There shouldn’t be any shame in being a tourist; after all you help the city or the country’s economy, you have sufficient disposable income to allocate for travel and leisure, and broadening one’s horizons is never supposed to hurt anyone. Unfortunately there is a stigma attached to being a tourist; as much as the locals would like to be hospitable to tourists, their buttons are pushed by a variety of reasons – inappropriate clothing, too friendly, too rude, a traffic hazard and then there’s the issue of hygiene.

Most travelers would advice that there are significant disadvantages in easily being singled out as a tourist:

• Tourists are more likely to be conned or mugged;
• Tourists are more likely to be charged more for cab fare and certain commercial establishments; and
• Tourists are easy targets for pranks, harmless and otherwise, since they do not understand the local language.

Here is a list of things that reveal whether or not you can easily be spotted by locals as a tourist; are you ready to find out if you are the typical tourist?

You Know You’re a Tourist When…

• You wear bright colored shirts or shirts that scream “I love whatever city I am in right now”
• You wear a baseball cap or hat that screams “I love whatever city I am in right now”
• You insist on wearing tropical, animal, safari, large polka dots, aquarium printed tops with knee-length shorts, flip-flops and a hat
• You have a fanny pack slung around you’re hips
• You say ooh, ah and wow at old buildings, churches and old statues
• You think it’s ok to jaywalk
• You walk around with your nose buried in map or guidebook
• Your neck is craning in unnatural angles trying to read street signs
• You are lugging around one too many luggage; helplessly flailing your arms for a cab in an area where cabs can’t pick up passengers
• You stop at every glass window shop to marvel at chocolate sculptures and éclairs
• You only have 3 kinds of footwear: flip-flops, sandals and sneakers
• You stop to take a picture of anything
• You stop a stranger to take a picture of you with anything and anyone
• You bump into someone in a crowded place with a dazed expression in your face and realize you’re wallet has been stolen
• You bump into someone in a crowded place with a deer-in-the-headlights look and automatically check your pockets to see if anything is missing
• You are taken aback that there is no tissue in the tissue dispenser of public toilets
• You carry a backpack stuffed with Gatorade, mineral water, and crumpled sheets of what looks like a map wearing cargo anything and shades in the middle of the city
• You carry too much change
• You don’t have change or local currency
• You only know how to say “Thank you”, “How much”, “Yes”, and “No” in the local language
• You walk around with big groups
• You travel around the city in a bus with a group
• You walk around with your entire family, right to the nth cousins
• You go to a city or country for the first time during tourist season
• The first thing you look for is a McDonald’s
• Another first thing you look for is Coke

If you found yourself nodding your head more often than not, then congratulations! You are the typical tourist! Embrace it, say it with me – Yes I am a typical tourist! Now we can start your therapy to de-touristify you.