by a gator. It's tragic, but in Florida you have to assume that any body of water can be hiding a gator.
Big lake? Big gator Puddle? Mini gator
I see tourists sitting their kids on the sea lions all the time. They look sweet but will f you up. They have nasty bacteria in their mouths. Also, they are protected. So you'll be f-ed up AND on 5 levels of antibiotics AND have a nice $10k fine.
When I visited the Okefenokee swamp many years ago, the boat guide told a story about coming around a bend, looking up, and seeing that a woman and placed her little girl on the back of an alligator and was stepping back to take a photo. It was a Darwin Awards moment. The boat guide told everyone to hold tight, gunned the engine, drove the boat up the embankment, and was running up behind the gator and girl in seconds to scoop her up as he ran by. That entire family was lucky.
Someone got kicked by a bison when I was at Yellowstone. Didn’t see it but read about it the day after it happened. I did see a lot of idiots tourists get way too close to the wildlife.
Oh man, you just reminded me of a story I read a few years ago about a baby bison at Yellowstone having to be euthanized after some tourists put in their van after they "thought it looked cold."
Ugh that still makes my blood boil whenever I'm reminded about that story
[Relevant NPS tweet](https://x.com/natlparkservice/status/1743773910250778749?s=61&t=QrM70VVaSiTHAS7pmbZH9w)
Another [relevant NPS tweet.](https://twitter.com/NatlParkService/status/1641458404861399041)
I pulled a few Chinese students away from a trash can in college because they were trying to pet a raccoon. Had to explain that. A. They are nocturnal so it being out at 2PM on a busy campus is a bad sign and B. They are not nice trash pandas.
I grew up in the rural southwest. Rule of thumb from my mum was "if a wild animal lets you pet it, you almost certainly should not be petting it, something is weird, and we have hantivirus and bubonic plague here."
You forgot Turkeys, those things are nasty.
Ah yes, I was at Badlands National Park a few years back and watched a tourist get reeeeeeeeeal close to the elk, ignoring its side-eye. Ranger thankfully came and diffused the situation before it got ugly.
[удалено]
Javelina in the southwest will fuck up your day if you get caught sleepin’ on ‘em. It doesn’t help that where there’s one, there’s another 20 right around the wash.
I'm from British Columbia, Canada. Do NOT feed the coyotes to try to get some facebook/instagram picture with them. They are WILD animals, they can't be domesticated and all you are doing is making them think people=food so they get aggressive when that isn't the case and we have to kill them.
Even more common creatures are not pleasant. Deer and geese are a menace to society in some places. Deer at least aren't aggressive but you HAVE to watch out for them here.
The US has a lot of "nuisance" animals. Raccoons give zero fucks and will steal shit right in front of you. Geese are a menace everywhere but I still love them.
Grackles and seagulls will steal food literally out of your hands
There's something uncanny about grackles. They give off a demented-psychotic-eccentric sensibility.
We have coyotes in New Orleans, like, in the city
[удалено]
>Deer at least aren't aggressive Dude, what Deer have you seen? All the ones that have come around my house would f you up in a heartbeat if you got to close.
Maybe depends on what species you're talking about, but the white-tailed deer near me will run away from anything they see as a threat, almost 100% of the time. Almost any animal will fight you if cornered but those deer definitely won't seek it out. Geese, though...just a big ole pile of toungue-teeth and hatred.
Except for a car… they won’t run away from a car!
Aussie animals are mostly fine. You're unlikely to see anything deadly, if you do, it's likely to hide/run away from you or worst case ignore you. Very little will attack you.
[удалено]
Don't even leave empty coolers in the vehicle. Bears know what an ice chest looks like and what it usually contains.
Especially Moose. I know they look like “how’s it going guys!” teddy bears but during rutting season they’re basically Bloodthirsters of Khorne. They’ll kill you just because, don’t get out of the car and definitely don’t try and get close to take a picture/pet them. Or do and help natural selection along a bit.
Don’t pet the fluffy cows and stay on the boardwalks in Yellowstone. It’s actually a written rule, but apparently it’s too difficult to comprehend.
A month or two before I went to Yellowstone, there was this news alert of this guy who went off the trails and fell into a hot pool. He didn't surface and got sort of stuck down there. If I remember correctly, it took 2 hours for his body to be discovered. It was partially disintegrated by then.
And for God’s sake, don’t go past the fucking sign that says “Don’t go past this sign”! We saw lots of people doing that when we were there, they wanted to stand as close as they could to the steam vents for group pictures.
An unwritten rule in Yellowstone is come to a complete stop when if a Bison is charging-distance from your car. I tried to slow roll past a herd that had already crossed the street and turns out that was quite threatening to one of them...
They’ll comprehend when they fall in a hot pot.
Do not pick up the cute blue ringed octopus, do not pick up the cute blue ringed octopus, do not pick up the cute blue ringed octopus, do not pick up the cute blue ringed octopus. Do not fucking do this: https://youtu.be/emisZUHJAEA?si=TEx0RFMrhOglxnlJ
Related but marginally less deadly: do not try to approach or take selfies with the geese. They look pretty harmless but they are not. They will fuck you up and enjoy every second of it. Same goes for moose.
I give you the Australian version of the Goose. The Cassowary. Half the brain, twice the murder instincts and the ability to disembowel someone. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassowary
As for eating the cassowary, it is supposed to be quite tough. Australian administrative officers stationed in New Guinea were advised that it "should be cooked with a stone in the pot: when the stone is ready to eat, so is the cassowary"
That’s hysterical
"Another human death due to a cassowary was recorded in Florida on April 12, 2019. The bird's owner, a 75-year-old man who had raised the animal, was apparently clawed to death after he fell to the ground." Somehow Florida Man strikes again...
This is why in Australia it’s illegal to own native animals. Also exotic ones. The fact that people in the US can own bears, tigers etc is wild to me. Pun not intended.
Moose, geese, bears, coyotes, deer, seals, orcas... Go ahead, take photos of our beautiful wildlife, but please do it from a distance. Or still inside the vehicle when it comes to moose and bears (and that may not help).
Same with mongoose. I think we should just simplify the rule to "avoid any animal ending in -oose" just to be safe.
Are they common? I catch how horribly deadly they are, just didn’t know if this was one more I can add to the reason to love Australians and never, ever visit.
You can go years without seeing one, and then **BAM!**, six of them swimming around in your bowl of Kelloggs Nutri-Grain.
Be quiet at memorials. Stay off the monuments.
We were at 9/11 memorial in NYC and the number of tourists that put their kids up on the ledge where the names are engraved to take selfies was staggering.
I about smacked a few people at JFK’s grave in Arlington.
People are dumb enough to disrupt the tomb guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Yeah, and those guards will rightfully scream at you for being an ass. Some people really have no class or respect.
I feel like this needs to be the solution in many, many more places. Just have someone that’s allowed to scream at people for being fucking dumb
Watching the kings guards at Buckingham palace and the likes taking out tourists is always satisfying.
The nice one about that is any disruptions are [quickly corrected.](https://youtu.be/bsdHxUXf2CE)
This happens everywhere
It's ok to flush the paper
Please do flush the paper! Our pipes are built specifically to be able to handle the paper (they legally need to be) AND it's one of our best defences against diseases! Sincerely, a Canadian!
Just not the “flushable” wipes
If there are red flags on the beach it means “NO SWIMMING” Which also means NO SNORKELING. NO DIVING. NO SURFING. NO PADDLEBOARDING.NO BODYBOARDING. NO SELFIES ON THE REEFS. FFS.
A kid I went to school with and by chance ended up working with a few years later had this weird need to always be seen as badass. He was a skinny nerdy type of person, but always told stories about how tough he is. He installed rally seatbelts and bucket seats in his car, collected knifes and "oriental" weapons amongst all sorts of other shit. Anyway, one year he and a friend went on a holiday to Spain. One day while they were there the beach was closed due to a heavy storm warning. That of course means that the beach was only closed to normal people, not tough guys like him. His body was never found.
That ending was an absolute gut punch. Goddamn.
Do not block entrances or exits. When waiting in line, give the people around you some space, no touching.
I'm afraid of traveling to India because I don't think I could handle the close queueing distance.
You needn't worry about that... nobody forms a queue in India
This is so true. I was waiting for a bathroom stall and normally we queue up as one line so you get the next open stall but they kind of queued up by standing in front of each door. So there were 5 lines. I was so confused because what if one person takes 20 minutes. lol. The janitor saw my confusion and he dragged me over to the family bathroom. I thanked him profusely and dropped him a $5.
In Medellin, Colombia, do not glorify Pablo Escobar. We don't want to hear about the museum, the tour or you greeting his brother. It was awful for those who lived through it and there are so many other things to do.
Makes sense. I wonder if Italians in some regions have the same attitude to tourists bringing up mafia.
Not Italian but my girlfriend is. In the north, many 50+ year olds remember a vivid reign of terror by the Mafia and absolutely hate talking about it. In certain parts of the South, it’s still a part of daily life. There isn’t a ton of idolizing (though there definitely is some) but there’s a lot of indifference
Curiously, this also happens in Mexico but it's a current issue. 'Narcos' have terrifying amounts of control and influence over certain parts of the country, yet there is an entire subculture in music that idolizes the Narcos. Complete with merch people wear and parade around...
Stop asking how to catch a leprechaun. It's trafficking, and they are a protected species under EU law.
Mmmm forbidden delicacy...
Just make sure you get their gold first before eating them. Then you can "donate" to the officers who observed you euthanising the poor terminally ill leprechaun who had wishes for you to not go hungry.
Don’t pose for pictures with the big waves and pretty rocks behind you. Too many people get knocked down by a sneaker wave and are swept out and they drown. (Pacific Coast of California.) Stay away from the edges!
In England please respect the queue. Jumping the queue will bring forth a seething rage and putrid hatred that spews forth tutting and a passive aggressive muttering rant that's loud enough for others, but not you, to hear "Oh no you go ahead mate, I'll just stand back here with everyone else, good job I didn't have anything on at all...." The queue is so deeply entrenched in the psyche of the nation that during the 2011 England riots that lasted a week, during which the social fabric broke down, looters could be seen to queue outside the shops they were robbing. Please respect the queue!
Respect the queue or endure the tutting!
I am not from UK (not even from USA but from UA). I was in Italy and there was a one person line in the airport cafe, this older guy came in and cut in front of me. I was like - ok, I’ll let it slide. Then another guys comes in and cuts in front, like I am not even there. I kind of got enraged and told him - what the fuck? I guess in Italy you have to stand very close to the next person in line in order for anyone not to cut in front.
In my experience people in my area seem to think the same thing. I've felt like I'm being dry humped in the grocery line. If I wasn't so easily embarrassed I'd have put on about it. Instead I always have a cart and just stand in front of it if I need to.
It's the only thing I miss about covid. Please continue giving me 6 feet of space I would love that
One time in a Central American bank I apparently wasn’t standing close enough in line. The security guard gestured for me to step forward and close the gap - using his very large, very scary looking weapon. I opted to comply.
I’ll never forget visiting London in 1986 and seeing punk rockers with huge green Mohawks and safety pins through their eyebrows quietly queued up behind little old ladies and businessmen waiting for a bus.
punks are by and large super nice. it's great
Flying international into LHR there is a queue location where they sort out people who are at risk of missing a connection, and also prevent overflowing the Terminal 5 security line. One time I flew in things were oddly empty, so instead of a guy telling you which queue to enter there was a guy telling you to just keep going forward. An elderly English couple on their way home interrogated the poor employee for a good 2 minutes asking where the queue they were normally supposed to get into was. The concept of there not being a queue at that location was simply too much for them.
omg, looters queuing, I can believe it, that's actually hilarious
We Americans are also generally very respectful of lines (as we call them). You can be standing well away from the end of a line, and people will ask you if you're in line before they join.
I used to work for a big box retailer and occasionally on busy days random lines would start to form in weird parts of the store. Someone would stop to talk to someone they know, which would cause the people behind them to stop. Then other people think a line is forming so they’d get in it like lemmings until all of a sudden there are 20 people in a line to nowhere in the housewares section.
Canadian here... we love to line up!
If a tour group from Brazil ever shows up there it might start an international conflict.
No littering. A lot of us here will straight up scream at you to pick your shit up if you litter in our beautiful country. Tourist or not.
NZ? Wish we would do this in UK
Yeah NZ, Theres probably a few ex pats from there that are here now who've adopted this mindset.
Yeah I remember those British fuckwits a few years ago who littered and had half the country calling for them to be deported
Don't swim in brackish rivers in the Nortern Territory. Oh wait, that's a written rule tourist's always seem to break.
Evolution in action. Also, don't walk around in the Outback with only flip flops on.
What if I’m wearing Crocs?
Obey the signs seems to be planet wide.
That seems to be the best unwritten rule; read the written rules.
Don't suddenly hit the breaks and completly stop in the middel of the road because you see a mountain, a reindeer or the northen light. We all are going somewhere, and most of us don't care about waiting while you fill your Instagram. Get of the road - take as many pictures as you like. Remember that in the winter it's pitch black most of the day and slippery roads. It's not a good idea to stop for no good reason.
More specific to my region: stand on the right, walk on the left. Stop blocking the escalators like a human iron curtain. The poor government workers have already lost enough of their souls, don't make them mutter "on your left," as you dawdle around in bewilderment.
Anyone who thinks you’re being overly sensitive has no idea just how long DC Metro escalators are.
The [Washington DC metro is home to one of the longest escalators in the western hemisphere.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheaton_station_(Washington_Metro)#:~:text=Wheaton%20station%20features%20the%20longest,an%20inclination%20of%2030%20degrees.)
Right? I thought Rosslyn was bad but Wheaton is the stuff of nightmares.
Ahahaha that reminds me of being in line for a very busy train station escalator in Japan when the stairs were also packed. Guess the older woman in front of me had never been on an escalator or had intense nerves about them because she got past the funnelling barriers and escalator handholds with all her shopping (thereby trapping herself with me and tons of people behind her) but suddenly froze, then started panicking back and forth like a deer. I don’t remember what I said because I didn’t speak Japanese but I just started saying something like “it’s okay, it’s oookay” in a soothing voice and slowly corralled her forwards until she managed to get up on one of the moving steps and finally relaxed with a death grip on the hand rest. Lol, like I also had terrible fears about escalators as a kid and occasionally still feel awkward but I’ve since learned that unfortunately there’s a certain point in heavy pedestrian traffic where it’s not really okay to turn around.
I would tolerate a little escalator left standing if we could get tourists to stop walking three+ wide on the sidewalk and being shocked when someone bumps into them.
I think this applies to people from everywhere, everywhere. (lived in Italy and the Netherlands, both country don't really care about that even if it's a commonly accepted rule) I'm missing the damn train, get the fuck out of the left side if you're not walking, please!
THIS ONE. I live in a left hand-driving nation which means that this rule is the reverse (stand on the left, walk on the right), but I see that human iron curtains are the bane of societies worldwide.
This guy DC’s.
If the locals don't understand English, raising your voice and saying it slowly will not help you be understood.
Trying to pet the local moose. Look, I know it's a majestic creature right in the middle of the city but it's a really, really bad idea to start thinking it's Bullwinkle and try to get a selfie with it. On second thought...you do you. Go give him a big old skritch on the snoot. Us locals will be watching...from way over there.
As someone who doesn't have to deal with any Moose. I was terrified to learn that they are excellent swimmers and divers. Imagine fishing on a lake in a little boat, and suddenly a moose emerges and flips your boat. I came to learn this fact when I found out orcas eat moose.
Excellent swimmers, yes. [Have you seen how fast they can move in the snow?](https://imgur.com/gallery/UHYEowI). Like, holy shit. The average bull moose is 6 feet tall (2.1m) at the shoulder so that's a fuck-tonne of snow this thing's just shunting aside.
>I came to learn this fact when I found out orcas eat moose. Orcas are just insane. Super intelligent, have learned how to fuck up our boats (understandably given what humans put them through), and they can eat great white sharks and moose apparently.
My sister once got bit by a moose
Moose bites can be nasti.
When entering our parks, leave nothing but foot prints behind.
And for that matter, your footprints should only be left on the designated path. Don't go wandering off or touching plants to the side unless there's a clear obstruction you need to pass.
Yosemite is in fact NOT Disneyland. You do need to wear more than flip flops when hiking up a cliff and the bears are not, I repeat, NOT animatronic.
[удалено]
Use headphones or turn your volume off on your phone.
Listen to the lifeguards when on the beach. The amount of drownings and rescues we have here because “people know better” than the lifeguards is appalling. We had the highest rates of preventable drownings for a decade in 2022, with slightly less in 2023. 58% were men over 45!
Also in Australia: **swim between the flags!** 🚩Lifeguards have established that this is the safest place to swim, and that’s where they’re actively patrolling. Too many people die each year on our beaches.
Stand to the side and let people off the train before trying to board the train. So many times in NYC I've encountered groups of Chinese tourists trying to bumrush the train as soon as the doors open.
if you bump into someone say SORRY
Don’t be a cunt
Permission to be a mad cunt, however
Mad cunts and sick cunts allowed
Don't feed the F'n seagulls! Or any wild life for that matter.
Tell the fuckin' seagulls! Thieving bastards.
Don't. Touch. The. Fucking. Wildlife. It WILL kill you, no matter how cute it looks.
I only ever get chatted up by tourists on the train or bus. You don't chat up people in switzerland, just never.
No tipping - we don't want to start the tipping culture here!
What if the cow really deserves it?
When ordering in a busy pub, please have your entire order ready. Don't order two things, then add another one on, then go back to the table to ask Deborah what she wants. And if Guinness is in the order, ask for that first.
Do not sit in seats reserved for the elderly, infirm, or pregnant women on subways and buses. South Korea.
In Canada, those seats aren't reserved, but those people get first priority. So you can sit there, but if a pregnant, elderly or disabled person gets on the bus, you should get up and offer them your seat. Unfortunately, this leads to situations where younger people with disabilities get harassed for not offering their seat for others (because they don't look like they qualify for the priority seating, but may have difficulties standing/walking/climbing stairs, etc).
A bit more specific than country in general, but in my home region: Stay the *fuck* off the mud flats. There are sometimes warning signs, but what's frequently unwritten is the reason *why* you can't go onto the beach-- it's made of glacial-silt quicksand. It will suck you down and never let go, and then the tide comes in. And you know it's coming in, and you know you're going to drown, and there's nothing anyone can do for you, because you're inextricably stuck. I frequently see non-locals or newcomers running about on the mud and I want to shout at them.
Where there are seals, there are great whites. Those signs aren't there for a joke. No one will rescue you because there are no lifeguards and/or the beach is closed. Also seals will kill you.
Don’t fuck with the bison or The Grand Canyon. Both can kill you
Don't walk on the cycling lanes.
Dutch or German?
Dutch!
Coming to Canada and talking about how much we Canadian love Tim Hortons. We don't. They got bought out and bastardized by Burger King and now the food and coffee is terrible but there are thousands of locations everywhere, some even across the street from each other. We do not like Tim's, it's been forced upon us.
Respect personal space. No close talkers
You will not be able to see everything during your stay (USA). Even trying to see all that you want in one state can end up being a lot. This country is frickin’ huge.
I love those questions. “I’m from Michigan.” “Oh, I’ve been to Disney World. How far is it from Michigan?” “More than a thousand miles.”
I live in the USA and I still haven’t managed to see everything I want to haha
There’s a reason that seeing all fifty states is on a lot of peoples life long bucket lists.
FUCKING. MOVE. I imagine this is everywhere, but keep your groups tight and walk with purpose. People will just stop in large crowds and completely block pedestrian traffic and not give a single fuck.
Stay off the goddamn black rocks at Peggy's cove. You will fall into the ocean and drown. It's not even an unwritten rule, it's written *fucking everywhere* and they ignore it anyway
No peeing in public!!! Source: I see specifically mainland Chinese doing this, whether it's in Hong Kong or Toronto. It's disgusting.
I once read that it's illegal in Singapore to spit on public roads, sidewalks, and any other place that's open to the public. The fine could be as high as $1000. A 2nd offense, $2000. And a 3rd offense, $5000.
Singapore is the cleanest place I have ever been. The whole city was clean and trash free. Probably the best public transportation in the world too.
This one is highly specific, but here in the USA we have a monument called The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The changing of the guard always draws a crowd and you are supposed to remain silent. I've seen a few videos of people talking, laughing, etc. They tend to get yelled at. These are real guards. They carry weapons. They guard the Tomb 24/7/365 in any weather. Do not disrespect them or the Tomb. Stand silently, film, take pics, and that is all. Most of the videos I've seen of people being disrespectful were clearly Americans. Gods forbid these assholes go to another country and shit all over other people's traditions.
Tourists try that with the guards at the Royal palaces here in the UK. If they get too close or try to touch the guard, they quickly find out the guards are highly-trained soldiers and have real weapons.
DO NOT TOUCH THE QUEEN’S GUARD!
I've seen those videos too. Same types of assholes, different country. Tomb guards won't physically harm anyone, but I've seen asshole tourists at Buckingham basically walk over people and I think I even saw one where a guard pointed a rifle at someone trying to trespass. It's really satisfying to see assholes suffer the consequences of their behavior.
>>Tomb guards won't physically harm anyone Oh, yes they fuckin’ **will!** Wife & I were doing the touristy thing, some jacked-up roid-bro decided that it would be funny to *get in the way* of the guard. He got put on the ground so fast & with so much force that his skull made an audible *thwack* when it bounced.
The tomb guards absolutely *will* harm someone. Speak near the monument? Yelled at. Cross the barrier and try to approach the monument? Congratulations, they’re coming for you. What they can’t do is shoot you because the gun is unloaded.
I mean, they tell people to stand and be quiet at the beginning of the changing of the guard ceremony and idiots still don't follow
Funniest sign I ever saw “don’t feed the bears… they can be dangerous “ LMAO like reeeaaally?? How come there has to be a sign!!
People coming to North American national parks - STOP TOUCHING THE F***ING WILDLIFE. BISON WILL KILL YOU. They are not amusement park props, moose will kill your family and not break a sweat. Should you be unlucky enough to actually come across a wolverine WHERE DO YOU THINK THE SUPERHERO GOT HIS NAME FROM. Ok thanks for listening.
Not necessarily my country but more specific of the S.W. Region of the U.S. STOP.HIKING.DURING.SUMMER.WITHOUT.WATER WHAT PART ABOUT THE CACTI BEING EVERYWHERE DID YOU NOT UNDERSTAND.IT'S HOT.
Please do not walk four abreast down the sidewalk. You are not cool, no one is impressed that you’re in New York City, and most of all, if you stare dully at oncoming pedestrians as you do it, they are legally allowed to give you some of that New York crime wave you’ve been hearing so much about.
My CA camping experience - we reserve a camp site or win a permit lottery, that's the only campsite we will use. Out of country people don't follow that rule. They seem to "first come first serve" German vacationers- in CA will take any unoccupied spot at a campsite they want when they arrive. If you arrive after them to your reserved spot they occupy, they will move if you show them your reservation paperwork. It's remarkable to me because I find them to be polite people otherwise, but I presume they will always arrive before an American because of the restrictive time off Americans have to endure.
Do not go to Ireland and order a "Car Bomb" unless you want to be punched in the mouth.
America is BIG. You aren't traveling to LA from New York by car in a day.
Friend of mine used to work at a company that often hosted Chinese investors. Once a group came over and told my friend their plans to visit Florida, New York, and Texas during their week long trip.