tipping

Initially, I struggled with this and was somewhat afraid of insulting the locals. "Pinche Gringo is looking down on us! Who does he think he is?" At first, I justified it by telling myself that my culture tips 20% to 25% so I should, too. In fact, I will tip 20% to 25% of what the price would be in the U.S.

However, upon seeing the faces of some individuals which just beamed gratitude, I was hooked. I tip generously when I travel to Mexico. One hotel contacted me afterward and said that the maid wanted to thank me for the tip. She used it to buy some school clothes for her child. You just don't know how you will help a person.

Apologies to any who believe this is a bad practice.

Most europeans tip only on rare occasions, excellent service, as restaurant staff wages are regular wages, and not subpar as they can be in North America (more exactly US/Canada).
Tipping in Japan is an INSULT.
As I heard, to be confirmed, people visiting from Mexico City are not big tippers.
We often saw people (whoever they were…) over tipping bartenders in all inclusives to be sure to get priority when requesting drinks, personally I really don’t like this attitude (and BTW I’m not saying in any mean that you are acting this way).
Just mentioning that’s hard to differentiate between someone over tipping to get something back (better service, priority over others, etc) or just wanting to be kind and generous to local staff.
We mostly stay in the 10-15-20% range, with some exceptions on outstanding services as some local staff may deliver, quite often in fact