30 Comments

  1. Hans
    January 12, 2015 @ 4:10 pm

    You all were right. I’m German and I enjoy to travel every holiday! But I have to disagree with one statement: The German Kids only have 6 weeks vacation in summer and German employee work very hard for 6 weeks holiday every year. So they actually spend a lot of time within and out of Germany but they have to economize a lot. But in my opinion, the American people are very friendly and polite and it’s very nice to spend the vacation in the USA!

  2. Do Germans Speak English? » Grounded Traveler
    May 25, 2012 @ 9:29 pm

    […] as a culture are quite into traveling. Study abroad is also very common. They are in the middle of Europe with different languages on […]

  3. cliff1976
    April 30, 2012 @ 10:08 pm

    Mrs.1976 and I spot them by their Wolfskin- and Mammut-wear while abroad, but it’s pretty easy to detect them by sound, if you’re close enough. They’re not typically as loud in public places like museums or castles as other groups traveling together.

    I betcha Berlin will be crawling with them this fall at WEBMU. 🙂 You going?

    • Anne
      April 30, 2012 @ 10:14 pm

      Mammut too?? Oh no…am I now in danger of being pegged as a German tourist from afar? Herr J got me some Mammut-wear to stay warm last winter and I wear the fleece all the time travelling.

      (Though I have to admit I was a little pleased the first time I was in Tuscany and the Italians assumed I was a German tourist. It was just nice for once not to get pegged as American right off the bat!)

      • Andrew
        May 3, 2012 @ 9:08 am

        Germans know their warm outerwear apparently. It is kind of neat to not be seen as an American sometimes. I get British often enough though.

    • Andrew
      May 3, 2012 @ 9:06 am

      Yeah, planning on Berlin this fall, of course depending on exactly which weekend it is. I had forgotten about Mammut.

  4. Carmen
    April 14, 2012 @ 3:54 am

    Yup! I agree. Germans love to travel and explore. So happy for them they can go where ever they want to. I never to Greece hope to visit the place with my hectic schedule.

    • Andrew
      April 14, 2012 @ 10:57 am

      They have set up a society that encourages this freedom. It is one of the reasons I enjoy living there. Definitely set some time aside for Greece, especially Santorini. Decide what is important and head toward that, work or time travel. Sure there has to be a balance and work is often required to fund travel, but it is a difference in perspective.

  5. Anne
    April 13, 2012 @ 3:47 pm

    So true! We were in Istanbul over Easter and saw German tourists every place we went. To amuse ourselves while we waited an hour for a mosque to open after prayer, we started playing “German or non-German,” trying to guess from afar if they were German tourists.
    The Camp David brand shirts are a dead giveaway now that Dieter Bolan wears them on TV

    • Andrew
      April 14, 2012 @ 10:50 am

      Hey, didn’t realize you guys were in Istanbul on Easter. Us too. Would have been nice to meet up.

      I like that game. I don’t know Camp David brand shits, will have to look that up.

      • Anne
        April 17, 2012 @ 10:29 pm

        That’s funny…the 2nd time we’ve been in the same city with fellow bloggers and not known it (Julie/Scott from This Non American Life in Charleston over Christmas).

        Hope you had a wonderful trip!

        • Andrew
          April 18, 2012 @ 12:52 pm

          We are having a good trip. Another night in Istanbul before heading to Italy and then home. Hope you enjoyed being here too.

  6. Margyle
    April 12, 2012 @ 8:10 pm

    My roommate in Australia was from Mallorca and he would always talk about how the German tourists take over his island. I never really got it, until I thought about all my travels and realized it was exactly right. Even my roommate in Japan was half German and moved there shortly after leaving Japan to teach.

    • Sabrina
      April 12, 2012 @ 8:27 pm

      Haha! But Mallorca is a special case in and by itself. I think Germans travel a lot in general, but Mallorca has some areas that have almost turned German because there are so many there 🙂 It’s not like that across the world just because you see some here and there.

    • Andrew
      April 14, 2012 @ 10:52 am

      Like Sabrina says Mallorca is a special case. There is almost a German enclave of expats living there. So it ends up being a vacation spot for many more. Or maybe other way around, tourists end up settling there.

  7. The Time-Crunched Traveler (Ellen)
    April 12, 2012 @ 2:03 am

    This is so true — I run into several people from Germany every trip, no matter where I am in the world. Must be nice to have so much vacation time!

    • Andrew
      April 12, 2012 @ 6:28 pm

      It really is nice, though for avid travelers it is still never enough. The downside is that at work it is sometimes hard to get certain things done as key people are on three weeks holiday in the middle of a project. Though that seems a small price for my own ability to get out.

  8. Alison
    April 11, 2012 @ 10:08 pm

    I always remember going on family holidays and there was always an understanding that you needed to get up really, really early if there was any chance of getting a space by the pool, because the Germans were always up at the crack of dawn!

    • Andrew
      April 12, 2012 @ 6:27 pm

      Of course, Germany can be really dreary especially in winter. When they go on vacation, they head to sunny places and try to soak up the sun as much as possible. There is also the concept of competition for the best spot. I know this sun worshiping aspect of Germans, but it is neat to hear stories about how that plays out.

  9. Heather
    April 11, 2012 @ 9:01 pm

    I have met a German just about everywhere I’ve gone 🙂 In Oz, there was always at least one on any given tour or in my hostel room. And they’ve seemed pleased that this American has been to Germany!

    • Andrew
      April 12, 2012 @ 6:25 pm

      Everyone seems to be intrigued about the American traveling habits. Germans especially seem to think noone visits their country. Maybe that is why.

  10. Sabrina
    April 11, 2012 @ 6:41 pm

    I think you’re right about all of this -especially the attitude towards vacation. I’ve been actually kind of thinking about a post about this for a while, but can’t seem to get my act together. I think the biggest difference is that in Germany you are expected to take your vacation (all of it) and that when you’re on vacation you don’t work. Here in the US, my employer gets kind of scared when I tell them I will gone for more than a week. And of course the amount of available vacation days in Germany far outweighs the available time in the US. Many people I have met here in Texas use the little vacation they have for some long weekends, to get some stuff done around the house, and maybe a loooong (one week) trip somewhere different. Or people save it up over years because they’re hoping for a big wedding and honeymoon (a colleague of mine just told me the other day that that’s what she was doing – I think she’s crazy, but then… people are different).

    • Andrew
      April 12, 2012 @ 6:23 pm

      Yay, i get approval from my German friends. Always nice to see. The Americans system seems to screw around with the vision of time off. It is used as either a recovery from the insanity of work allowing you to work more or a “splurge” vacation. The aspect of the splurge though is often to spend so much money that you need to work more to save enough to do the splurge.
      I wonder what society would look like if Americans took more time off. Would it be better or can we not deal with the “not working” well? I always took every day I could when I was there.

      • Sabrina
        April 12, 2012 @ 7:10 pm

        Good question… I think there are some people who are just workoholics – but you can find those also in Germany. I think a lot of people don’t take as much time off because they see other people not doing it and are worried about their job security or to be seen as a slacker. In fact, I think many people think you are somewhat lazy if you take extended periods of time off. Personally, I need those times off to work that much harder when I am at work. The splurge thing is so true! People here spend soooo much money on a beautiful long weekend somewhere. I’d rather take that same amount of money and do something low-key and longer.

  11. Jeremy Branham
    April 11, 2012 @ 4:58 pm

    From my experiences, Germans are great tourists. Very polite, mannered, respectful, and enjoyable to talk with.

    • Andrew
      April 12, 2012 @ 6:20 pm

      Interesting way to put it. As much as it is nice to generalize, I have met some really great German tourists and some that I would rather be far away from me. This is more about humanity than nationality.

  12. Claire @ Un Bello Aperitivo
    April 11, 2012 @ 3:23 pm

    The past two weekends I was in Brussels and Prague, respectively, and heard Germans in both places (though Germany does border both countries). I live in Germany now, so perhaps that influences what languages I pick up on in the crowd when I”m traveling. When I was living in Italy and traveling, all I picked up on were Italians, haha.

    I totally agree with all of your points, especially the study abroad one.

    • Andrew
      April 12, 2012 @ 6:19 pm

      Yeah, when you understand something, you do pick it out of the crowd more. Like English seems to just pop up to my ears if anyone is speaking it.

  13. Yelli
    April 11, 2012 @ 1:59 am

    Although I agree with all of your points here, the best way to find a German in foreign countries is to look for the signature paw of Jack Wolfskin. They will all tell you this is a foreign company and everyone wears them (they are nice!) but only Germans seem to wear them constantly while traveling.

    • Andrew
      April 12, 2012 @ 6:15 pm

      That is such a hilarious tip. We met someone just today that isn’t German, but lives in Berlin wearing such a coat. I do see that brand all over, even in Germany. I had a pair of boots from them that I really liked.