On another forum, we once had a Pompous Twit from England and a Dumb Blonde from Germany. The misconceptions those two had would fill a book. The problem was that both of them loved to display their "superior" knowledge of the USA.

Once one of the regular members was needed to buy a new fridge. She asked for suggestions. The DB told her she was just wasting money, all she had to do was sit her pershables out on the window sill like she did. Can you see that happening in most places where houses don't even have window sills and temperatures get into the 90s and 100s?

And another time, we were discussing the problems of the inner cites, kids with guns, drugs, gangs, etc. and the Twit more or less called us liars and guilty of spreading hersay. It couldn't be true. It seems he had just gone back to England after spending TWO WEEKS driving down the West Coast of California and had not seen anything like what we were talking about. Therefore, it wasn't true. He also advised the women to quit wasting money on Exercise Clubs and Gyms. Just walk on the footpaths like he did.

I think one misconception that we all share is not being aware of the differences in Climate. Remember when the temps got over 80 in Europe and they considered it a Heat Wave and people were having a terrible time? We were having our usual nearly 100 for the umpteenth day.

LOL - yes, just use the footpaths. Yeah, that'll work.

Pretty funny and depressing at the same time: can anyone name 5? 10? 20 30? states in Mexico?
No, Cancun is not one.
M

I would venture to say that a lot of people on this board can name quite a few states in Mexico. If you were to ask the general public though, I don't think you'd get as good of a result.

Just for fun - since I am just procrastinating today anyway :)

1 Chiapas
2 Oaxaca
3 Michoacan
4 Baja California
5 Aguas Caliente
6 Jalisco
7 Zacatecas
8 Sonora
9 Sinaloa
10 Veracuz
11 Chihuahua
12 Yucatan

Ok - that's all I can think of without the map. Not bad

Mexico has states? ;-)

Not just states, United ones, just like us!

Two I've come accross :

1. Puerto Rico is the third largest island in the Caribbean.Jamaica is the third largest.
2.The island of Jamaica is to be found somewhere in the United States. I've actually been asked, "what part of the United States would you find Jamaica?"

Maybe they meant Jamaica, NY? (Sigh. probably not...)

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the confusion with Austria and Australia. I've known a surprising number of people who think that they are one and the same. My brother-in-law was one of them. On my visit to Austria I bought him back a magnet (yellow diamond-shaped like a traffic sign) that said "No Kangaroos in Austria" with an outline of a kangaroo with a slash through it.

I have lived in TN most of my life and it used to puzzle me that visitors assumed everyone loves country music and has a farm...conversely, on my first trip to NYC, we met a girl from a farm in New York, breaking my own belief that everyone in New york lives in Manhattan. Also a funny story, on a college tour through the northeast, we rented a car in Baltimore and drove to Boston and back. About an hour into the trip, she handed me a map of New Jersey and asked how much longer the drive would be to our first stop. I kept unfolding this state map and we were in the southern part of the state and headed for the northern part and I was like, "Man, we'll be driving all night!!" then I looked at the legend on the map and realized that each inch was like, one mile! We got a big laugh over the fact that just because they print a TX state map and NJ map on the same size paper, doesn't make them the same size state...thank goodness!

One friend of my parents did not understand the concept of Asian Indians. She exclaimed, "Of course there aren't any Indians in Asia."

Before my first trip overseas (London and Dublin were my first stops) I held the quaint notion that Dublin was a large village, with rolling hills of uncut hay, bicyclers and cows surrounding it. I even remember a recurring dream I had, climbing a hill outside the 'village' and stopping a little antique cottage.

Also, I assumed that any tourist attractions in Europe were, like in the US (I live in Florida) completely commercialized, complete with gift shop, ticket booth and trams for parking. Imagine my surprise when I came across Slane Abbey -- no admission gate, just walk right in. No one even manning it, no signs saying 'stay off the grass' or gift shop. I loved it!

I remember loving maps as a child -- I would do everyone else's map-making homework just to draw more of them in 8th grade. We had a choose a country to do a report on in 6th grade -- I chose all the countries in south America, thinking I could do more because I loved maps so much :)

This is not really a travel misconception-just a funny story. Years ago, I traveled cross country with a friend. At home, another friend asked someone, "where are J & M now?". The person replied, "going to Seattle." My friend, who is not blond, replied "who is Attle?". Duh! We still laugh (and cry) about that.

Oh, I have one of those!

When I was 9, my mother and I were moving to Miami. I heard her talking about the arrangements to everyone, and politely inquired at one point:

"Mom, when do we go to your Ami? Do I have an Ami, too?" :)

I had a teacher who tried to tell our class about the time she saw a bear in New York (the state). The kids thought New York is only a big city, and were hooting and laughing about her seeing a bear walking down a crowded street in "New York."

As punishment for ruining her story, the teacher made us memorize all 50 states and their capitals, so as to be able to fill in a blank map of the U.S. She also turned the class globes and maps upside - it's amazing how different the world looks (and how big Brazil looks!) on an upside-down map. It was one of our best lessons, and I remember it to this day.

Being raised in the south, the majority of information I received about Africa came from church missionary "slide shows" - I was horrified when my Daddy said we were going to Zimbabwe/Rhodesia (early '80s after the revolution) for a summer vacation to visit his Ham Radio friends - I didn't want to go see starving children, sleep in a hut eating godknowswhat, get malaria and, godforbid, not be shopping with my girlfriends during the summer -
but it was the best experience of my life - Victoria Falls, Lake Karibe, sudza, rondavils, the natural beauty, seeing so many stars in the sky, the friends we met, the campfires - it was so beautiful and everyone was so friendly and sharing...now, 25 years later I worry about the people we met and stayed with - what has happened to them during all the unrest in recent years - did they move? starve? get killed or die in political prisons? civil wars?
I regret that I cannot take my own children on that trip - but I now know why my Dad felt it was so important to take his children to other countries and experience other cultures and civilizations - and be appreciative and understanding of other beliefs and customs - we take so much for granted in the U.S. - we are so blessed - being able to travel outside the U.S. is such a gift and eye-opening experience - I hope world travel will help my own children think...and appreciate the world and more than just their privileged suburban TN lifestyle...