Karin Kemp thought she'd done everything she could to not look like a tourist in Belgium. She wore muted clothes, learned helpful phrases in French and Flemish, and did her best to blend in. Still, Americans would stop her on the street to ask for directions.

"I finally asked one how he knew I was an American," says Kemp, a retired graphic designer from Matthews, North Carolina. "He pointed to my shoes."

She was wearing white sneakers. Gotcha!

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