Travelling is one of the most interesting activities that almost everybody on Earth loves. When taking on a trip, what things are you guys looking for? Memorable experiences with local people? Feel the vibe of the destination? Well, to achieve your goal, you better choose to travel like a local.
Here are the most reasonable things making you decide to start your trip in that way instead of touristy attractions:
1. Immerse in the real life of local people
People say that you will never become a resident when you stay in a place within a short moment, that’s true. Otherwise, you travel overseas to explore and go deep into the real life of locals as much as possible. The best choice, in this case, is to travel like a local.
While choosing to experience a new land as a local would, you become a part of their daily life – catching every moment of a day is never easy like that! Just stay focused to see how the locals do. Plus, asking them to let you take part is highly recommended to get the best experiences.
Here are magnificent things your local trips can bring, compared to touristy destinations:
- Sightseeing – Travel like a local: You might never know about “hidden gems” around a new land since they aren’t shown on the map or on the Internet. That means there are more exciting experiences when exploring.
- Special cuisine – Eat like a local: Only when choosing to travel local, you can taste the unique delicacy of the land. Stay away from big restaurants and bars, try to make friends with locals and you might be able to ask them to enjoy their common meals. Plus, you also can try street food selling on small stalls or by vendors (that are chosen by most locals).
- Accommodation – Live like a local: Renting a home or homestay will have you understand the interior and exterior of a local house better.
- Peculiar customs: In every country, people have different customs based on their beliefs and long history. It is pretty cool when you can understand some relevant information and show it to the locals.
- Common phrases: You can ask people around to teach you some common phrases of their mother language such as “hello”, “thank you”, “sorry”, “good”, and “goodbye”.
2. Enhance personal experiences
It is great if we can control our own trip following what we’re really interested in. While traveling like a local, you have chances to interact with many people of the land. That’s how you get the idea of what their lives are going, what the value of them as well as what makes locals happy. Try it one more time and you’ll find that is the best way to travel.
Moreover, traveling locally brings you a lot of unpredictable surprises. You will never know what’s waiting next. The feeling of finding something new by yourself is more satisfying! On the other hand, some unknown places might push you out of your comfort zone. It seems pretty scary, huh? But that is the perfect chance for you to know more about yourself. Passing through and you will realize that you become more flexible and learn to take a new perspective.
3. Stay away from crowded tourist attractions and tourist traps
In terms of tourist attractions, they are made for tourists, indeed. That means those places are not chosen by local people and you can’t see any special things but a lot of visitors, a constant stream of vendors, scammers, even beggars, and pickpockets. What a tourist trap! We are sure that you never want to be there and try to struggle unpleasantly.
On top of that, people often overrated tourist attractions to attract more customers. Many foreign tourists found out that those recommended destinations in the guidebooks let them disappointed at some point. They read the hyperbolic descriptions and were so excited to discover. In their mind, tourist attractions should be wonderful. Otherwise, those places are just not what tourists expected. The description and the reality don’t match up, especially about accommodations and eateries.
4. Time-efficient
You can save your time while taking on a trip like a local. Your short time will be spent effectively, full of unforgettable memories. In other words, you never have to face up with touristy attractions, and tourist annoyances.
In terms of local travel, you are one(s) who decide what happens next. You can go anywhere, taste any interesting food following your interest. Compared with a tour, there is no need to stick to a precise schedule that definitely wastes your time on uninteresting things. The journey is yours and you deserve wonderful moments.
5. Save money when traveling like a local
Don’t you think traveling is to go somewhere new and stay in resorts, have meals at tourist-catted restaurants? If not, the local experienceis the right choice.
So, how can we save money?
There is no need to book a high-cost tour which consists of a hotel room, a pre-made tour schedule, restaurants. As a result, you can travel on a budget with ease.
Moreover, you can explore yourself by staying in a homestay/house at a lower cost. Let’s find small old but good stalls on the street that serve the best food than any touristy restaurant. Don’t forget to pick a place where you have repeated local customers in order to enjoy better quality.
It’s even more time and cost-efficient if you can find a trusted local guide(s). As a person who knows pretty well about his hometown, he definitely shows you the best way to experience. You can ask the guide to suggest a proper schedule based on your interest and give useful tips such as beautiful destinations, foods, traffics, and shopping.
6. Slow down and enjoy peace of life
Recently, people have been in a continuous circle of working. That makes us forget about the real value of life. We just wake up, work, worry about your jobs at the end of the day, and then sleep unpleasantly. It’s time to change things up – to achieve a better life with a journey to a new land. Let yourself out of work, stress, and calm down your mind.
Choosing local travel, you come back to the ordinary, simple things of life. Every moment you are living, exploring is meaningful and peaceful. Even though people don’t speak the same language and have the same lifestyle like yours, you will find out that we are still the same, at the core.
While you are joining with local people, you can find out what real happiness is. It’s not about having a lot of money or creating economic social connections. It’s just simple as we can enjoy tasty food in a peaceful place or find yourself immersed in wonderful nature.
7. Help locals to be ambassadors in their land
When being in a strange country, you should never be shy to ask the locals for help. Just ask and you will be surprised that they are so friendly! By the way, you are giving them a chance to be local ambassadors – to show their pride and love from the bottom of the heart to motherland.
Since locals are living all or almost their life in the place, they can give foreign visitors amazing local insights. For instance, you might never know about off-the-beaten-path destinations. Or, if you are interested in food, don’t forget to ask the locals to show you their traditional dishes which you never found in luxury restaurants.
Do you worry about the difference in language? It can not be a hassle at all!
Humans are beautiful and amazing creatures. We communicate with each other not just by language but by facial emotions and postures as well. If language difference is a barrier, we can break through it by other special expressions.
8. Support the local economy
Choosing to travel like a local means you are joining hands to develop the local economy. The thing goes like: you buy products, choose services made by local people instead of the big multinationals and your money will be put in the right pocket of those who really need it.
There are various ways to infuse your money into the local economy through your local trip. You can eat in locally-owned food stores, buy souvenirs in local markets or workshops. Just some small actions and you’ll empower local entrepreneurs, thus boost the local economy effectively.
Conclusion
On the whole, FIT should decide to travel like a local so as to gain the best experience in a new land. In this way, you can go deep into the lifestyle of local people and avoid tourist traps. Your journey will never become tedious because of many unexpected amazing things awaiting.
Aren’t you confident in traveling like a local in Vietnam alone? Why don’t you contact Xinchao teams to help you out! Being on a journey with us, you’ll enjoy the most beautiful parts of Vietnam through connecting with locals and discovering off-the-beaten-path things. Plus, it’s so lucky for us to show our amazing Vietnam with lovely oversea friends. Pack up and be ready for your journey right now!
