fights

It is a hassle to travel with pepper spray. You are not allowed to have it in your carry-on or to take it into many countries. However, flashlights are rarely considered contraband and can be bright enough to temporarily disorient an attacker while you run away.

Creative Commons picture by gadl.

If you plan on camping in an area with bears, or other almost-as-tough-as-chuck-norris animals, pepper spray can be a nice “just in case” tool. It can also be used for self defense when you don’t trust all the humans around you. That said, it is illegal in places like Canada, Belgum, Hong Kong, an many others. Even in locales where it is legal, it can be a bad travel companion.

The solution: flashlights. Airport security usually doesn’t care about them and they can be bright enough to temporarily disorient an assailant. Read the rest of this entry »

Tipping Truth - There is no universal tip-based insult

Some think the best tip-insult is to not leave a tip. Rookie mistake. There are many countries where this is the norm. This is the polite way to deal with good service. In those situations, it is clearly a bad insult.

I know, for us tip-happy Americans it seems crazy. In some parts of the world people charge exactly the amount of money they want.

1 - Insult With a Large Tip in Japan

If you want to anger a service worker in Japan, leave a large tip. Twenty percent will probably be enough to shock them into a memorable state of irritation. A tip implies that they will only do their job correctly when given extra money. In some situations it also implies that the tipper now owns a part of the enterprise they tipped and expect to receive a percentage of the income every month. OK, I made that last one up.

The point is that tipping in Japan is an insult with finesse.

2 - Insult by Omitting a Tip in Chile

Not leaving a tip in a restaurant used to actually be a crime. I’m not talking in a metaphorical way either. There was a law against not tipping at least 10% at restaurants. Modern mean people need not fret though, that law was repealed in 1981. As far as I know, it is now completely legal to comment on the poor quality of an establishment’s waitstaff by not leaving a tip.

Read the rest of this entry »

Creative Commons picture by mark.woodbury.Let’s face it; when traveling, your actual nationality can get you into fights. Once you accept this, you have three options:

1. Get really good at fighting
2. Lose fights
3. Pretend to be Canadian

The fist option is hard and the second just sucks. So here are three ways to pretend to be Canadian:

Be Polite

Yep, it is a stereotype. Just what others will be using to judge if you are actually Canadian. So fill those well-insulated boots my friend. Remember your please and thank yous. You can even bow if you get the urge. People will recognize the intent even in cultures that don’t normally do that.

Say “eh” a lot

I bet you already know how to use this all-purpose-word. It is easier than you think. The most important and distinctly Canadian way to use “eh” is in the place of “you get it?”. Like “I’m Canadian, eh, so I have no reason to fight any of you.”

Wear maple leaf stuff

Like a trucker hat with the maple leaf symbol on it. Having a maple leaf on your bag makes your eh’s more convincing. Having it on your shirt makes you look innocent. Standing in a sand outline of the maple leaf protects you from the evil-eye.