Do the rest of the world think Australians are dumb, drunk and racist? Source: The Courier-Mail

THE good news is that, courtesy of the still sprightly though now falling Australian dollar, more of us than any time in our history have the ability to travel overseas, and in considerably more style than ever before.

The bad news is that with more and more Australians unleashed on the world the chances of the drongos, drunks and racists among us disgracing ourselves abroad must have, statistically, increased.

Paul Theroux infamously wrote in The Great Railway Bazaar, the classic travel book from the 1970s on his train journey from London to Hong Kong and back again, that whenever he was at his lowest ebb on his travels he always seemed to meet an Australian (and, no, he didn't mean he was glad to see us).

Recently Tim Hunter, boss of Canterbury & Christchurch Tourism, effectively accused normally bravura-driven Aussies of being wimps in shying away from a visit to New Zealand's quake-struck second biggest city.

Now there's a forthcoming ABC television series, provocatively-entitled Dumb, Drunk & Racist.

It tests the theory that Indians, based on call-centre training sessions, consider Australians to be "fat, lazy, drunk, low-class, dumb and racist".

This habit of Australians worrying what other nationalities think of us if they have a view of us at all - used to be known as "the cultural cringe".

In an increasing competitive world reputations do count, and it's fair to say that each and every one of us are ambassadors whenever and wherever we set foot abroad.

Here are some thoughts on how were perceived overseas.

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What does the world think of Aussie travellers?