Non-Touristy Things to do on Vacation: curious about culture

Dive into an authentic, non-touristy vacation. Explore local culture through where you stay, restaurants, language, sights, and the people you meet. Get real!

The general desires why people travel are numerous. Some are listed below. I am sure you all have similar passions. What is your aim when you travel? I know my most memorable vacations have been when I have traveled to different countries, where I am not only able to look through the keyhole but have ventured into the “room” to see, feel and touch. I love people and appreciate meeting them in their natural surroundings. Landscape, water, botany, mammals, birds, and geography have been other passions of mine. I want to encounter the real thing!

Contents

13 General Reasons Why People Love to Vacation

Opening your door of inquisitiveness, with a desire to experience, brings on knowledge, then understanding. Other cultures do and speak differently from your own. Opening your window of intellect, insight, and learning through encountering, feeling, tasting, smelling, touching, communicating, and seeing while on vacation, you not only take on all the good memories of a “good holiday”, but deeper self-worthiness and insight of that acculturation for years to come.

• Curiosity
• Shopping
• Have an adventure in new surroundings
• Make new friends or build stronger existing relationships
• Desire to get outside your comfort zone
• To be exposed to new places and see all the attractions you read about or see on television
• Eat new cuisine at restaurants guaranteed to be good
• Appreciating the opportunity to relax away from home and to be spoilt
• Need time to get to know or escape from self
• Learning new cultures in a safe environment
• Open your mind. Your view can be very different from those in a new land
• Escape from sad or bad previous occurrences
• Expectations based on previous experiences, advertising, personal characteristics, or word of mouth

Do you need more than this? To feel the quality you have gained from your travels? To feel the in-depth moments of a country you need to approach your vacation in a different manner. The social behavior of the tourist is changing. They are no longer satisfied completely by just going on a holiday. The traveler wants a vacation that will have an impact on their future behavior.

Examining Your Own Behaviour Before Planning Your Vacation

Before venturing into a non-touristy vacation you need to self-examine yourself and set out your own model for vacationing behavior.

Social	what is our current position in society
Economic	how much can your budget affect your decision making
Cultural	what are your values, attitude, ethics and habits
Psychological	what are your perceptions, skills and ability to be exposed to new things
Personal	gender, education, age, sex preference, phobias, personality,

8 Different Ways to Have a Non-Touristy Vacation

Depending on the extent of how far you would like to have a non-touristy vacation, you need to self-examine how far you would like to take this. You can just go a little deeper initially or jump in full heartily.

Stay in an Airbnb

An Airbnb allows you accommodation either inside or outside a touristy area, giving you a more connected, authentic opportunity to be part of the local community.

You can either go out for meals or go to the local supermarket or food market for your necessities and cook at home. By venturing out daily to purchase your needs, you have the opportunity to get a true feel of those who work. They soon get to know you and you can chat and see what the locals eat and buy.

Nobody disturbs you if you sleep in or want to take an afternoon nap. The internet is great and so are the TV channels. Washing machines and other musts are provided, so you most certainly feel as if you are at home. I have stayed at numerous Airbnbs and have only had pleasant stays.

Hostel Accommodation

Personally, this is not one of my favorites, but I have heard some wonderful accounts from friends of mine, also older like myself, who only stay in hostels. It is shared accommodation, normally with bunk beds, a shared lounge, a kitchen, and ablutions. You can stay for one night or how many you want. Sometimes the hostel does offer private rooms.

Hostels are very economical and you do meet people from other parts of the world, whom, like you are looking for a true adventure in the country you will be experiencing. Sharing of local experiences, friendships, and stories will be gathered. If you are a female, I highly advise you to book in Female only Hostels. Also, book through a reliable company such as booking.com or Hostelworld.

CouchSurfing

You can gain a true community encounter through CouchSurfing. Over 10 million people belong to Couchsurfing in over 200 000 countries. You can stay in people’s homes, yes, either on a couch or spare room, eat what is served to you, and share a bathroom. In this way, you will feel part of the community. There is also a section on the CouchSurfing app, where you do not need to stay over, but you can organize meet-ups with people from all over the world, or get events that are happening. Different, isn’t it?

If staying over, I would recommend staying with a couple, not a single individual, and signing up and reading the instructions on the CouchSurfing site.

House Sitting

This is one of my special vacations! Not only do you see how people live in that country and area, but you have the chance to have the ambiance of living like a local. Go to local restaurants, and shops, say “hi” to the neighbor, and meet the postman delivering the letters. I have written a whole blog on What is Housesitting? Read it, it’s a superb option!

Canal Holidays

What is fabulous about these vacations, is that you experience the countryside. You can stop along the canal, go into villages or markets, and really have the involvement of the people. What a wonderful way to understand the culture of the country! Look at Canal Holidays in the UK. National Geographic has suggested others in different parts of the world.

Community Homestays for Tourism

This is a way to see the heartbeat of a community, not just the picture-perfect image. Locally run organizations give you the opportunity to live in the homes of the community. Often poor, cash-strapped, and hard-working culture. Normally they are in rural areas. Always do research before going on a community tourism homestay. The stays can vary considerably. Some may offer a separate room, others a room close to theirs. Shared ablutions and certain traditions within the community culture. You may be the only foreigner in the community, so you may be peered at, prodded at to see if you are real and children may run alongside you as you walk.

Before leaving for the homestay, do research into the culture. Find out what language they speak, how they greet one another, how they eat (with knives and forks, or spoons, hands, or maybe chopsticks), and how they dress. Do they remove their shoes before entering the home? A greater understanding will only bring smiles and appreciation. Learn a few of their languages, such as hello, goodbye, good morning, thank you, please, do you need help, and more than you can think of. This goes a long way. Language creates communication, understanding, and respect and mirrors the beliefs the culture contains.

Your challenges will be immense but the rewards 100-fold, educational, and memories inspiring. Be prepared to assist with daily chores and routines. Soon you will be part of the “family”. This is not a 5-star holiday but much more! The community will benefit financially from your stay.

Voluntourism

By volunteering on your vacation, you add purpose to your journey. It can be either for a short period of time or for a longer stay.

There are opportunities throughout the world. You can volunteer to work with wildlife in South Africa, save sea turtles, and children, help protect islands, and much more. I enjoy the blog GO OVERSEAS. I find them informative, more of an expert than myself, and provide contacts and a broad picture.

Hiring a caravan or RV

Are you an outdoor person? Hiring a motorhome or caravan is to be one of the most wonderful ways of seeing a country. It allows you to meander through the countryside, through little towns, stopping at pubs or cafes, and buying food from local supermarkets as you pass through. Go to local events. Park alongside that magnificent lake or close to the beach. How much better can this be?

Get to Know the Non-Touristy things through Slow Tourism

Have you ever felt that you need a vacation from your vacation? So often we buzz off on an organized tour, rushing from place to place, and by the end of the holiday, we feel exhausted! Do we even remember all the places we have been to?

The moral of the story is to take things slowly and engage with your local community and the environment. Slow down and stay in one place longer. Seek quality, not quantity! It is about connecting more deeply with the culture, beauty, people, and cuisine of the country you are visiting. Creating unforgettable, life-changing experiences.

Here are some suggestions on how to appreciate slow tourism:

Stay Longer more Cost-Effective Tourism

Remember the best-known cities are the most expensive. Can you stay in another city that is far more appealing and cheaper? Stay closer to the city so you do not need to hire a car but can rely on local transport. Go either side of tourist season. The costs drop dramatically, but the weather is not much different. Is your time flexible? As you are staying more economically can you spend a longer period?

“Wanderer, there is no road, the road is made by walking.” ― Martha Barron Barrett , Slow Travel

Stay in one Place

If you get an Airbnb, not far away from the shops, you will find that this place becomes a home. You have the option of eating in or out, but the choice is yours. Your “home” allows you to read books when you want to, and have an afternoon nap if you desire and my much-loved early evening occupation is watching passersby, on foot, in cars and buses, while sitting on my verandah. (I do recommend your “home” has one).

“Home is where your story begins.” – unknown

Shopping

Perfect for getting to know people, fashion, and art. Go out to the local markets or supermarkets to do your food shopping. Support local economies. Make sure you go to the same one each day. The shop owners and staff will soon get to know you. Initially, they will treat you as a foreigner, but this will change with a friendly smile. Ask questions about local foods you find on the shelves. Even question them on popular recipes. If they speak a different language, do a bit of learning how to ask questions or requests in their language. Download the Google Translate app. It gives you that added touch.

When I travel I go into different clothes shops. Sometimes I do buy, but it gives me an idea of what is trending in that country in that season. Also art galleries. I love these! Art will tell you many stories. Ask about the different artists or get the artists’ names of the artist that appeal to you. You can then do further research on these.

Country markets or markets are where I generally buy from. This helps to support the locals. I appreciate handcrafted items, homemade biscuits, or fruit and veggies. Another pleasure is visiting the small factories or workshops where handcrafted products are made. The skills of an entrepreneur amaze me!

“From Japan to Thailand, I keep discovering amazing talent, cuisine and food markets”. – Author: Daniel Boulud

Restaurants or Cafes

This is a marvelous way to get to know the locals. Go each day or every second day to the same restaurants or cafes. Get chatting with the waiters or customers. They will become familiar with you and the more they see you, the friendlier they become.

A good example of this was when I was in Florence, Italy. I am an early riser, so went down to a little cafe called “The Secret Garden”. It was so pretty. I got to know them well. I would have my cappuccino which they brought me automatically and did my emails and business. My son and daughter-in-law rise later than myself and then would join me. We would relish in their pasties for breakfast. After a day out on foot (oh my gosh we walked) or by bus, we would return “home”. My kids would retire for a nap and I would go over the road and sit outside a quaint pizza restaurant, rest my feet, and have another cappuccino. Every day as I walked in, they presented me with my much-desired cappuccino and the house some delicious biscuits. We developed a wonderful relationship and the knowledge, and scandal around town they shared openly.

“One Cannot Think Well, Love Well, Sleep Well If One Has Not Dined Well.” – Virginia Woolf

Travel Around on Foot or Hire a Bicycle

When you stroll around a city on foot, you most certainly see things no tour group would show you. You can also browse in your own time or walk to where you will have the best views. You will come across quaint shops, even with different doorways and windows that you are not used to. Walk down little alleyways, go into unique shops, examine architecture, and eat where the locals eat.

“There was nowhere to go but everywhere.”– Jack Kerouac.

Fulfilling your Hobbies

Obtaining pleasure from the surroundings outside the cities can be so rewarding. Find out what mammals or birds can be seen and captured in your mind or on camera what you can spot. What type of trees grows in that area, or flowers or grasses? One of my best-loved missions is to chase waterfalls, hike, and birding. Do research prior to going and see if you can spot what you have researched.

“ To walk in nature is to witness a thousand miracles” – Marie Davis

Dangerous & Weirdest Bridges

Do you know how fascinating it is to find the most dangerous or weirdest bridges in the area you are visiting? This can be an adventure all on its own. Bridges tell a great deal about a city. Before going to a new city or country, I do research to see if there are any weird or dangerous bridges.

“Rather than focusing on the obstacle in your path, focus on the bridge over the obstacle.” – Mary Lou Retton.

Local Guide

A local guide is the best way to do things you cannot do by yourself. You are supporting the inhabitants and they have the knowledge and understanding. What you come away with is fascinating and not an overload of too many facts, although the facts are relevant and you can ask the questions when you want.

“Good Morning and Good Day to everyone. I’m so excited about the opportunity to be part of this. I really enjoy being a guide already and I enjoy the posts of others. I also have a great love of photography and nature.” – Oceana Vale

Visit one Museum, maybe two

When you are on an organized group tour, one is taken from museum to museum. This can be great, but more often it is too much of a brain overload and can be exhausting. Go to one museum and take your time to really appreciate it. You will remember the moments and photos you take.

“If you don’t know history, then you don’t know anything. You are a leaf that doesn’t know it is part of a tree.”  – Michael Crichton

Lunches and Suppers

In most countries, lunches are a social event. Dine where the locals eat! More cost-effective and most certainly tastier food. Find restaurants by asking locals, which are the best ones in the area to go to. Try different cuisine and this is a picture-perfect time to observe or chat with locals. Ask what they recommend on the menu. I call this a treasured time!

Suppers are usually popular between 8 and 10 pm. Local pubs or restaurants are vibrant and bustling. A terrific time to get to know the neighborhood.

“Vacation calories don’t count” – unknown

Artistry Factories

Find out where the local craft/artistry manufacturers are. Sometimes they craft their products at the back of their shops. Ask to see these. Watch how they create these awe-inspiring trades. When you purchase gifts to bring home, purchase from them. Support the residents!

“But, when the work was finished, the Craftsman kept wishing that there were someone to ponder the plan of so great a work, to love its beauty, and to wonder at its vastness.” – Author: Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola

Picnic in the Park or Botanical Gardens

You will be flabbergasted at what goes on in the neighborhood park. Chess, gatherings, discussions, exercise, and meeting hubs for the locals. Observing is fascinating! Join in and play a game of chess. You will be “mated”, but it is super fun! I learned so much about the people just by doing this.

Botanical Gardens reveal so much about a country. Long hikes or short walks, or just plonking yourself down for a picnic on the grass, will be exhilarating.

“There are no words that can tell the hidden spirit of the wilderness, that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy, and its charm.” – Theodore Roosevelt

Visit a Beach

Beaches exuberate good vibes. If a city has a beach, I try to get an Airbnb close to the promenade. Walking along in the early hours of the morning or evening is so soul-fulfilling. Spending your day lounging and swimming adds to your relaxation and I find this so satisfying for me psychologically. If you share my passion for beaches, have a look at my article on Tips on Chasing Beaches all over the World. You will be dumbfounded at what is out there!

“Beach Rules: Soak up the sun. Ride the waves. Breathe the salty air. Feel the breeze. Build sandcastles. Rest, relax, reflect. Collect seashells. Bare-feet required.”- Unknown

Classes to expand your Knowledge

While on vacation, why not do things you would not normally do at home? Such as cooking classes to learn how to cook the visiting country’s cuisine, learning to play golf or improving your golf, yoga, karate, or tennis. Archery is another sport that is unique to learn. My sister’s favorite is how to become a monk. There are so many options to suit every personality.

How about getting more information and advice from the insider? Linking up to locals whom you can meet while you are in the country you are visiting, who can give you advice on where to eat outside the tourist traps. CouchSurfing or best hostels to stay at? There are numerous apps available. Joining the Facebook page is also a good idea and very informative.

A fabulous form of slow tourism is food. Read my article A Guide to Food Tours that Showcase Authentic Cuisine. You will be amazed!

Super Apps to download before going on Your Trip

• Travel Pal is also known as HelloPal. A user-friendly app that assists you to connect with people all over the world. Also with languages. This is known as Language Pal. The Facebook page is very informative.
• Meetup allows you to meet up with like-minded people wherever you travel. Facebook page.
• Withlocals is another fabulous app. Their Facebook page is inviting. You will also see invites to events and called-on get-togethers.
• Jetsy is informative and useful. Going places and meeting people.
• FlipTheTrip where you can “Join the network of over 43 000 travelers and locals and connect with like-minded people in over 4 500 cities!”
• Nearify will let you know about events that are happening wherever you are.
• Eatwith is an app worth looking at. “Unforgettable, immersive culinary experiences”. You will also be able to find your cooking class.

“ If you don’t know the guy on the other side of the world, love him anyway because he’s just like you. He has the same dreams, the same hopes and fears. It’s one world, pal. We’re all neighbours.” —Frank Sinatra

Have you had a non-touristy vacation or are you planning one? Let us know how it went or how the plans are going in the comments section below.