Eight More Ways to Say “I’m American” While Traveling Without Saying “I’m American”

This is part two of the series. Start with the first blog that blew up almost two years ago!

Travis W. King

--

Photo by frank mckenna on Unsplash

Preface: I use MERICANS (I hope you pronounce it in your mind the way I do), United Statesmen, and “folks from The States” to describe United States citizens. The usage of “American” to describe people from one country in the Americas is strange and inaccurate. I elaborate more on the subject in the preface of part one of this series. If this bothers you, sorry. But calling United States citizens “Americans” bothers many folks from the other 34 countries that make up “The Americas.” Plus, if the spanish language has figuered out a word for it (estadounidense), I think we can find another option.

Sometimes while traveling, spotting a fellow MERICAN is as easy as clocking a large bearded man boarding a plane while wearing a MAGA hat and a statement shirt like “Freedom is Always an Option,” or “Guns, Whiskey, Beer and Freedom.” (Both of those are real shirts by the way.)

However, what I want to break down here are the more subtle ways that I easily spot folks from The States while globetrotting. My countrymen do certain things that will make me snap my head and say, “What State did you grow up in?”

--

--

Travis W. King

Traveling, writing, & working abroad for 10 years. Former Remote Year Dir. of Community. Check out my travel memoir—Not That Anyone Asked—at www.traviswking.com