An Exciting Time to be American

The "Canadian Girl" and the "Young
Portuguese Guy" taking a smoke break
on Camino

What an exciting time to be an American! It’s been a long time since I have been able to say I feel proud of my country.

I’m most elated by how the world view of our country flipped the minute the election results were known. It’s almost cool to be an American again! It’s like, after eight very dark years, the light on that "beacon of hope" has finally been switched back on. Before I get lost in the land of metaphors, I’ll move on. This isn't about politics.

I’m so eager to get back to Europe, to experience this exciting new change in attitude. At the same time, I’m hoping that more US citizens will do their part to make a few small changes that will only serve to enrich their own experience when traveling outside this country. Now is a great opportunity for us to forever lose that tag, "Ugly American."

It doesn’t take much to learn a few key words of the language of the countries in which we travel. The people there really appreciate that we took the effort. Read a little about the customs and culture of a country and make a few adjustments, whether it’s in your clothing or your behavior. It’s that old "when in Rome, do as the Romans do," kind of thing. Simple little courtesies go such a long way toward building international good will. Oh, and please - don’t wear sneakers, unless you’re jogging! It's just tacky, go with me on this one.

Because world opinion toward the US was so bad when we left for Camino, my companions and I decided if asked, we would tell folks we were from New Jersey, not the US. We felt it would put things on a smaller, more human scale and allow us to talk about things people can relate to, like New York City rather than George W and his ill-conceived policies. We figured if we could pass for Brits or Canadians, all the better! I guess all those Tories who decided to stay in New Jersey after the American Revolution left something of a legacy as far as our accent goes. A group of young Spaniards we chatted with early one morning thought we were British. We didn’t tell them otherwise!

It’s hard to mask your nationality on Camino, it’s just a big melting pot of people from all over the world. Pilgrims get identified by their nationality, there was the Canadian Girl, the Young Portuguese Guy, the French Woman, the Brazilian Guys, the Brits. We were tagged the Americans. We were lucky though, conversations never got political. I’ve read books by other pilgrims who got cornered in that direction at least once on their Camino. We experienced only good things, a kinship that transcended who you are or were you came from.

I hope we were good ambassadors for our country. It would please me much if pilgrims we met along the road went home and said good things about Americans they met along the way, the people they walked with, ate with, drank with, even slept in the same room with. If we did anything to chip away at the image of the Ugly American, we made our contribution to international good will. I wonder if any of our Camino friends thought about us on election night.

We didn’t encounter any other Americans on Camino, nor did any other pilgrims we talked to. Despite our population, the US comes in around 10th of countries in the number of whose citizens walk the Camino, but that’s another thought for another day.