America, I apologise

I am a travel hypocrite.

This is something I realised today when I visited St Andrews with my mother. And actually, now that I think about it, it’s something that I should have realised every time I go into town, and when I visited Oxford last week.

Basically, I love to travel. I love seeing other countries, breathing in their culture, eating their food [but not fish, it makes me puke] , seeing their sights, walking around their cities. There’s nothing better than stepping off a plane and feeling the vibe of somewhere immediately – it’s like a big box of chocolates (in Brussels that’s almost literal) just waiting for me to dive in and explore.

I live in a beautiful city. It’s very old, it’s the capital, it’s in a country with a lot of culture and gorgeous countryside and loads of history. It’s perfectly understandable that people should want to come here.

And yet, when I go into town, I get mad at the tourists. I get mad that when I go into town to do something specific, like buy clothes, which I hate doing anyway, I can’t get where I want to be because if the huge crowds of Italians with their matching rucksacks, the Japanese standing to attention to be in photos, the Spanish just being rowdy, the Chinese making those little ‘victory’ signs (yes, residents of Ninecastle, this means you! but don’t worry, you are not tourists, you live here). This is particularly true at this time of year, for this reason.

And this bugs me. And I’m ashamed of it. Because when it’s me being the tourist, it’s ok, but I get impatient with other people. What an idiot I am. I know that British people do not have the best reputation abroad, especially when there is professional sport involved, and I do try to be less touristy and more travelly, but still. I’m an idiot. I’m trying really hard to remember how much I love travelling and be patient while others are enjoying their travel experiences.

The worst thing is it’s Americans that have, in the past, bugged me more than anyone else. I know several American people and they are lovely. I read blogs of several American people and they seem lovely also. But for the life of me, American tourists do my head in, and the few that I have encountered have made me think badly of the whole nation.

Is it because they are so obvious? With ENORMOUS cameras and bermuda shorts and white socks and baseball caps and t-shirts that say ‘I love Scotland’? (Would any self-respecting American wear this kind of get-up at home?!) Is it because they complain that the portion sizes are not big enough? (Ok guys, we get that you have to supersize everything, but we like normal sized things over here!) Is it that they complain about our (correct) spelling of words containing ‘O’ and ‘U’ together, and our lack of love for the letter ‘Z’ (which is pronounced ‘zed’, by the way, not ‘zee’)? Is it that they think we drive on the wrong side of the road? And don’t get me started on the hood/bonnet/trunk/boot thing.

Or perhaps it’s just that I have been mildly annoyed with American tourists ever since a friend of mine heard one unfortunate man (dressed, I might add, exactly as described above) saying on the train as it pulled into the city: ‘Oh, look, how cute is that castle? And they built it right next to the station!’ Oh come on!

I have only been to America once, and only for a few days. I liked it. Why do I have such a chip on my shoulder about the US? Perhaps it’s fear of the unknown.

But I’m repenting of my thoughts that Americans are friendly but a bit thick, thanks in part to the two bloggers linked above. It seems that our across-the-pond neighbours are not all materialistic, bermuda-short-loving supersizers. Some of them are deep-thinking, intelligent people who truly love travel and who embrace the differences between others and the US.

So if you are reading this and you are from left of the Atlantic, I am truly sorry for misjudging you on the strength of my limited experience. I hope that you can forgive me.