Weird Ways Europe Messes Up American Tourists' Bodies

Name: Weird Ways Europe Messes Up American Tourists' Bodies
Uploaded: 2026-09-08T13:05:19+00:00
Duration: 10 min 13 s
Channel: Wolters World

00:08Hey there, fellow American travelers. Mark here with Walter's World. Today we're here in Genoa,

00:12Italy. And today I want to talk about is something serious for my American travelers,

00:15and that is how your body is going to react mentally and physically to visiting Europe.

00:21Because you know what? There's things that change when you go travel. There's things you notice,

00:24things that wear you down or hype you up when you go. And I think it's important for you to

00:27have an

00:27idea of some of the things that might affect you here, here, and way down below when you come to

00:33Europe. And I'm going to start one of the things about that happened to you down below, and that

00:38is be ready for different bowel movements. Yes, after a lifetime of eating ultra processed food and

00:44fast food in America, when you come to Europe, we have significantly more like less refined food,

00:49more whole foods out there, less GMOs. I mean, just look at the ingredients list on your favorite

00:54food at home and then compare it to here when you find it. Your body processes things differently.

01:00So be ready for a slight difference in the consistency of your movements and also

01:07the frequency of your movements. So be ready for that. Because that's one of the things people don't

01:12realize is when you change what you're eating, the water you have and stuff, it can have an impact.

01:16So maybe, maybe you do carry some Pepto with you or some Imodium just in case. Because sometimes it's not

01:22a

01:22bad thing. Sometimes it's a good thing. Like the, the way the gluten is or the sulfites with the

01:25wine or lack of sulfites in the wine actually make you feel better instead of worse. So do be aware

01:31of that. But I will tell you, uh, sometimes you might go from logs to toothpaste and not even realize

01:37it. Okay? Now, another thing I think Americans need to realize, this is one that a lot of them

01:41complain about when they think of the physical pain I have when I go to Europe, are your hurt feet.

01:46Yes, your feet do hurt when you're here. I mean, think about it. You're maybe walking 2000 steps a day

01:51when you're at home, or 5000 steps a day when you're at work, or maybe you walk the doggy to

01:558000 steps a day. Now you're walking 10 hours a day, 20,000 steps, 10 miles, 16 kilometers, whatever,

02:03and you're not used to that. And so your feet ache, your legs ache, you get shin splints, you sprain

02:07your ankle, these kind of things do happen. That's why it's really important to help alleviate that.

02:12Make sure before you go to Europe, you're doing long walks, you're getting you're getting used to being

02:16outside and walking a lot. I know Europeans like Oh, Walters is telling them to train how to walk

02:23Americans don't know how to walk. Yes, we know how to walk. We just don't walk like you do in

02:27Europe

02:27with with uneven pavements and all kinds of stuff. So we're trying to get you ready. So you don't have

02:31those painful feet. I want to tell you one of the biggest mistakes people make is they get new shoes

02:36before they come to Europe because they're like, I'm gonna walk a lot. So I need to make sure I

02:40have good

02:40walking shoes. You better make sure you have broken those shoes in before you come because nobody wants

02:46blisters and stuff and you'll be walking that much. Alright, so painful feet, another part of doing

02:50it. But the thing is, I'm going through these like bad things like sprained ankles and hurt feet and

02:55weird pooping. But also, there's the good physical effects of going to Europe is you might notice

03:01your belt and your pants fit a little bit better. Yes, with all that walking and more of the I

03:08would

03:08say healthier food options. I'm sure some of you do healthy food all the time, blah, blah, blah. But I'm

03:12getting honest with you with all that walking all that movement, you know, you're not snacking as much

03:15as you're seeing things, you might notice that your waistline gets a little bit thinner while you're

03:20here. You're like, Oh, I'm a bit more European. Can't you tell? Because I'm so much more fit and

03:24trimmed out. I mean, it sounds silly, but I can't tell you how many of our fans have written us,

03:29Mark,

03:29I just spent two weeks in Europe, and I lost 10 pounds. I mean, it happens because of all that

03:34exercise.

03:34So there are some good physical things that are out there. And also, if we think about mental benefits as

03:40well that hits you, is I find that Americans really enjoy the fact that when they come to Europe, they

03:44get a

03:44chance to actually mentally relax. Because it takes longer to eat here, you're not like going to a

03:50restaurant, they're forcing the food debt, getting your order right away, give your food right away.

03:53Okay, get out of here right away. You get to take time and relax and do things as much more

03:58calmer

03:58life. And so therefore, it's a little bit easier to relax. That's why I tell people if you're stressed

04:03out, you want to go on vacation, don't go to Orlando go, don't go to New York City, you're gonna

04:07be even

04:07more stressed out. Come to Europe, take your time when you're here, because they're gonna force you to take your

04:12time, because they're not going to be in a hurry as well. So if you can get past the frustration

04:15of

04:16slowness, then it really is a lot easier to relax here. And that can be very helpful. Because all

04:20those longer meals and longer walks, calmer evenings, really can actually help sleep even better. I mean,

04:26once you get past that jet lag at the beginning, then you sleep really good when you are here with

04:30all that. So that's nice. Um, another kind of mental struggle I think Americans have that they don't

04:35maybe not say anything about right away, but they notice when they're there, is just the struggle with

04:39personal space. Like in the US, we like our big bubble. But some places in Europe, you're literally

04:44this close to people all the time. And that's one of the things that sometimes mentally some

04:48Americans have a really tough time with. So just be ready for that when you're on public

04:51transportation, you're going to museums, heck, when you're sitting at restaurants, and they're all so

04:55close together, like how do they sit these little tiny tables and four people are eating there, they

04:59find a way and that's one of those things, you have to realize you're not going to have a lot

05:02of

05:02personal space when you're here. I know for some people, that's a mental thing that really is tough.

05:06So if you are having a tough time, you are getting overwhelmed, like here in Genoa, they have the

05:11Coruji, these little pathways, these little tiny maze like streets you go to. And some people get

05:15very claustrophobic and kind of freak out because in the US, we're used to those big open spaces,

05:19right? Three car garages, da da da, here they name a garage. Go and find a big piazza where there's

05:25plenty of space, go find a park where you can kind of get some space, that's going to help you

05:29out

05:29mentally to kind of like, okay, I'm doing better. Because when you're getting overwhelmed with all the

05:33tourists in Munich, go to the Englisher garden and get away from it all. Another mental effect I see

05:38hit people is museum burnout. The thing is, when you come to Europe, you're so excited, I'm going to

05:42see all these churches and squares and museums and towns and stuff. But after a while, it's like,

05:47sometimes it feels like the towns blur together like, oh, we saw the church, the museum and the

05:52square in the town hall, church museum square town hall, church museum square town hall, and it

05:56starts going by, by, by, by. And then you're trying to remember, you remember that one church that had that

06:01altar, it gets hard sometime. And there's actually a mental thing with it where you get kind of burned

06:05out. So to try to fight off that kind of museum burnout, what I recommend is find different

06:11activities to do. Don't just do the museum church square, museum church square, do a cooking class,

06:16do an art class. I know Jocelyn and Caleb, they literally were painting Notre Dame on the Seine for

06:22a thing. Liam and I, we were making macarons together. We're in, you know, you go places, you take these

06:27classes, it helps kind of change up your mental attitude. We're in Seville, we went to Isla

06:31Magica, the amusement park there, just to give our brains kind of a reset. So we didn't have that

06:36burnout of another museum and square another church. So it does happen. And that's not just American

06:42tourists. That's happens a lot of tourists we travel around. I think about if I think about burnout,

06:46I think there's one, if you're someone that doesn't usually speak foreign languages, but you're

06:50trying to speak it like I'm here in Italy, I speak Italian, and I don't get a chance to speak

06:54Italian back in the US. So I'm really like, I want to speak Italian. So I'm speaking Italian to

06:58everybody. But by the end of the day, the mental burnout from speaking Italian so much after having

07:04not spoken for like a year, it really does hit you like it sounds silly. But that's one of those

07:09things when you're speaking a foreign language you're not used to, it can wear you down. So just be

07:13aware of that if you're like, Oh, man, I'm using my Spanish in Spain, but why am I so tired?

07:17Mentally? Well, it's because you're using parts of your brain you haven't used for a while.

07:21Now feeling worn out from the speaking the mental side of it, but there's also like the physical

07:25worn outness because you're walking so much you're doing so you're carrying those bags,

07:29you have so many more stairs, you're going up to the no elevator and I got five floors with my

07:34suitcases, that kind of physical wearing you out does happen too. And you want to be careful

07:38because if you burn yourself out, you wear yourself out, you become more liable to get sick. And a lot

07:43of people they go on vacation, they're doing so much and they burn themselves out and then they get sick.

07:47And the last half of their vacation, they're sitting there coughing, hacking, feeling horrible,

07:51instead of enjoying their vacation. So make sure you give yourself some time so you don't get worn

07:55out. Because it's not just jet lag that makes you tired from travel. Now, couple specific physical

08:03ailments or physical things that you should really think about when you're traveling that might not

08:07relate to you, but it might relate to some people. One, chafing. If you're a huskier traveler,

08:13like myself, you might notice if you're walking a lot in the summer and you don't have the right

08:17clothes on and it's kind of hot, you might notice a little friction between the legs or in the armpits

08:22and chafing really can become an issue. So I do recommend if you've ever had chafing or you're a

08:27heavy traveler or you walk really close to your legs together, you don't want to start a fire,

08:32bring like gold bond or some kind of cream or powder to help with the chafing. Because if you get

08:37chafed in the middle, all of a sudden, next thing you know, you're walking like this everywhere around

08:41Europe, you look a little silly and you can't get anywhere very fast. And it's really, really

08:45painful. So be aware of that, because that's one that does pop up in the husky traveler forum. So

08:51saying that, see, it's not for all of you, just for some of us, okay. And then I want to

08:54talk about

08:54something for female travelers, and that is your cycle. When you travel abroad, when you do long

09:02distance travel, sometimes your cycle could be interrupted or kind of knocked out of cycle. And so

09:07therefore you may think, Oh, well, I'm not supposed to have my period during this two week

09:11vacation, so I'm okay. You never know, it might actually kick it in earlier, or you might miss

09:16your period entirely, and come home thinking you're pregnant. Believe me, we have had that,

09:21uh, going to Walgreens at midnight to see if it's a, you know, if the baby's coming or not kind

09:25of thing.

09:26So do be aware of that. So if you're going to be coming, make sure you're bringing if you know,

09:29your tampons, pads, whatever you use, make sure you have that with you, because yes, you can find it here.

09:34But have you ever in your entire life, no matter where you are in the world,

09:37when you needed a tampon or you needed a pad? Was there a place right next door, right ready with

09:41the exact one you wanted? Of course not. So it's best to have those extra with you. I know Jocelyn

09:45brings her stuff every single time, just in case, so it's something to be aware of, all right?

09:50So these are just a few of the physical and mental ailments that Americans, well actually,

09:55let's be honest, all travelers have to deal with when they come here, but I thought it'd be funny to

09:58pick out my American friends, because honestly, we are pretty, uh, not used to walking this much.

10:04Anyway, what are some of the other physical ailments you've seen hit travelers when they travel?

10:08Let us know in the comments below, and I wish you all the best, and I'll say ciao from here

10:11in Genoa, Italy.

Weird Ways Europe Messes Up American Tourists' Bodies

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