Here’s a sad admission: I don’t know how to travel. I know how to pack a mean suitcase and sail through airport security like it’s my job; I can book hotels and flights with ease and negotiate killer rates thanks to being an American Express customer; I can sleep through turbulence. However, I don’t know how to go about picking someplace new and wonderful, setting up an itinerary, and doing interesting things once there.
I’m pretty sure I can blunder through being a tourist; you go to Italy, you see Rome, eat pizza and gelato and pasta. Easy. But I don’t want to be a tourist. I live in New York City, and I hate tourists, with their SNEAKERS and gigantic maps and slow walking.
I want to be a traveler; eat where the Italians go out to dinner (or the Spaniards, or the Argentinians, or whatever), walk to the places they walk to, and drink in the bars they drink in. I want to avoid being the international equivalent of the mid-westerners who come here in jorts and eat at the Times Square Olive Garden. Basically, if tourist town is mid-Manhattan, I want to find the Brooklyns of the world. I want to contribute to local economy and meet people, especially people my age, who live somewhere else, not just read about them.
I feel like the internet is full of great airline deals, but when it comes to having a fabulous time elsewhere, especially in the tucked away, non-touristy places, I’m clueless.
Do you all know any good websites or books, or just have any good tips? I’m sure there out there.
1. I love that you said Jorts.
2. My tip? Stay with a local, and do what they do. It’s all a game of shadow (that’s how I found my new love, lilac-smelling Brooklyn!).
3. Find an e-friend to dine with on your first day. The rest will unfold and your itinerary will be fuller than your cup of international espresso!
erin / dfm
22 Jun 10 at 11:27 am
Honestly, the best way to travel (IMO) is to go to where you know someone. I’ve gotten to see so many great places in Europe and the US by simply going where I had friends… (who became better friends and came to stay with us at some point and the circle of life went on…)
So maybe start small. See who you know and where they are. And if you don’t know anyone in a tempting place, join couch surfers and register to have coffee with someone once you get there.
As tempting as it is to extrapolate this experience of meeting someone who can give me a personal suggestion and put it on the web, nothing beats person to person contact. And it almost seems, by virtue of sticking it in a book or on the web, that the places become tourist traps themselves.
My $.02!
Jen
22 Jun 10 at 11:28 am
I guess I’ve kind of lucked out recently because it’s been “find someone who lives there.” I’ve found friends of friends living elsewhere and they’ve been nice enough to show me around, at least for a bit. That’s what I did last year in Amsterdam, a friend of a friend gave us a fabulous bike tour, and I also met up with someone in Germany I had met in the States and he took my Mom and I all over the place. Good luck and happy travels!
City Mitten
22 Jun 10 at 11:31 am
In my experience, the more you travel, the easier it gets. I also have the added advantage of having internationally placed friends and relatives; it’s great to stay with people and their families.
When I went to Southeast Asia I found the Lonely Planet books to be of good value and when in unfamiliar parts of Europe, hop onto the local trams/trolleys/public transit and get off when something catches your eye.
You’re a smart, common-sense New Yorker and will be able to spot a tourist trap. Bring a great sense of adventure and eat at the food carts where the locals are lining up and not the place that is displaying an American flag.
Have fun! I can’t wait to read about your travels and see the gorgeous photographs!
Jessica
22 Jun 10 at 11:32 am
Ditto having friends or friends of friends is helpful. Lonely Planet guides are good for finding out the tourist traps are and some places that aren’t too touristy. For restaurants food websites like Chowhound or eGullet can give you better recommendations sometimes than guidebooks. If you’re thinking of Paris David Lebovitz has tons of great not overly touristy suggestions.
I also ditto being a New Yorker you’ll suss out what the tourist traps are. And when you know where you’re going ask your readers. I’m sure you’ll get tons of suggestions.
And sometimes the best thing to do is don’t plan to do too much or see too much just find a cafe or bar that’s full of locals and sit awhile.
latenac
22 Jun 10 at 11:50 am
I “travel” a lot. I actually suck at touring. I just don’t the excitement in random stuff. Like how long have I lived in new york and I have never gone to the statue of liberty? I prefer to see it on a water taxi to Ikea Brooklyn.
Here’s my tip. Most countries have ex pat guides to the city, kind of like a Time Out New York for the respective city. Some are actually owned by the Time Our franchise. There are also social media options. I like atlasobscura.com for random unique places to visit in a city. I also love http://www.greatlittleplace.com/ for UK adventures. You can also find groups on Facebook for hidden and special spots in most major cities where you might be traveling.
How that helps!
@Annaobrien
22 Jun 10 at 12:01 pm
I love this topic! I love to travel, and I’m fortunate enough to have a job with international clients that sends me abroad a couple of times a year. I sometimes tack on vacation to the end of work trips (to save $) and agree that it’s better to try to get a sense of actual life rather than only tourist attractions.
I agree that it’s easier to meet locals in places where you know someone. I send out an email to a big group of friends when I’m planning a trip somewhere and ask if they know people there. It amazes me how often people send names! I’ve had great experiences this way, by meeting up with a friend of friend who introduces me to others or tell me where to go. So that’s my first tip, send out the email blast during the planning stages.
My other tip is to rent an apartment rather than stay in a hotel. Do some research on neighborhoods, pick one that looks good. Go to the local cafe for breakfast, visit local markets (few things make me happier than markets in other countries). Staying in an apartment means you have a more neighborhood-y home base than you usually would in a hotel, given that hotels tend to be in more commercial areas. Bonus: renting an apartment is almost always cheaper, and often comes with great perks (like a washing machine–allowing you to pack even lighter!) For apartment rentals, one site to look at is: http://www.like-a-local.com/ (which has places in many countries) There’s also vrbo.com. And there are many, many sites particular to individual countries/cities. (If you ever go to Spain or Portugal, email me. I have good recommendations!)
You probably already know this, but tripadvisor.com is useful in terms of booking places, and people rate apartment rental companies on there as well as hotels. (And I’ve found some great little independently owned inns/hotels on that site as well.)
My final advice, and this is something I need to work on myself, is don’t overschedule yourself. My temptation is to feel like I have to cram as much as possible into each day in a place, but have a lazy day. Treat it like you would a Brooklyn day. Grab a coffee, sit outside somewhere, just walk around, people-watch, talk to people. My best travel memories are not the days where I got up early to try to beat the lines at the Eiffel Tower, you know?
Happy travels! Can’t wait to see where you go!
Amber
22 Jun 10 at 12:07 pm
I love this topic too!
First of all, a good way not to be a typical tourist is not to go to typical touristy places. I felt more like an explorer than a tourist when I visited places like Peru and Egypt. Gap Tours (http://www.gapadventures.com/) is a great resource for trips that are a more off the beaten path, with local guides that show you highlights but also provide a more authentic experience on what life and culture in a foreign place is like.
Also, I think it’s ok to embrace your inner tourist. You go somewhere like Paris or London, and the top tourist attractions are awesome and absolutely worth seeing. So what if you’re being a typical American? Doesn’t mean you can’t also also wander off and find your own special places that make the trip special for you (walking everywhere is a good way to do that).
And while some guides might be helpful, I’ve found it even better to talk to people, do your own research online and cobble together your own guide based on your discoveries. I created a 100-page booklet for my trip to Thailand and it was a great way to personalize my trip and learn a bit about the places while doing so. Make sure you learn etiquette and a few key phrases of any foreign country you visit. Showing respect for other cultures is a key way to rise above the typical tourist.
I also like to keep a travel journal and write down as much as I can every day of the trip. Vacation pics are fine, but nothing will bring back the essence of a vacation than your words recounting your impressions.
The most important thing to remember is to have an open, flexible attitude (balanced with a certain amount of street smarts) and let the vacation unfold as it will. You might get lost, sunburned, be separated from your luggage, get food poisoning, fight with your travel companion, etc. But just try to stay in the moment, enjoy every day of the trip no matter what comes, and remember that you are seeing a place you might never return to again for the rest of your life. Make the most of it.
Damiella
22 Jun 10 at 12:33 pm
ah LOVE this topic Amanda. I too worry about being the tourist. Tourists drive me crazy in NYC (well, when I lived there and when I go back they did/do).
But, I think I’ve come to embrace my inner tourist. My dislike of tourists caused me to miss a lot of things in NYC I really should have seen and enjoyed. With that in mind I try to plan a mix of touristy/off the beaten path type activities when I travel. I’ve found that googling the location helps. Sometimes you can find bloggers who live in the place, have friends in the place, or have done their own exciting, non touristy vaca-y there too. I’ve found pretty cool things by doing some pre trip google searches.
I am always torn between the firm belief that you should go to a place and experience it as the people who live there do BUT on the other hand sssssoooo many places have “tourist sites” that are some of the marvels of the world! Like I could NOT go to Paris and not run down the Champs Elysees or hug the Eiffel Tower, or take cheesy tourist photo outside the Moulin Rouge. There are just some things you HAVE to do!! BUT I’d also want to find some tucked away cafe to sit and sip win and eat cheese and a baguette at – still stereotypical Paris vaca-y activity but I’d try to find some tucked away non tourist spot.
The thing that drives me nuts about traveling more than the fear of just going to tourist places- going somewhere and not knowing the language! Ack. That worries me more than walking away with only a cookie cutter experience.
Jen
22 Jun 10 at 1:08 pm
Oh to travel and not tour is such a challenge. Finding someone you know – either in person or online – is really the answer. I find even if you follow someone’s blog and email them, they’re usually most happy to share reccomendations! And how I wish I read your blog before my visit to NYC in 2008 … as the best way to see a city is from the perspective of a local.
In the absence of that, I highly reccomend Rick Steve travel guides. I used those in both France and Paris and found them most helpful. He covers the the must-sees, like the Colesseum, and then gives you local finds, like the traditional tiny Italian trattoria three streets and five turns off the tourist path. We lucked into a fantastic apartment when we arrived in an Italian town without room reservations by following his book. He assured in the book that if you spoke to so-and-so and tell them Rick sent you, you’d get a room and a discount. It worked like a charm. Seriously worth it.
Otherwise, my lessons learned are to kick back, not overplan and just let the days take you where they will. Wander. Talk to locals, waiters, storekeepers, dog walkers. If you respect and just try to speak they’re language, you’ll find yourself a world-traveler in no time flat!
Colleen
22 Jun 10 at 7:59 pm
Mmmm. Just got back from doing this in Italy. What thoughts do I have? God, how do I not write a novel?
So, first traveling is really tiring, and I think that’s important to take into account. Being a tourist is pretty easy, you follow the crowd. But after 9 years in New York I actually get RAGEFUL when I’m around tourists. It’s awful. So I have to travel. I’ve learned that when I’m traveling I always have at least one melt-down. In a two weeks I normally have two. And, I think that’s ok. So much new food and new language and trying to figure everything out, and knowing your on a limited time schedule and jet lag… well… it adds up for me. I recently found out that we have a friend who avoids traveling because she has meltdowns and feels like a freak, so I thought it was worth saying that I have them and think they are probably pretty normal.
If we don’t have locals to depend on (and these days my readers take out a lot, they did in Florence and it was fabulous), I glue myself to a Rough Guide and try to translate it into Brooklyness (since I also say, “I want to find the Brooklyn of this city.”) This is what I’ve learned:
Hip = DISASTER. Sometimes sounds good, but really avoid it. Slick, overpriced, mess.
Trendy = Ok. When we show up at places described as trendy,we often find lots of our people.
Cutting-Edge= weirdly, this is the ticket. I don’t know that I’d call myself cutting edge, but if it says cutting edge in the guidebook, we go check it out, and we usually win big.
We went to a ‘cutting edge’ neighborhood in Rome, which of course meant taking a city bus for 20 minutes from the tourist center. We got off when we saw graffiti that said, “Godot è arrivato.” I kid you not. Two seconds after we got off the bus, my husband said, “Oop! I see young beautiful artist people!” and about four minutes later I was discussing how when we got an apartment here it would be great, because we could have a vegetable garden. Done.
A tricky part is that when you’re off doing travel stuff, no one speaks English. Ok, people speak English, but they are mostly too cool to talk to YOU in English. So if you don’t speak the language it’s tricky, but worth it.
Oh. And so I don’t totally loose my sh*t, it seems that I need to schedule some down time on my vacations. I needed some time lying on the beach in Italy to balance all that time trying to decode guidebooks, and find cool places, and stumble through conversations in Italian. I felt like a wimp scheduling “boring beach time” in Italy, but it gave me the energy to do the rest of it.
So. Energy. Research. Trial and error. Walking away from the crowd. Being ok with meltdowns. Hanging out with locals when you can. Resting.
Meg
2 Sep 10 at 5:34 pm
So this is lobbing in fairly late into the debate here, but might still be good. Cos, you know, travel plans can take a while to come to fruition!
Stay with locals. Best. Ever. My husband and I love http://www.couchsurfing.org We have met so many wonderful people from all over the world, both hosting and surfing. Checking people out before you meet them (aka eliminating weird and uncomfortable people) is also awesome.
Apart from that, learn the crucial 5 phrases in the language of the country you’re visiting (Hello, Can I have…, Where is the toilet, Excuse me/sorry, and most importantly – do you speak English?); stay well clear of 4 and 5 star hotels (unless of course you’re on a luxury break); stay well clear of chain hotels and restaurants; stay clear of crowds!; google ‘cool or awesome things to do in xxxxx’ – suprisingly effective at bringing up local fests etc.
Oh and Enjoy.
Happy travelling!
Kim
7 Oct 10 at 9:02 am