Tourist destinations are great for, well, tourists. But I feel like a lot of people tend to forget that people actually live in those places . People whose lives are constantly inconvenienced by people showing up to take pictures and stuff .
In a perfect world, tourists would be respectful of the towns they visit. But according to these Redditors and their commentary, that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
“And respect peoples properties.”
“Yeah, it’s a cute street with cute houses and charming gardens. But that does NOT give you the right to enter peoples private properties to peep in their windows, walk in their gardens and try to open their doors.”
“Going on the black rocks and being swept out to the Atlantic Ocean, risking the lives of first responders and locals.”
This is a thing people do in Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada. T he rocks are black because they’re wet , which makes them slippery and easy for water to reach you. So uh, don’t be like those people.
“Deface world heritage sites for souvenirs or internet clout.”
“For example: The Colosseum in Rome has graffiti carved into its walls by arsehole tourists and Stonehenge is closed off to the public because arseholes were chipping pieces off for souvenirs.”
“For your sake, STOP TRYING TO PET THE BUFFALO! Or don’t, some of us are entertained by the videos of you flying through the air.”
You know, I think it’s a pretty good rule of thumb to just not touch wild animals, whether you’re in Yellowstone or anywhere else.
“Stopping their cars in the middle of the road to take in a view. WTF?”
I mean, I think having a bit of spatial awareness will take you far in life, no matter where you happen to be living or visiting.
“Driving drunk.”
“I live in Sonoma County, California. Make sure you’ve got a sober driver ffs. The roads around here are never more dangerous than winery tasting room closing time on a sunny weekend.”
If it’s something you shouldn’t do at home (and you definitely shouldn’t be drunk driving!), it’s something you shouldn’t be doing on vacation.
“In my hometown, it somehow became a thing that tourists would rent mopeds.”
“So when you are trying to get to work, you often get stuck behind a flock of tourists on mopeds, riding at 20MPH in formation so you cannot pass them.”
Remind me to never rent a moped.
“Stop feeding the damn seagulls…”
This one kind of relates to petting wild animals. You also shouldn’t be feeding them. The amount of people (locals or visitors) feeding bread to ducks is just awful. Don’t do that!
“Stop trying to hike up a mountain in flip-flops!”
“Also, don’t try to use an air mattress as a mode of transport between islands.”
I mean, having a little common sense and being prepared for the environment your visiting should kind of be a given.
“Amsterdam. Walking around like they’re at Legoland, blindly stepping into traffic…”
“…oblivious to the fact that people actually live here. We use the bike to get to work, to get groceries, we’re not just aimlessly cycling around for the fun of it.”
“Just respect the land! Clean up after yourself.”
“Be very careful about making and extinguishing your fires (because forest fires!). Don’t dump garbage, fuel, gray/black water in ditches.”
Yeah, you don’t want to inadvertently cause an environmental disaster when you’re on vacation.
“A big one in BC is for tourists to learn how to drive in mountainous areas.”
“Most tourists drive way too slow (leading to road rage), and too many don’t know how to stay right on highways except to pass. Or pull over to let people pass you if you don’t know how to drive on twisty roads.”
“Deciding they like it so much here that they are going to purchase our homes for over market value so they can turn them into AirBnbs.”
“And in turn, pricing the locals out of ever owning homes in their own town.”
“Specifically regarding ‘Movie/TV Houses.’ Unless the house is a museum or has tours, it’s almost certainly someone’s home.”
“Stay off their porch, don’t walk through the yard, and STOP THROWING PIZZAS ON THE ROOF ! The poor people who owned Walter White’s house had to put up a giant fence, because the dozens of signs about it were being ignored.”
The pizza thing is in reference to an episode of Breaking Bad .
“We had to move out of a sorta-touristy area because visitors were out of control.”
“Endless partying at short term rentals in the neighborhood. Feeling unwelcome at our regular spots because we have (very polite) kids—the staff was always cool but out of town people always acted like how dare we bring a kid out for pancakes on a Saturday morning.”
“PLEASE stop doing ‘balconing’ while you guys visit Spain.”
I was today years old when I learned that “balconing” was a thing. Apparently people jump into pools from their balconies ? That’s literally how you break your neck, so don’t do that.
“Caribbean island… people who complain that they can’t get a Heineken or a Bud Light here.”
“People who complain that they can’t get fast food or chain food here. People who basically are angry that a tiny island in the Caribbean isn’t just like the Houston suburbs.”
Why… would you go to another country just to eat and drink the same stuff you do at home?
“Don’t expect everything and everyone to be or behave the same as where you came from.”
“I see so many tourists complain they can’t have this or that, how shocked and insulted they are by someone’s behavior…”
There’s this funny little thing that countries have, that tend to differ from one another. It’s called culture.
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“Don’t fricking carve your name on stuff!!!”
“The amount of people who need to carve their names onto historical buildings and statues are just crazy. Don’t be an ass. You are ruining the place.”
Yeah, damage to property isn’t cool. No one cares if you visited a building.
“I’ve never lived in Ghana but I’m there occasionally to visit family.”
“Stop using little children as photo props, it’s weird. Can’t Imagine stopping kids in England to take pictures without theirs or their parents consent.”
Yeah, that’s pretty creepy and invasive.