Sometimes it’s fun to play tourist and really ham up the Hawaiian shirts, taking tons of photos, and hitting up the cliché locations on a holiday, but heading on vacation like a local can offer a truer and deeper experience.
With just a few adjustments to your usual travel MO, you can vacation like a local and embrace a more authentic view of your destination.
Find the food
You have to dine where the locals dine if you want to catch a taste of the real regional flavours (and likely save money compared to touristy restaurants). Use local smaller apps instead of larger travel review sites, which are likely to be dominated by the opinions of other tourists.
When looking for a restaurant, avoid the main drag or anywhere within a few blocks of major transit (think: train stations), which will likely be targeting travellers. Instead, wander outside of the main commercial district (you could even head into residential areas) to find the places that anyone who lives there would choose to eat on an average day.
Local events and festivals
While events and festivals do attract a certain tourism contingent, heading to the smaller local celebrations will give you an opportunity to discover what a community cares about and how they interact with their neighbours. Concerts, exhibitions, and food festivals tend to be marketed to locals and will often feature locally-based and smaller scale businesses or performers.
Check social media and take a peek at content creators who live in the area to see if they are promoting any happenings or if they have tagged local events that you might be interested in checking out.
Off the beaten path
While large-scale attractions are often worth visiting, it shouldn’t be at the expense of smaller local, hidden gems if you want to vacation like a local. Instead of a National Art Gallery in a capital city, check out smaller galleries, privately-funded museums, and special exhibits that might be hosted by local trusts or associations.
Smaller, specialized museums and historical sites promise to offer a glimpse into special local history that might not always make it into the average brochure or guidebook.
Use a local phone number
Connect to a local data network with an aloSIM eSIM, which saves you from any roaming charges while you’re vacationing like a local. Locals might trust you with their recommendations if they see you’re connected to the same network. Tech camaraderie! As a bonus you can get yourself a free Hushed online number with a local area code. No only will this save you money, but you’ll look like a local when calling to make reservations, reserve cars, or exchanging numbers with anyone you meet.
Shop locally
Nobody wants another souvenir magnet or teatowel. Including you. Skip the souvenir shops, which are mostly filled with low-quality generic trinkets anyways, and visit local markets and independent boutiques.
Farmer and artisan markets will offer locally made and locally grown goods but the real benefit will be getting to chat with the local vendors to discover what is special about what is made or sourced in that region. They’ll be able to make recommendations and provide you with items that are connected to the area for something to bring home that has a true story linked to your travels when you vacation like a local.
