As restrictions from COVID-19 are lowered and travel kicks back up, there are more crowds than ever in hotspot destinations worldwide. Online travel advisors abound, peddling packages designed to emulate the local experience. It’s all too easy to click a couple of buttons and enter your credit card number, and suddenly you’ve booked yourself and your family a guided tour around the entirety of Rome. While this type of curated travel might be the way to go if you’re tight on time, it’s far from the local experience. Next time you travel, skip the budget-breakers and build your itinerary the way a local would.
Locals Strike Back
Venice made international headlines when it introduced a fee for day-trippers that it calls a “tourist tax.” This move followed a declining local population compared to tourists — compared to a local population hovering around 55,000 citizens, tourist populations averaged around 57,430 per day, though this number jumped to over 90,000 in the summer. Seasonal fluctuations, in the wake of restriction reductions, are less pronounced than they have been in the past, with the general trend of tourists eager to jetset skyrocketing. The implications are dire, and now the fabled Venice experience is more curated than ever.
Preserving Cultural Destinations
To prevent another Venice, international travelers need to respect the locals. As travelers have now seen, the way to do this is not through the purchase of travel packages and the loud commendation of gimmicky grifters. To travel like a local in some of the hottest destinations in the world, keep three things in mind.
- Walk. Walk wherever possible, especially in walkable cities. Most European cities are walkable, with some standouts noted in Italy. The true local experience is not obtained from the back of a bus or a hot train compartment. Walk to Yelp’s highest-rated bakery close by, walk to close-by attractions, and walk around monuments to explore them.
- Eat from family-owned eateries. Tucked away behind the McDonalds and the KFCs are the small mom-and-pop eateries that will not only benefit from your finances but will likely also provide you with a real insider’s look into life as a local.
- Use public transportation where possible (and safe). Europe, for example, boasts one of the best public transit systems in the world. You can take trains and buses practically anywhere for far cheaper and for a far more authentic experience than a privately chartered car.
Final Thoughts
Overall, if you’re paying money to travel abroad, make it a priority to experience the destination like a local. Not only will it be a more enriching, fun experience for yourself and your family, but it will also support the destination you’re traveling. After all, foreign countries are not Disneyland, or Universal Studios, or SeaWorld — they are communities and cultures of their own, and both parties benefit from experiencing them with a gentler hand. As restrictions are reduced, ensure you are making it a priority to experience the world safely, authentically, and enthusiastically. Happy travels!
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