They know I'm an American because I wear baggy pants. I wear a hat to cover my head. Hell, no, not a baseball cap.

Very interesting opinions ;-)

I am from Turkey in the tourist business. Usually we can also spot an American easier than others. New Balance trainers under any pants :-) But whats wrong with it ?
If you are American you are what you are. In Turkey %98 people will look at Americans sympathy. ( No, I did not say to the Government in the same percentage!)
Americans behaiving as if they are canadians make everyone lough I guess. Especially talking about Canada and canadians and pay something with travellers cheques and have to show Us. passport !!!!
Anyway I gues one should be just oneself. To be spotted as Americans in Turkey is a positive thing....

By the way reading all the posts I realized one another thing; I am able to spot Dutch from 100 mt. or when they tend to say "a". Good on me ehhh...

Have a safe and fun travelling all around..

Murat

Excuse me Murat, just out of interest - how can you spot Dutch a mile off? And what's with the Dutch "a"?? (And yes, I'm Dutch, but am never recognized as such abroad - always taken for French or Spanish or Israeli).

Hey Carola,

He said, "100 mt", something short of a mile.

Vous americains: I would recommend that you continue to be 45 pounds overweight, wear running shoes, and sport a U. of Michigan sweatshirt, so we pickpockets can spot you in the metro!

Because you were so LOUD! Do Americans need hearing aids? Nothing ruins the restaurant experience more than those talking so loud that those 5 tables away can hear you!

Hi Carola22;
I can't really explain how but I as well test myself and so far never failed spotting Dutch. Just to say "a" would be enough. I don't think its becouse my ex.wife was Dutch or I have been Holland frequently etc. Its just happening. You can dress up like American and speak to me I will tell you are Dutch :-) Natural Talent I guess.... Hah ha....

The only time I'm mistaken for an American when travelling abroad is when I'm wearing my blue jeans made in Honduras, my blouse made in China, my sneakers made in Indonesia, my leather jacket made in Korea, carrying my straw basket purse made in Mexico, talking on the latest model cell phone from Japan and drinking a Starbucks coffee with product made in Columbia. :D

To Ira - yes, I was a bit inaccurate! Of course 100 mt. is much less .... To propertravel: so it's the pronunciation of the "a" by the Dutch that sets us apart? (Who knows, we may meet sometime and it would be interesting to check if you would really "pass the test" - just kidding! In all fairness, I think that if you really have this "talent" you will be able to spot me as Dutch).
Regarding spotting Americans, yes I usually also recognise them right away, but not just from their clothing - it's something in the expression, and sometimes also the shape of the face, that gives them away.
Finally, a remark on American clothes: the clothing I bought in the US is the best I have ever bought; in my experience American clothes last waaayy longer, and can taken much more laundering, than anything I have ever bought here in Europe. I have been looking to order American clothes via the Internet but apparently most US retailers don't deliver overseas. I sure hope this changes in the future!

Fun topic - it's ok to laugh at ourselves. It was somewhat gratifying to me to see Italian and Scandinavian tourists in Tuscany last summer wearing gym shorts and their favourite athletic team shirt - and GB Packers shirts on sale in the local store. And during my frequent travels in China everyone knows I am a Westerner-wonder why. It was especially fun when a couple of families were parading their children past the restaurant window pointing at me lke I was from Mars. True, when you are 4 hours outside of Shanghai a Westerner is probably part of 50 per million population. It was fun for me...

The truth is people are slobs the world over...

Just as people from Europe can spot us Americans, I can easily spot someone from Europe on our American streets. As shallow as it sounds, their pants are shorter than how we wear them and their shoes are always a dead giveaway. And when I travel in Europe, it's easy to spot other Americans. Seems to me that Americans tend to dress up more, whereas Europeans are much more casual on a daily basis.

WE will be traveling to Europe this summer. I don't care how hard we try we would NEVER EVER pass as anything but Amaericans. We have 5 children and will have them all in tow for our 5 weeks abroad. When countries like Italy have a negative population growth I think they are going to notice our family. We will try to be as POLITE as we can and treat them with respect and I don't think we should have too much trouble. I hope.

They will guess that I am an American because I wear my Puma and Merrell (attractive) sneakers when I travel :)

oregon, dont worry. Well behaved Americans are accepted and treated very well no matter how they dress in style.
They love children and they may open doors for you.

Hi Oregon, I agree with Ciga. Your children will help add to the fun of your time in Italy. It is true that Italy has a very low birthrate, but that is due to the economic situation. Italians love children, especially wellbehaved childred (which so many Italian children sadly are not anymore). Enjoy every moment of your trip! And hope you can find time to give us a trip report after you return home.

This is puzzling in one aspect. Several posters said that they were women who walked alone in Italy and it was fine.

No one was ever abusive or truly negative about it, but I was given very dirty looks (and I know what a dirty look is- I am Italian genetically) by men AND women on more than several occasions when walking alone for short distances in Italy. This was North, CT, Naples, Amalfi Coast areas. I only bring this up because of the fact that I noticed this at least 4 or 5 times.

Why did I get this look? People were very friendly and wonderful to me otherwise. I did ask once in Formia and a lady told me it was because I was walking alone.???????

At the time, I was mostly in my 40's. I have a feeling that the mores are changing but that in my generation it's just not seemly. Am I wrong?

To the thread: I just don't care if they know I am an American or not. I get alone fine, but I just don't want to offend the local etiquette. And I have NEVER felt that body language hides you for a moment regardless.

My engineer/SO is of total Austrian extraction and fully American by birth and life experience. And the funniest fact (to me) was that often when we entered a small tratoria or shop in Italy I would hear somewhere a murmur of "Deusch" in the background. But then they would always speak to me first.

People are people and prejudice exists everywhere. Just take people for who they are and who cares if they think your are an American or not. YOU ARE.

America is a very unique place in the world, with over 300 ethnicities. Other countries are catching up quickly. However, to ever say one is an "American" in the context that it is something that may describe one's look or demeanor is ridiculous. There are different ethnic groups that behave differently. Some are loud in America, others soft spoken. The beer drinking, look at me, insecure loud sloth is what everyone is suggesting that Americans act like. I submit that Americans, more than any other country have more divergence among themselves.

Ergo, one cannot put a specific criteria on "Americans" as one can put on other ethnic groups that historically were homogeneous for thousands of years developing traits that are common knowledge in the world.
That is why we visit the "old" country, to gain further insight to the "old ways", which are brought to our attention by the citizens, especially those that practice the "old ways".

If you want to know how most Americans will act overseas, look at their ancestry and the historical traits of that countries citizens. In some Asian countries, people welcome quietude and softness among discussions. In other places, people sing loudly and drink large amounts of beer. Still other places put a premium on courtesy. And so it goes. Enough of this concept of trying to say that an American is typical in any way. We are unique, in that all countries are represented. We even have trouble deciding whether God is part of our heritage, or whether our founding fathers heritage should still be respected. In other words, we do not have an historic culture that is respected by everyone, and tomorrow, who knows...of course, without a commonly respected culture, there can be no morality, and without morality, there is violence...hmmmm...sounds like we are going in the path of yea olde Rome....