One of the most difficult challenges facing the majority of Americans when they travel abroad is learning how to get past the never-ending chain of people who automatically assume you are nothing more than a vending machine which disperses dollars like a broken ATM. It is an unfortunate reality that the government of the United States has done an exceptionally good job at spreading the lie that most Americans are flush with thousands and thousands of dollars of surplus cash. The reality is that most of the things that Americans supposedly have - house, car, furniture, and lots and lots of material possessions - are nothing more than borrowed from the bank, and in fact they are living on credit.
Unfortunately, this has led to the belief that Americans traveling abroad are worth far more than they actually are. The reality is that many people living in countries that are considered poverty level by most Americans actually have a greater net worth than their US counterparts, because unlike Americans who are living on debt and borrowed credit, people in countries like Bulgaria, South Africa, Colombia and Mexico actually own all of their material possessions, as well as their houses, which means they are not living on borrowed credit.
If you want to avoid being labeled as a typical American when you are traveling abroad, where most people are making the assumption that you have tens of thousands of dollars to spare and are thus continually being bombarded by beggars, you have to blend in with the locals. If you ask any long-term expat who has been on the ground for a sustained period of time, they will tell you the same thing: if you want to blend in and avoid being hassled for spare change, you have to be able to look like the locals, speak like the locals, and act like the locals if you want to be treated like a local.
The other thing to think about is that when you are back home and you need to go grocery shopping, you don't end up going to the store with a video camera and a digital camera and a knapsack/backpack and hiking shoes. Instead, you are usually in casual attire with nothing more than your car keys and your wallet/purse. You aren't on a site-seeing trip when you are living in suburbia, so don't treat your time on the ground as a digital nomad as a site-seeing trip. Blend in as though you are just another local going about your business and you shouldn't have any issues. If you need pictures and the like try and save it for the weekends when the locals are out doing the same and you won't have any issues blending into the background. If you speak the language on top of that, your life as an expat just became the most relaxed and peaceful existence you will ever know.
Unfortunately, this has led to the belief that Americans traveling abroad are worth far more than they actually are. The reality is that many people living in countries that are considered poverty level by most Americans actually have a greater net worth than their US counterparts, because unlike Americans who are living on debt and borrowed credit, people in countries like Bulgaria, South Africa, Colombia and Mexico actually own all of their material possessions, as well as their houses, which means they are not living on borrowed credit.
If you want to avoid being labeled as a typical American when you are traveling abroad, where most people are making the assumption that you have tens of thousands of dollars to spare and are thus continually being bombarded by beggars, you have to blend in with the locals. If you ask any long-term expat who has been on the ground for a sustained period of time, they will tell you the same thing: if you want to blend in and avoid being hassled for spare change, you have to be able to look like the locals, speak like the locals, and act like the locals if you want to be treated like a local.
The other thing to think about is that when you are back home and you need to go grocery shopping, you don't end up going to the store with a video camera and a digital camera and a knapsack/backpack and hiking shoes. Instead, you are usually in casual attire with nothing more than your car keys and your wallet/purse. You aren't on a site-seeing trip when you are living in suburbia, so don't treat your time on the ground as a digital nomad as a site-seeing trip. Blend in as though you are just another local going about your business and you shouldn't have any issues. If you need pictures and the like try and save it for the weekends when the locals are out doing the same and you won't have any issues blending into the background. If you speak the language on top of that, your life as an expat just became the most relaxed and peaceful existence you will ever know.
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