Travelling is a lot of fun, but we fall into the trap of only visiting destinations that are high-up on the list of popular places for tourists to visit. There’s nothing inherently wrong with visiting these destinations, but it does somewhat defeat the joy you can get from travelling. Travel should be an explorative experience. It should be something that you enjoy because you’re seeing new things, meeting new people and indulging in new cultures.
“Normal” holidays can get really expensive
A normal holiday can cost hundreds, if not thousands. You’ll be spending money on expensive food, you’ll be forced to book a fancy hotel and tour guides will rip you off. Stop wasting your money when you go on a holiday. Experiencing a country doesn’t need to be expensive, and you don’t need to pay someone to tell you where to go when there are so many online resources to learn from.
Most of the tourist attractions can get boring
Let’s face it, seeing the same old tourist attractions can get boring. Sure, the Eiffel Tower might be a unique landmark that’s worth visiting once or twice, but there are so many more interesting things to see in Paris that are away from the expensive tourist attractions. Instead of visiting the same locations that your friends and family have been, go off the usual path and explore the city a bit to find your own attractions.
You can plan holidays around experiencing new things
Holidays can be planned around experiencing something completely unique and new. For example, you could see these wine trails to plan a wine tasting adventure around the world. This is great if you have an interest in wine or alcohol, and it gives you a good reason to travel to different places around the world. Similarly, if your favourite band is playing in another country, then you could purchase tickets to see them live in the flesh.
You’ll make long-lasting memories if you explore
Tourist attractions are great because they make good photo opportunities and you can tell all of your friends you visited x or y, but there’s nothing quite like walking off on your own and experiencing something unique that none of your friends have tried before. Even if you’re travelling with your family, you can still create precious long-lasting memories together if you’re willing to travel away from tourist destinations.
There are plenty of opportunities to make new friends
By avoiding the destination and focusing more on the experience, you’ll get to meet many new people and make new friends. Instead of staying at a resort where you’re isolated and hardly meet anyone, stay at a hostel instead. It’s cheaper, you’ll get to live with other travellers that have similar interests to you, and you’ll make friends that you can travel together with. If you travel to a country with a different language, then learning a couple of phrases can get you far. Show some interest in the culture and language of the locals, and they’ll adopt you as their new friend and show you around to their favourite spots.
