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America is so geographically huge, and whilst the culture of the Deep South vs. Texas vs. the Pacific Northwest versus CA versus the midwest are all different sub-cultures, it’s nothing like the experiences in Europe. My daughter lived in the EU for nearly 10 years and in a very short hop could be in a new country & exposed to different cultures (just get the French going on the very frugal Dutch tourists!), but back home in the states, you could travel much longer and still be inside California.
Americans as a group are insular and unthinking about other cultures. I find it very interesting how different Canadians are, they have a great deal of land, too, with a much smaller population. Perhaps it is the need to get away from the cold each winter, but I find average Canadians to be far better traveled (internationally) and far better informed, internationally, than average Americans.
One thing I do find cheering reading this thread is how open our American members are to accepting criticism about their countrymen and women. Also, I find the explanations given really helpful. @EllenN’s point about the shortage of vacation time is very telling - it explains not just why Americans travel less but also goes some way to understanding their critical attitude to accomodation. If you only have a week or two vacation in a year, it had damn well better be perfect! You can’t just shrug the small irritations off and look forward to the next time!
I’ve lived in several countries and had many American friends who have, almost without exception been lovely,charming and intelligent … isn’t it a shame we can’t pick our guests in the same way we do our friends? Hmm, that’s an idea - I might set a questionnaire in future to make sure we’d be compatible! After all, Airbnb are always talking about hosts and guests being a “good match”!
Some of us are truly embarrassed about the reputation of our countrymen abroad… As well as having to travel when we have terrible leaders in office.
When W was in office, I wore a little circle slash Bush button while traveling in England. Hope the same will not be true of… We’ll never mind!!! He’s is going to lose!
I hosted three different families from the USA, I really can’t complain as they were polite and respectuous. However these are the guests who made me feel the most like a service provider serving a customer, though it’s difficult to explain why.
Oh and yes they are in a hurry ! They checked-in late (midnight or later) and left early (like 8AM) after a 2-nights stay. Maybe that’s why they didn’t bother chatting with their host.
I generally get on reasonably well with Americans. In general I find them easy to get along with, and straight forward. Yes, they can be fussy. Then again, so am I. So I guess that’s something we have in common.
When my husband and I travel, we sometimes say we are Canadian when we meet people! He was born there and lived there until he was ten years old, and we go back and visit his father quite often, so…it works for us.
As others have said, USA is a huge country with a very diverse population. There are many other large countries in the exact same situation, ie. a generally insular nation with a very small proportion who travel internationally and who have a bad reputation as guests. They are not (yet) as dominant as Americans on the international stage. It would be awful if we all decided to exclude American guests based on a few bad experiences, wouldn’t it?
@Magwitch indeed it would not be cool - but i am finding I need to do more careful vetting with americans to see. I just got a request for a long-ish stay by an american lady and I have to say I worry that during a long stay she might view it as a hotel and be very demanding. It’s terrible to form an a priori like this based on others…but I’m going to be very clear with her about expectations before I accept her booking.
I expect some will disagree, but I think a good way to screen the wrong kind of American is to remove the TV from your listing. I do not offer a TV and I think it keeps a certain type of traveller away. Who goes to Paris and spends time watching TV?
@PDXer apparently my american couple who made get a repairman only to stand him up and make me pay the fee for his coming. but i clearly mention it’s TV with basic French channels, so no satellite or US channels or anything…funny enough the american couple when I told them sure thanks for alerting me Ill send someone ASAP, i still mentioned, btw, it’s only french channels (I know they dont speak french), they said “oh that’s fine, we just like having the TV on” which I did find super weird.
That’s an interesting thought. There was another post awhile ago about a host who had families stay in her listing, and the teens always had their noses glued to their phones.
I don’t have a tv in my listing - and the families that have come this summer - the teens that have come have been pretty awesome. Looked me in the eye, spoke English (though shyly), made friends with my son.
I think about adding a TV but can’t stand the though of hearing it blahblahblahing on and on.
I do enjoy watching the local TV channels when I’m abroad, even if I don’t speak the local language. For me it’s like shopping at the local supermarket, it gives a sense of the local way of life.
I am also an American, and their cultural shortcomings are obvious no doubt. So is really their lack of fundamental education about the rest of the world. And like many have said here, it is however, a huge country with many differences among the populace, the US is a heck of a lot of people and has a myriad of smaller cultural enclaves.
One thing I know about them, ~some~ can become easily pushy and aggressive in manner, IF allowed. Being mindful of this, I head them off at the pass by being instantly intellectually blunt and I give them no space nor air to flap their wings.
Perhaps the reality of my case is what helps me do it, hard to start a mutiny in the open sea when no one has a blessed clue which way to go. Or is it the Captain Blight hat I always wear? LoL
TVs can be more than just watching shows for some people. There is a type of person who has to have noise around them all the time. The TV has the noise and it also has movement. I knew someone once who had a TV in every room, and all of them were on all day, set to different channels. He would go from room to room, not watching any of them. I was absolutely bewildered by this and it bothered me a lot (I like quiet). He explained that he hated to feel alone and that the TV with people talking and moving around made him feel like he was surrounded by other people, as if he were in public. That relationship did not work out!
I don’t know if this is a uniquely American thing, but I’ve run into multiple people over the years who always have a TV blaring, even if you’re trying to have a conversation with them. You have to yell over it. Asking them to turn it down gets either a blank stare or a combative answer. But yet these same people rarely actually watch something with intention, or attention.
“No television here, but we didn’t miss it at all. If you need to watch a ballgame, you’re just around the corner from some outstanding bars that can help with your sports needs.”
This is the only time not having a TV has been mentioned in my reviews and I am certain he had a better time getting out into the neighborhood pubs than sitting around at home. I detest the noise of a TV and what if the guest is watching something really off putting, like Fox News? I personally do not see how having a TV would provide any benefit to you or your guests.
It’s funny that we can get really worried about assigning negative stereotypes to an entire group of people and we’ll argue that it’s ridiculous to lump a whole group of people together just because of where they come from but on the other hand we love to talk about those attributes that we percieve as positive. Sometimes the same cultural trait can be seen as positive or negative depending on context and whether or not we’re on the receiving end of it! “That guy from Yorkshire is a real straight talker. I really like his honesty. You really know where you stand with him!” Vs - “Wow! That loud mouth from Yorkshire is really rude! He has no filters whatsoever, he should really learn some diplomacy!”
But you know what? We’re all much more conditioned than we like to think we are and we’re all products of our environment. If we spend most of our time surrounded by people who behave in a certain way, we will tend to follow suit.
Even in a country as (relatively) small as the UK there are many sub-cultures. There’s a “Brits abroad” stereotype of the tourist a little too fond of beer who suddenly find themselves with a plentiful supply in the Spanish sun. They have zero interest in any kind of local culture and are just a little too loud and a little too rude. But of course not all British people are like that!
I put a TV in my guest room to keep guests from asking to watch mine in the main living area. I don’t get tourists, I get travellers. I’ve had at least one guest who stayed with me twice going to and from his destination. He wanted to watch the NBA playoffs and he was a great guest. Checked in, watched the game on low volume, checked out early both times. Perfect guest that I wouldn’t have booked without a TV. When I was in NYC we turned on the TV each morning to catch up with the news and see the weather.
Glad we are not talking now about people other than white, otherwise it would spark another racism disrimination debate. It suddenly ok to discuss Americans based on a country of their origin,all 320 million of them, but not Chinese or Indians.
and locals do watch TV !