7 reasons the rest of the world thinks Aussie travellers are crazy

Recent footage of Aussie comedy duo The Inspired Unemployed has shown yet again why Aussies are known as wild cards overseas.

Why world thinks Aussies are crazy.

Recent footage of Aussie comedy duo The Inspired Unemployed has shown yet again why Australians are known as wild cards overseas.

A satirical Instagram account run by two Aussies from Kiama – Jack Steele and Matt Ford – has taken to Europe in hilarious fashion.

In a recent Instagram Story, the pair, and friends, can be seen taking turns swinging around a yacht in Greece, sitting on a buoy which appears to be lashed to their boat’s mast, Escape reports.

The group of mates could be seen giggling, spinning the steering wheel of the boat hard to maximise swing time, and coming (at times) close to swinging all the way around to the bow of the boat, almost smacking into it.

“Sorry mum” – how many of us have done something like this overseas? Picture: Instagram/theinspiredunemployed

Or this? Picture: Instagram/theinspiredunemployed

Though it looks like a fun time, the clip got me thinking: what exactly, are the things that Aussies do overseas that give us our reputation as sun drunk heathens? What do we do that has created such a stereotype?

In no particular order, here’s the list.

Drinking

Just because you can doesn’t mean you should … For many Aussies, going overseas is a revelation in rules.

Starting off with the obvious, there’s drinking. Perhaps because of our insane alcohol laws (and drink prices) and over the top bouncers, when a lot of us go overseas we are astounded – and quickly learn to revel in – the more relaxed rules and regulations around the serving of alcohol.

That’s not to say we’re the only ones making a nuisance of ourselves, but this may be why we have a reputation for being bigger drinkers than we really are at home. Plus: it’s normally cheaper.

Watching bizarre sports on our laptops

The Inspired Unemployed (pictured above) showcased this one recently, too. Picture: Instagram/theinspiredunemployed

Perhaps another reason people think Aussies are a bit odd is our obsession with sports no-one else, except a few counties in the north of England (see: Rugby League) care about. Regardless, you’ll still find many of us hunched over our phones, huddled around our laptops, screaming from barstools in Aussie-themed pubs, to watch State of Origin or the AFL.

Improvised antics

You’re technically supposed to have an international driver’s licence in Bali, but who’s counting?

As the Inspired Unemployed guys in Greece showed, sometimes we take mucking around to extreme genius levels. Sometimes though our crazy antics annoy people (they’re probably just jealous) or we come a cropper on two wheeled contraptions (see: Bali).

We are obsessed with where other Aussies are from

‘But where?’

You can bet as soon as we meet another Aussie abroad who is from the same city as us, we’ll ask “but where” continuously until we narrow their provenance down to the exact same suburb as us (“but where in Sydney?”), and that we’re actually neighbours …

We have weird, leathery skin, and strange wrinkles around our eyes

Have a squiz at this …

Apparently, according to a bunch of non-Aussies on the internet, people from overseas are often quite taken aback by Australians’ tanned “tough” look and the “lines around their eyes that come from living in a glarey environment.”

“The squinting shows. Not all Australians have that look, but those that do cannot come from anywhere but Australia.”

Of course not everyone is like that, but it seems the Crocodile Dundee stereotype persists, even 37 years after its release …

We have a “we may never be back here” mentality

Sometimes, you only get one shot …

We’re way down the bottom of the world, so a lot of Australians save up for years and do one year long “round the world trip” in their lifetime. So maybe the reason we’re known for being particularly enthusiastic (or silly) abroad is that we know this is our one shot (to do several tequila shots) in such and such location. We can’t just fly back to Ibiza next year and have an even bigger, better time, like, say, the Brits.

A lot of us grew up in an outdoorsy culture

Cliff diving in Gozo, Malta.

Generalising hard again, and maybe everyone grows up in a homogenised iPad culture regardless of country anyway these days, but historically, it would be fair to say, the Aussies well off enough to be travelling would have probably grown up in an outdoorsy culture at home, with things like swimming lessons, surfing, concussion-heavy sports, treehouses that fall apart resulting in broken limbs and so on.

Some of these things are not so common in other countries around the world (mainly swimming lessons). So – generalising heavily – maybe that’s why you see Aussies doing ‘crazy’ stuff like cliff diving while abroad at a slightly higher than the average rate? Just a theory, anyway.

This story originally appeared on Escape and is republished here with permission