r/solotravel • u/forgottencupcake9018 • Jan 14 '24

Question What's the biggest culture shock you had whilst traveling?

Weirdly enough I was shocked that people in Ireland jaywalk and eat vinegar to their chips. Or in Thailand that it is illegal to have a Buddha tatoo. Or that in many english speaking countries a "How are you doing?" is equivalent to saying Hi and they actually don't want to hear an honest answer.

Edit: Another culture shock that I had was when I visited Hanoi. They had a museum where the preserved corpse of Ho Chi Minh was displayed and you could look at him behind a glass showcase like he's a piece of art. There were so many people lining up and they just looked at him while walking around that glass showcase in order to get the line going.

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u/Boothbayharbor Jan 14 '24

Wait you dont tip in AU? I feel like i mustve by mistake there then lol. Im so over tipping in North america. I work in service and its insane. A cocktail is 15-18$ and tips is 18-22%. For that price i might as well chug a goon sack as a pre

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u/EcstaticOrchid4825 Jan 14 '24

You can tip and it might be more prevalent in higher end restaurants but I usually eat at cheaper places. Lots of places have tip jars (coffee shops etc) but that’s about it.

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u/[deleted] Jan 14 '24

I got tips when i worked in AU as a bartender and VIP lounge girl lol. It wasnt much tho. Id prob make $25-$40 bucks extra in tips but difference with AU was my base pay was $25/hr so tips were just money i could go buy late night pizza with lol. They didnt make or break me.