Rick Steves Encourages Travelers To Avoid Being This Kind Of Tourist

Traveling to a foreign country, even for seasoned travelers, can be a monumental task. In addition to booking hotels and figuring out logistics, you have to assess the risk to your health, not to mention discern whether the trip (and the newfound experiences) are worth major investments of your time and money. Even if you follow travel guru Rick Steves' pre-departure checklist, you'll still likely have a few concerns. However, rather than spending time being what Steves calls a "creative worrier" on his website and working yourself into a tailspin of anxiety due to news headlines, geopolitics, labor strikes, or even wild Reddit posts, take everything with a grain of salt. Even if you are impacted, take them as learning opportunities to stretch your critical thinking muscles.

Over the last few years, anti-tourism protests, such as spraying foreign tourists with water guns in Barcelona, have increased. If you're afraid of negative vibes coming your way, you're not alone. According to a 2025 survey by Upgraded Points, 54% of Americans are worried about how they are perceived abroad, while over 25% of Europeans perceive Americans negatively. If you are trying to break some stereotypes to keep your mind at ease, dive into these cultural tips. For example, avoid this tell-tale American behavior or brush up on European dining etiquette.

As Steves puts it, though, millions of people visit Europe each year with nothing bad happening to them. "Don't sweat stuff that hasn't yet happened (and is very unlikely to happen) to you," he wrote on his site. "And don't underestimate yourself — chances are, in the past you've managed to handle tougher problems than whatever your trip might throw at you."

If you are concerned about going abroad, take time to deeply research destinations for your interests, and be actively hungry to learn. Steves notes that businesses pushing information are aiming to help themselves and their bottom lines or their own individual interests. Tripadvisor and guidebooks can be incredibly helpful to developing a lay of the land and finding memorable activities, though Steves notes that some individual reviews may be biased and inaccurate. 

If you are concerned about broader risks, many countries, including the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the U.K., produce traveler-specific reports and provide official travel advice for their citizens traveling or moving abroad. These broad reports often highlight major risks travelers need to be aware of while away, and also include recommendations for vaccines, foreign currency controls, and visa requirements. However, once you've read these reports, don't stop there. Corroborate and check recommendations from smaller, yet geopolitically important countries, such as Singapore, Ireland, or New Zealand, to get a broader picture of the situation on the ground at your destination. Finally, take a minute to register for emergency alerts and notices while you're travelling and write down your embassy's emergency phone number in case you are a victim of a crime or realize you've lost your passport on vacation.

To get a deeper scope on what's happening on the ground at your destination, many countries with greater press freedom also have an English newspaper or English website that covers local events. And if your trip throws you a few curveballs, take them in stride as learning opportunities and be confident that you can overcome the challenges. When you look back years later, you'll see them as impactful growth points that will stick with you longer than a day of sightseeing.