Rome, Italy: Looking extremely white.
"Italians usually have tanned or dark skin and it’s extremely rare to find someone who is exceptionally white with fair hair. We often understand they’re tourists by their pale glow."

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David K

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OK, but there are Italians living in the most northern parts of the country (and it´s still millions of people because of how dense the industry and mountain accommodation services are north of Milan) and many of them are not tanned or having dark skin.

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Amsterdam, Netherlands: Wearing a helmet while biking.
"Locals ride around without a helmet."

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chi-wei shen

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This might be the tradition in the Netherlands but I think it's not a good idea. Especially children should wear a helmet.

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Bangkok here! I’ve adjusted to most of these, being here for over 2 years, but these are the general dead giveaways if you’re a non-local:

1- Bargaining: If you’re anything except Thai looking, the locals, from supermarkets, to taxis, will always try to give you a higher price so you start bargaining. To the Thais, if you’re not Thai, there’s a high chance you’re a traveller, and chances are you’re gullible, and they will try to take advantage. Unless you learn the tricks to bargaining, then they’ll know how to play it safe.

2- Spicy Food: When you order food from a “hole in the wall” kind of place, or pretty much any other restaurant, and add a request for your food to not be spicy, then you haven’t lived here long enough.

3- Home Etiquette: Generally, in most places in Thailand, it’s customary to take your shoes off before you enter someone’s house (in most SEA countries actually). When people just brazenly walk into someone’s house without realising the proper etiquette, it’s kind of a give away.

4- Pad Thai: Now I know the love for this Thai cuisine in most Western countries, but live here long enough, it won’t be your favourite thing anymore. In fact you’ll find a lot of reasons never to order it again. Also, there’s a lot better things than Pad Thais…ever had Tom Yum?

5- Road Crossing: This might be one of my favourites to witness. Travellers and expats get so scared of the traffic in Bangkok. They will make sure the roads are completely clear before attempting to cross. Do locals do that? Big fat NAH! There’s an unspoken language between the driver and pedestrian. The driver will know when to slow down, and the pedestrian will know when not to cross. The pros of course take it to another level. They’ll just raise their hand and walk onto the road without looking twice. It always works…

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F. H.

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I guess many tourists just don't care about the prices, since they are low anyway. I've never been there but I'd probably feel bad to haggle down some poor taxi driver to save a dollar. As a tourist you are prepared to pay more for everything anyway.

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Paris, France

No real Parisian would dare to wear those false University Hoodies such as Sorbonne University Hoodies, many buy them without knowing that it has nothing to do with the University.
Hanging out in areas such as St-Michel, I mean it’s cool but they’re not meeting real Parisians there maybe some students from Assas, Louis-Le-Grand or La Sorbonne.
Wearing Paris tee-shirts.
That one easy, but speaking in English is very rare in France, most English speakers you’ll encounter there are tourists
Taking photos of everything, literally EVERYTHING, I saw to tourists taking photos of metro maps, sidewalks and even trash cans, really.
Using metro maps.
Style, especially for American families, I thought that we were wearing quite the same things, but I remarked that Americans are more sportwear (like fathers wearing Am.Football jerseys or hoodies, wearing sports caps in their 50’s, it’s much less common here in France) or seem to care less about their style than Europeans.
Thinking that France=Paris, France is a much more diverse that people know, they’re so many other beautiful places in France.
Visiting monuments, despite all the beautiful buildings that Paris can offer, many of native Parisians probably never visited many of them. Sometimes I feel that we don’t measure the chance of living in such a beautiful place.

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Katie Lutesinger

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People told me the French are all super rude, but actually everyone I met there was really nice and friendly. One museum employee, seeing my mum had mistakenly taken her backpack into the gallery instead of leaving in the cloakroom, was so polite he crouched beside her as she was looking at an exhibit and very discreetly explained the situation, keeping his voice down so she wouldn't be embarrassed in front of people.

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Bath, UK. One of the most popular tourist places in the UK, home of Romans, the medieval abbey, Jane Austen and beautiful Georgian architecture. I love my city, but it can be swamped by tourists fairly regularly (especially at Xmas).

Driving. If you’re a local you know not to drive in the centre of Bath because it’s hell. We have a one way system which so confusing (even for locals!), lots of pedestrianised bits and one way streets. Plus parking is freaking expensive! Also the locals just don’t give a f**k, because cars are so few and far between we tend to walk in the middle of the road in the centre of town. And if you’re driving don’t expect us to move out of the way too quickly.

Spending money at the Xmas markets. Now I don’t mind supporting local businesses and there are a few stalls I go to because I know they do good products, but for the most part they’re all crap. Tourists spend loads of money because they get swept up in the ‘Xmas spirit’. Also most of the locals avoid that part town at this time, it gets too busy, and in comparison to other xmas markets in Europe it’s not that great.

Not going to the good events. Comedy shows, music gigs, local theatre productions and local pubs. There are so many events on in Bath that are free/relatively cheap and really good. Most of the pubs often have live bands, comedians or poetry events going on, and the tourists never bother with them. Sure a lot of the regular tourists hotspots are interesting and beautiful, but they’re often expensive and crowded. Bath is famous for its literary and music events, so it’s always crazy that the tourists never go to them.

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Ben Stubbs

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True story. I'm from Weymouth, but have family in Wick. I once parked on a double yellow (at Christmas time) heading towards Lansdown as I needed to go to the cash point. Got ticketed immediately. I ripped it up and threw it away in front of the warden, never heard any more. Then there was the time I got fabulously drunk at the Christmas market....x

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Manhattan here. All of these will immediately identify you as a tourist.

Gawking:
I don’t care if Bill Gates is walking down the street hand in hand with Derek Jeter and the ghost of Tupac. Most New Yorkers will shrug and get on with their day. A Rod and J Lo were outside of my gym a few weeks back, and not even my one friend (who’s a pretty big Yankee’s fan) could muster up the enthusiasm to take a closer look. Meanwhile, every single tourist spends half of their time gawking at the manhole covers and standing in traffic. Speaking of which…

Waiting for Traffic Signs:
Yes: Jay-walking is illegal. Nobody who lives here cares. I watched a guy yesterday walk across 1st Avenue in the middle of traffic with nothing but a raised middle finger to protect him. This is, while not the norm, still more acceptable than seeing an open street and not crossing because of a light.

Endless Photography:
I understand that that’s the Empire State Building… and that’s the Flatiron Building… and that’s a squirrel. Taking 30 pictures of each is aggravating. I’m trying to get to work/the gym/home/somewhere else. You are standing in between myself and that destination, stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.

Walking Incorrectly:
In the city, people walk at a faster pace than elsewhere. You move slower to the right, and faster to the left (predominantly a rule for stairs and escalators).

Being Exceptionally Loud On the Subway:
If your voice is pitched above a whisper on the subway, you’re generally either homeless, a mariachi band, or a tourist. Based on clothing, it’s usually pretty easy to tell which one is which.

Food:
If you are in a Papa Johns, Domino’s, Panda Express, Taco Bell, or other similar variety, you are probably a tourist (or really high). You can get better pizza/chinese/mexican food out of any local trash bin, but most locals just get it at any of the random corner restaurant that you might pass. They’re all better than most of the chains, and usually pretty competitively priced.

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Susan Stead

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Clogging the sidewalks! When I was working in NYC, the tourist groups would stand right in the middle of the sidewalk, talking. The city has real people who really have real jobs that they really, really need to get to. It's not a museum or movie set or amusement park. Stand to the side to chat and let folks get on their way.

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Philippines. Let’s set aside the fact that they look like a foreigner (white, black, too oriental, etc..) 1. Not haggling with street shops. Street shops which are outside the mall are haven for local hagglers. It became a skill to acquire something as cheap as possible. 2. Generous tipping. Very rarely for us locals to tip. It is not a requirement. If a fellow countryman tipped quite generously, chances are that he/she is a “balikbayan” (a local who worked abroad and came back). On the other-hand, most Western foreigners (mostly Americans) never failed to tip. They make waiters happy. 3. Wearing the native hats (salakot/buri) at beaches. We only see locals wear this at farms. In beaches, most who wear these are foreigners. But..ok, some of our elder locals wear this too anywhere. My point is, most young locals won’t. 4. Awkward behavior while riding our local “jeepney”. Almost instantly you can tell if they’re foreigners by the way they sit, they pay the fare and then finally telling the driver their destination and if they wanted to disembark. 5. Being unbelievably surprised at the infamous traffic of Manila. We locals complain a lot about our unsolvable traffic problem but we’re really not surprised anymore. We get surprised if there’s a day without traffic. 6. Foreigners often voice out how unbelievable traffic could get. Surprised with our Traffic Laws and its why’s. Most foreigners find it absurd why we have a number coding scheme, a day where certain plate numbers ending in specific number cannot drive on our main high-ways and streets. Why are there humans (traffic aides) assisting drivers at intersections despite having working traffic lights. And our (dismal) speed limits in express lanes.

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Paul Khon

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I've been to Manila a number of times - I'm not so sure they have "traffic laws". They do have holidays for any event - including a street dog made it across the road without being killed. This is a city were a lot of bars have a sign on the door: leave your guns with security. Safe to consider that doesn't happen as often as it should. Drunks with guns... not drinking there.

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These are the easiest ways to spot a non-local in Edinburgh:

Wearing an jacket/using an umbrella for the slightest amount of rain - It’s Scotland, it rains a lot and most locals are used to an odd shower without getting bothered by it that much. To quote my Czech friend - “I don’t know if Scots are born waterproof, but I’m not.”
Wearing one of those awful Tam-o-Shanter hats - I have never ever in all my life seen a Scot wear one of these seriously, it’s just embarrassing
Being surprised at how often locals swear - Basically the language of Scotland
In general, not understanding what any locals say - Trust me, I am so used to this one. Scots English is different to English and it’s just infuriating attempting to come up with the English translation - some words just don’t translate!
Not queuing - Nothing more frustrating than someone trying to jump the queue for a bus/at a shop
If they go into Old Town during August - There are some exceptions to this but if you want to spot a non local, look no further than the Royal Mile during the festival - it’s packed with them!
But of course the easiest way to tell if someones local or not - can they pronounce Edinburgh, loch, Milngavie and Carnegie correctly!

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Candace Fitzpatrick

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I saw a whole group of teens getting off a bus in Edinburgh, wearing Tam O Shanter hats with the fake red hair attached. They must’ve been on a school trip but literally every souvenir shop there sells them. Them and shorts that have a fake plastic bum attached I have no idea what that was all about!

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Cairo,Egypt here,

If you are very white or very black you are most likely a foreigner without doing anything. but sometimes you're not. Some Egyptians look like you.

If you don't look a lot different, and you're a native speaker of Arabic your accent will show that you're not Egyptian no matter how clever you are in Egyptian dialect,(most Arabs are).even more obvious, If you are a non Arabic speaker no matter how good you are in Arabic.

If you don't say anything, but you are carrying a map, wearing or buying any of the tourist pharaohs/ancient Islamic stuff.

If your skin looks like you've recently had sun baths.

If you're smiling a lot to strangers and trying to start small talks all the time (vacation mood) using hello in Arabic in your sweet funny way.

Some people have a special national outfit.

even if you are Egyptian from Alexandria, Luxer,portsaid or the countryside or any other place probably your accent will show.

Maybe in Alexandria and other cities on sea cost they will have a lot to say answering this question, I always feel spotted as a non local easily by them I'm the one who’s asking about the shortest way to the beach buying zalabia and eating it while walking, smiling a lot and starting small talks in a vacation mood ..etc.

However, if you are a foreigner, you'll love it. the locals are very friendly and welcoming. They will be thrilled to hear you trying to say anything in Egyptian Arabic.

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I live in Tangerang (Indonesia), which is basically next to Jakarta, so I’ll include Jakarta as well. Behaviors that make you look foreign :

-Crossing the street. In our country, there’s no such thing as pedestrian right of way. In order to cross the road without traffic light, one must have the right timing and walk as fast as they can. Cars (and bikes) won’t stop for you. If a person waits for any vehicle to give him a way for a long period of time, he’s either a foreigner or a spoiled kid who have never walked outside.

-Looking like Westerner/Middle Easterner/Black Africans. East Asians can still blend in because they can be mistaken as Chinese-Indonesians.

-Walk really fast. People here walk really slow.

-Taking pictures of things that we consider usual stuffs.

-Doing selfie while riding a motorcycle taxi.

-Intentionally trying to get tanned at midday. A big no for us locals.

-Smiling for “unusual” occasions, like smiling at security guards without saying anything or smiling at random beggars.

-Handing/receiving things with the left hand without feeling guilty. In here it’s considered rude to use the left hand.

-Desperate to find toilet paper while there are plenty of bidet sprays to clean your thing.

-Dressing in a long robe (like Arabs and Pakistanis) or sari (like South Asians).

-Slum-tourism.

-Looking excited when riding a rickshaw.

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Phunny Philosopher

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Ah yes, smiling. In my part of the world it is considered impolite if you don't smile and greet people around you. I've heard some people think we look like lunatics, walking around with our teeth out all the time. It is actually quite difficult to smile always, no matter what you are feeling.

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southern california!!! (specifically the area around LA)

• calling california “cali”. don't do it. the only people who say “cali” are not from california.

• saying the “i” before any freeway (such as i-405). we just say “the 405” or “the 110”

• driving! so! slow! in california, the speed limit is basically a suggestion. i have a police man friend to told me this saying that he and his buddies like to go by in terms of how fast you can drive until you'll get pulled over “9 you're fine, 10 you’re mine”. ( we all drive an average of 10-15 over the speed limit here)

• not considering traffic when driving through LA. you could easily add over an hour to your drive if you get stuck in rush hour traffic (from 4–7 pm usually is the worst. and mornings too from like 6–9)

• taking public transportation. unlike other cities, no one in LA typically will take any form of public transportion unless absolutely necessary

• beaches

-the water here is COLD because of the alaskan gulf current coming down our coast. if you want warm waters, either go to hawaii or wait a couple years until global warming heats it up

-being surprised that there are great whites in the water. a large portion off of southern california’s coast is a nursery for juvenile great whites. all these shark sightings happen every year! it's perfectly normal and they probably won't hurt you

-being surprised that we have stingrays in our waters. the first thing many of us are taught when we start going to the beach is to shuffle our feet so we don't step on a stingray. you should too

-going to the beach super early and being surprised that it's foggy. we have this super cool thing called the marine layer which burns off at around 11 or 12 and then the masses of people come in. tourists will also be surprised at how many people are at the beaches after 12

•you can't pronounce any names of cities/streets. our street/city names are hard. some are pronounced the way it's pronounced in spanish and some are pronounced white af. there's no reason to it

•saying “hella” automatically means you aren’t from southern california

•if you think any other fast food place is better than in n out, you aren't from california

•you actually know how to drive when it rains. we don't. at all.

•you know nothing about earthquakes. we practice earthquake drills ALL. THE. TIME. we have a yearly earthquake drill AS A STATE called the great california shakeout where all businesses and schools participate (i'm not sure if this is statewide but definitely in southern california). most of us have lived through several earthquakes and they really aren't that big of a deal

•if you hate mexican food there's a very high probability you aren’t from here. it's basically our state food

and finally….

•your language!! a lot of us casually speak in that laid back surfer-like style, especially if we live near the beach. i use the words dude, bro, sick, and many others, just casually thrown into a sentence. we also say things like “no yeah” (yes), “yeah no” (no), or “yeah no for sure” (definitely).

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Katchen

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Also I guess this poster doesn’t know any poor people, since she thinks no one takes public transportation? And many localities (in Southern California!) make revenue collection through meticulous speed limit enforcement. I think this poster is a teenager who thinks her social circle and where she lives is “all of Southern California.”

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London, UK: Ordering a full English breakfast.
"A tourist will order a fry-up for the ~experience~ but everyone else is perfectly happy chugging Crunchy Nut cornflakes straight from the box."

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Adam Manley

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Absolute rubbish, we love full english

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I live in Texas. We can easily spot people who are “not from here”. If you don’t have a sense of humor, you might want to skip this post. Especially if you are from Texas. They wait their turn Texas is a state full of people who are all convinced it is their turn. They wait for no man (or woman or child). If we see someone standing and waiting their turn, it totally discombobulates us. We stop and look around to see if there is something catastrophic happening. They know how to drive. People who are not from here know how to merge onto the highway. They match the speed of the interstate traffic, then ease in one at a time, like a well-orchestrated zipper. Real Texans go whatever speed they think is right and force the interstate traffic to accommodate them. People who are not from here come to a full and complete stop at red lights. This scares the Hell out of real Texans and will most likely get you rear-ended. Real Texans know that yellow means “fast” and red means “floor it”. See: They do not wait their turn. See: Real Texans do not wait turn turn. People who are not from here allow you to get in front of them on the road. Real Texans let no one get in front of them. If you signal you are changing lanes, we speed up to block you from getting in. Which leads us to our next anomaly. People who are not from here, signal. Real Texans do not signal. That tips other drivers to where you are trying to go and they will try to get ahead of you. They Correctly Pronounce Spanish Words (And I’m not a Spanish speaker or a linguist, so please feel free to enlighten me.) Texans have a habit of butchering Spanish words (usually geographical words) with a maliciousness that is palpable and will double-dog-dare-you to call them out on it. The street of Manchaca (mahn chock uh) becomes Manshack. If you’re not from here and ask them about Manchaca, pronouncing it correctly, they will feign ignorance and tell you they know nothing of it until you mispronounce it Manshack. Then they will help you find it. They Mispronounce Spanish Words At the same time, Texans pronounce some Spanish words correctly (usually words for food) and people who aren’t from here, well, don’t. Taco is tock oh, not tack oh. Burrito is brr ee toh, not burr it toh. Queso is kay so, not kway so or que so. And most importantly, it’s sair vay suh, not ker vezz ah. That’s beer for you folks who aren’t from here. And Texans know what these things are, how to eat them (take the corn husk off that tamale folks!), and how to order them. Usually. They Cannot Handle Properly Seasoned Foods We like things spicy here in Texas. Grab a cerveza and wade on in. We may not know how to drive or wait, but dammit the food here is excellent. (Thank you Mexico!) But it is definitely not for woosies. (Smile)

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Torchicachu

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okay see where i live at least all that driving behavior is seen as just being an a-hole

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The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region! Well… (All tongue in cheek, guys, relax ;) ) If you saunter slowly down the street gawking at the buildings and desperately trying to avoid being dripped on by the air conditioners…. you ain’t a Honger. True Hongers would just barge straight ahead eating curry fishballs in one hand and looking at their cell phones with the other. God help anyone they bump into, lol. If you stand on the left of the escalator…. you ain’t a Honger. True Hongers always know to walk on the left and stand stately on the right. If you insist on taking the cable car up the Peak, even though there is a 2 hour wait… you ain’t a Honger. True Hongers know to just take the damn bus up the peak. Its cheaper too. If you prefer Disneyland over Ocean Park, you ain’t a true Honger. :D If you go to bed before 11 PM, you ain’t a true Honger. True Hongers are night owls and would rather be up at 3 AM pounding beats at LFK or eating curry fishballs in Mong Kok. :D If you speak “proper Cantonese” without the internet slang and the proper anglicisms (“ba see” for bus, “si do beh leh” for strawberry, etc), you ain’t a true Honger, and many otherwise native Cantonese speakers from Guangzhou are caught out in this way. True Hongers use “lazy sounds” in their Cantonese and the proper anglicisms in proper Cantonese grammar.

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Paul Khon

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HK... only place in Asia I haven't liked. Either visit.

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Zagreb, Croatia. It is relatively easy to recognize tourists in Zagreb. Especially in the summer. Tourists, obviously, speak foreign languages in most cases. They pronounce the name of the city as Zabreg* or Zagrab*. Or something like that. They very often have large backpacks, some of which are suitable for camping. They sometimes walk in groups or pairs. Holding hands or not. They sometimes follow the leader (tourist guide). They take photos of famous sights. Actually, they take photos of everything that is a bit interesting. They seem interested in buildings, streets, cafes and shops. Locals usually don't even notice things around them because they are either in a hurry or totally uninterested in the things they see every day. Some of the tourists have city maps with them. Or they ask for directions. They buy or browse through souvenirs. Magnets, lots of magnets. Many tourists smile, laugh or share joy around them. I think that too many people in my country are worried and concerned about something. Some people really have problems, while others complain too much. Complaining is our thing. Besides, tourists are probably having a good time, while locals are spending their time in the boring, everyday way. Tourists are excited about museums, statues, galleries and other places. Locals rarely even think about them. In shops, tourists either smile without trying to talk or they try to speak in English. Or they just greet in Croatian and keep smiling. Locals sometimes chat with salespeople, sometimes complain about the weather or something or just collect their things and murmur “Bye”. No smiles included. Tourists usually wear sports, comfortable clothes, shorts and trainers. Ladies included. Locals dress in many different ways, but most women traditionally prefer leather shoes, sandals, ballerinas or high heels. Only some teenagers and old women wear trainers on a regular basis (not a rule, but still…). Most local middle-aged women don't wear shorts. Tourists don't mind sitting in the Sun or the heat and having lunch on a restaurant terrace in the summer. Locals don't go to restaurants regularly and especially don't like the summer Sun. They hide during the day and come out in the evening.

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STress the Terrible

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Well, you've just described each and every tourist in every tourist destination on Earth! What we're trying to find out here are dead givaways, like hanging out in Tkalča, but never going farther than Glavni or Autobusni kolodvor. Or not paying attention on the tram traffic (especially Americans and Aussies). You'll never hear the tram driver ringing (not honking, Zagreb trams all have bell sounds built-in) on locals. Also, prefering well-known food chains to local cuisine (you'll pretty always find them in the McD's in Jurišićiva, but try to find anyone in Mimica, just few meters away)...

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You're not a local here in Singapore,

If you pronounce the districts Tampines as 'Tem-pines' instead of 'Tem-puh-nees', Hougang as 'how-gang' instead of 'Ho-kang', Chua Chu Kang as 'qua-choo-kang' instead of 'choo-ah-choo-kang', Bencoolen as 'ben-choo-land' instead of 'ben-cool-len'.
If you speak english without using any of these "lah, lor, hor, ah, meh, leh" at the end of your sentences.
If you speak complete english sentences without any mixture of chinese or malay words in them
If speak English in any other accent besides the local Singlish/Singaporean accent
If you don't use these words in your conversation: "Paiseh, Siao, Walau, Jialat, Sian, Simi"
If you don't understand ERP HDB CPF EPS ECP PIE KPE BKE MCE AYE MRT
If you smile and look happy rather than looking frustrated and damn serious while on the subway, bus, or walking
If you're not part of a very long queue waiting to buy food from a store
If you don't 'complain' about something or 'blame' someone during lunch with your friends / colleagues
If you don't speed up to prevent another car from overaking you the moment you see it signalling to change to your lane
If you're wiping your sweat or grimacing while walking under the hot sun in an extremely humid, 34-degree-celcius afternoon.
If you're eating chewing gum on the streets

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I’m from the-middle-of-nowhere, Indiana!

Some things that non-locals may do that stick out to us include:

1. Not being able to understand some dialect. Most of us use a General American (General American - Wikipedia) dialect while talking but some people, especially older gentlemen and people near the Ohio and Kentucky borders, speak with a bit more of a drawl. If I’m surrounded by people who talk in a drawl for more than a few seconds, I find myself using it, too.
2. In the town I live in, almost everyone is white. If you aren’t, chances are most people know you or you’re not a local.
If you don’t speak English, you’re not from around here. There’s a wide variety of ethnicities in bigger areas such as Carmel, Zionsville, or Indianapolis and no guarantee that everyone there knows English. In my small town and those surrounding it, though, everyone does.
3. If you haven’t heard of my high school or the two elementary schools in the same corporation, you’re definitely not from around here or surrounding districts. I say that because our athletic teams are always competing against various schools and those schools all know of us, and we of them.
4. If you’re amazed by how many fields and cows there are- guess what! You’re new here. I mean very new, too. When you see miles of fields daily, they aren’t so astounding after a while.
a. My grandmother was telling me stories today about some city-kid exchange students she had that were surprised you could see the horizon.
5. If you don’t know the difference between a chicken and a turkey, you’re probably from the city. Also, you are probably not from surrounding states, either.
a. For FFA (a agriculture group) one year, some of our high schoolers went to teach Indianapolis elementary kids about some farming thing. Those kids didn’t even know the difference between a chicken and a turkey, which is very common knowledge here.
That’s about all I’ve got!

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Phunny Philosopher

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3 years ago

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I would also like to add: wearing a bulky coat, gloves and winter hat when it's 60 degrees F outside. Depending on the season, 60 is considered balmy. We have thick blood, I guess.

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Brunei here: (Southeast Asian country in Borneo) *near Malaysia

1. The most obvious thing to distinguish non-locals here is they often take the public transportation i.e. the bus. I can assure that 99% of Bruneians don’t use our own public transportation. Some non-locals (expats) here are quite well-off… I’m referring to the average ones.
2. If not by bus, non-locals sometimes walk. We could often see them walking in groups around town during the weekends. Tourists do this too, as there are very limited access to public transport (taxis) here. We locals don’t walk as much because the places we go to from our homes can be quite far, and due to the sweltering heat most of the time, we opted not to. So its only logical to assume that most of those who walk on the roads are non-locals.
3. Driving: Non-locals drive slower than locals here, especially the working/ lower mid class (rich people = fast cars?) idk... If we encounter a car that moves slow on a highway, its most likely that a non-local is behind the wheel.
4. Also, we know you are non-local by the way you dress. Some of the common ones in Brunei - Indians tend to dress casually smart (square shirt & tailored pants); Indonesians dress very casual (t-shirt and jeans); and Philippinos sometimes are hard to distinguish cus they dress somewhat similar to the locals, except for females… the only way to know is when they talk.

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I live in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, home of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (aka the best University of Illinois, in my completely unbiased opinion.) There are a lot of things that I consider normal here that my dad has told me is not in fact normal for most towns, and is normal here only because the University is here, but this was the only thing I could think of off the top of my head that would identify a non-local. I don’t even know if this really counts since it’s such a specific thing, but here goes.

There’s a building in town that (currently) is called the State Farm Center, but used to be called the Assembly Hall - it was changed around 4–5 years ago.

Some residents do call it the State Farm Center (although most call it the Assembly Hall in my experience, just from years of habit or disliking the new name), so that’s not the identifier. What *is* is not even KNOWING it used to be called the Assembly Hall. People like that are definitely not from in town. Even a lot of the out-of-town students don’t know that the Assembly Hall used to be called that from what I’ve seen, even though it’s very common to still call it that among residents.

I learned this when I was talking to some grad students I worked with at an unpaid internship and when I mentioned the Assembly Hall they didn’t know what I was talking about. Apparently they’d never heard it called that. Everyone in my high school and every other resident I’ve talked to always knew what I meant when I mentioned the Assembly Hall, even if they called it by the other name. (I hate the name State Farm Center and refuse to use it if at all possible.) My parents were shocked when I told them said grad students hadn’t known that it used to be called the Assembly Hall! We just assumed everyone knew! But if those grad students have never heard it, I would assume that not many of the students (most of whom are from out of town, since we get students from all over the world) call it that or perhaps even know that’s a name for it. *shrug*

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Toronto here. We can always spot a tourist from a mile away. I’ve lived in Kensington Market for a while, so most of my examples are from around there. Large families in Kensington Market, ogling at all the graffiti, taking up a ton of space on the road taking photos. Just f*ck off. People have places to go. Realistically, anybody walking slower than normal walking pace in Kensington is probably a tourist. Anyone shocked at the huge amount of dispensaries and public weed consumption in the city. ESPECIALLY in the market. Most people in Kensington on a weekend in the summer. That’s when they all come out. But nobody who goes to Cold Tea, the hidden bar in the market ;) That’s just for us. Oh, but the best are the tourists who go to the local independent coffee shops in the market and try to order Starbucks drinks. HA! Locals know that in Kensington, cash is king. Tourists love their Mastercards. Someone who says street names instead of neighbourhoods (Dundas and Spadina instead of “Chinatown,” etc). Of course, we have to say street names sometimes too, but you can just TELL, ya know? Tourists LOOOVE Yonge & Dundas Square. Locals try to stay the hell away. NOBODY calls it TDOT or The Six! I had a few more, but I got distracted and they slipped my mind. I’ll update as I remember!

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Aunt Messy

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3 years ago

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We used to shop at Kensington every weekend. It was part of our local grocery round. We'd go to Lawrence Market on Saturdays, Kensington on Sundays, and also the Lawrence antique sales on Sundays. (We lived at King and Yonge.

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I live in Virginia Beach. Keep you in mind I will mention the entire Hampton Roads area, which consists of a couple of cities.

The amount of traffic to the beach in the summer. Most locals honestly don't want to go to the beach. Most of the tourists walk slowly on the boardwalk. A lot of locals hate this so we stay away from the beaches and malls mostly. Many of us avoid going to the boardwalk or mount trashmore around Fourth of July. Parking at the oceanfront at that time, at cheapest, is $30.
The largest amount of traffic in the entire city. Traffic is bad, even before the time people get off work. The traffic is four times worse around 3 pm to 7 pm. Our traffic is usually already pretty nasty because we live next door to the naval base, so we have a lot of navy getting back home. The most noticble behavior of the tourists is weaving in and out of traffic, appearing to have to no idea where they are going. They also cause more accidents. Though I can't fault them since our roads are kinda all over the place. Norfolk is much worse in this department.
The amount of confusion I guess? I mean my city is pretty diverse so most tourists might be confused. The only area in this city that isn't as diverse might be the pungo area, where most locals go so as to prepare for the strawberry festival.
Giving a huge hoopla for the Neptune festival or the patriots festival. Seriously, people freaking out if they miss it at one point. Makes the tickets more overpriced too unfortunately.
People are complaining about the horrid heat. Yes, yes, we know, our city is so hot, in addition to the humidity. Locals don't complain about it because we are used to it. Just get a free water bottle from the local grocery stores and carry on. We warn multiple times about how you can easily get heat stroke here.
Most of the stores at the boardwalk are mostly operated by Southern Europeans. Some of the employees name tags have what country they are from.
In the entire Hampton roads area, locals know to avoid buckroe beach.
You know what the Norwegian lady is if you are a local. (Or you should anyway.) You also don't over exaggerate about going to colonial Williamsburg or Yorktown. I mean, you went there in fourth grade. It is still a big deal but you don't keep talking about it if you are a local.
A lot of us avoid going to Busch gardens and don't bother going until fall. The tourists will of course visit one of our best amusement parks.
Most locals will still wear flip flops in fall and winter.

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