After many years of travelling, too often we come across Crazy Asian Tourists. They aren’t bad people, but send them travelling and they become cringe worthy – horrifying locals.
Most Asian tourists are well behaved, but a bad few often create stereotype impressions. Growing up in a Chinese Indonesian family, we learn that not one travel style is better than another.
1. Crazy Asian tourist is burdened by strange habitual complexities
Some Asian tourists love to complicate their travels by bringing rice cookers (some even bring rice from home!), bed sheets (because the hotel ones are never clean), and instant noodles (just in case they “can’t eat” at the destination).
They also bring every medication known to mankind PLUS 20 packs of hand wipes because they have to wipe everything from cutleries to the restaurant table.
Suggestion: Relax a little. Embrace the uncertainties that come with travel.
And just about every travel destination has a Chinese restaurant – you won’t die
2. Crazy Asian tourist lets shopping make or break a holiday
“How was your trip?”… “Waa it was so nice, everything soooo cheap! Zara is cheaper over there you know”.
Or: “It was horrible. The shops all close at five, nothing to do at night!”
As if a day coming back to the hotel without shopping bags in both hands is a day wasted.
Then there is that race to buy European designer bags, which cost thousands of dollars! Think about what your family can do with that much money.
Suggestion: Come home with stories to share rather than stuff. Travel is not a contest of how much you can bring home as souvenirs.
3. Crazy Asian tourist wear top to bottom designer goods
They wear top to bottom (often colourful) designer wear, looking like mannequins escaping from shop windows. Ladies travel everyday armed with designer bags clutched on their stomachs.
4. Crazy Asian tourist only travel in big groups
They either travel with a big band of relatives or by joining a tour group.
Days of 6am wake up calls – moving hotels – travel in air conditioned buses – follow the flag carrying tour leader – racing from one landmark to another just to stop and take photos..
They would pay zero attention to any historical information provided. Although basic phrases like “photo spot” and “shopping time” will definitely catch their attention. During the trip they would repeatedly complain about: Too much walking, “not tasty” foreign food and small hotel rooms.
Suggestion: Travelling in big groups is fine. But remember to always be open to something different, you will start enjoying travel experience much more.
5. Crazy Asian tourist only eat in “tourist-friendly” Chinese restaurants
During one Indonesian tour group trip Alfred went to years ago, the Italian bus driver giggled as they got off the bus for lunch. When asked why, he answered “You guys are crazy, coming all the way to Italy to eat Chinese food?!”. He has a very good point!
This kind of restaurants is everywhere. Catering just for Asian tour groups. Don’t expect quality dishes there.
Then there are Crazy Asian tourists who consider eating in chain restaurants like McDonald’s or TGIF as “Trying foreign food”. Usually lame excuses are used: “Our kids can’t eat anything else and they like collecting the Happy Meal toys” and “It’s easier to order, just point at the picture and pay”.
Suggestion: Use Google translate.
Find restaurants a block or two away from tourist sites. They are generally more authentic and more reasonably priced.
6. Crazy Asian tourist measures other countries as if everything should be the same like at home
Coming home they end up learning absolutely nothing about the places they visited.
When asked: “Nice photo, what building is this?”. “Wah, I dont know. We saw so many nice ones”.
Or come up with made up history like “Kutna Hora Church was built by cruel Nazis using killed Jews’ bones” or the usual. “Oya, I heard this place got ghost… this one also”.
Suggestion: Be a temporary local. Never mind the minor differences.
7. Crazy Asian tourist travels around with a lot of unnecessary gear (to maximise their baggage allowance)
We all have seen the airport check-in-desk dramas: “A little overweight is usually ok!”
Having a 30kg baggage allowance means they will be fixated with this limit during the whole trip.
They will also try to maximise any carry on allowance!
Suggestion: Travel light
8. Crazy Asian tourist lets their phone rather than people become the focus
They walk stop start, as they take countless blogger style “look away” photos for social media, loudly asking “You got it?” Before retaking it again.. and again.
