Every so often you have one of those travel moments that leaves you stunned and speechless. For me these moments have almost always been of the good variety, such as watching the sunrise from the top of Adam’s Peak in Sri Lanka or coming eye-to-eye with penguins in Antarctica. This story is about a time when I was accidentally Anti-American.

I was in the Galapagos Islands, and had been simply awed by the approachability of the wildlife on these islands. The sun had been getting the best of my Canadian winter skin too, so on this particular day I headed out on a island hike with my trusty sun hat to shield myself from those pesky UV rays. With the rest of my tour group wandering ahead I stopped to take some pictures of the playful sea lions and scenery on Sombrero Chino (Chinese Hat) Island.

After a few minutes I hustled along to catch up with the others, when I crossed paths with two other people coming down the trail in the opposite direction. I said a quick ‘hello’ to the woman who passed first and was about to say ‘hi’ to the guy behind her, when he quipped ‘That’s really Anti-American!’.

Did I hear him right? Had I looked at his girlfriend / wife whoever she was, in a wrong way? All I did was say ‘hello’. I stopped and didn’t know what to say. As he passed by I turned around and he looked back – obviously seeing the stunned look on my face. He asked where I was from, I said near Toronto, Canada. That’s when he told me that my hat was anti-American, then he continued down the trail.

My hat? What? Ahh, then it all sunk in. My sun hat was a freebie I had picked up one summer in a case of beer. A case of Molson Canadian beer. That was during the heydey of their ‘I AM CANADIAN’ beer slogan and TV commercials. So, naturally, on the front of my hat was emblazoned the ‘I AM CANADIAN’ logo. Apparently my pro-Canadianism was seen as anti-American to this fellow I had just met on the trail.

I kind of laughed afterwards, but wished I had been able to explain it to him, and even showed him some of the classic commercials associated with the beer campaign. When I caught up to the other travellers from my boat group I asked the Americans what they thought of my hat, and they thought it was great. Funny, I thought, how my hat had caused such concern to someone. It was a strange twist on the ongoing travel debate of Canadians vs. Americans. I have met many Americans on the road who at first meeting claim to be Canadian, but this scenario was a definite first.