Next month, I will start my long awaited "round the world" trip. Many of my destinations I will be visiting will be in so called developing countries in Africa and Asia.

Most of my friends are trying to talk me out of the trip. They say there is plenty of interesting things to see here in the "good old USA." Or if I do travel overseas, I should stick with places like London, Paris, Hong Kong and Singapore.

They tell me I will be bothered and be "STARED AT" constantly as a westerner. No one likes to be pestered, bothered or stared at.

So, as a white westerner, will I be "stared at" by the residents of developing countries?

In more than a few -- and especially outside of major tourist destinations/urban centers -- certainly.

Three times when I've really noticed it:

1) In Bali, in the expensive resort area, I went birdwatching in the sewage ponds. Started to rain, so I took shelter under a corrugated shed.. and two of the local boys found me - so i let them look through my binoculars and telescope etc. 15 mins later (still birdwatching and sheltering!), they'd brought half their village to come have a look too - whilst this was a tourist area, i just think they weren't used to people birdwatching and even if they were, they found my telescope and binoculars fascinating. They invited me back for some food (none of us spoke each other's language, but we could mime well ), but I declined - very aware that the cost of my equipment was way more than these people would make in a year, and also that I was a single female travelling alone. I kind of regret not going, because I bet it would have been interesting, but I'm also pretty sure I did the right thing.
2. Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso - there for a conference myself and two Americans went for a walk around the central market. Within about 15 mins, we'd a crowd of about 100 people around us, trying to sell us things. That all got a little much, so I retreated back to the hotel.
3. Beijing - Stupidly, I went to Tiannamen Square on Mayday, forgetting it was a big Chinese holiday. Square was jam-packed with out of towners, many of whom had never seen a westerner - quite a few pictures were being taken of me as well - also just travelling on public transport in China gets you some stares.

Is staring a problem? Not necessarily! It's only when it gets big and intimidating like in Burkina Faso and to some extent like Beijing that it forces me to retreat. In Uganda, I attracted quite a few stares as a western woman travelling alone, but then Ugandan women were quite happy to talk to me also, which was always very interesting. And on the plus side, I've had experiences that your friends, who stick to westernised countries, haven't, and greatly enjoyed most of them too!

.....

Took a day trip to Ghaunzhou, China from HKG earlier this year. As soon as we stepped off of the train we (white) were a hot commodity.

It was kind of funny, when walking down lots of people were definitely watching. When entering a business all the heads would turn.

Guangzhou isn't a big center of Western tourism as far as I can tell. If you're going to places that are more touristed, I doubt this will happen.

Anyway, who cares if people stare? That's certainly no reason to skip international travel and go to Orlando instead.

Yeh, but you get used to it. Most are not being rude, they are being curious. You need to realize that "diversity" is mostly a western idea, from my experience, and a lot of people in developing countries just don't know what to do or say when they see someone very different. You are big and scary and wierd. Kids usually will come up to you first because of their natural curiosity. Most have also seen television or a movie at some point and all of a sudden youre right in front of them. A smile and gentleness goes a long way in most parts of the world I have been in.

If it makes you feel any better, I tend to stare at people in Orlando so youre not even safe there.

And as for your friends, it sounds like most of them haven't been outside the state let alone outside the country. I have found that people in developing nations tend to be much warmer, friendlier, more helpful, and more accepting than people in London, Paris, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Is a villager inviting you in to tea so they can "bother" you with questions and "pester" you with refills all that bad? Not only will you walk out with a deeper understanding of them, but you will walk out with them having a deeper understanding of you.

I don't mind being stared at with curiosity. One thing I do find tremendously annoying is to be constantly approached by touts, shills, and assorted no-gooders offering me "tours", "postcards", whatever. Some of them are particularly annoying and persistent in some places in India, China, and the Arab sections of the old city in Jerusalem.

I am not an easy mark, and can spot a con a mile away, so I do not know why somehow that assumption is made just because I'm white and obviously not from the locality.

. . .

I am not white and I am a Canadian but i get stared at everywhere, in the US, Asia, Europe. People tell me it's my exotic good looks.

Visitors get stared at wherever they tend to stand out not where they blend in. It happens in developing countries and it happens in first world countries.

It can be mentally fatiguing as a single traveler, but most of the times I have not had problems, but I've had a couple children (not any adults) say some nasty racial comments to me in Chile and Switzerland. See Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for my opinion of many children.

Without a doubt.

That said, that should certainly not change your decision to go. You're travelling to their country because you're interested in it, so why shouldn't they be interested in you too?

The two places I encountered this most were:

Siem Reap, Cambodia. I think we had 100 little kids in tow at times, many missing legs.

Middle of Nowhere Sabah, Malaysia. We were on a riverboat ride, and stopped in a village. I think the whole village followed and stared.

Bring a digital camera, it makes a great "conversation" piece.

Follow the advice of the US Army:

Join the Army
Travel to exoctic locations
Meet strange and wonderful people
and kill them

Tourists get stared at, cheated, and insulted the world over.

If being stared at makes you very uncomfortable then I would suggest re-tooling your itinerary. Otherwise it shouldn't be a big deal. An integral part of Wanderlust is to share cultures with people around the globe (re: never force cultures upon them). When people stare at you they are taking in something that they have never experienced before (or rarely have at least). I find it thrilling to be gawked at because I know that I am providing bragging rights to many people. e.g. "Hey mom, guess what I saw today"... So just soak it up and let them do the same. It can get a little troublesome sometimes as is in the situation experienced by Jenbel in Ouagadougou where you are mobbed (which can get violent but normally is just a little claustrophobic at its worst). Interesting little story. I was doing some scientific work in rural Yunnan Province, China and my group was camping in the mountains. One day a member of our team fell ill and somebody had to stay with him, so I volunteered. Later in the day he was feeling better and we decided to go for a walk. As we walked up a little rural road two flatbed trucks packed to the gills with workers passed us by. Or at least they should have. You see, I am 6'2", light skin, brown hair and my friend is 6'8" and Mexican. Needless to say these locals had never seen anything like either of us before. Well as the first truck passed us I watched the driver (and 40 other pairs of eyes) fixate on us and he slammed on the brakes. Well the driver of the second truck also fixated on us along with another 40 pairs of eyes. But the second driver didn't put on the brakes... Well we waited around just long enough to maintain that nobody was hurt and then just kept walking as if nothing had happened. It was really quite funny.

probably...but don't let that keep you at home! it's not so much a belligerent stare as it is a curious one. i am stared at frequently when in china (not the big cities so much, but small towns and as another poster said by townies on holiday in beijing) and i just give 'em a big smile. if they want to take a pic of the gweilo (ghost--cause you're white) just give 'em a grin. consider it your contribution as an ambassador of goodwill and have a wonderful adventure!