Seeing More of The World When You Travel

Seeing new environments is one of the key reasons that many of us travel in the first place. New vistas, new experiences, and entirely new ways of feeling and being are some of the most valuable things that travel can unlock for a person. However, whether it’s due to the stress of travel, the finite amount of time we have, or something else, you may well be familiar with the feeling of not having seen as much as you wanted to when you get back from your trip. Here, we’re going to look at a few tips that can help you see and do more with each trip.

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Know your must-sees

You might have a loose idea of some of the highlights you want to see in the locations that you visit. However, if you’re only working with a loose idea, it’s easy for a lot of those locations to fall by the wayside when you’re actually out there. Get an idea of your must-sees by looking at online travel guides as well as the hidden gems from websites like Atlas Obscura and make a list of them. Prioritize your list so that, if you find you only have time to visit five out of your ten must-sees, you make sure you see the five that are going to mean the most to you.

Always ask your concierge

If your accommodation has a concierge, or simply some helpful and well-informed hotel staff, then you should ask them for recommendations for places to hit up. A concierge is going to be a real expert in the area, making restaurant recommendations, knowing which sights are easiest to see from your given area, and maybe even having a good idea of what’s going on right now, not to mention hidden spots that you’re not going to find in any travel guides or blogs. Simply ask your hotel liaison if they have a concierge or if there’s anyone who can offer good recommendations on where you can go and how you can get there.

Have an itinerary but keep it loose

Once you have written down the various different sites and hotspots that you want to visit and see, you should get an idea of when they’re open, how long it takes to get there, if there are any queues, and so on. From there, you should create an itinerary, but try to leave some space between the big ticket items on there. This can be the time that you take to explore the areas around those hot spots, to find detours, and to spend a little more simply wandering (keeping safety in mind at all times, of course.) If you have a really rigid itinerary, not only will you reduce the amount of time you have to explore, but it can make your holiday more stressful in general.

Write about it

Whether you mean to become a travel blogger or you simply want to keep a diary of your excursions and expeditions, taking a little moment each night to write about your trip is a good way to incentivize you to see and do more. When you’re making a chronicle of your adventures, you want to make sure that the stories are good, after all. You’re a lot less likely to spend every day lounging by the pool, waiting for the buffet to open if you’re also trying to tell a good story of your adventure. Your desire to tell an exciting story will help you find the motivation to go out and find one.

Get on the road

One of the best tips you can follow is to try something a little different than usual. If most of your trips involve you finding a hotel and exploring a city or area around it, then you should instead think about taking a road trip. Having the open road to explore, with all the stops that you find along the way can help you see a location in a much closer and more intimate sense than ever before. If you don’t like the idea of being let “off the leash” to explore freely, there are still teams like Magellan bike tours that can help you make sure you hit up all of the hot spots. There’s still plenty of room for adventure and detours, too.

Get the local experience

If you want to make sure that you’re getting an authentic experience once you’re out there, then there really is no source of info better than a local. To that end, there are plenty of ways to get in touch with those who are glad to welcome and spend time with tourists. You can look at the many couch-surfing sites when looking for accommodation for instance, but there are also sites like EatWith where you can connect with local chefs who will host you for a fee, and make sure that you get a real taste of the local cuisine of the place that you’re staying in. Seeing more isn’t about travelling further, after all, it’s also about digging deeper into each place you visit.

Keep an eye on the events calendar

Most towns and cities that have any kind of emphasis on tourism are going to have an events calendar that will lay out everything that’s going on worthy of interest. This can include musical festivals, foodie events, art festivals, cultural and religious observations, and so on. Most major tourist stops are going to have something going on no matter what time of year it is. Some smaller towns might have events spread out a little more evenly throughout the year but, in that case, you should simply try to do your research when you’re booking the trip and coincide it with an event or festival that catches your interest. That way you can really get caught up in what the locals are up to.

A little planning and a little spontaneity can help you see much more of the world when you travel. Hopefully, the tips above help you see that.