subject: Top Tips For Blending In With The Locals On Holiday [print this page] When going on holiday, its always a good idea to try and blend in with the locals so you dont stand out like a sore thumb. Here are a few tips about how to do it:
Be sure to step off the tourist trail. Try to get away from the main streets of a city, and head for places that are lesser known to the guidebooks but still safe and exciting. Take London, for instance. London is a city of a huge number of villages: rather than sticking to the West End and theatre land, tourists could get away from their counterparts and discover Londons parks, and the River Thames, and the places where real Londoners live and work. Following this theory to other cities will work too, and leave you with a far more rewarding experience.
Everyone will want to see the main sights of the places they visit, but that doesnt mean to say that you must behave like a tourist while doing so. Consider getting a different view of the best monuments instead of climbing the Eiffel Tower, seek out your own private view of it from the outskirts of the city so that your photographs dont look like every other photo thats been taken.
That said, try to limit the number of photographs you take too: putting the camera down is a vital step to being embraced by the locals, and living with them rather than looking at them. Living life through the lens can be great, and will record a full set of memories of your trip, but the idea of not being glued to your camera is liberating.
There is no denying that blending in with the locals on holiday takes a concerted effort, and isnt sustainable for long periods of time, unless you are lucky enough to be staying with a local family. Cheap hotels and short flight times, though, do make it possible and fantastic fun all thats left is to pick a starting point and pop to the shops to buy that local phrasebook.
