Maybe that’s why we have the famous HI “Aloha spirit”? We get a TON of sunlight and warm weather. 
I don’t even own a pair of shorts.
All I know is that when my son and I were in Berlin in 2011, we were both repeatedly taken for being Germans – to the point of German people coming up to me and asking me for directions in German! I have no idea why, except perhaps that Americans are assumed to be tall and otherwise large, and we’re small. Plus, most Germans, at least in Berlin, aren’t by any means blonde and “Aryan-looking”. Whenever we saw very tall blond people, they almost always turned out to be speaking Dutch! My son spent another couple of months traveling around Germany on a study grant after I went home, and told me that he was almost never taken for being an American (let alone for being Jewish)*, in part because he was quite fluent in German by then.
When we were in Rome a few years before, the one nationality that seemed to stick out the most was people from Britain, particularly young people. I know it’s a horrible stereotype, but it was remarkable how many young, pasty-faced British tourists I saw with bad teeth and bad skin – both male and female – staggering around at night drunk, and vomiting on the street.
- We have a very distinctly Jewish last name, but it seems that the days when most Germans immediately recognized Jewish surnames are long gone (along with most of the Jewish population).
At night drunk?
When we were in Paris Montparnasse Station last week, a friendly young British guy asked if he could help us. When we asked him for directions, he said he had no idea because he was drunk. It was 10:30 am.
That’s odd, because Europe is Nike’s second largest footwear market after North America.
DonnaL, that was exacly my experience in Berlin last April. I’m small and do have some German ancestry, it must show. Several peopke were stunned when I replief in American English to thier German language questions. (My receptive ability runs rings around myspoken German.)
I am currently in Asia where there are many Aussie tourists. Traveling solo, I frequently make a pleasant comment to a fellow traveller (easy in Asia to identify the non-native Asians!). Gennerally, it is an Aussie accent that responds. I love it, the friendliness and even the mannerisms are similar to us Midwesterners.
Aussies are bottom of the foodchain in terms of tourist dress. They seem not to discern the difference between being in a city and being at a low-budget beach resort.
Aussies are at the bottom in terms of ability to tip …
I wouldn’t know about tipping, but I have noted the “casualness” of many Aussies’ attire. That’s OK with me - a handfull of times I’ve guessed wrongly on what “the natives” will wear - Asian norms are new to me. I feel better if there are some under dressed Aussies along with me.
Yeah, they have Nike in Europe. Their HQ is near Amsterdam and they have stores in the major cities, often in the prime shopping districts.
I worked in New York City, commuting from New Jersey, for 6 years in the 1980s. Nobody ever talked to anybody else on the train. Except once – the day President Reagan was shot. That day, we all talked to each other as though we were part of the same community. Then, the next day, we all went back to traveling in silence.
^ not sure if there’s a typo in there, but Reagan was shot in 1981.
When my daughter and her fiancé were traveling through Italy, people kept assuming that they were Spanish. (Daughter, fiancé have olive skin tones.) When the two of them made it to Spain, people kept trying Italian on them. DH looks German but because of those dang baseball caps, they know he is American. As for me, people here at home never know my ancestry. I’m mainly Scottish but like my daughter, I have an olive skin tone.
Ok, even after living here for years and years and yes some is a stereotype however even my grown kids notice these…we walk differently. This is a big one and is hard to explain. We eat differently. We hold our fork and knife differently. Euro men tend to sit differently. I disagree on the Nike thing as they love that brand here. The color currently is black or gray on the streets. With so many Desiguals in Europe, one is seeing more color however only Americans in general wear color this time of year. It used to be a Coach, Michael K. or similar purse outed you. Now they have stores here. Vera Bradley will definitely out you and so will a fanny pack 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/28/fanny-packs-are-in-we-swear_n_7453652.htmln The return of the fanny pack
If you’re visiting Australia, don’t call it a fanny pack! It’s a “bum bag”. “Fanny” has a different meaning here.
“I personally can’t stand seeing anyone wear a baseball cap unless he/she is actually playing baseball.”
My H wears a baseball cap when dressed casually (outdoors walking, working in yard, etc.) because he is bald on top of his head and cap protects his head from getting sunburn. I think that is why so many men wear them.
Regarding sneakers - Adidas is a German company. Whether the Europeans wear them for anything other then sport I have no idea.
When I lived in NYC in late 70’s/80’s there was a transit strike ( can’t remember the exact year) and that is when a lot of women starting wearing sneakers on their way to work and home. It was common for several years after.
^^ That would be 1980. I had to get to school in Brooklyn from Jamaica, Queens. Good thing the LIRR was running and I could take a nice walk to the Jamaica station to get to Flatbush Ave via the LIRR and walk the rest of the way to school. I still see women wear sneakers or comfortable walking shoes with their professional outfits and change to heels in the office.
I worked in downtown Brooklyn and lived in midtown. I walked once. By the time I got to work it was time to go home. They sent car services to pick of execs but I was too lowly for that. After the first day I was told just to stay home.
My mother’s ethnicity was Swedish (she was almost a white haired blonde, with blue eyes) and my father is Hispanic. I have his dark hair, eyes, and olive complexion, but my mom’s facial features. When I lived in France, I was constantly asked if I was Italian. They weren’t stunned to find I was American, but it was never the first guess. Sometimes they asked if I was from Spain.