We all seek authenticity in our friendships, conversations, food, beauty products, and life experiences. It is that quest for what is really real that often leads us to transcend the ordinary for extraordinary.
In travel, the same principles apply. While travel takes us to new cities or even new countries, it can also take us to new parts of ourselves. It would be hard to find a truly untouched place in our modern and increasingly connected world, but it is possible to create authentic travel experiences in the well-loved places we have been, or the new places we hope to discover!
If you have ever fallen victim to the dreaded tourist trap attraction, or returned home from a trip yearning for more, here are some tips on how to travel deeper.
- Get off the tour bus.
You’ll absorb more of the sights, sounds, smells and sensations of a city if you walk and use public transportation. You’ll encounter people engaged in the activities of daily life. - Try to learn some practical language basics.
If you risk the struggle to make yourself understood, the rewards are innumerable! You’ll make a deeper connection when you engage with locals at markets, shops and cafes in their language, and earn their respect for your efforts along the way. - Make a culinary discovery.
Many aspects of a culture are expressed in its food traditions. So, don’t just eat like a local, eat with a local; you’ll invariably eat better, cheaper, and more authentically. Find the neighborhood restaurant, order the daily dish and savor the flavors and the atmosphere! - Choose your accommodations wisely.
Select a locally-operated hotel located close to a residential neighborhood. Yes, the cookie-cutter chain hotels offer many familiar amenities, but you would miss out on local hospitality and décor. A final bonus — you’ll probably save money! - Ask a local what she thinks.
As the old saying goes, “where you stand depends on where you sit.” Be sure to engage people in conversation; ask questions and listen to what is on their minds. - Have some fun!
Whether it is cheering for the home town team at a café, listening to live music or participating in a festival, you are certain to have a one-of-a-kind experience. - Rethink shopping.
Experience itself is the best souvenir! Consider making purchases that prolong your memories — buying a rare ingredient you tasted on the trip, a CD of the “soundtrack” of your stay, or the map of the neighborhoods you discovered by serendipity. - Make sure you are ready for an authentic travel experience.
Blogger Scott Gilbertson aptly wrote on the site Vagablogging, “When you shed your expectations, everything is off the beaten path.”
Remember it is about the journey, as well as the destination. Immersing yourself in a new landscape and slowing down the pace of your exploration leads to inspired encounters and rejuvenating, life-changing experiences.
What does authentic travel mean to you? Please share your own authentic travel story or advice below!
Please listen to the advice I am going to give, and I am sure that other women here will give you the same advice.
GET OUT of this marriage. Go back to your parents, and file for a divorce. Do not tell him in advance. Make a plan with your paren
Love is all around. Some people don't know how to quietly receive it and only feel significant if they are stirring up/ agitating the atmosphere around them. I guess to them that is "making an impact"". No matter how much "love" you send them, nothin
Get over it.
Love your post.
On my first ‘real’ trip I went to Vancouver. I stayed on a university campus for 10 days and traveled via city buses for 8 of the 10 days I was there. It was great. I also walked a lot in the city as well as visit the library, museum etc. I did do the tourist thing for 2 days. I was exheausted after having to go to this or that place for a specific time. Although I did see a lot during the tours, if I ever go back, it will be again just to walk, or ride on my own. I could relax when and where I wanted to.
I’ve visited a few more Canadian cities since then and take the city transportation system just to see the whole city. I also walk a lot in the denser areas. Then I rent a car to get to other cities or towns in the province I am visiting as they are few and far apart here in Canada.
Another thing I do is read a local paper. You can find fairs, entertainment such as plays etc. I also like to stop at as many tourist information areas as possible. Yes, there is a lot of tourist trap advertising there, but I have found that when I talk to the workers, they have a lot more to offer then the pamphlets as most of them are from the region. I tell them what I like to do or visit and I have found them to be full of suggestions that have often been off the beaten path.
Am looking forward to reading more on travel.
I’m disappointed that the accommodations recommended were imited to locally owned hotels. We’ve travelled staying at B&Bs for over 25 years: a few were a bit quirky, all were warm and welcoming and all were authentic.
Maybe you assume that your groups are too large to be accommmodated at B&Bs but we know that 4 or 5 bedroom B&Bs can partner with another B&B in the neighborhood to serve groups. This way visitors get the home experience first hand, can compare and even trade places. B&Bs and small Inns where the owners visit guests daily truly offer the best in authentic experiences and truly are the better way to stay.
BALI
I just returned from over a month in Bali, Indonesia. I swapped homes, so had the joy of direct contact with local individuals. A few friends from around the USA joined me for a week or more at a time, and our adventures included our new Indonesian friends. We met families and had wonderful culinary parties. Being in Bali off-season was a distinct advantage. People had time and desire to be part of our travel.
We became a part of the lives of a few Balinese and Timorese. I continue our relationships from home and my life will never be the same. I am involved in, and care deeply about, the lives and futures of these lovely folks.
Several evenings we enjoyed music, played in our ‘home’, by a number of friendly and excited young men with guitars! AND in various languages. They knew Portuguese, Indonesian, and a TINY bit of English, but they could sing English songs by hearing them a few times! We had a sing-along and they learned the lyrics. (Youtube–search Bali music jhoe)
It was a trip I hope to repeat and will never forget! Get wherever you are going and BE part of the place. Visit just does not describe an authentic experience!
Sounds like a great idea Judy…. How did you arange the ‘home swapping’ ?
I’m going to Bali in a week or so… but on a tour… so I won’t have the same experience as you… I have travelled to Asia 3 times and love the Phillipines, people and places… I find that hiring a local taxi for the day is a great way to see non touristy places… the drivers love to show off their pespective of their city….and usually have lots of interesting background stories to tell….
Please let me know about the house spapping… I live in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia…
C.
I enjoyed your post too. Thank you. I thought I’d share some thoughts on traveling reponsibly:
I love my digital camera. I can zoom and snap high quality pictures and it’s lightweight and fits in my pocket. My days of lugging three lenses and tripods through the jungle are happily over but I’m finding the digital revolution is changing the way we travel and interact and I fear it’s not always for the good.
A friend of mine recently told me about her recent to Ethiopia. She’d been shocked by the people in her group. They clicked their way from village to village in the Omo Valley, barely looking up from their cameras and mostly ignoring the people they were visiting. Lining them up, shooting and then moving on, like a series of firing squads! I had a similar experience earlier this year when I visited Tajikistan, a Country full of roads less traveled. It’s a precious part of the World, barely touched by tourism. Hotels are rare (we stayed mostly with local families) and in three weeks of travel I only found two places where crafts were being sold. In this emerging tourist economy we were pioneers but often not really good ambassadors. Dollars were being traded for photos and some people were addicted to photographing anything and everything. If you were to piece their still photos back to back, you’d have a movie. Too many photos. No need to worry about getting the perfect shot as the law of averages was going to give them something. On another trip, I was walking through an Iranian village an hour before sunset. The widows were leaving the graveyard, where they spent their days chatting, and were weaving their way home. The late afternoon sun highlighted the patterns in their dresses and I must admit it was a special moment. I would have loved a photo but I sensed that it was intrusive. Not long after, our guide informed us that photos were forbidden but that didn’t stop one of the group suruptitiously stealing photos when he thought no one was looking.
Unlike film, digital storage is cheap and we can click, review and repeat ad nauseum. It seems we have not only lost our kodachrome but our focus too. There are lots of reasons to travel and photography is just one of them. See the wider angle. We hear lots about responsible tourism these days. Travel companies compete for responsible awards but this is where one person (click) one person (review) and one person (repeat) can make a difference. Ask not what travel can do for you but what you can do for the country that you’re visiting. Instead of paying for photos, buy something in the market, perhaps a hand made broom or fruit and share this with someone who looks like they might need it down the road. Pack jump ropes and balls to play with the children in the hill tribes. Travel with a Polaroid camera (yes, you still can find film for them) and share photos. Give back. After you return home, help fund a micro loan in the country that you have just visited. By being involved, you’ll get more out of your travelling experience and, you never know, you could get better photos too!
Maz at Explore Worldwide
I have “clicked my Way” throughout the years, and sometimes to the expense of communicating with family members and interacting with people. So much better, to do as you say and take advantage of the time to spend with people..
My husband, grown daughter and I just returned from an incredible 3 weeks in Peru where we enjoyed homestays with a Chinchero family of weavers and a Uros family that lives on their own private floating totora reed island on Lake Titicaca. Both families shared their way of life with us in a cultural immersion experience we would not have experienced otherwise. The Chinchero weavers demonstrated how they dye and spin alpaca into intricate designs handed down generation to generation. We saw first hand how the Uros make their islands and boats out of totora reeds and they explained how they once lived in the hills surrounding the lake but fled enslavement by the Spaniards by creating a new way of life on the lake.
My husband and I backpacked all through South America for 9 months in 1976, yet, now I realize that we barely scratched the surface of most places we visited. I found out about the Uros family on Trip Advisor and had a travel agent set up the home stay with the Chinchero family. Our cultural immersion with both families was incredibly fascinating and we’ll treasure the memories forever. We always take the road less traveled and from now on will look for opportunities to incorporate home stays wherever we go.