So there you are in Belarus, supping on beet soup and rye bread, getting all stinky on kvas. The bill comes and you reach for your wallet. To tip or not to tip, you wonder. You try to remember the advice dispensed in your uncreased copy of Lonely Planet: Belarus, but the details are pretty fuzzy at this point in the night. If you have a fancy phone however, a quick tutorial on Belarusian tipping etiquette is a few pecks away.

The brainchild of Harry Peters, one of the minds behind the site What The F*** Should I Make For Dinner?, How Much Should I F***ing Tip? allows the curious Internet surfer to learn all about tipping customs in different places. Results include suggestions for tipping taxi drivers, waiters, hotel porters and housekeepers, as well as handy notes for enrichment and amusement.

In Chiang Mai, for instance — Northern Thailand's biggest city — visitors are advised not to accidentally disrespect the royal family: “[Don't even stomp] on a mislaid coin or banknote … Be sure to dress conservatively and keep yourself clean.” In Portugal, apparently, tipping is something to be done somewhat sneakily — under-the-table, so to speak.

According to Peters, the idea for the website “came about totally organically from a discussion about vacations … how you sometimes feel like you're tipping way too much just because of your ignorance.”

Thanks to WTFSIMFD, tipping abroad need not add to the stress of traveling. That is, unless your destination is North Korea.

Har har

Har har


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