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American backpacker blasts Australia in cheeky YouTube rant

An American backpacker has posted a rant where he lists 10 things he has come to hate about Australia since arriving last year.

Tristan Kuhn noted in a YouTube video uploaded on Monday the things he thought Australia could improve on, including annoying flies, lack of free drink refills and “slow” internet.

The 22-year-old entered the county in October last year and throughout his time spent in Cairns, Adelaide, Melbourne and Tasmania, he has developed a host of pet peeves.

Mr Kuhn, who has 2,300 subscribers, complained about Australia having “extra strong stinging sun” compared to what he was used to in the United States.

“The sun here is much more strong, it burns you way more quicker than anywhere in the States. If I go in the sun here anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, I’m going to be pink,” he said.

Tristan Kuhn didn't hold back when it came to things he didn't enjoy about Australia. Source: YouTube/Tristan Kuhn
Tristan Kuhn didn't hold back when it came to his rant on things he didn't enjoy about Australia. Source: YouTube/Tristan Kuhn

Having to walk inside a petrol station to pay for fuel was another one of Khun’s top grievances, arguing it was painful having to wait in line with other customers when he was used to paying at the bowser.

He said in the US it was acceptable to turn at an intersection when a traffic light was displaying a red signal, so he found it frustrating he couldn’t do the same in Australia.

“Nothing is more frustrating than being stuck at a red light, knowing that you are perfectly safe to turn left, there are no cars, but you’re not able to do it,” he said.

Something Khun argued would “piss Americans off” was a lack of access to free drink refills at restaurants.

“All you Americans out there that like your refills, be thankful that you’re in America because there’s pretty much nowhere else in the world that does that,” he said.

Khun expressed a passionate hatred for law enforcement’s placement of “speed cameras everywhere” and claimed that drivers would be fined for going just three kilometres an hour over the limit.

10 things US backpacker hates about Australia

  • The “strong stinging sun”

  • Having to pay for fuel inside petrol stations

  • Not being allowed to turn on a red signal

  • Speed cameras being “everywhere”

  • Lack of free drink refills

  • “Slow” public and private internet

  • Paying for sauce with meal

  • Having to wear a bike helmet

  • Expensive alcohol and tobacco

  • Annoying flies

“You cannot speed here in Australia. You can argue that speed cameras keep people safe... but I just don’t think that’s reasonable. To me, it’s a little bit of an overstep from the government,” he said.

“I don’t like the feeling of being surveyed everywhere and having cameras all around me, and that’s just one thing I don’t really agree with.”

Australian internet speeds disappoint

Australia may have been where Wi-Fi was invented, but Mr Khun said the standard of WiFi had simply not lived up to his expectations.

“The WiFi here as a whole is just kind of s****y, like it’s not complete crap, but it’s definitely much worse on average than it is in the US,” he said.

The quality of public WiFi available for free through some businesses was not comparable to that in the US, where according to Khun download speed was generally far quicker.

“Even if you’re paying for your own internet and the fastest WiFi that you can get, you’re still going to have really slow upload speeds, so you have to pay extra on top of whatever you get to have a fast upload speed,” he said.

Uploading a video to YouTube in Australia apparently takes him five to seven hours, whereas in the US it would usually take between 20 to 30 minutes.

Paying for condiments was another thing the backpacker was not impressed at having to do in Australia, arguing that the extras were usually handed out for free in his home country.

“It’s usually quite expensive for some sauce, you’re going to be paying between 50 cents and $2 for a little bit of sauce...that definitely frustrates me,” he said.

Not wearing a helmet while riding a bicycle being illegal was something else he wasn’t a fan of in Australia, arguing that adults should be trusted to make their own decisions about their safety.

“I think I should be able to choose whether I wear a helmet or not. I’m an adult, I think most adults should be able to make decisions like that,” he said.

Mr Khun said the high tax on alcohol and tobacco was another cause of annoyance in Australia, and an issue other Americans were likely not to be too keen on.

“It’s going to be two to three times more expensive to get cigarettes and alcohol here than it is back in the US,” he argued.

‘Pesky and annoying Australian flies’

The final biggest source of irritation for Mr Khun in Australia was the flies – a frustration widely shared by Australians too.

“They are so pesky and annoying here. The bugs in general get in your face – they’re annoying, but the flies are aggressive, they just attack you...you cannot get rid of them,” he said.

Despite the extensive list of problems Khun has noted throughout his short stay in the country, he said “I still fricken love Australia”, and he wouldn’t be here if he didn’t.

“I don’t hate Australia for these things...these are just some ways I think Australia could improve.”

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