As humans or various cultures and languages, we have a few things in common, regardless of our background. We may not always understand each other, but there are certain unspoken rules, or guidances if you will, that keep us together as humans. Nowhere else are these rules as important as when we travel, but unfortunately, I see travellers, especially young backpackers, behave like the world belongs just to them and nobody else.
I get it, these days etiquette or even rules of basic decency are rarely taught, either in schools or by parents. Still, you can go a long way by being considerate of others when you travel. So what are some of the travel faux pas that I see most often?
- Smoking in public places
This is probably the toughest one for most smokers, not just travellers, to understand. While in many Western countries smoking is now banned in bars, restaurants and really, just about anywhere inside other than your place, the rest of the world still lags far behind in that progress. Why is that a problem? Because by lighting and emitting the disgusting cigarette stench all around you, you are not only badly disturbing the comfort of those around you who don’t smoke, you are actually jeopardizing their health by making them inhale second-hand smoke. Some particularly arrogant types might say, why should I be the one being inconvenienced, they can leave if they don’t like the smell. Because, first of all, smoking is a disgusting and a vile habit, not to mention an expensive one. And secondly, not everybody around you smokes, even if it seems like all your friends puff away. Sometimes I am just shocked how many young people from all over the world is still addicted to this hideous habit. Do yourself and everybody around you a favour and quit already, and if you are too weak to do it, at least don’t do it around others.
- Being too loud in public
This one mostly applies to groups. Sometimes people, especially young ones, get so carried away in their conversation they don’t realize how many decibels they are generating by their chatter. Never mind that in most such conversations people rarely actually hear each other; but you might be loud well after most people’s bedtime, or in public places where silence or at least low noise is generally appreciated, such as museums, restaurants, or public transport. A lot of times, locals won’t scold you out of respect to you as foreign guests. Just be mindful of that and everybody’s life will be easier.
- Tying shoes to the backpack
This one is a personal pet peeve of mine. How many times have you seen a backpacker carrying his junk and on the outside of the backpack, there would be a pair of filthy hiking boots or flip-flops dangling around – sometimes both. Why in the world would that be an inconsiderate behaviour? Glad you asked. Because while you are going about your business – walking the streets, taking seats in the public transport or putting your crap in a luggage shelf – your dirty footwear will inevitably touch someone or someone’s stuff. So in a way, it’s like you are literally walking over people in complete disregard that they are less than thrilled being anywhere near your stinky shoes. So do everyone a favour and pack them inside.
And while we are on the subject of shoes, I hope I don’t have to mention how rude it is in just about every country to put your shoes on a seat in transport or elsewhere.
- Disrespecting local customs or local sites
I shouldn’t really mention this one, and fortunately, I see less and less of this as more folks get better educated about countries they are about to visit. But there’s still a lot of disrespect taking place. Sometimes it’s unintentional, such as touching someone’s head in a country where it is a big faux pas, or not taking shoes off when entering someone’s house, but a lot of it very much intentional. Recently I saw a picture of a group of young male backpackers standing in a row exposing their bare butts to the wind somewhere on the Ha Giang motorbike loop in Vietnam. The locals were shocked. Usually they would politely tell people when they break some rule or the other, but for certain things, you can even get arrested in many a country. I have to admit that I’ve been guilty a few times of this stuff myself (not exposing butt cheeks, mind you :), but I’ve been more culturally sensitive lately.
- Adopting bad habits of locals
A lot of times travelers, especially long-term ones, start acting like locals, including certain bad habits, such as tossing out rubbish where it doesn’t belong, urinating wherever they please (okay, I’ve done it a few times, but only because I had to), or indeed smoking wherever, even at places where it is forbidden. The most common area where this is prevalent is actually driving. I see lots of westerners who drive motorcycles in South East Asia turn into some of the worst drivers. Yes, this region is known for horrendously dangerous driving habits, but just because locals ride like lunatics and use their horn every five seconds, doesn’t mean you should too. Remember: a lot of locals in these countries look up to foreigners, so do try to hold up the marque and not reinforce bad behaviour.
- Underdressing
If you raise your eyebrows when you read it, let me explain what I mean by this. I am all for dressing comfortably when travelling. But there are limits. One of the ugliest things a man can wear, for example, is a sleeveless tank top. Unless you are a body builder, you don’t look good in it. Your hairy sweaty western torso in a tank top is not going to be a treat either for anyone’s eyes or nose. Wear a t-shirt, for crying out loud, it just looks better in 99% of situations. Same applies for board shorts if you are miles away from the nearest beach. When it comes to women, I personally am all for skin-revealing outfits, but when I see countless western female travellers in the so-called “alibaba” pants, I just want to ask them if this is something they would ever be seen wearing in public at home. If the answer is “no”, why wear it on a backpacking trip? Surely there are lots of other comfortable options that are also stylish, so please use them.
- “Begpacking”
This term might be relatively new, but the scenario is age-old. A traveller runs out of money and for the lack of better ideas starts begging or worse, stealing, to keep going. I shouldn’t even mention that stealing is bad, but “begpacking” isn’t much better. A lot of so-called extreme backpackers I wrote about resort to it. It does make a difference if you perform for the money in public places or sell something as long as it wasn’t stolen, but dude, let’s be honest with each other: if you begpack, you are basically a bum. A homeless who happen to travel. So instead of spending whatever loot you made on smokes and hash, get a job locally till you have enough money to either continue or go back home and actually sort out your shit permanently.
That’s basically it – staying away from these bad habits and behaviours will keep you from being an asshole backpacker. And don’t just do it for the others. First and foremost, do it for yourself.