How much do you love the tourists in your town?

the one that visited me at my house I liked a lot!

I like most of the young backpacker types.

In Ottawa it never bothered me, hardly even noticed even though it's the Nation's capital and it's crawling in tourists...but where I live now - a really small coastal town that basically survives off tourists this time of year - I fucking hate it. Old-ass Americans totally take over.

An already slow paced town moves 10x slower. It's painful.

I should take some pics of the campgrounds utterly PACKED with RVs.

most r ok, and fun to meet...

but

there r some who r supposed to go home after a while..................but here in sydney they don't

ZombieKitten said:

Even though I live in the Washington, DC metro area, I very rarely come in contact with tourists because I stay away from their attractions. Not that I have anything against them; I just don't like being in crowds, having to dodge kids and old folk.

I dig the tourists. Helps me to appreciate where I live. And because my home is about 10 minutes north of the downtown core in a fairly residential niche, I don't have to deal with them in my backyard.

Lammastide said:

The tourists in NYC drive me insane! I work right off of Fifth Avenue in midtown Manhattan and it's murder just trying to cross the street or walk a few blocks because they amble slowly in packs, taking up the entire sidewalk. I have to walk right by the Museum of Modern Art to get to/from the subway and everyday they are lined up, again, taking up most of the sidewalk, completely oblivious to the fact that New Yorkers are trying to get someplace! When it rains, it's worse because few of them know proper umbrella etiquette so they hit you with their oversized golf umbrellas (way too large for NYC sidewalks) as you try to get by. Tuesdays are my favorite because MoMA is closed and there are always at least 5-10 tourists standing in front of the(closed) museum, looking dejected and studying their tour books trying to figure out what to do instead.

JustErin said:

In Ottawa it never bothered me, hardly even noticed even though it's the Nation's capital and it's crawling in tourists...but where I live now - a really small coastal town that basically survives off tourists this time of year - I fucking hate it. Old-ass Americans totally take over.

An already slow paced town moves 10x slower. It's painful.

I should take some pics of the campgrounds utterly PACKED with RVs.

Why call out just us Americans ? I'm sure other Tourists visit your beautiful Country. Alot of Canadians during the winter months visit the warmer states and we appreciate it since they help with the economy.

runphilrun said:

Today I had to bike cross-city. I dreaded it, all these oblivious tourists walking on the bike roads

Not looking for bikes coming at them when crossing the road.

Or even worse: on rented bikes participating in traffic, however not at all knowing any traffic rules in Amsterdam. A tourist on a bike in Amsterdam is like someone who would bike in the middle of FDR while enjoying the scenery. Really. Not kidding, they don't know how to bike in a busy traffic city.

I taught the 1-year old boy I'm babysitting to distinguish these bikes in the vondelpark. He now knows and will point at them and repeat "tourist" "tourist" to me. Especially Amsterdam folks crack up when he does that.

It's good they are red or yellow. In Amsterdam there are different rules when you see them. It's a big alarm: tourist; can stop without signing the ones cycling behind them, don't know to keep on the side, just taking up the whole road, going extremely slow interfering with normal pace at bycicle paths

I guess I just have to get used to the season again. Tourist season.

dJJ said:

Today I had to bike cross-city. I dreaded it, all these oblivious tourists walking on the bike roads

Not looking for bikes coming at them when crossing the road.

Or even worse: on rented bikes participating in traffic, however not at all knowing any traffic rules in Amsterdam. A tourist on a bike in Amsterdam is like someone who would bike in the middle of FDR while enjoying the scenery. Really. Not kidding, they don't know how to bike in a busy traffic city.

I taught the 1-year old boy I'm babysitting to distinguish these bikes in the vondelpark. He now knows and will point at them and repeat "tourist" "tourist" to me. Especially Amsterdam folks crack up when he does that.

It's good they are red or yellow. In Amsterdam there are different rules when you see them. It's a big alarm: tourist; can stop without signing the ones cycling behind them, don't know to keep on the side, just taking up the whole road, going extremely slow interfering with normal pace at bycicle paths

I guess I just have to get used to the season again. Tourist season.

you should have a talk with those people making a buck off renting the bikes to the tourists - get them to make it compulsory to take a rider safety course before getting a bike.

ZombieKitten said:

dJJ said:

Today I had to bike cross-city. I dreaded it, all these oblivious tourists walking on the bike roads

Not looking for bikes coming at them when crossing the road.

Or even worse: on rented bikes participating in traffic, however not at all knowing any traffic rules in Amsterdam. A tourist on a bike in Amsterdam is like someone who would bike in the middle of FDR while enjoying the scenery. Really. Not kidding, they don't know how to bike in a busy traffic city.

I taught the 1-year old boy I'm babysitting to distinguish these bikes in the vondelpark. He now knows and will point at them and repeat "tourist" "tourist" to me. Especially Amsterdam folks crack up when he does that.

It's good they are red or yellow. In Amsterdam there are different rules when you see them. It's a big alarm: tourist; can stop without signing the ones cycling behind them, don't know to keep on the side, just taking up the whole road, going extremely slow interfering with normal pace at bycicle paths

I guess I just have to get used to the season again. Tourist season.

you should have a talk with those people making a buck off renting the bikes to the tourists - get them to make it compulsory to take a rider safety course before getting a bike.

They get instructions and they do try to adjust. However, Amsterdam bike traffic is a jungle. The average tourist cannot adapt to that so fast. And a bike is just a very easy and cheap way of transport. So, they will do it anyway.

They do go out in groups, oftentimes accompanied by a guide. Those groups line up and are easy to bike around. It's the "no, we rather go on our bikes with the two of us" typos that are killing

To be honest: if I were a tourist here, I would rent a bike and go out on my own. So, I actually would do the same thing.

I skated around Paris, not bothered with inline skate experience. Only the fridaynight skate experience. Was very cool.

However, I'm not talking about the times I was an obnoxious tourist myself

dJJ said:

ZombieKitten said:

you should have a talk with those people making a buck off renting the bikes to the tourists - get them to make it compulsory to take a rider safety course before getting a bike.

They get instructions and they do try to adjust. However, Amsterdam bike traffic is a jungle. The average tourist cannot adapt to that so fast. And a bike is just a very easy and cheap way of transport. So, they will do it anyway.

They do go out in groups, oftentimes accompanied by a guide. Those groups line up and are easy to bike around. It's the "no, we rather go on our bikes with the two of us" typos that are killing

To be honest: if I were a tourist here, I would rent a bike and go out on my own. So, I actually would do the same thing.

I skated around Paris, not bothered with inline skate experience. Only the fridaynight skate experience. Was very cool.

However, I'm not talking about the times I was an obnoxious tourist myself

I've been to Amsterdam twice and there was NO WAY I'd get on a bike there, no matter how much my friends tried to persuade me. I'm not confident on a bike in the first place, and I WOULD get killed, being that we drive on the other side of the road where I live!

ZombieKitten said:

dJJ said:

They get instructions and they do try to adjust. However, Amsterdam bike traffic is a jungle. The average tourist cannot adapt to that so fast. And a bike is just a very easy and cheap way of transport. So, they will do it anyway.

They do go out in groups, oftentimes accompanied by a guide. Those groups line up and are easy to bike around. It's the "no, we rather go on our bikes with the two of us" typos that are killing

To be honest: if I were a tourist here, I would rent a bike and go out on my own. So, I actually would do the same thing.

I skated around Paris, not bothered with inline skate experience. Only the fridaynight skate experience. Was very cool.

However, I'm not talking about the times I was an obnoxious tourist myself

I've been to Amsterdam twice and there was NO WAY I'd get on a bike there, no matter how much my friends tried to persuade me. I'm not confident on a bike in the first place, and I WOULD get killed, being that we drive on the other side of the road where I live!

You are my favorite Amsterdam tourist!

BTW I'm actually surprised that not that many tourist get killed by bike accidents. Actually, I think it never happened.

What kills you in Amsterdam are too much drugs, mushrooms from strangers, weed, alcohol. And foremost, stubborn people, thinking that they can handle it.

Well, at least Snoop Dog is lovin' it here. And Brad Pitt actually was registered in the regular phone book when he had his house here

It's funny with stars in Amsterdam, they want to be treated as a star, however, that doesn't fly here.

Not many tourists here. There's some pro's and cons to that, but in the end I don't think I would like things to change around here. Don't like it when it gets crowded.

dJJ said:

BTW I'm actually surprised that not that many tourist get killed by bike accidents. Actually, I think it never happened.

What kills you in Amsterdam are too much drugs, mushrooms from strangers, weed, alcohol. And foremost, stubborn people, thinking that they can handle it.

Well, at least Snoop Dog is lovin' it here. And Brad Pitt actually was registered in the regular phone book when he had his house here

It's funny with stars in Amsterdam, they want to be treated as a star, however, that doesn't fly here.

don't worry, I would have been the first