March 05th, 2024

We are smack dab in the middle of our busiest time of year here in Florida.  While we do have visitors, guests and tourists year 'round, March seems to be the most touristy of all months.  And us locals know this. We adapt to it. We are prepared for it. And mostly, very honestly, for the most part we not only don't mind, we welcome it.

And in the way of gracious hosts (and that really is what we are) we are, mostly, patient and forgiving and helpful.  We either avoid going to restaurants altogether or we go in off-hours.  When stores are super crowded, we patiently wait in the long lines.  We give endless recommendations and directions to bewildered strangers.  We offer to take their photos. over and over again and again. And we do it without complaint.  Most of the time.

It's important for us to be considerate and empathetic to our tourists because, we've been tourists too!  We have been the ones who clog up the smooth flow of traffic and create long wait times.  We have been those camera wielding tourists who gaze around ourselves in wide eyed and sometimes open mouthed wonder at our surroundings.  We get lost, we drag our suitcases behind us and we ask for restaurant ideas.  We have been those folks who collapse into bed in exhaustion at our hotel at the end of an over-excursioned day and then bounce back full of energy and excitement the next morning.  Yup, that was us.

Tourist destination places like ours know how to cater to guests, it is the area's lifeblood. Visitors are partly what keep our shops and eateries open.  Some of what continues to fund  beautiful parks and beaches and flower bedecked sidewalks is the money that Tourism bring in.  There are always a ton of events planned for tourist season too and we local residents enjoy those events just as much as the visitors.  So you see, it really is a sort of symbiotic relationship.  And we all know it.  After all, part of the reason why so many tourists want to visit us is the same reason the rest of us moved here.  Venice is Wonderful!

But, and here's the big but, there are ways to be a welcome visitor and there are ways to be a miserable visitor who makes locals dread tourist season.  We see both.  We vastly prefer the former.

Being a good tourist is largely about courtesy.  Those of us who live here full time, greatly appreciate a courteous tourist.  Occasionally we get a tourist who is rude, insulting and nasty tempered.  While I try to give people the benefit of the doubt, (maybe they are having a really bad day?)  I am far more likely to help out a tourist who is polite and appreciative than one who just yelled at me.  Seriously, we have all had moments with visitors that are so bad my first thought is just "go home. you aren't happy here so just go home."

Here are a few of the not so good tourist examples: 

Tourists,  are you aware that the rules of the road are not suspended just because you are on vacation?   Just in the past week we have witnessed far too many people turning right from the left lane (or left from the right lane), blowing through stop signs AND red lights without so much as a tap of the brakes and nearly mowing over pedestrians crossing the street,  Another big one is when someone just stops their car in the middle of the road to take a photo, just to "run into the store quickly" or they are waiting for a parking spot.  Literally stopping their car in the middle of the road thus backing up traffic for blocks!!!! 

Another "bad tourist, very bad" moment that we see far too often, is people dumping their garbage on the side of the road, or on the beach, or in our parks and preserves.  Nature is not your garbage can!  I cannot even count the number of times I've seen stuff just tossed out of car windows as the side of the road.  Geez People!  Of course we end up picking it up because we don't want to live in a place with garbage lining our roads and in our yards.  We shouldn't have to.

Speaking of yards, tourists, please recognize that a lot of folks live here. These are our homes, our actual real homes.  This is not Disney Imagineering.  Please stay out of our yards and if your doggie plants one on our property, please please clean it up.  I know you are on vacation but there are some chores you still have to do. That's one of them.

One of the most surprising exchanges that I ever had with a tourist was at the museum.  He came in and was greeted as all of our guests are, with a smile and a sincere welcome and a bit of information.  He grunted at me and walked away before I finished talking and that's fine. Rude, but fine.  He cycled through the entire museum in record time. When he was in front of me again, I asked, as I do most guests, if he had any questions.  He said, "Yeah, is there anything fun to do here?"  I responded that there were a lot of things to do in the area and rattled off a few.  He cut me off and said, "No I mean something fun"  I asked what sort of things he had in mind and he couldn't really tell me what he thought might be fun, he just knew that none of my suggestions were correct.  He then went on to tell me that I was an idiot, the museum was boring and he hated Venice and would never return.  He slammed his way back out the door as I thought to myself,  " Please be a man of your word. Dont' come back"

Along that same line, some tourists seem to think that they should get preferential treatment over locals and the reason they always give is because, "We are bringing money into your town"  Well guess what, the people who live here full time(or even part time) also bring money into this town so....not impressed.  I have witnessed far too many blantantly rude, unkind, attitudey, superior and downright snotty moments from tourists and while I don't' suppose any of us are going to challenge you to a duel over it, it's really so unnecessary.  We are all happy that you are here and hope you have a wonderful time,  but don't expect us to kiss your butt!

So you see, it's really mostly just a matter of courtesy and consideration.    Be a Good Tourist, have great adventures, get out there and see the world!  Have a GREAT time.  But please remember while you are out there to be your best self.  I promise to do the same when I visit you.