Travel Tips

The Inconspicuous Tourist
Wearing a fanny pack? Don't do it if you want to stay safe and blend in
by Richard P. Carpenter
Boston Globe

Money isn't the only thing you should try to save while traveling abroad. You also want to save your possessions, and perhaps your neck. One way to do that is not to look like a tourist. Mobal Communications recently surveyed its phone subscribers and came up with some suggestions:

Ditch the white athletic shoes
There perhaps is no surer way to announce, "Look at me! I'm an American tourist!"

Editor's note: OK. So in 1994 I made my one and only trip to Europe. The former friend I was traveling with was/is a control freak.

I had some trendy black shoes that I was going to wear and he told me they were too clunky and no one in Paris, Brussels or Amsterdam wears those type of shoes. An argument ensued and I left the shoes behind.

We get to Paris (after missing our connection at DFW, getting routed to London, landing at DeGaulle instead of Orly, and no luggage) and after being there a few hours he says, "You should have brought your black shoes. Everyone is wearing them." UGH! I did have my white athletic shoes though!

Ditch the fanny pack
"I've never seen a non-American wearing a fanny pack," writes a Mobal contributor.

Editor's note: So. It's 2002 and I'm in Sydney. The two friends that I met there had left for a few days and I was on my own. I was really needing some type of murse/man purse/fanny pack or something because my backpack was a bit too big.

So. I'm having dinner with Sydney Mark (friend of a friend) and I tell him that I'm looking for a fanny pack. Food came flying out of his mouth! He said, "What?" and I said, "I'm looking for a fanny pack." He says, "Shhhh." I start laughing 'cause I can't figure out why I have to lower my voice.

It seems that the correct term in Australia is waist belt or something like that. You see...

fanny is slang for vagina and he couldn't figure out why I needed a vagina pack and besides what is a vagina pack?

I never purchased a fanny pack/murse/man purse

Wear black
As one observer notes, "Folks in Paris, London and other European capitals tend to wear lots of black, and as a tourist you tend to blend in if you're wearing it, too."

Editor's note: I stood out like a sore thumb on my first trip to San Francisco. I know. It's not in Europe but my point is, do your homework before you leave home. I was walking around San Francisco in bright colours and the residents were in black, brown, gray, taupe, etc.

Put on a few local accessories
Wearing a scarf in Europe, for instance, helps women blend in.

Use hotel concierge services
Having a good idea where you are going prevents you from looking like a lost soul.

Don't forget the basics
These almost go without saying:
Avoid piling on the jewelry;
Wearing shorts & t-shirts in cities;
Studying maps in public;
Wearing your camera around your neck.

Editor's note: So. On one of my many trips to New Orleans for Mardi Gras with AttyHou we're sitting in a restaurant/bar in the French Quarter waiting for our food and adult beverages.

A group of high falutin' people from Memphis (of all places) come in and sit next to us. As it turns out, this was their first trip to Mardi Gras and New Orleans. The women were dripping in gold and jewels and the men had on nice watches and big rings.

Being a good citizen, AttyHou told them they all needed to go back to the hotel and but glitz & glitter in a safe. They looked at him like he was speaking a foreign language. Well, he was speaking English and they were from Memphis so...

So then I chimed in and told them they were setting themselves up to get mugged. They finally got a clue.

When we saw them later in the day, they were naked. Not really but you know what I mean.

And yes, I know. New Orleans isn't in a foreign country but it is still an applicable rule.

Learn a few words of the language
This won't camouflage your tourist identity, but it may be appreciated by the people you deal with and even get you better service in restaurants.

Editor's note: Una cerveza por favor is all you need to know.