Every country that you visit is different. Each culture adheres to certain cultural norms and there is no way of knowing what to expect in a nation until you actually visit there. Luckily, there are hundreds of travel sites that give advice to wary passengers. Some of these websites have even featured articles that lay out different advice for visiting specific countries. With so much advice out there, and so much of it conflicting, it is hard to figure out the best course of action for planning a trip. For the purposes of this article, the advice that we are concerned with is travel advice for people planning a trip to, or in the United States.

Those of us who live in the U.S. have never concerned how unique our culture is and how jarring it may be for people visiting for the first time. Of course, it doesn’t help when travel columnists are out there giving bad advice.

This article will outline the 25 common USA travel tips that are actually really unhelpful. Every entry in this article is based upon some piece of advice that I found in a published article.

24 Wrong: Don't Rent a Car

This next piece of bad advice comes back to the fact that most people only visit the west and east coasts of the United States. If you only visit the handful of major cities along the coast, then you probably don't need to rent a car when you are visiting the U.S. If you want to go into the interior of the country, however, you will have to rent a car.

The U.S. has an extensive infrastructure system, but once you get past the Appalachian Mountains (in the East) or Rocky Mountains (in the West) you will be hard pressed to find very much public transportation.

23 Wrong: Disney World is a Must-See

I don't want this next entry to come off as a knock on Disney World. It truly is one of the most magical places on earth and there is not another theme park in the world that can match it in size or attractions. But Disney World isn't always conducive to international travelers.

Millions of tourists come to the U.S every year, but almost all of them come during a handful of peak months in the summer. These just so happens to be the same months when Disney World is at its absolute worst. The park is extraordinarily crowded during the summer. This means that you will spend a good deal of your time waiting in line in the sweltering heat.

22 Wrong: Don't Bring Cash

Traveling within Europe is easy. The European Union has its problems but one of its biggest successes that this union created was the ease of access with which people can travel between member countries. The U.S. doesn't have this same kind of alliance with anyone (except for perhaps Canada), so you will have to face certain challenges if you come here. One such challenge is getting access to your financial institution.

It is fairly common for tourists to come to the U.S. from abroad and suddenly not be able to access any of their accounts. This is a hassle with the potential to become a catastrophe.

21 Wrong: Skip the Grand Canyon

I have noticed a bit of "natural wonder fatigue" from a lot of travel journalists. I think that these people are so used to seeing cool and culturally important things that they become numb to them. Don't let their apathy stop you from seeing one of the coolest things in the United States, the Grand Canyon.

Not every natural wonder is especially spectacular but the Grand Canyon is absolutely awe-inspiring. Even better, a visit to the Grand Canyon usually consists of more than just stopping, taking a few pictures, and leaving. It is also a huge destination for hikers, kayakers, and mountain climbers.

20 Wrong: Stay on One Coast

The United States is one of the most culturally diverse places in the entire world but even it can be subject to this assumption. This perception is furthered by advice telling people that they only need to visit one coast if the United States to get the full experience.

The East and West coasts are so culturally distinct from one another that you cannot visit one side and have any conception of what the other one is like. Don’t overextend yourself, but don’t think that you can only visit one coast and think that you know what the entire U.S. is about.

19 Wrong: Fly Into a Big Airport

This piece of advice isn't necessarily bad, it is just outdated. Anyone who has travelled extensively will tell you that not all airports are created equally. Specifically, you can notice a major difference between standard airports and "hub" airports. The article where this advice came from was arguing that international tourists should only fly into hub airports because those flights will be cheaper and it will be easier to get from the airport to your ultimate destination. But these aren't universal truths.

There are several sites that let you compare flights into different airports. Sometimes your best option will be a hub airport but it is definitely worth your time to check out these websites and make sure.

18 Wrong: You Need Apple Pay

Journalists for travel websites love to hype up new gadgets. Anything that purports to make travel easier is analyzed exhaustively and you can find several sites that compare the pros and cons of using any new travel gadget. Apple Pay is no different.

I have read several articles that talk about how useful Apple Pay is while traveling, and how you can't go to an industrialized nation like the U.S. without it. I have lived in two major cities in the U.S. (Pittsburgh and Boston) and I rarely use my Apple Pay. An ever-growing number of businesses are making it possible to purchase their wares through Apple Pay but as of this writing (November 2018), it is not a necessity for travel in the United States.

17 Wrong: Ignore the Midwest

I'm not even from the Midwest and even I have to admit that this next bit of advice seems a little unfair. If tourists coming to the United States only have a limited amount of time, they are of course going to go to the big cities on the east and west coasts. But to advise people coming to the U.S. that there is absolutely nothing in the interior of the country worth seeing is simply coastal hubris.

Cities like Chicago and St. Louis are often considered part of the Midwest. You can't tell me that these cities aren't worth visiting. Even the more rural areas in states like Kansas and Nebraska offer certain charms that tourists can't experience on the coasts.

16 Wrong: Tipping is Hard

When you go to a new place, it is important to know the standard tipping practices. If you tip too little, or not in the right way, you can find yourself in an embarrassing confrontation. With that being said, I find the tipping situation in the U.S. to be easier than in most other countries that I have been to.

The standard rate for food service is 15-20% but you will rarely get called out if you don't hit this plateau. It is usually pretty easy to leave a tip because in the U.S. most restaurants let you add the tip to the final bill. During my first trip to Europe, I was dismayed to find out that I had to carry around enough cash to tip since I couldn't add it to my credit card bill.

15 Wrong: Go Crazy With the Nightlife

I have seen this little piece of advice get alluded to in a couple of articles. There is a perception, especially among Europeans, that the United States is like the old Wild West. While the U.S. doesn't have the surveillance or police presence that a lot of Western European countries do, it certainly isn't a lawless society. Everyone skirts the rules from time to time but I would never recommend that you openly break the law when you are in a foreign country.

You don't want to get deported your first weekend in the U.S. because you got caught doing something stupid out in the open.

14 Wrong: Blend In

I understand the psychology of this piece of advice because no one wants to stick out like a sore thumb when they're in a new place. With that being said, I don't think the people coming to the United States should feel like they have to blend in, in order to be safe or to have a good time. Especially if they're coming to major tourist cities like New York or LA, they should know that the people there are used to seeing lots of tourists, and lots of foreign tourists.

In fact, people may be nicer to you if they know that the reason you seem so awestruck with what is going on is that you're not from around here.

13 Wrong: Stay in the Warmer Climate

It has been a major theme of this article that travelers should not limit themselves geographically when they come to the United States. Part of what makes the U.S. so great to visit is its diversity. Sure, Florida and Southern California are great for their sunny weather and nice beaches but the northern part of the U.S. has its own things to offer. Most of the major cities in the U.S. are located above the Mason Dixon. The Great Lakes region, one of the most beautiful areas in the entire country, is also above this line.

12 Wrong: Keep Your Passport At the Hotel

I understand the reasoning behind this next piece of advice. Depending on where you are from, it can be very hard to get back into your country of origin if you lose your passport while you are abroad. Given the current state of the U.S., however, it can be equally as dangerous to get caught in the U.S. without the proper documentation. This could easily get you shipped out of the country and probably not with the same travel accommodations that you had on the way in. Better to play it safe and keep your passport with you.

11 Wrong: Travel from the East Coast to the west coast

I should start off this entry by saying that I believe that everyone should visit both New York City and Los Angeles in their lifetime. What I don't agree with, however, is the idea that people should try to visit both of these cities (and only these two cities) in one short trip. Tourists coming to the United States might not have a good grasp of how big the country is, but getting from NYC to LA can be an arduous task, even by plane.

If you try to visit both in one trip, this means that you will be spending a good bit of your vacation traveling from place to place. You are much better off staying on one coast and doing everything that you can with your limited time.

10 Wrong: Shop As Much as You Can

I truly dislike this conception that the United States is nothing more than a giant marketplace. I've seen several outside articles that instructed its readers to pack light when traveling to the United States, just so they will have more room for new items on their way back. If you take the time and money to travel to the United States, you should do more than shop while you're here.

I understand that shopping as a big part of visiting places like the Mall of America and Chinatown in New York City, but there is a lot more to offer in these cities than a handful of shops.

9 Wrong: Stay in the Cities

If you are going to visit somewhere as big and diverse as the United States, don't spend all of your vacation indoors. There are so many cool things to experience outdoors in the United States that you will seriously limit your experience if you spend your whole trip visiting only man-made attractions.

A lot of people forget that the United States has over 12,000 miles of coastline. Some of these beaches aren't great but others can rival any other country in the world. Coastal living had this to say about the U.S. beaches:: “If you are looking for beautiful, diverse beaches, you don’t have to travel outside of the United States”.

8 Wrong: Don't Fly

Getting into a new nation is always a bit of a hassle. You have to go through Customs and Immigration, make your way through the port of entry, and find your way from the entry to your hotel.

I have seen a handful of articles that make the argument that you shouldn't fly into the United States, but should instead arrive by land or sea. Getting through a U.S. airport can be stressful and time-consuming but so fan arriving at a seaport or going through border security.

There is no way that either of these processes goes quickly enough to make up for the time that you will lose by not flying directly into the U.S.

7 Wrong: Get Your Vaccinations Beforehand

Depending on where you are traveling from, you might have some issues getting into the U.S. Custom officials are very wary about letting people come into the U.S. who might be carrying something that will be harmful to U.S. citizens. This includes dangerous diseases. If you are coming from certain areas in the southern hemisphere, customs officials will not let you into the U.S. unless you can provide proof of certain vaccinations. Usually, this process takes place before you arrive in the U.S. but I have heard of people getting detained when they arrive at Customs.

6 Wrong: Avoid the "Local" Cuisine

The United States has an interesting food history. When people think of “local food” in the U.S., they think of little mom and pop restaurants. But if you travel internationally, the restaurants that foreigners think of as American tend to be giant, conglomerate corporations (ie. McDonald's).

Some experts advise people traveling to the U.S. to ignore these chain restaurants, the reasoning being that they can easily find a McDonald's in their own country. What these people forget is that the menu and ingredients of the McDonald's in the US are totally different from the international menu.

5 Wrong: Be Wary of Everything

There is the perception in some European countries of the United States as unsafe. This perception translates into articles from European journalists who warn travelers to be wary when they are coming to the U.S.

There are certainly some areas of the United States that you have to be careful in but the country as a whole is nowhere near as dangerous as it appears to be in these articles. I always urge my readers to only travel to someplace where they feel absolutely comfortable. You don't want to spend your whole vacation stressed out.