I love to travel! When I found out I had family members moving to London, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to take a trip overseas (hmm...maybe the house guest who invites herself would top the annoying tourist list). Anyhow, I filled my hubby’s wine glass extra full one night in an evil plot to see if he’d let me blow our frequent flyer points on a London vacation. I can’t even tell you how surprised I was when it actually worked! Wow...yet another reason to love wine!
For 10 days I had a blast doing every “touristy” thing I could think of! I wasn’t the only one. Just like New York and Paris, London is a perpetual draw for tourists! It’s a great mix of old and new so it’s no surprise that so many people want to travel there. I met some great people and had a lot of fun. However, every day I came across a few people that annoyed me. Don’t get me wrong, they weren’t completely horrible. They were just like that annoying mosquito that you want to smack and be done with. These are the mosquitoes people that annoyed me the most...
The Middle Of The Sidewalk Map Reader:
While I actually enjoy getting lost in a new city, I do occasionally have to pull out a map just to make sure I’m not about to cross over any borders! However, when I do pull out my map, I make a point to step to the side before I check it out. What I don’t do is stop smack dab in the middle of a busy sidewalk, unfold my 3 foot long map and proceed to spend 10 minutes examining it while everybody else has to go around me! Don’t be that person...the rest of us would like to use the sidewalk too.
The Photo Op Hog
When you’re going to the touristy spots, everybody wants to take pictures. We all want to preserve our memories in pictures and plus, it’s just fun. I don’t even mind waiting my turn when there are a lot of people around. However, please don’t be that person that needs to take an entire photo album worth of shots and won’t get out of the way for others to take their own pix. Get a good look, take your picture and move on.
The Blurry Head Guy (or girl)
If I see that someone’s taking a picture, I either stop or go behind them. Sometimes if I’m feeling especially nice, I’ll even offer to take the picture for them so they can be in it...and then I run away with their camera (okay, I made up that last part). I always try to avoid walking in front of people taking photos...I don’t want to be that blurry head popping up in the middle of the vacation photos. There’s one exception and that’s the “just take your picture already” guy!
The “Just Take Your Picture Already” Guy
If you’re trying to take a picture and someone has stopped to wait for you (so as not to be the aforementioned blurry head guy), please do not stand there all day trying to get just the right shot. Quickly take your picture so the rest of us can go by. We have 20 more tourist attractions and a wine bar to hit before sundown.
The Complainer
This is my least favorite person. Am I allowed to complain about the complainer? This is the person that goes to Europe and then whines that “everything is so old” or “the service is too slow” or “nobody speaks English”. Yes, I seriously heard someone complain once that they went to France and there weren’t enough people who spoke English. Maybe they were getting Paris, France confused with Paris, Texas? Surely you don’t want to spend all that time and money traveling to a new country, just to find it’s exactly like the one you just left. The fact that everything is so old is part of the charm! If doors are falling off the hinges as you open them, then yes you can definitely complain. Otherwise just take it all in and enjoy.
Overall, it was an awesome trip and I had a blast. There will be be more trips, and with that, more annoying tourists. Maybe we should make this required reading for anyone travelling to a new country. If my PSA can help turn just one of them around, my job here is done.
You can find Lisa at Fun Money Mom writing about a variety of topics, including food, parenting tips, saving money and travel. Most of all, she loves writing about the many trials and tribulations of surviving mommyhood! Follow Fun Money Mom on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest & Instagram