For most of his life, James Duggar never traveled more than a few miles from his parents’ sprawling compound in northwest Arkansas.
These days, however, the 21-year-old is making up for lost time with a trek across the globe that would make Carmen San Diego jealous.
Fans were shocked when James flew to London, seemingly on a whim, as the Duggars generally don’t demonstrate much curiosity about the world outside of America.
Or outside of Arkansas, for that matter.
Little did we know that that was just the beginning of his intercontinental world tour!
After London, James met up with sister Jana in Rome.
The siblings seemed to enjoy a pretty wholesome time, but they documented one moment that really rubbed fans the wrong way.
Before we go any further, we should warn you that topic we’re about to delve into is a sensitive one.
It’s the sort of thing that tears families apart, and it’s likely caused many a first date to come crashing to an abrupt halt.
We’re talking, of course, about the unpardonable sin of eating pizza with a knife and fork.
The controversy began when James posted an Instagram Live in which he and a friend sampled the local fare.
“When in Italy… #foodies,” he wrote on the clip.
“Please do not eat pizza with a knife and fork,” one person commented, according to UK tabloid The Sun.
“You don’t eat pizza with a knife and fork,” added.
Some commenters were even more blunt, labeling James’ actions “disgusting.”
In another clip, James and his buddy Elijah enjoyed a taste of home by stopping into an Italian Mcdonald’s.
“Who goes to Italy to eat at Mcdonald’s? These people should just never leave Arkansas, as they aren’t going to step out of their comfort zone no matter where they go,” one commenter wrote.
Others defended the move, noting that the European McDonald’s experience is different from the American one.
“I’m not defending these folks, but I go to McDonald’s in other countries. Not for every meal, but at least once,” one person wrote.
“European McDonalds really are a completely different experience,” another added.
Of course, James is an evangelical Christian, and so, the real highlight of his global odyssey was a visit to Israel.
“Had the amazing privilege to stop and pray for a little while in the Garden of Gethsemane where our Lord prayed the night before he was crucified,” James shared with fans.
The pious moment was radically different in tone from James and Elijah’s visit to Switzerland, where the young bucks partied with the locals during a raucous pre-Lent carnival.
“So apparently there is a carnival that happens only once a year and we are right in the middle of it!!!” Elijah reported on his Instagram page.
So James is at least sowing his oats a bit on this trip.
And if he embarrasses his family a bit — well, that’s your early twenties are for, right?
Just about any crass behavior can be forgiven at that age.
As long as James learns to pick up a slice of pizza and eat it with his damn hands, he’ll be just fine!
