The 10 stupidest things Australians do while travelling It can happen to the best of us - sometimes we confuse having fun on holidays with being a total tool. WHEN it comes to doing foolish things on holidays, schoolies might lead the pack - balcony hopping on the 20th floor of a hotel; drinking until they're talking Swahili; collecting a range of STDs; impulse tattoos - but at least they have an excuse. They are young and dumb, and their brains are yet to fully develop. No such excuses are available for older Aussies who travel and behave badly. Here is a list of some of the most stupid things we do when set free from the daily drudge. Drink in Australian-themed bars You've forked out for a plane ticket, waited in airport queues, flown 10,000km across the water in a confined space, and the first thing you and your mates want to do is find an Aussie-themed bar. The sort of joint with Foster's on tap, Crocodile Dundee on the TV screen, The Angels' Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again? blaring from the house PA and some sweaty oik with a mullet in a Cold Chisel T-shirt asking: "Do you know how the Doggies went last night mate?" The Walkabout pub in London's Covent Garden. A rite of passage for Aussies in the UK. Get braids in Bali Unless you are a child, there is no excuse for having your hair braided on Kuta Beach. Not only are you leaving gaping great holes between the corn rows for the sun to scorch the top of your melon, you're now only a $2 Bintang singlet away from becoming the archetypal Aussie bogan. Extra points awarded for getting beads added to your braids. Ask shop owners in Hawaii and New Mexico if they take American dollars They DO take American dollars! Who'd have thought? OK so you take American dollars ... but that doesn't mean we'll be tipping like an American... Become a chilli hero When the waiter in the Hong Kong restaurant advises against ordering the Chongqing Hotpot as it is far too spicy for the Down Under gweilo's delicate sensibilities, ignore his advice at your peril. These people know what they're talking about. Overdose on the most evil of chillies and you will pay for it in several ways across several days. All of them really, really unpleasant. The more the merrier when it comes to chilli, right? Picture: Peter Holmes Source: Supplied Participate in Spain's annual Running of the Bulls festival Plenty of people have died and been seriously injured during this cruel and unusual pastime, including a young Australian woman who survived after being gored in the lungs earlier this year. There is a lot of sympathy for the bulls, but not much for the clowns who are impaled on a fence. It is a bull. With horns. It is frustrated and freaked out. You will lose. Comprende? Run in the footsteps of loads of other Aussie idiots at the San Fermin festival in Pamplona. Use social media to advise local burglars you've gone away Look, it's great that you're in The Netherlands for a fortnight to check out the tulips and sample the Lord's lettuce in some seedy canal-front cafe, but do you really need to tell the world via your public Twitter feed? You do realise your friends aren't the only ones following your moves? You're a burglar? Great, make yourself at home while I'm away. Hint: The key's under the doormat. Create your own mobile phone rules on a plane When the captain of the jumbo directs passengers to turn off their mobile phones, he is talking to you. Yes you. Me? Sorry to be the bearer of grim tidings, but - irrespective of what your mother told you when you were a child - you're not special. And you don't have a magical mobile phone. We can see you hiding it between your knees. You are not fooling anyone. Turn the bloody thing OFF. But, but, but... you don't have special rules just for your phone. Take photos inside the Sistine Chapel Which part of "do not take photos inside the Sistine Chapel" do you not understand? What else could a sign featuring an illustration of a camera with a red line through it possibly mean? Could it mean: "DO take photos"? Could it mean: "Everyone else cannot take photos but YOU can"? No, it means: Don't. Take. Any. Photos. In this case, the photographer really did have permission to take photos. Expect foreigners to adapt to your lifestyle If you go to New York, expect to tip 20 per cent. If you fly to Spain or Italy, expect that some businesses will shut down for la siesta during the hottest hours of the day. If you travel to India expect to be hassled by beggars. If you want life to be just like it is back in Oz - but with even more mullets - holiday in Surfers Paradise. Beggars are part of life on the road in some countries. Deal with it. Complain that counterfeit merchandise isn't real About those goodies you've just bought from a toothless, one-eyed man lurking in a laneway on the lesser side of town - sorry to break it you, but they're not genuine. Yes, yes, I know the stallholder promised the goods were legit, and you really wanted to believe him, but there is a good reason why the straps on your $6 Vuitton bag sort of broke just then. Here's a hint: You're probably not going to have much luck getting a refund on your $6. What's your No.1 gripe about other Aussie holidaymakers? Share your advice below. More travel advice: How not to bore people with holiday stories How to become a first-class flyer What not to do on a plane How to spot a fake TripAdvisor review Weird questions you shouldn't ask DFAT