8 tips for touring responsibly

Sooner or later, if you're like me, being called a tourist becomes extremely offensive.  Granted, I tend to travel to the same place year after year and no longer consider myself a tourist here.  When I go to new places, fine, yes, I'm a tourist and I don't mind if you call me that.  But I also think that, when touring, one should be responsible.  Here in Cefalù, tourists are SUPER easy to spot and therefore get charged double for their coffee, dinner, lunch, beach lounger, etc.  Now, if you're like me and have pale skin and red hair you will probably not be mistaken for a local in places like equatorial Africa, but I can proudly say that after 7 years, people FINALLY think I'm from here.  Even when I was in Pisa last week three different people asked me if I was Sicilian.  I said yes.  

In an effort to avoid the "evil tourist" tag, here are some things you might want to keep in mind as you travel.

1.  Avoid yelling (maybe I have sensitive ears, but why can't you use your inside voice?) in your native language in the middle of piazza duomo on your cell phone.  You're annoying everyone and just inviting people to charge your 3 euros for a cappuccino when the rest of us pay 1.30.

2.  While you may be doing a lot of walking and opt for tennis shoes, select socks that can easily be hidden in side of them (or just avoid gym shoes all together like me).  Furthermore, consider the country in which you are traveling.  Are you in Italy, the fashion capital of the world?  Then perhaps you should put a little effort into making sure you clothes match and that your jeans are long enough.  I'm not saying, I'm just saying.

3.  When going to a foreign country where you do not speak the language, you should make the effort to learn (if nothing else) a few useful phrases.  When you go to someone else's country, refuse to speak their language, and then are offended when they can't understand you, it makes you look like a big giant a** hole.  Even if you just learn "Hello, do you speak English?" you'll gain points.  Did you know that shop workers appreciate it when you pull our your phrase book and make much more of an effort to help you if they see you're making an effort to communicate with them?  

4.  Jorts are not appropriate for men in any country.  Period.

5.  When you stand in the middle of the street looking at your tour guide and then up at the sky and then at the tour guide and then at the sky again oblivious to the car and walking traffic around you and unaware that you're blocking everyone's path, you deserve to be pick-pocketed.  Yes, it's harsh, but wake up and get out of my way.

6.  If you go to a country that exercises the afternoon pausa don't get upset when at 2:30 most of the stores are closed.  Also keep in mind that most people don't eat dinner at 6:00 in the evening.  Most restaurants in the world don't even open until 7 or 7:30.  Plan accordingly and don't be surprised every day of your three week vacation.

7.  In a small town in Sicily you need to learn to what to share, what to keep to yourself, and what you should never talk about even though you saw it happen out in the open.  If you have any common sense, you shouldn't have too hard of a time figuring out what goes into what category.  Small towns are the same everywhere . . . think before you speak.

8.  Always be reminded that drinking yourself into oblivion is a stupid American pastime that is not well-respected around the world.  Drinking yourself into a stupor only makes you look like an idiot and the drunken American stereotype live for one more day.