You arrive somewhere as a guest. That single idea covers almost everything in this section: how you dress, when you raise a camera, what you buy and from whom, and how you behave at a place where something terrible happened. None of it requires an anthropology degree. It requires finding out a few things in advance and then paying attention.
The short version
- Read your destination’s local laws section. Some customs are law, with real penalties.
- Ask before photographing a person. Always, everywhere, without exception.
- Learn a dozen words. The effort matters more than the accent.
- Where you spend decides who benefits. That is the whole of responsible travel economics.
- A site of memory is not a backdrop. Behave as you would at a funeral you were invited to.
What This Section Covers
Three different things get bundled together as “culture”, and these twelve guides separate them. Law is the first: some of what looks like custom is legislation. Of the 211 destinations the U.S. State Department publishes country information for, 27 restrict photographing government or military sites, 26 address public displays of affection or intoxication, 15 address modest dress and 29 restrict exporting antiquities. Breaking those is not a social mistake. Custom is the second: greetings, gestures, personal space, hospitality, how a refusal is expressed. Getting these wrong is embarrassing rather than dangerous, and getting them right transforms how a trip feels from both sides. Economics is the third: where you sleep, eat and shop decides how much of what you spend stays in the place you are visiting. That is not a moral extra; it is the difference between tourism that a community welcomes and tourism it endures.
What this section does not do is issue a table of national customs. Practice differs between a capital and a rural district, between generations, and between neighbors, so a confident generalization about a whole country, let alone a continent, is worth less than the country page for your own destination. These guides tell you where to look and what to look for.
The Decisions You Need to Make
How do I find out what is expected where I am going?
Start with the local laws and special circumstances section of the State Department’s country information page, which covers the things that carry penalties. Then read the equivalent U.K. FCDO page, which is written differently and often notices different things. Then ask your guide or your accommodation, who will know what is current.
What can I photograph?
A landscape, freely. A person, only after asking, every time, accepting a refusal without negotiating. A government building, military installation or piece of infrastructure, generally not: 27 of the 211 destinations the State Department covers restrict it by law, and the penalties are real.
What am I going to wear?
Whatever is expected at the places you will actually go, which is a narrower question than what is expected in the country. Fifteen of those 211 destinations address modest dress in their local laws section. Sacred sites and government buildings often have their own requirements regardless of what is normal on the street outside.
Where is my money going?
The proportion of what you spend that stays in a local economy depends almost entirely on who owns the hotel, who guides the tour and who cooks the food. That is the practical content of responsible travel, and it costs nothing extra to choose well.
Is there anything here that affects me personally?
Law varies more sharply than custom does, and on some subjects it varies enormously. Of those 211 destinations, 71 describe legal restrictions on same-sex relationships and 94 state explicitly that there are none. The remaining 46 say neither, and silence is not evidence in either direction. Travelers this affects should read the country page for their own destination rather than any general guide, including this one.
Travel requirements, health guidance and safety conditions can change. Always confirm current requirements with the appropriate government or official authority before departure.
Start Here
- Traveling Respectfully. The principle underneath the rest.
- How to Research Local Customs. Where to look.
- Cultural Etiquette Basics. Greetings, gestures, hospitality.
Guides in This Section
Conduct: what to learn before you arrive
- Traveling Respectfully. The principle underneath the rest.
- How to Research Local Customs. Where to look.
- Cultural Etiquette Basics. Greetings, gestures, hospitality.
- Language Basics for International Travel. The dozen words worth learning.
- Engaging Respectfully With Local People. Conversation, and its limits.
Places, images and money
- Photography Etiquette. Asking first.
- Dressing Appropriately Abroad. What is expected, and where.
- Visiting Religious and Sacred Sites. Conduct at a place of worship.
- Heritage Travel Etiquette. Sites of memory.
- Supporting Local Businesses. Where the money stays.
- Responsible Souvenir Shopping. And what customs will seize.
- Responsible Community Travel. Visiting a community well.
Traveling as a group? A group is more visible than any individual in it, and it is judged as one thing. What a leader says on day one sets the tone for everybody.
Explore group travel planningRelated Travel Tips
- What to Research Before Visiting Another Country. The wider research pass.
- Understanding U.S. Travel Advisories. Reading the country page.
- International Tipping. A custom that is also economics.
- The full Travel Tips library, for the other sections.
Plan Your Trip With LABUSA Travel
Cultural context is the part of a trip that is hardest to research from a distance and easiest to get right with someone who knows the place. LABUSA Travel works with local guides and locally owned suppliers as a matter of course.
Talk with a LABUSA Travel advisor about a trip you are considering, or browse our destination guides for a specific country.