How to Handle Anti-Americanism Abroad, The Washington Post, February 26, 2025
The New American Travel Anxiety: ‘Will They Hate Us?’, The New York Times, March 21, 2025
‘It Feels Terrifying’: Why Some Americans Are Anxious About Traveling Abroad Under Trump, CNN Travel, April 7, 2025
It’s no secret that Americans who love to travel are, to some extent, reconsidering how we’re viewed abroad, given the very many questionable actions being taken by our current administration. The following is an essay that I wrote about my own opinion on the matter. Take it or leave it, agree or disagree, it’s all food for thought …
The other day, I popped into a store in our Denver suburb that sells educational toys and books.
Safe enough, right?
As I was browsing (otherwise known as trying to stop my toddler from touching every single delectable thing that jumped out at her), I couldn’t help but overhear snippets of the conversation that was happening between the store clerk and a customer. He had made a purchase and she was wrapping it, so they had ample time to chat.
From what I gathered as I orbited their circle, trying not to be blatantly obvious in my eavesdropping (the cash register was situated smack dab in the middle of the store, so eavesdropping was essentially a given), this man had traveled to America from Europe (I didn’t catch the country), but had traveled on an American Visa. As he and the cashier discussed various elements of life in America these days, he finished with a flourishing, “I certainly wouldn’t want to be an American traveling in Europe right now.”
This last bit really caught my attention. Not only because of the European summer excursion that I am currently knee-deep in planning and booking for my family, but because travel in general is so important to me. As an Army brat who was born in Germany and who is currently married to an Australian immigrant, I’m no stranger to international travel. My husband and I have been fortunate enough to make it a pillar of raising our kids, as well. Our 8-, 7-, and 4-year-olds have been to Canada, Australia (several times), Mexico, Germany, France, Switzerland, and Iceland. Our trip this summer is meant to include several European countries and span several weeks, as well.
Of course, as an American traveler, I’m also no stranger to what it means to travel internationally as an American. By which I mean that I’ve had my fair share of general political conversations while abroad. In the past, these have always managed to stay relatively respectful. It’s when current events happen not too long before or directly in the middle of a trip that things have always tended to get interesting.
For example, my husband and I watched from the television in our Airbnb in Hamilton Island (we were on our honeymoon) as the United States federal government partially shut down in October of 2013. The Australian broadcast was covering U.S.-based newscasters who were interviewing tourists stranded outside of National Parks that were suddenly closed. At the airports, travelers faced closed security checkpoints, delays, and long wait times as the shutdown impacted the TSA system and flight travel, in general.
On a trip in 2013 to Canberra — Australia’s capital — I was grilled by several of Chris’ family members and friends about the state of gun laws in America. Australia famously implemented strict gun control measures — including banning certain types of firearms and creating stricter licensing requirements — after 35 people were killed and 18 seriously injured in the Port Authur massacre in 1996. According to some estimates, as many as one million firearms were melted in their mandatory gun buyback program, and the rate of mass shootings plummeted drastically. As comments flew around the table about how a forward-thinking nation could stand by and let their citizens — and more importantly its children (this was less than a year after Sandy Hook, let’s all remember) — continue to be senselessly murdered, one friend finally turned to me and asked, “So, how many guns are you packing on this trip?”
It was a joke, obviously, but as a staunch anti-gun American, it cut me to the core. Without a leg to stand on, though, I held up two biceps, kissed them, and replied, “Just these two.”
During a trip to Europe two Christmas’ ago, my husband and I stopped into a jewelry store in Switzerland to buy an anniversary ring. It was a lovely experience … until the salesman started talking Trump. He had declared that he was running for a second term as President almost exactly one year prior. This Swiss man was a big fan. We left wondering if we felt good about having spent any money in his store, after all.
Making light of whatever farce is happening in America at the time I’m traveling has become my go-to. But this time … it feels different. This time, it seems, the list of issues to contend with as a traveling American is much longer. Particularly in Europe. There are Trump’s tariff effects on Europe’s economic slowdown, his embracing of Putin, berating of Zelensky on his visit to the Oval Office and the split between Trump and Europe over how to end the war in Ukraine. That’s that’s not to mention all the baffling changes that have been made here on U.S. soil that might leave some Europeans scratching their heads.
Of course, maybe I’m overreacting. Perhaps a trip to Europe this summer is just what I need to clear my head of what’s going on in America, show my kids different cultures, and get the ground back under my feet. After all, a good friend of mine who recently traveled to Ireland with her kids for their spring break was worried they would get comments about Trump and the U.S., but it all turned out fine. In fact, they didn’t get any comments at all.
She did confide in me that she had wanted to pack a light blue sweatshirt that read: “I didn’t vote for him” for the trip. But it was too bulky.
Bulk or not, I’ve added the sweatshirt to my shopping cart. Whatever else I may need to leave behind to make it fit, that sweatshirt will be coming with me this summer.