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Do other tourists annoy you?

18 January 2010 10 Comments

Now I’ve carefully phrased the above subject as I don’t want to pretend that I’m a) not a tourist, and b) not annoying. I am keen though to know what really gets your blood boiling when you’re on the road travelling.

For me the concept of getting your blood pressure rising when you’re on holidays seems totally ridiculous, yet it seems to happen so easily. Take the photo I selected for the front page – Topkapi Palace – and the woman blatantly ignoring the no photos sign. Actually, signs, as there is one either side of the doorway. If whatever it is lurking behind the door is that good then buy a postcard of it – guaranteed to be a better photo than the average person can take anyway.

Perhaps it’s because I’m a professional photographer that the above case really annoys me, but in the Topkapi Palace there are so few places where photography is banned that it doesn’t seem too tough to STOP taking photos for a minute and just enjoy the grandeur. If people continue to flout rules on photography then the restrictions will become tighter and eventually none of us will be able to take a photo. There are numerous places where staff have specified no flash photography; that might have been swell ten years ago when people invested in a camera and knew how to use it. Today everyone has a camera, be it on their phone, ipod, swinging around their neck or wrist, but it seems that no one knows how to turn the flash off, so they just ignore the warnings and give the crowd quite the strobe effect in museums.

Queues. Well actually, queues don’t annoy me, the lack of them annoy me. I’m not suggesting everyone should be sheep, and if you go to your favourite multi-national burger chain and there is a free counter then go jump straight to it. Boarding for trains, planes, ferries etc though are another kettle of fish. Note to the dozen or so morons that push and shove to get in front of me every time I have started lining up to board a plane; I still got on, the plane didn’t leave me stranded, and I didn’t knock anyone over doing it!!

Disrespect. I mentioned this before in my post http://riceandrockconcerts.com/2010/01/top-5-destinations_travel_photo/ but I need to raise it again. If you are going to a mosque as a non-muslim tourist then how hard is it to dress appropriately? And this isn’t really one for the radicals from the left telling me they shouldn’t make women cover up, nor for the mad right to tell me that they too will do as they like. If that’s your attitude then why on earth are you interested in visiting in the first place? Is it to tick the Blue Mosque (for example) off your checklist of things to do in Istanbul? Plenty of these very people would tut-tut if anyone, much less a tourist, entered their church back in Alabama wearing a boob-tube, so why does the baby go out with the bathwater when you’re on holidays?

Let me know what really gets your blood boiling.

Cheers

10 Comments »

Ana said:

I think it was a bit silly of me thinking that I was the only one that got annoyed by things like that.
Last August in Paris, I was sadly a witness to all that you described above
I really can’t understand the aimlessly camera shooting everywhere and everything and of course always with flash.

# 24 January 2010 at 6:18 pm

Steve Jackson said:

Try this:

http://twatpackers.posterous.com/

# 25 January 2010 at 11:43 am

Jamie (author) said:

Hey Steve,

Great link – there are some seriously cringeworthy moments in that collection. Such a shame that people can ruin so much for so many people.

# 25 January 2010 at 12:55 pm

ADM said:

I got to your blog because I’m in Istanbul for a few months with my husband and 2 boys and I was researching activities for kids through Lonely Planet. Are you here still? Did you notice how quietly people in Istanbul live their lives? I was in the grocery store (Migros) with my boisterous husband and children — and suddenly realized that ours were the only voices I heard. You could have heard a pin drop there. Then, we were on 3 forms of transportation to the Blue Mosque, etc., and the trains were equally quiet. For me, it’s heaven — but I fear someone will be cringing about our group soon!

# 27 January 2010 at 6:09 pm

Jamie (author) said:

Hi ADM,

I’m in London now, but I would love to be in Istanbul. When I was there I certainly wouldn’t have described Istanbul as quiet, sure, not as chaotic as Saigon perhaps, but London certainly seems tranquil in comparison. Enjoy your time there; it probably takes three months to take a good look around!

# 27 January 2010 at 6:49 pm

Lauren Quinn said:

“If that’s your attitude then why on earth are you interested in visiting in the first place?”

Amen.

# 5 February 2010 at 7:02 pm

mytimetotravel said:

Totally agree about the can’t(won’t)-read-signs photographers. And noisy diners in otherwise quiet restaurants.

I travel solo, and walk fairly fast, so I find totally self-absorbed couples and groups blocking the sidewalks particularly annoying. People who walk out of a sight and then stand in the middle of the best photo op reading their guide books are a pain, too. Why not do it inside where often you can sit down?

# 5 February 2010 at 7:13 pm

dynise basore said:

Yup, they sure do…but I seem to always chose to live in cities with loads of tourists in addition to my wanderings…then I get snarky, then I write about it http://hotbitterbitch.wordpress.com/2010/02/04/want-to-travel-to-italy/.

You can’t take photos of the original David and it makes tourists who want pictures of the real one and not one of the 287268762 copies around Florence absolutely crazy.

# 15 February 2010 at 2:01 pm

Camden Luxford said:

Chronic complainers – especially when the complaints run along the lines of how much better things are back home, where the trains run on time, where the food isn’t so damn spicy, where the people understand that spitting is gross… If you’re having such a crappy time, you know where the airport is.

# 24 February 2010 at 1:01 pm

Jen said:

I’m totally one of those people who will push by you when boarding a plane because I can’t stand people who take 20 minutes to board! I want to get from the gate to my seat in the minimum time possible with as little effort as possible. I don’t want to stand in the aisle, arms pulling out of the sockets by my suitcase, for 15 minutes while you try to figure out the overhead bin system. I want to be in my seat before you even get on the plane, so I can sit and laugh at you… maybe silently, if I’m feeling kind.

Golden rule of boarding a plane, know your seat, move to it, place your luggage in the nearest FORWARD overhead bin, and sit the hell down. Then remove your jacket, pull out your iPod/laptop/book/anxiety medication when you’re out of everyone else’s way.

Sorry for the rant. I haven’t even flown in six months, but this gets me heated!