American travel stress grows for those who are heading abroad

As Franck Verhaghe and two friends were planning a trip to March in Mexico, they designed not only when they stayed and which museums would visit but also the language they would speak: French. “It’s not that I think it’s not safe for Americans,” said Verhaghe, a 65 -year -old, who lives in California, but “I can imagine people are not very happy with us.

Two months after his second term, President Trump has begun panic in Europe for the possible collapse of alliances. Inspired boycott of American products in Canada. Increased tensions between Denmark and Greenland above the independence of the island. And it caused protests in Istanbul and Panama over the possibility of US territorial expansion.

His suggestions also make some Americans review their travel plans.

Behavioral adjustments

From the inauguration, some organizations observe a decline in sales for international trips by Americans. Tourist agents are involved in investigations by interested clients on how to get abroad. Global Rescue Risk Management Company recently conducted a survey that found that 72 % of “experienced” US travelers are expected that Americans are less welcome abroad this year.

Nervousness does not seem to have been translated into widespread cancellations, but social media and travel forums are full of Americans asking variations of “will they hate us?”

Christine Bauer, a retired New Humsire, who is planning a trip to France, has asked travelers to a Rick Steves Europe forum on how the French responded to US changes in foreign policy. A few days later, he was more worried when “Trump and Musk began to offend NATO and the Allied countries.” She and her husband have not made any changes “at least for now”, but “they hope the journey will not become more insecure”.

Vicci Jaffe, 68 years old, has the second thoughts on a tour of Berlin this autumn. Her concern comes not only from the rise of the far right in Germany, but also from home political changes. “How will I be considered while in Berlin?” he asked. “At least, I’m embarrassed, but now I’m afraid of punishment or violence.”

Some people, including Mr Verhaghe, who travels to Mexico using the second, European passport, adapts their behavior. Cheryl Carlson, a 63 -year -old Chicago teacher, plans to reveal her nationality ahead of time to the owners of the accommodation who, along with her husband, will remain during a trip to Canada “to make sure that our presence will not cause us a little business. Peter Serkian, 60, who travels to Canada twice a month from Farmington Hills, Mich., Pays in Canadian dollars, not US dollars. “I’m trying to hide that I’m an American,” he said.

Feeling terrified

These measures are preventive. None of the respondents about this article have experienced anti-American feeling. But nervousness takes its tax. Cameron Hewitt, content and publishing director for Europe by Rick Steves, has seen a dip in driver sales, “literally starting the day of abandoned,” he said.

Lisa Wirth, owner of Ataxito, who offers tours of Oaxaca, Mexico, said some prospective visitors feel frightening. “We had many American travelers to decide to cancel the February weekly tour, either because the travel partners had planned to travel with supported security concerns in Mexico or because their current administration and anxiety around them.” Others postpone due to “concerns about inflation and job losses”.

Jack Ezon, founder of Thempark Beyond, a luxury New York -based travel company, had a customer to cancel a trip to Mexico. “They made a birthday trip and had closed the whole hotel,” he said. “But this was right after all the invoices, and their security team said,” Don’t go, there is an anti-American feeling. It will be very dangerous. ”

This fear has not been confirmed by the experience of other customers, said Mr Ezon, who added that bookings in Mexico have recovered. And sales in Europe are thriving. “From Covid, the recovery from the crisis is much faster,” he said.

It is difficult to identify the cause of travelers’ concern. The aircraft, invoices and the volatility of the stock market have contributed, said Jeff Roy, executive vice president of the Collette tour. “We were a little behind for the last four to five weeks of what we remained last year,” Roy said. “There is so much swirling around this moment. It is really difficult to know exactly what is causing the change.”

What Mr Roy describes as “mild worry” plays more in nerve calls than cancellations. And because many bookings are much earlier, it is not very worried about this year. If uncertainty continues, he said, “I don’t know about 2026.”

Unexpected interest

Some destinations have experienced increased interest since Mr Trump assumed duties. After saying that the United States wanted to “buy” Greenland – one of the 52 New York Times seats to go in 2025 – Greenland’s tourist authority said he saw evidence of “curiosity about the destination”.

The new attention had a similar effect on Panama, whose channel Trump said he wanted the United States to recover. Carlos Ivan Espinosa, owner of the Panama Canal Tours, said his company has experienced a significant increase in bookings by US tourists. “President Trump’s statements,” he said, “awakens curiosity.”

This does not mean that there were no protests against American rhetoric, mainly in Canada, where citizens have opposed Mr Trump’s invoices as well as his expressed desire to turn the country into a “51st state”.

But these protests are not headed against American people, said Donna Salter, a retired journalist in Vancouver. This, like many Canadians, swears by the trip to the United States for the duration of this administration, but welcomes the Americans. “We love Americans and we also love the US dollar, especially now,” Ms Salter said.

All foreigners are not receptive. A Tiktok user in Scotland told “Maga tourists” that they are not welcome and a farmer on the island of Bornholm, Denmark, finished an agreement with an US travel agency to receive tourists at his home for coffee and conversation. “I would feel ridiculous if I had to discuss democracy with representatives of such a government,” Knud Andersen, the farmer, told the Danish Broadcasting Body.

On a trip to Italy, Rebecca Andersons, California and her family had a taxi driver, American politics criticism started with Ronald Reagan and ended with Mr Trump. Mrs Andersons told him that they were “too young to vote for Reagan and in fact they are Californians who voted for Harris”. Apparently they were forgiven, later they were singing along with the driver in “Volare”.

Other Americans adopt tactics designed to divert the criticism, such as the answer to the question “Where are you from?” by the name of their state. Sue Rook Nichols from California ordered the Etsy buttons who came out: “I didn’t vote for him.” He plans to wear them on a trip to Europe.

Tactics may not be necessary. Mariana Hamman, who owns a tourist agency in Mexico, said none of her colleagues had reported to face an anti-American feeling. “Sometimes you see” Go Home, Gringo “graffiti”, he said. “But this is for the excessive, not the policy.”

When David Rojas-Klein, California, recently traveled to Mexico, his expectation that he would “see something anti-American” never implemented. “What I learned was that people distinguish between the American people and the US government.”

The fear that people in other countries will equate them with the actions of their politicians is a particularly American anxiety, which also appeared during the Gulf War, said Hewitt of Europe by Rick Steves. “If you look at history, most European countries had experience with a ruler who, especially retroactively, are not particularly proud.”

Bo Albertus, a 57 -year -old school principal in Denmark, agrees. It manages a Danish Facebook group, 89,000 strong, dedicated to boycott American products. But American citizens are welcome in his country, Mr Albertus said. “The Danish people have no problem with Americans. We have a problem with the American administration.” Even a tourist in a Maga hat would have been treated well, added: “Because in Denmark we have the freedom of speech.”

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