Tips to Touring without Feeling like Just another Tourist
1. Walk, don’t ride.
Above all NO or very few taxis. Take the public transport systems’ buses, trams or trains for non-walkable distances (airport to city, city to destination), etc.
The GPS wants to get you places by the shortest route. This is anti-travel. A map gives you context, the larger picture, and offers you perspective on where the beaten path ends. Again you need to work on this too.
3. No shopping.
You may look in store windows, but remember there is almost nothing you cannot buy anywhere today. just remember you’re not here to shop. You have amazon delivering everything & everywhere.
You may look in store windows, but remember there is almost nothing you cannot buy anywhere today. just remember you’re not here to shop. You have amazon delivering everything & everywhere.
4. First ditch the “fun” mind-set.
Keep in mind that travel is like work too. We do travel to get away from our everyday lives, but it is also a kind of research—to see how the world is getting along. There will be moments of fun and joy, quite often in fact, but they are a by-product of travel too.
5. Skip lunch once in a while.
Lunch is going to use up a good part of your day and make you sluggish. Since travel is work you want a reward at the end of the day, not in the middle before you’ve earned it. You can use part of your walking as way to check out places where you might like to eat at night. Stopping for a coffee at 3 or 4 pm is part of the work-reward calculus, and will renew your walking energy, so OK GRAB IT.
Lunch is going to use up a good part of your day and make you sluggish. Since travel is work you want a reward at the end of the day, not in the middle before you’ve earned it. You can use part of your walking as way to check out places where you might like to eat at night. Stopping for a coffee at 3 or 4 pm is part of the work-reward calculus, and will renew your walking energy, so OK GRAB IT.
They only reinforce the mass part of tourism. For us, “popular” is a deal-breaker. If a place has 2578 reviews and 80% are “excellent,” this may be meaningless to you. For restaurants, remember that the closer they are to the tourist main drag the more expensive and probably the less authentic they will be. Go off the main drag, take chances.
7. Explore “ordinary” eating, eating as if you lived in the place you’re visiting.
Outdoor markets, street food stalls, and even supermarkets, themselves gives you an off-the-beaten-path experience. Don’t hesitate to try them. You will find better food and better deal.
Outdoor markets, street food stalls, and even supermarkets, themselves gives you an off-the-beaten-path experience. Don’t hesitate to try them. You will find better food and better deal.
8. Look up as well as ahead of you.
One of the few unique things about big cities these days is older architecture, but you won’t see it unless you look up. Notice things like balconies, windows, shutters. There will be some unique architecture which you will find strange and illogical. When you wonder why?. Ask people. Talk to anyone you can.
One of the few unique things about big cities these days is older architecture, but you won’t see it unless you look up. Notice things like balconies, windows, shutters. There will be some unique architecture which you will find strange and illogical. When you wonder why?. Ask people. Talk to anyone you can.
Think about mclodganj instead of Dharamshala, or Gokarna instead or Goa and so on.
10. Don’t bring heavy and expensive guidebooks.
Go to the main tourist information office in each city. Usually, they will have brochures and maps that will tell you much of what is in the guidebooks. Many cities offer free walking tours, often these are posted at the tourist info office.
Go to the main tourist information office in each city. Usually, they will have brochures and maps that will tell you much of what is in the guidebooks. Many cities offer free walking tours, often these are posted at the tourist info office.
11. Don’t take pictures or selfies.
Or just take few for memories but use your eyes and brain more. Keep a journal, take notes. Note your 1st impressions, then a day later, your 2nd impressions, then as you leave, ask whether your 1st impressions are still valid. This will capture the place in your brains forever.
Or just take few for memories but use your eyes and brain more. Keep a journal, take notes. Note your 1st impressions, then a day later, your 2nd impressions, then as you leave, ask whether your 1st impressions are still valid. This will capture the place in your brains forever.
Avoid the kinds of people who are likely to annoy you, and be aware of where they are likely to be, and when they are likely to be there. If you don’t like noisy and badly behaved children, travel when school is in session, and avoid places that say “family friendly.”
13. Don’t wait in line for anything.
Generally speaking there is virtually nothing waiting in line for. Hyderabad Paradise Biriyani is overrated badly and is not that much better.
Generally speaking there is virtually nothing waiting in line for. Hyderabad Paradise Biriyani is overrated badly and is not that much better.
14. Find ways to get insights into local culture.
If you don’t know any natives, you are not likely to be invited to someone’s home. But there are substitutes that we do, We regularly visit train stations and observe the comings and goings of commuters, and of course other travelers. We go into temples during aarti, We stop at kindergarten school gates when parents are clustering to pick up their kids. We visit national, municipal, and university libraries wherever we find them.
If you don’t know any natives, you are not likely to be invited to someone’s home. But there are substitutes that we do, We regularly visit train stations and observe the comings and goings of commuters, and of course other travelers. We go into temples during aarti, We stop at kindergarten school gates when parents are clustering to pick up their kids. We visit national, municipal, and university libraries wherever we find them.
I would love to point this to you that this is not a thumb rule you must follow. You may still keep taking leasure tours like you already do. But taking a different experience may be a begging of a new life trend that you will enjoy. In my suggestion, Travel like a tourist and leisure like a BOSS!
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