I used to be of the same kind, but having now spent 5 years in Austin and now Orlando, I can confidently say that shorts and sandals are my go-to for all except the most formal of occasions 
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Shorts are for people who are too hot, as will apply to lots of people who are visiting from colder areas. Unless it’s offensive somewhere I don’t see why it would be a bad thing. I mean, of course people should try to respect local customs, but is there some reason to pretend you’re not a visitor?
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Trying to speak spanish in Brazil…
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Go for the shorts. One of the prerogatives of being a grownup is that you can wear what you want to be comfortable, as long as you’re not being disrespectful to others. Besides, I’m sure a lot of the locals in your destination are also wearing shorts in that soup.
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A big one is missing : using US dollars to pay everywhere in the world.
(Dear US people : how would you feel if I wanted to pay you in Canadian dollars or Euros ?)
And yes, only « Americans » use « America » as the name of their country. Everywhere else, America is a continent. And yes, AMERICANS ARE LOUD IN PUBLIC PLACES.
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I am not from USA and I did a lot of things listed here…
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Some of the tells I have had while travelling are wearing shorts, wearing a sun hat, carrying a water bottle, carrying sun screen, and having low-melanin skin that would sizzle to a crisp if I didn’t look after it. I’m sure I would have been able to blend in perfectly if I were luminescent red, dripping dead skin, and dying of heat stroke instead.
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As an adult I put my personal comfort above general societal conventions. I mean if it’s a nice restaurant or somewhere that requires nicer dress, sure I understand. But to hit up the store and grab a quick bite to eat, yeah I’ll be wearing shorts until it’s like 50F / 10C. If I’m wearing shorts I’m wearing sandals 95% of the time as well (no socks however).
I live in North Carolina where you can experience all four seasons in 24 hours…but when I see photos from the turn of the century and see what everyone was wearing it all looks so damn HOT. I just start sweating thinking about wearing slacks and a button down shirt in July (in the context of air conditioning not existing during that time period).
- Having very straight, white teeth
I didn’t suffer through +4 years of orthodontics and have 4 teeth ripped out to not show my teeth occasionally. I do drink tea, so they aren’t blindly white by any means.
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And which continent is that? Last I heard there were two that included “America” in the name.
At any rate I’ve definitely met people in other countries who shorten the United States of America to “America.” Which makes sense if you think about it because it’s the only country that has “America” in its name, whereas there are several other countries that have either “The,” “United,” “States” or “of” in their names.
So unless you’re going to say the whole thing your only real options for abbreviation are “USA” or “America.”
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…or “the States.”
Mom and I often referred to our country as The Former Colonies to amuse a friend from England 
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Checks to see if I switched to a listicle website like BuzzFeed by accident…
This one seems more egregious, somehow.
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Though for quite some time the United States of America existed contemporaneously with The Papal States, to say nothing of Nyota Uhura’s home country “The United States of Africa.” (I guess USA won’t be a unique identifier either once that one is formally organized at some point in the next century or two).
“I’m sorry, you’re going to have to be much more specific.”
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I’m surprised this gets pegged as an “American” thing. Again. my parents are Venezuelan, and that’s how i was taught to hold my cutlery. My younger brother does hold his utensils the other way around because that made sense to him, so i’m not surprised to learn other countries might do it differently but i have never heard it being presented as a US thing or not.
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I like shorts too, but honestly wearing jeans on a hot humid day doesn’t really bother me. Like maybe i might be a tiny bit warmer but not enough to be a deal breaker. Maybe i’m broken, but i’m ok with that 
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I expect that since there are probably more American tourists than Venezuelan tourists the trait has become associated more closely with Americans.
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Currently there are also the United Mexican States just across the border.
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No, and as a gringo in a tourist area I’ll be marked anyway. I should just prioritize comfort over vanity. I just keep thinking about these guys:
BTW Happy Cake Day to @orenwolf !
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Only people from the US say, “I’m from the States.” Many non-Yankistanis also refer to the US as the States. I very much doubt anyone would assume the papal states was meant, and since this is the first quarter-century of the 21st Century, not the next century or two, I doubt anyone would assume The United States of Africa was intended.
She knew where we were from, and it amused her.
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Personal safety. Being an obvious tourist can put you at risk, sometimes lethal risk.
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Yeah, but the same is true of “I’m from America.” Either could theoretically refer to some other country or region but pretty much everyone knows what they mean.
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