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Yep, I travel a lot internationally and have never encountered someone who was unpleasant to me just because I’m American. I think many Americans who don’t travel abroad much seem to *hugely* overestimate the odds of non-Americans being rude to them simply for being Americans.

Someone will doubtless get mad at me for this (ironically) but I suspect that those Americans who claim they’re constantly treated poorly abroad merely for being American are actually just being treated poorly because they have Rancid Vibes

I think a lot of Americans expect a level of cheerful subservience from retail and food service staff that doesn’t exist elsewhere and they interpret that difference as being targeted for being American. So I agree, those people have bad vibes.

One thing here is travel advice like “speak some French in France” isn’t really useful in touristy places now? It’s just an added burden? I always order in French, order weird things on the menu, the waitstaff turns and breaks from French to say in English “you know what that is, right?”