oooh, I’m very interested to read the responses to this one – since I’ll BE a traveling american in just a couple of months.

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Hi Darren,

I wrote about this briefly yesterday off the back of a post on concierge.com. I think you’re coming at it a bit broadly. Like you, I wouldn’t treat an American traveller differently, but we’re not very interesting test cases – Obama didn’t go on Al Arabiya to reach out to London and Yorkshire.

The concierge writer was with bedouins on the Sinai peninsula, and said the first thing they asked her was whether Mr O’s noises about reconciliation with the Muslim world are for real. Barely two weeks into Obama’s presidency we can only really speculate, but I’d say the change, if any, a) depends on the destination and b) is subtle and in its infancy – it’s about a shift in the initial reception people get. That does matter when you’re in an unfamiliar place.

But as you say, whatever reception you get it’s ultimately about personal behaviour – if you help old ladies across the road, or throw a chair through a cafe window, you’re going to be judged on that…

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We have been traveling out of our home country ( America) for going on 3 years now & I can say we have NEVER had any problems what so ever because of our nationality. We have been to 4 continents & 29 countries, but primarily in Europe.

Could be though, that people rarely even know that we are Americans. Not that we hide it, but it seems people always assume we are Brits, Dutch, German, French or something else. We almost never see other Americans & like to live like natives and not stand out.

We have over heard lots of negative talk about Bush ( in the US and all over) as he was not a very popular guy. Perhaps that had some affect on some people. it certainly has been embarrassing for many of us who are not pleased with the disasters he created or promoted from wars to the economy collapse.I think many people around the world wanted to throw shoes at him and why that story had such power.

I do think overall though, Obama’s image makes a huge difference in how the world sees America. Bush showcased so much that the world hates in Americans (or anyone) like arrogant, bully, smirky, obnoxious, ignorant, provincial and lying. I think he did slant some into thinking that is how all Americans must think.

Obama shows change just in his being and represents a multi-cultural aspect of America like no president ever has! His family photos at the white house shows that his family is black, white, chinese, jewish and more!

He speaks English so much better than Bush, plus amazing oratory skills ( best we have had in a while) and his calm, caring, uniting ways gives a totally different vibe.

To many of us, it has felt like we were in jail for the last 8 years. I don’t agree with Obama on everything and am not pleased at all with his fiscal moves, but I think his image is important to the world and America.

Strange, but his image importance reminds me a little of the movie Elizabeth and how they crafted her “virgin queen” image to help GB to move the masses in a time of great change.

Image means so much in today’s world and I can’t help but think that Obama’s image is sooo much better for America and the world. That he symbolically made his first call to President Abbas and corrected torture stuff immediately & is being more transparent and open online shows he knows how to work his image to his and hopefully all of our advantages.

I think who your head of state is does impact things. Endearing Princess Diana was a master at using image to her advantage (which I think was good for GB who often gets jokes about their only showing affection to dogs and horses) and I hope Obama will be as well.

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I did not mean to imply that Princess Diana was head of state, but that her image did have a great impact on how others perceived Great Britain. She brought warmth, caring, vulnerability, glamor etc.

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Darren

4-5 years ago there was a lot of tension between the USA and Europe regarding the Gulf War (mainly countries against it). This has changed over the years (experienced first hand). I think if you ask anyone now they put down to election, but not sure that has anything to do with it.
if you asked months ago the answer would be similar, things have just improved with time. However saying that, the new US President has a lot to live up to.

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I am an American who just got back from traveling to Iran with my two daughters and I guarantee that I was treated better than I would’ve before Obama was elected!!! Everywhere I went people asked where I was from and although I considered going with the old stand-by of, “um…Canada.” I decided instead to be honest. The first thing out of their mouths was, “I love Obama! Do you love Obama?” They expressed such hope for the future and said that if we could overcome the Bush era, the possibility of them electing a decent president next year at their election seemed more hopeful. Most of our conversations with strangers revolved around their love of Obama, which translated into feeling fondly towards us- then often resulting in offering to pay for our meal or give us gifts.

A year prior, it would’ve been a very different trip for us.

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As a frequent American visitor to the UK, I’m looking forward to visiting this summer.

Darren, You’re right that I’m always treated well because of the way I behave. I’m frequently told by Brits that I’m the first “nice” American that they’ve met (sad commentary on the behavior of many American travelers).

However, I’ve been in the UK when the Clinton scandel broke, and when our California govenator was up for election; and I’ve found Brits not to be shy about asking about or commenting on the state of the US politics. I’m excited to have a president to be proud of (for a change)!

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I have been to Europe on three different occasions. One of which being when I was studying abroad in Spain and was there for 5 months. In general I have not had any problems being an American traveler in Europe. When people would ask where I was from and I would say the USA, I actually had quite a few people say that it was cool that I traveled so far.

I had one negative experience being an American traveler, but I definitely found it to be the exception, not the rule. I was walking part of the Camino de Santiago with three friends and we were at the last albergue before Santiago de Compostela. In this albergue there were bunk beds and shelves where you could put your backpacks that corresponded with you bed. The was a man from Germany who absolutely freaked out at my friend for putting her backpack on the wrong shelf, and it turned from the backpack being on the wrong shelf to “all you f*** Americans see when there is a problem, but you don’t do anything about it…” Going on to say that the President and all the soldiers should be killed, etc, etc.

I was upset about what he had said because he didn’t know my friends and I at all, what our politics were, or who we were as people. Even with that bad experience though, there was something good. Earlier that night we had been talking to a woman from Germany, and she was very nice. She yelled at this crazy German guy and then told us not to feel bad and that he was just crazy. So, when you travel you meet the bad people along with the good. And I feel the bad are very far and few between.

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Hi Darren -

I think at the heart of this subject is what can make traveling particularly fulfilling: people from all points across the globe feel less obliged to be defined by their nationality, government’s policies, race, etc, but by who they are as individuals.

Travelers get an opportunity to meet others along the way, hopefully learn something they didn’t know before, and move on with an expanded point of view and personal perspective.

Clearly it’s naive to assume this will occur with each traveler on every trip. So in the meantime I’m more than happy as an American to travel internationally and talk about what kind of dog the Obama’s should adopt, rather than be expected to defend Bush’s failed policies.

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I don’t want to totally dismiss what you have been saying, but I have been travelling globally from the time I was a small child, and extensively as I grew into an adult. I am an avowed Anglophile, but to be honest, I have yet to EVER witness these loud, boorish Americans we so often hear of. Truly, the most aggressive, overbearing people ~ as a group ~ that I’ve ever encountered were… English. I make that very important distinction because I’ve also travelled extensively in Scotland, and I found everyone to be the warmest, most welcoming people. I was stopped again and again by locals, just wanting to tell me the local legends and history and seemed so GLAD to have me there! Never so in England. Nor on the cross-Atlantic trips. I spent the most horrible plane trip of my life sitting just behind 3 “Eastenders” who were loud, obnoxious and literally pushed their seats back into my very lap for over 8 hours. I was almost in tears by the time we touched down. I’m sorry, but I think this stereotype of the “ugly American” is outdated, incorrect and becoming irrelevant.

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I think the premise of “a few Americans write that they are treated better when travelling in Europe and abroad because of the change of president” is ridiculous.

Actually I think it is part of the Left’s “vote for our guy or we’ll be hated worldwide” playbook. Have Americans actually said this? Sure but I think 99% of them mimic the press, or say what they think their audience want them to say.

I’m old enough to remember that RFK was killed by Sirhan Sirhan over Palestine, that hundreds of Americans were held hostage for 444 days under Carter, that Clinton bombed aspirin factories to deflect from his Monica problem, and that the WTC was bombed the first time on his watch. Democrat presidents all.

So, do I think that segment of the world that has hated us for decades is now going to do a 180 degree turn because of Obama?

No!

MOST folks are going to continue to react to the person in front of them based on their bearing and behavior.

I would like to think people treat

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I’m the person who wrote that Twitter comment.

I’ve been to Europe 6 times since 1999 and things are much different between 4 or 5 years ago and now. Right after Bush invaded Iraq there was a lot of venomous attitude directed towards Americans. I’m talking about personal experiences in Europe before, during and after Bush.

I sent that Tweet from Northern Ireland where people were interested in talking to me after I said I’m American. They would ask me a lot of questions about the USA, and one had even said, “I like that” (After asking me where I was from.)

In the early period of the Iraq War people were sometimes even hostile. One woman from the UK said to a friend, “you’re from America? We hate your President” — and then stormed away.

I’ve sat around tables of Europeans where there was nothing but America-bashing and insults towards Americans.

That’s not how people *should* act, but that’s the way it was.

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