Going on a summer vacation is practically a right nowadays; how else are you to handle the busy nature of American life year-round, if not for the opportunity to go find yourself somewhere exciting, new and temperate for a couple weeks out of the year? It’s one thing to take yourself off for a vacation, of course, but it’s another to really immerse yourself in a new place. If you’re fixing to travel this summer, and you want to wring every last drop of experience out of your travels, read on to find out how.
Research Before You Go
As with any vacation, a little research goes a long way to getting you immersed in a cultural getaway. To give yourself the best chance of hitting the ground running, use travel blogs to get a feel for local cultures and customs relating to your chosen destination – and all the better if you know when you’re travelling, as you may be able to pinpoint some specific cultural events or traditions to experience when you arrive.
Sometimes, the best vacations are those that allow you to experience multiple different locations. Camino holidays, for instance, are walking pilgrimages through Italian heartlands – and stunning opportunities to find some local cultural happenings.
Engage with Locals
What’s better than ingratiating yourself with local customs? Ingratiating yourself with the locals, period. People are people, wherever you go – and your vacation is a chance for you to meet and understand people you’d never otherwise meet. With a little conversational skill in a language, you can get by quite well, at least if the locals don’t want to practice their English on you. Making friends locally is a great way to get a direct line to local experiences you wouldn’t otherwise find, too.
Try Authentic Cuisine
The way to anyone’s heart is near-invariably through their stomach. And you’re no different. Dare yourself to try local cuisines outside your standard food comfort zone; you’ll discover new culinary worlds, built on the local availability of quality ingredients and developed by cooking pioneers. Don’t settle for cheap grocery store fare; go find a market, a street food stall, a small mom-and-pop restaurant with only three dishes on the menu. Become Anthony Bourdain!
Explore Off-the-Beaten-Path Locations
It is that enterprising, exploratory spirit which will lead you off the beaten path, to places that aren’t commonly found on tourist trips. Indulge yourself in trying a shortcut, or a long way round; ask a local for a recommendation, then ask a local at that recommendation for the next. Be led by curiosity, not a guidebook or TripAdvisor forum. Become ungovernable and your vacation will blossom into something irreplicable.
