It doesn’t matter which country or city you’re from, it’s easy to spot tourists in your hometown. They just look out of place, are often lost and can be seen consulting maps and looking around as if waiting for help to arrive unannounced. So, you’d like to avoid appearing as a tourist? In part, this is a noble goal, for the more aware you are of your own appearance to others, the less likely you are to cause inadvertent offense. On the other hand, when you’re in a foreign country or strange city, you are a tourist and, to a certain extent, you will be identifiable no matter what.

But there are a few tips and tricks you can use, especially when traveling abroad, to blend in with the locals and avoid being spotted as a tourist straight off.

First of all, it’s important to realize that there are lots of types of tourists. There are the bad American tourists that are easily spotted from miles away. There are the tall, fat German tourists with their cameras hanging unabashedly around their necks. There are the grubby backpackers who, doesn’t matter where they’re from, always look unshowered and slightly disheveled. There are the Japanese tourists, which come in groups of no less than 40 and are led around by a guy with a flag. All of these are stereotypes, of course, but stereotypes based in fact, as we’ve all seen them at one point or another.

What Not to Wear

Crime: Bad sneakers. Otherwise known as tennis shoes or runners, these are stereotypical tourist shoes, especially the variety that come in blocky shapes and bright white. American tourists are particularly renowned for wearing these god-awful crimes against fashion.

Alternative: Dark colored shoes, euro-runners or anything leather. Shoes are important when sightseeing – the wrong ones can really ruin your feet. Take a nod from the locals and instead choose a comfortable pair of leather shoes (like Clarks) or any variety of European-style runners (Sketchers offer some good options).

Crime: Pastels. For reasons unknown, pastels seem to be the color of choice for most tourists’ clothing, which means that wearing anything pastel is a dead giveaway you’re not from around here.

Alternative: Dark colors. Throughout Europe and most of Asia and South America, darker colors are favored. Sticking with neutral colors, autumnal tones and black and brown are the best colors for blending in. These are also handy for packing, because you can mix and match for multiple outfits with complementary colors.

Crime: Shorts and sweats. Shorts and sweats seem to generally be a North American and Australian phenomenon that most of the rest of the world disregards. Not always, but usually. Furthermore, in many places, shorts can actually be offensive for religious or social reasons. Unless you are going on a beach holiday, skip the shorts and sweats.

Alternative: Light fabrics and capris. If you’re traveling in the dead of summer and worried about the heat, opt for lighter fabrics, such as linen and cotton. Choose trousers that won’t chaff and will allow some breathing room from the heat. Ladies can also opt for capri pants, which are usually at a more flattering length going down to mid-shin.

Crime: The Backpack. Thankfully, fanny packs have gone out of style (blech!), but backpacks are still a dime a dozen. I have never understood what, exactly, people need to carry around for a day of sightseeing that fills up an entire backpack!

Alternative: Regular purse/messenger bag. There is nothing you need for a day of sightseeing that won’t fit in an oversized ladies’ handbag or a men’s messenger bag. Seriously. If you are carrying enough stuff to warrant use of a backpack (even a small one), you are carrying way too much stuff. What should be inside? Map, camera, water bottle, sunglasses, small guidebook (better: pages from the guidebook/notes), wallet, tissues. Seriously folks, that’s all you need! And if you are thinking of carrying around a huge Lonely Planet to ‘such and such’ country for an afternoon of sightseeing in ‘such and such’ country’s capital city, think again! Instead, grab a local tourism magazine for free, tear a few pages out of said guidebook, or make some notes before you go. The map is all you should need! Another alternative if you plan to do a lot of sightseeing in one city is to invest in a smaller city-specific guide before you leave.

What Not To Do

Crime: Nose in the map/guidebook. This is, perhaps, the worst crime committed by tourists: walking around with your nose stuck in a guidebook or map, completely oblivious to your location and surroundings.

Alternative: Be discreet. Okay, so no matter how good you are at blending in, the time is going to come (more than once) when you get lost and need to consult a map. That’s fine, as long as you know how to do it. First, spend some time in your hotel room beforehand memorizing where you’re going and what the streets are called. Keep a small map in your bag, hopefully folded open to the areas you need to go for quick consultation. If you do need to pull the map out, step to the side, into a corner or even duck into a cafe where you can look over your materials quietly to get your bearings. Pulling out a map or reading a guidebook in open daylight only invites you to be scoffed at as a tourist or worse, robbed.

Crime: Photographing/videoing everything. This is one of the most annoying tourist habits in the world: stopping and disrupting the flow of foot traffic so that you can snap a few pictures of that beautiful building. This is another classic tourist activity that invites robbery.

Alternative: Be discreet. There is nothing wrong with taking pictures – I do it all the time! So do professional photographers! The key is being discreet and/or looking like you belong there. Just stopping dead center in the middle of the path or street to take a bad photograph is not a good idea. Instead, choose your moments. Find a time when there are fewer people around, rather than just stopping blindly and ignoring everyone behind you. Step to the side and wait for others to pass by or come back to snap a picture at another time.

Crime: Talking LOUDLY. There are several nationalities known for their loud demeanor: namely, Americans and Australians. While there is nothing implicitly wrong with talking loudly – it is a social/cultural norm – it can really disrupt others when you are abroad, cause offense and definitely make you a target.

Alternative: Talking softly. When in doubt, keep your voice down! Of course, you don’t have to whisper, but just keeping your voice down to a level where strangers around you can’t necessarily hear is the best course of action. Don’t shout to your friends down the street or across the subway car. And along with this goes avoiding large gestures and generally flamboyant behavior, which makes you seem arrogant/rude in many places.