When travelling overseas do you ever pretend to be Canadian so people don’t think your American?

36 comments

1. I actually grow a handlebar mustache before I go overseas and carry around an oversized American flag the entire time I’m there. I stare intently at everyone, and if anyone makes eye contact with me, I throw em the horns.

2. What kind of feckless dork do you take me for? Why would I ever do that?

3. I’m not an American diplomat trying to sneak out of Iran in the late 1970s. Why would I need to pretend to be Canadian?

4. Nothing against Canada but why would I hide being American?

5. No. Why would you feel the need to do that?

6. Not at all, I never felt even a remote need to do this. If anything, it has become more common for Canadians themselves to mark themselves as Canadian rather than American when abroad, especially with visible markers such as the Canadian flag sewn on their backpack, luggage, jacket, etc.

7. lmao. if for some reason I met someone who disliked me outright for being American, I would have zero interest in trying to appeal to them whatsoever.

8. Nope. If someone is rude to me because I’m American, that just shows their own immaturity.

9. Ive never actually seen that happen outside of people saying Americans do that on the internet. I don’t think that happens as much as reddit says it happens

10. No. I’m pretty sure this is an urban myth because I remember rumors about this happening going back to the early 2000s Bush era but have never actually met anyone who has done this.

    In fact, I don’t think it would even be practical because foreigners just assume anyone with a North American accent is American anyway, even actual Canadians.

    You wouldn’t even get the chance to lie about it

11. Hell no. Heck, I went to England during peak Bush era. People were super nice and I made some lifelong friends.

12. I would never do that

13. No. Never. I’m not especially judgmental, but that just strikes me as cowardly.

14. lol. no.

15. No. People in other countries treat me just fine when I’m openly American lol.

16. I’ve lived abroad for 6 years and have traveled to nearly 40 countries. I’ve never done this.

17. Never.

18. No, because I’m polite to everyone & not a douchebag.

19. No lol 😆

20. No. Because I’m not some self flagellating loser.

    The people who do this (or claim they do this, I think most are lying) are the same people who give Americans a bad name when traveling anyway.

21. No I’m proud as hell I’m an American. Traveling overseas is fine, just don’t act like a stereotypical American, and be respectful of other cultures.

22. There’s an episode of South Park where Cartman would rather be captured by the taliban than say he is a Canadian and that’s totally understandable to me

23. This is just a rumor Canadians made up to make themselves feel good. As far we can tell there is no true account of this happening.

24. Nope. I traveled through Europe extensively when this was supposedly something you needed to do to avoid harassment. Never pretended to be anything I wasn’t and was never treated any differently.

    At least in Europe (I can’t speak for anywhere else), people who claimed you need to do this says more about the speaker’s personal insecurities more than anything else.

    I don’t know if this came back in fashion during the Trump years, but I lived in Europe during the beginning of the administration and once again, I saw no difference. People asked me about why we elected him, but since I had lived in Europe for 6 years at that point, I had little insight.

25. Why would i? It’s emberassing to be Canadian

26. Fuck no. Most Canadians I have known are obnoxious jerks. Why would I want to be like them?

27. I have a Southern accent. Wouldn’t even try.

28. No. Is that a thing people do?

29. Why would I do that

30. No. I travel abroad several times a year for work and although I’ve met a couple ding dongs who feel it’s necessary to tell my why America is the worst when they learn I’m American, the vast majority of people i interact with are very kind and friendly.

31. I haven’t done much traveling internationally, but I never pretended to be Canadian when I was abroad.

32. The only people who think this is a thing, are Canadians. It’s some weird urban legend they have.

33. No, but I was indeed embarrassed as hell when trump was president. And this is not an anti-republican thing. I’ve never felt that way with any other president. Every morning my spouse would say, “Did you hear what trump said/did?”and I’d cringe waiting for the response. In my Christmas cards to foreign friends, I made it a point to mention I did not vote for him, because he’s THAT embarrassing.

34. Why would I do that? What’s wrong with me saying I’m from the USA?

35. No, not once, ever

36. Nope, gotta represent