Americans, What's A Cultural Faux Pas Outsiders Should Avoid While Visiting?

FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, DON'T STAND SO CLOSE TO ME!

Another good place to eat Mexican food is Moultrie, Georgia. Small City with a large Hispanic population. Best food ever

New Jersey resident hear please if you are a tourist please only go to certain parts of New Jersey in general and also please don’t call everyone in the Jersey Shore a self absorbed narcissist like Snooki in general okay besides this have fun here in New Jersey oh and also don’t block my path when I am at my part time at the super market chain I work part time at.

Don't visit/move to the Midwest to get away from the noise/chaos of the city and complain about "there's nothing to do"

Side note: I don't live very far from the Ida Grove person.

as a texan, as long as you don't talk politics, texas is home to some of the friendliest people in the states

Raleigh, NC here. All my international black people, please be mindful of your surroundings. It's a great place to hang out, but there has been many times where this former New Yorker has encountered implicit racism.

Always suspect everyone has a gun. Especially in Florida.

The sheer size.
Best way to describe it is to look up your country's total land area and then compare that to the states that make up the USA. If you can't travel your country in a week you're not traveling the US in a week. And if you can travel your country in a week, you can't travel the US in a week.

Please tip. We haven’t yet advanced to the point of paying service workers living wages and adjusting prices appropriately.

Don’t come to South Texas, or Texas, in general and complain about the heat. And Taco Bell ain’t real Mexican food… Chipotle, neither

Utah - Be prepared to pay an arm and a leg for alcohol and if you want stuff like wine you'll have to got to a state run Liquor store. Also, we're not all Mormon/LDS, especially with all of the transplants from California moving here. Finally, don't be stupid in Arches. You'll either damage the hoodoos or end up hurting yourself.

Dont go to texas

Dear everyone in Kansas;

The Wizard of Oz jokes absolutely will not stop. That movie is now 85 years old and doesn't appear to be fading from memory anytime soon.

Just be aware of what you're doing. Don't be the average constantly confused foreigner.

Don't tell them you are:

Liberal
Progressive
Socialist
Canadian
European
Multilingual
Not White

As a Kansas person, we have churches on nearly every corner of our town! So if you are not a supporter or believer in religion just be careful not to say it too loud because some people might take it the wrong way.

Plz. Stop feeding fucking marshmallows to the fucking gators.
In fact don't feed them ANYTHING.
And this goes for everyone.

Snow birds, i see you, being dumb an shit.

Probably don't talk about tornados, or at least not with the ignorant sarcasm I've seen some Europeans use because they don't understand them. America gets more tornados annually than every other country in the world COMBINED and none are as extreme as ours. A huge swath of the US is called Tornado Ally for a reason. I've seen foreigners online severely underestimate how bad they are. They form too quickly for you to evacuate like with a hurricane; you have to hunker down and pray. They can cause up to BILLIONS of dollars in damages in a single year. They really can suck up entire houses and fling them elsewhere ala The Wizard of Oz. There's a serious chance you may run your mouth to someone that knows someone that has lost everything because of a tornado, or the very person you're talking to may have lost a loved one or home to a tornado.

Not a faux pas, but if any non-American reads this: if you're in America (especially the South or Midwest) on or near a holiday, especially ones unique to America like the 4th of July, there's a good chance you can walk up to a total stranger and simply tell them you've never experienced x holiday or will be alone on the holiday and they will invite you to their house for dinner/a party without you needing to ask. We're generally friendly and love sharing our culture, but the South and Midwest in particular have stereotypes of friendliness for a reason. Tell someone you'd like to try shooting a gun and they'll probably show you the one they likely have on them and either suggest a shooting range or invite you to their property to go shooting on their own homemade range.

Proud New Jersey resident here. No, the state is not a giant dump. No, the state is not entirely the Jersey Shore and trying to act like someone from the show will infuriate anyone who isn't from the area and even some who are from the era. We are a very diverse state in spite of our size.

Alaska. Wear layers. Even in the summer. If you get warm, you can take things off. But if you don't have enough layers on, you can die of exposure. Yes, even in summer.

Also, when we say leave the wildlife alone, LEAVE THE WILDLIFE ALONE!!

Native Arizonan (I live in Surprise)

PLEASE!! Do NOT go hiking in our hot months! Most of the hiker deaths here in Arizona are tourists. Mostly do to not drinking enough water. You think you have the stamina for it but it gets well over 100° 110° so your body isn't accustomed to that type of heat. This year alone we had a record of 113 consecutive days of 100+° heat that is almost 4 months!!! Between 5PM and 9PM in the hot months it still can be anywhere from 80° to 100°. Drink something that (scientifically) hydrates you, so go easy on sodas, energy drinks, alcohol, and just go with water and drinking some pedialyte will help too. I do mean drink A LOT of water!!! 98% of the time when I go out to eat and I'm expecting to walk outside after I get water.

I am still surprised that construction is still a thing here.

Unless your purchase is over 5k dont try to haggle the price.

Maryland. No, I dont want to go to Baltimore. Neither do you. We can grab crabs/seafood literally anywhere here 😂

Also I 100% agree with Arizona. Deadly.

As a US citizen living abroad, I tell people who are going to travel there that Miami, NYC, and LA are not a representation of what the US is. They are their own thing. Also, the US is HUGE. You can't "drive from San Francisco to Chicago" in a day. Oh, and it doesn't matter if you don't "believe" in tipping. You tip. End of discussion. Don't make comments about how "fat" Americans are, or how unhealthy the diet is, or how everyone drives everywhere instead of walking. Don't make comments about guns, school shootings, politics, religion, or economics. And for the LOVE OF GOD don't try to pet the moose, Canada geese, or bison, you dumb f*cker.

Ps- if you're not white, be very careful about visiting small towns in the South. They could be sundown towns, and things could get real ugly real fast. Be alert and aware of your surroundings, and if you feel that people aren't being friendly to you, LEAVE IMMEDIATELY.

IT IS NOT CUTE TO SAY THE N WORD AND NO YOU ARE NOT ENLIGHTENING US ABIUT HOW WE ARE ALL JUST TOO SENSITIVE WHEN YOU INSIST ON SAYING IT AS A WHITE EUROPEAN TOURIST.

NO YOU CANNOT SAY IT IN THE CLUB BECAUSE A SONG IS PLAYING.

NO.

Santa Cruz, California here: We have an otter, referred to as ‘841’ than went viral in mid-2023. People from all over the world came to see her and still do. They took photos from a safe distance on land. Some however, have gone so far as to follow her to the point where she retreated into the kelp beds. If you can see them, you’re TOO close. Move far away from them as that is their domain. Additionally, some tourists see the sea lions and automatically assume they’re friendly because they’ve seen them perform at aquatic theme parks back in their countries of origin.

Hawai'i hates tourists. They'll never tell you to your face when you're there (because their livelihood depends on it), but indigenous Hawai'ians despise the American government annexing their sovereign country, and basically all Hawai'ians despise their very limited land being bought up for AirBNBs and the cost of living being driven up by mainlanders. You don't need to go to Hawai'i.

1. 3ft of personal space
2. Don't breathe in peoples face
3. Wash and use deoderant before going in public
4. Its not a competition, you dont have to grab a product out if my hands in the store, there is more in the back.
5. Use Please and thank you.
6. Yes, we are overly friendly, until we arent. Don't push

Memphian here. ahem WE DO NOT GIVE A FUCK ABOUT ELVIS! 90% of us have never been to Graceland, and don't intend to go voluntarily. I am NOT taking you to Beale St., and the best BBQ you can get will come from someone's backyard than a restaurant. Also, our violent crime isn't much different than similarly-populated cities. We got highlighted to all be damned by 'The First 48'.

California: when you go to the beach always listen to the lifeguards. Also pay attention to where you are some beaches are either state parks or national parks so laws are different. Remember for all National Parks federal laws are what matter over state laws.

I am from Utah.

No, we are not all Mormons.

Aussie here, flying from Seattle to London via Chicago early 2000s. Snow closed O'Hare, plane landed in Cleveland, Ohio. Gods will, St Patrick day. Best 36 hours of my life. F@ck NYC, Cleveland youbut of jokes absolutely slayed it. One of my best friends (a penpal when people actually wrote letters) West Virginia the scenery and people were awesome.