Living in cities that are also popular travel destinations is truly akin to heaven on Earth. That is, before the tourists show up and decide to trash your once-wonderful home. We doubt if the locals ever run out of hilarious tales about these visitors and for your viewing pleasure, we have rounded up some of them.
Be it helping them with directions, popular food destinations, must-see tourist attractions, or local entertainment, the list of comical incidents seemingly never ends. It's not like the locals don't want to help, but in all honesty, it can quickly become way too irritating and out of control.
Silas Baisch/Unsplash | Sometimes when the locals get too many questions from tourists about something, they often start making up stories to ward them off
Here are some of those “oopsie” touristy moments that never get old.
#1 - Through the United States in a week
While in Scotland, a family happened to bump into another family planning a week-long trip to the United States. During their conversations, it was revealed that they planned on starting the journey from New York and travel across the country while visiting all of the famous sites before eventually reaching LA. Of course, it was a no-brainer that such an elaborate trip wasn’t going to end in a week, but it’s good to have faith!
#2 - The seaweed filter
This one’s our personal favorite! A beach worker, who often got complaints from tourists about the seaweed that washed up to the shores, became so fed up with the whole affair that he eventually came up with an outrageous explanation. He started telling people that there's a giant seaweed sucking machine underwater that went bad which is why the tourists are having to deal with so much seaweed. What’s even funnier was that most of the tourists actually bought it!
Ragnar Vorel/Unsplash | Overhearing tourist conversations can many times be fun, especially when they’re discussing silly things about the city
#3 - The winning entries for the “dumbest” questions
A worker for the parks commission in Niagara Falls was asked silly questions at his workplace so regularly, it became a family tradition for him to share these hilarious stories with those around him for a good laugh. Here's one of these tales that really takes the cake in our opinion—a strongly built man from Texas once asked him which part of Niagara Falls belonged to which country. The worker told him that the Horseshoe Falls belonged to Canada and that the Bridal Veil and the American Falls came under U.S. jurisdiction. Hearing this, the tourist was so offended that he shouted, “No! The bigger part belongs to the US because everything in the states is big!” Umm…ok, big man.
#4 - City-leveling earthquake
While on a trip to San Francisco, a local once overheard a group of tourists complaining about the hills. Though it was fun listening to the banter, the conversation truly piqued his interest when one of them, while being dead serious, wished that an earthquake would level down the city to make traveling easier. Wow!
#5 - When in Australia, don’t do these things!
Often, locals and officials have to put up signs warning tourists about partaking in dangerous activities like jumping off a cliff into the water below. The natives don’t usually have to conform to such rules due to their familiarity with the area and its terrain. For tourists, on the other hand, it can be quite easy to get into an accident but in several cases, they don’t take heed from these warning signs. For instance, it’s quite strange seeing people allow their kids to swim at beaches that are known for stinging jellyfish!
Johan Mouchet/Unsplash | Living in cities that are travel destinations isn’t always fun, thanks to nosy and strange tourists
To sum up
Traveling is fun, but only if you are sensible about it. Instead of troubling the locals, if tourists do their due diligence before heading off, they can avoid annoying the natives and causing more problems for the local residents and government bodies.
