Vickie Kelber, our UnTourist of the week has to be, pound for pound, one of the top contenders for the best photographer/writer we have among our many, many talented UnTourists. She does both of them fabulously. We’re all the more lucky, then, that she takes lots of pictures and usually writes a blog that she…
Of all the variables you might find on the “cultural dashboard”, there is none more likely to spark a clash faster than the varying definitions of “clean” across cultures. The paradox is nearly every culture has strict rules about what is “clean” but in the complicated dance that is cross-cultural understanding, of course, the rules…
Tell us a little bit about your most recent UnTour. We combined a Viking River Cruise (from Amsterdam to Basel) with a one week UnTour on the Rhine, in St. Goar. It really was a great combination. Our Viking Cruise was enjoyable, the times were well-organized and the excursions off the boat were interesting and…
Today we offer our culture clue — how people might differ in displaying emotion in public in Germany (compared to other cultures) with the benefit of our Cultural Dashboard tool. 1. Can you guess the likely outcome? Do you know why you might guess that way? Is it based on direct experience? Old movies? A…
To build a “roadmap for a culture” that is useful for the UnTourist about to go on a German UnTour (or any of our destinations outside the US) is a tricky thing. It is all too easy to stray into stereotypes and oversimplification, especially when we’re way outside our own culture. Things look deceptively simple…
Tell us about your most recent UnTour: In August 2011, my daughter and I returned to the German Castle for a week. It felt as if we were coming home. The Baron and Moritz greeted us upon arrival, treating us like old friends stopping for a visit. We stayed in the Carola Apartment, as we…
Tell us a little bit about your most recent UnTour. Last year we took the Germany Castle Tour. After our experience last year, we will definitely take another UnTour vacation and are happy to see them include the new river cruises. Prior to taking our UnTours trip, we had taken one bus tour (which…
At UnTours, along with sending you on trips that are especially good for living like a local, we also like to provide you with a handy ‘roadmap of the culture’. We think if we can provide you with a few rules of thumb, we can fast forward you into a place where you understand the…
Nothing quite whets the appetite for a trip more than memories of a gorgeous cafe with a gorgeous view. Thanks to Jim and Meg for these great pictures, and their great memories of their Rhine UnTour, which in turn was a way for them to relive the time they lived in Germany. Tell us a…
The first Wednesday of the month, the UnTours Blog will give you an overview of a culture in an UnTour destination. Think of it as a bird’s eye view, or a roadmap to the places you’ll visit on your UnTour. Generalizations about people are usually a bad idea. There are some generalizations about cultures, however, …