Experience a destination for what it is today.
Make personal connections with people from a different part of the world. Every destination has a living, breathing society that is evolving all the time.
The reality is that it’s on us as travelers to explore the diversity each country has to offer. Even the most visited destinations can offer extraordinary experiences when you go beyond the usual tourist sites, museums, and monuments. Life is changing all the time.
Allow yourself to get lost, use food as a window to cultural diversity.
Pick up a local magazine or check out signs posted on the street corners to find art exhibits, music festivals, or other events. Go beyond the most popular cities.
Leave the cities for smaller places like villages and suburbs to find the hidden treasures of many countries, with unique cultural experiences, beautiful landscapes, and powerful interactions.
While staying local when you travel is indeed one important facet of local travel, its equally critical counterpart is what some people think of as “going local” – an exploration of faraway places, anywhere in the world, as if one were local to that place.
Local travel is about shifting your travel values so that you are mindful and supportive of local people, the local environment, local culture and local economy. It’s about putting yourself in the shoes, hearts, and mindsets of locals and making choices that benefit them as much as they do you.