One of the great American anxieties about traveling overseas is this: will people hate me because of my passport? The worry is tucked into questions I get all the time. Will they roll their eyes when I open my mouth and they hear my accent? Will they resent me for US politics? Do they think all Americans are loud, arrogant and demanding?

For the record, the vast majority of people don’t know what an American accent is or what an American looks like.

I’ve been traveling and living abroad for years now, and this is what I’ve found - it’s far more complicated and far more forgiving than the concern suggests.

Conversations open easily. Whether I’m on a train in Japan, a night market in Indonesia, or a cafe in Amman, I have found most people are eager to talk, about their country, about my country, about politics, and more often about life’s smaller details, like how much better their tomatoes taste or whether Los Angeles really looks like the movies. I’ve had debates about climate change with taxi drivers, long talks about love and marriage with hotel staff, conversations about art and identity with strangers in a museum queue. The ease of discourse abroad is freer, less loaded, less guarded than at home.

Curiosity outweighs judgment. People want to know what it’s like to live in America, whether the clichés are true, how daily life actually works. More often than not, they’re less interested in rehearsing grievances than in swapping stories. Anti-American bias exists, but it rarely shows up as hostility. It’s more of a raised eyebrow at our healthcare system, a laugh at our political circus, or a baffled shake of the head at our love of guns. It’s a question about the stock market and why it feels so erratic, why our currency adjusts at the most random news, defying expectations and market trends, or a bemused comment about tariffs that seem to appear and disappear with a wink. The inconsistency makes us look unpredictable, but it doesn’t make us unwelcome.

The truth of the matter is this, the fear comes from us. We imagine walking into a room where everyone has already judged us. We brace for hostility that doesn’t arrive. The world has its critiques, but it also has an openness. People are genuinely curious, generous, and willing to separate individuals from governments. If anything, being American abroad makes you an easy conversation starter.

Travel teaches you to drop this fear. It teaches you that the world is full of people eager to connect, to laugh, and to learn. You still run into cynics (though not as many as on your Facebook feed), but the overwhelming impression is one of welcome.

So no, most of the world doesn’t hate us. They’re too busy living their own lives, figuring out their own politics, and, if you’re lucky, inviting you into the mix for a glass of wine, a shared meal, or a late-night conversation you’ll never forget.

I created Robinson & Roam to help guide you through travel experiences, with bespoke itineraries, mentoring and even travel styling so you arrive with confidence, cultural awareness, and zero anxiety about saying, or wearing, the wrong thing. The world is expecting us.