The popular kid, isn’t so popular. Wake up America.

I’ve been on my own for only a week and a half and I really wish I would have backpacked on my own sooner. I love being on my own schedule, meeting new people and seeing whatever I want, when I want. I guess this is a warm up for future travels (I’m already planning my next one, South America. haha). For the future, I’m going to be picky about who I travel with, its not like many of my friends back home travel much anyway, which is part of the reason I’m blogging the following. As expected, I’ve met a lot of backpackers from all over the world in the past month, and in the 100’s of people I’ve met, I’ve only met 3 Americans, all of them only being over here for one month, either break from school or a few weeks off work.
The first American I met, I was really embarrassed for him. It’s only natural for other culture to generalize a country off their experiences. He was a 20 year old male from San Diego, California. He started talking to me at Fraser when we were camping at the aboriginal camp. He noticed that I was wearing rainbow flip flops, a give away for the west coast and asked me what I thought of Australia, I gave him my honest opinion of loving it and asked for his. His response was so stereotypical arrogant American, I nervously looked around to everyone near and hoped they were to drunk to notice him. ‘I mean I don’t know what the big deal is, Australia has beaches and so does California, there’s to many mosquito’s and people are weird, I’m excited to go home in a week. I only came out here because my mom had to go to Brisbane for work”. I quickly drank the rest of my drink and said I needed a refill, I didn’t want to associate myself with him, especially since he was American. Throughout the night when people learned I was American they jokingly (but not) asked if I was ready to go home too, obviously they had met Blake. I felt I had to quickly get on a soap box and preach that not all Americans are that way, it didn’t matter, so I stopped justifying.
The second Americans I met are two girls that I currently share my dorm room with. Being excited they were American girls and backpacking, I started chatting to them. They were nice, and responded to my questions, but quickly grabbed their bags and went for bigger and better things. I tried to talk to them a few more times, but it was a one way conversation for the most part. They were also in Australia for only a month. At night, at all the hostels everyone eats together and gets to know one another, those girls ate together then went to the room, never socializing with anyone else. In the past month I am 100 percent of the time assumed as Canadian and when correcting someone, they are shocked. The response is either “and you’re by yourself” or “you really don’t seem American”. I’ve come to realize through talking to others and seeing it for myself that America sucks as a backpacker…
So listen up America.. for those of you who want to travel, but you’re waiting around for your friends, stop being a baby and go for it on your own. Those of you who go together, stop being babies as well and embrace this opportunity to talk to people, learn about other cultures, and be stoked about being in a new. I am more and more becoming embarrassed of my country, not only because of the numerous bad experiencing other backpackers have had with us, but the image our own country portrays as well. That being Hollywood and politics. I had no idea how influential movies and the media was until coming to Australia. Every person I met asks me at least one “is it really like blah blah blah in the states” (referring to Mean Girls or The OC). That’s obviously not necessarily the American peoples fault, but rather Hollywood. Secondly, our wars. I had no idea how many countrys were involved in Iraq until meeting people from Denmark, England, Germany and Poland that were either going to war in Iraq or have already done their time. America truly is the popular kid of this world, almost everyone gets on her good side because she is so powerful, it’s a bit sad to know so many other country’s are fighting our war. On a brighter side of things, most travelers who bring up politics are stoked on Obama, and he is definitely giving America a better reputation.
I’m annoyed that our country doesn’t encourage travel like others, that we tend to think we are better then everyone and that have set a bad image of ourselves. For the most part I know I’m fortunate to be from America, I just wish there weren’t so many fuck wits. The end.