17 tourist poses you need to stop making on vacation

Put a tourist in front of a camera instead of behind one, and you usually get some awesomely predictable results. From jumping in the air and posing with animals, to peeking out of a phone booth and pinching the Eiffel Tower, could we please -- as a species -- come up with just a little creativity? Is that too much to ask?

flickr user Pedro Ribeiro Simões

The jump

Nothing screams American abroad more than a good celebratory leap in a random piazza.

Wikimedia Commons user Vin7474

The hold-up

It's impossible not to equate humans to lemmings after witnessing hundreds of tourists all trying to capture this oh-so-clever shot at the same time. Although, how sick is that Italian Red Sox shirt?

Flickr user jerkalertproductions

Peeking out of a telephone booth

"Wait, wait, I've got a crazy idea. Why don't you get a shot of me peeking out of this phone booth, as if I JUST made a phone call, or, you know, am hiding. Trust me, it'll be hilarious."

Flickr user hildgrim

Standing on top of things

Especially when what you're standing on top of says "terd".

Flickr user another sergio 

The "I've arrived"


In a churchyard... Bam!

Flickr user Monika Bota

With one of the Queen's guards

Actually, go for it. Those guys don't have anything better to do. You know, other than protect the Queen. 

Flickr user William Cho

With an animal

Could somebody please explain why anyone would pay a guy with a drugged iguana (or python, or cockatoo) any amount of money to pose with it? "Dude, my vacation to South Beach got so f&*ked up that I took a picture with an iguana!!! Seriously, it was THAT crazy".

Flickr user oddwick

The peace sign

Obviously nobody's against peace, per say, but do we have to throw up deuces in every picture? Also, can we agree to stop saying "throw up deuces" -- it sounds disgusting.

 

Flickr user mendhak

The celebrity wave

When you're not even famous. Although, to be honest, this dude does look pretty distinguished. Like an Asian Paul Newman.

Skift

The Beatles

If you ever drive down Abbey Road in London, add some extra time into your schedule. Inevitably, you'll have to wait for groups of tourists queued up to take this exact photo. Thanks for nothing, Yoko.

Flickr user Francisco Osorio

The get-a-room couple

"Dad, I think he's going to pork her!"
"He's not going to pork her, Rusty, just eat, okay?"
"I think he is, Dad."
"... He may pork her, Russ, just eat, okay?"

Flickr user Frankie Victoria

The hot dog legs

And speaking of eating, don't be surprised when a fellow beachgoer smothers you in French's. And we're not talking about kisses.

Instagram user conicuri

The Machu Picchu

Seriously, if you have a picture of yourself in front of Machu Picchu taken from another angle (literally, any other direction), please pat yourself on the back. And do so twice if you hiked to the top of the mountain in the background and shot it looking down.

Flickr user vincent desjardins

With a policeman/soldier

Perhaps there's an episode of Blue Bloods on that you could be watching instead of keeping the nice officer from doing his job. Also, again with the deuces?

Flickr user David van der Mark

The yogi

We get it. You do yoga. Save it for the studio.

Instagram user maddogwwfc

The coin toss

If we had a coin for every time a tourist lobbed one into Rome's Trevi Fountain, we'd obviously have a lot of coins.

Flickr user Vincent Lock

The pincher

Pinching the Eiffel Tower is possibly the most cliche of all tourist poses, and yet apparently no one has tired of it. We find this incredibly difficult to understand.


Chloe Pantazi is an editorial assistant on Thrillist's travel team. Admittedly she has peeked out of a telephone box once – but she’s British, so it doesn’t count. Follow her on Twitter at @ChloePantazi.