Traveling as an Ugly American in 2026

For decades, there’s been an Ugly American tourist stereotype. 

Usually, as I remember growing up, an Ugly American involved dressing badly, carrying big cameras, being flashy with money, and yes, often being loud.

When I did a semester abroad in England, I will always remember one late-night train out of London with a friend. At one end of the car, two of our classmates, several beers in, were loudly discussing one of their dates, oblivious to increasing stares and looks of disapproval from locals on board. Finally, one bellowed out a much more profane version of the question, “Did You Get Very Far,” from “Summer Nights” in “Grease.”

A woman across the aisle leaned over and whispered in a soft American accent “If we don’t say a word do you think the rest of the train might think we’re Canadian?” We joked at times that we needed some Canadian flag stickers for our backpacks.

Do you ever feel like you have a target on your back?

These days things are a bit more complicated.

There’s no right answer. But clients have asked how I feel about international travel and if I have any tips. So here are some random thoughts:

1. One rule I always have: “If something on a particular date is critical — a wedding, a cruise or tour departure, or even an important party — allow extra time.” Ditto if there’s something critical after your return date.  A day or two of buffer is never a bad idea. And that especially applies now. The first weekend of January 2026 was the US invasion of Venezuela, and most airlines canceled flights in and out of the Caribbean for a day or two. Then, when flights resumed, the problem was that everything was full, especially returning to the US.

2. There’s always the question: Do you leave a passport in the hotel safe, or carry it with you?   There’s no right answer, but a middle option is to bring a photocopy of your passport. Also, probably not a bad idea to have a copy of your flight itinerary and, if necessary, your visa on your phone. (In case any other country decides to retaliate by making Americans prove they are legally visiting and planning to leave.)

3. The decision to discuss politics while traveling is also an individual one. And it depends on where you are. Personally, I do enjoy civil discussions, but when we were in Erdogan’s Turkey last fall, I was careful with our driver/guide for the day until we were both pretty sure we had similar views.

What is your opinion? Think ahead.

If you get asked, it’s not a bad idea to have an answer ready, even if it’s “I prefer not to talk politics on vacation.”  (This lessens the chance of saying something unthinking and potentially inflammatory you don’t mean.)

However, in general, my experience has been that foreigners are friendly toward Americans. This is regardless of their views of our government (the Vietnamese people were incredibly kind, even at the War Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, which basically is all about American aggression and atrocities.)

But you can’t assume anything. And as things change, there’s no way of knowing how attitudes towards Americans abroad will change.

Government policies may change. 

As of the time of writing, only three countries have banned Americans from visiting: Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, none of which are high on most tourist lists. Nor have any countries tightened visa rules.

While I’ve had some clients advise that their employers have warned them to reconsider foreign travel, in general, officially, everything is business as usual.

So when asked, I generally respond that travelers need to decide what they personally are comfortable with. And I suppose you could still buy Maple Leaf stickers.

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