Soaking in natural hot springs after a day on the slopes is practically the official pastime of Steamboat Springs, the cowboy-flavoured mountain town in Colorado. But for one Australian couple on a recent ski trip, the post-ski soak turned into an unplanned cultural experiment. The writer's husband slipped into the steaming mineral pools wearing what any man at Bondi or a suburban Melbourne pool would consider completely ordinary swimwear: a pair of bright, brief-style togs. The reactions of the American soakers around them suggested otherwise.
The problem, or rather the spectacle, came from the brand printed across the back of his togs: "BUDGY SMUGGLER". Every time he moved between pools, the fluorescent lettering flashed like a billboard through the steam. Conversations stalled. Eyebrows climbed. Eventually a woman broke the silence with a half-laughing question about what exactly a "Budgy Smuggler" was, and the husband's face duly matched the colour of his swimmers. Not one other man in the pools wore anything shorter than knee-length board shorts.
The contrast is a genuinely funny quirk of national norms rather than a one-off embarrassment. In Australia, briefs on men are so unremarkable they've been worn by prime ministers from Bob Hawke to Tony Abbott without causing a ripple, and the affectionate nickname for them is used casually at every surf club and backyard barbecue. France takes an even stronger position: many public pools actually require tight swimming briefs and ban loose board shorts on hygiene grounds, arguing that trunks worn all day drag in sand, sweat and pocket debris.
America, it turns out, sits firmly on the board shorts side of the divide. The style difference is as noticeable as any of the usual Australia-US frictions — tipping, sport, politics — just one nobody thinks to warn you about.
The piece also serves as a handy primer on global bathing etiquette. In Japan's ski-resort onsens, the pools are gender-separated and swimsuits are off entirely; Finland's sauna culture similarly expects nudity. In the US, swimmers are required — and some locals even wear beanies in the piping hot outdoor pools, a trend the writer found baffling while letting snowflakes land on her head.
For travellers, the takeaway is light but real. If you're packing for a US ski trip, throw in a pair of longer swim shorts unless you fancy being the pool's main attraction. If you'd rather start a friendly conversation with the locals, well, a neon pair of Aussie togs clearly does the job too. And if you're headed to Steamboat itself, the hot springs are reason enough to visit: the geothermal pools scattered around town are the perfect way to end a day on the slopes, whatever you wear in them. The writer travelled as a guest of Steamboat Ski Resort, though the mortification appears to have been entirely her own.
