How can I travel and find the best experience possible?

It’s not about the sights, monuments, landscapes, and museums.  Travel is about people.  Meet the right people and you will have the right experiences.

After spending a day in Nelson, it was clear to us that we had discovered our favorite place in the South Island.  But how to break away from the typical experiences and places?  With a few more days to spend in Nelson, and having no real plans, I instinctively asked Sally, a woman who works at the Vic.  We met while celebrating my birthday, sampling beer and devouring delicious chocolate mouse.

She recommended Boulder Bank and Cable Bay.  The next day we drove 15 minutes outside of Nelson to the coast to find some amazing surprises.  There was a local or 2 lounging on the bolder beach getting some sun and taking their dog for a walk but, other than a handful of people, these locations were completely untouched by tourists.

As we sat on the boulder beach, allowing the waves to wash over our feet, we felt in possession of a local treasure. It was awesome! For us, Cable Bay, despite the lack of anything resembling a sandy beach, embodied peace, solitude and an excellent view of a special bay.

How did this happen? It’s not as simple as it seems.

1. First, you have to be aware of where you are.  What’s popular?  What is the main attraction of the area?  To put it plainly, why do people travel to the place you are visiting?
2. Once you know what you are trying to avoid, discover what you like in the area.  Is their a musical hall?  A market place to shop?  A brewery?  Or maybe even a mechanic?  You know who you are and what you enjoy.  Find that local.  Your local, someone who might enjoy doing a similar activity as you.
3. As soon as you have found your local, don’t scare them away.   I know you are thinking, “But Natalie, you are so shy and timid, how could you scare anyone off?”  Seriously, this is important.  You have to approach the person like you have nothing to loose.  Otherwise, your local might think you are trying to sell them something.
4. Once you established communication with your local be bold and ask the question.

With Sally this was easy.  I knew what was popular and what I wanted to avoid.  Oh, and I didn’t scare her away.  My question went something like this:

“You know, we love it here in Nelson, it’s great, and we are planning on spending a few more days here, but we don’t want to end up at the World of Wearable Art museum all day.  What would you do tomorrow if you could do anything you wanted?”

The 4 step method isn’t fool proof and I am still working out some kinks in the system.  Each step can lead to problems, especially the first step.  Although we did not end up going to the World of Wearable Art museum, what if we missed out.  This is a big problem with the “ask a local” approach because most locals have been over-saturated with their local attraction.  So much so, that they wouldn’t wish their local attraction upon their worst enemy.  But to you, the local attraction could be new and exciting.  Your local will not always agree with you, and this is okay.

You can travel to every country all around the world, but unless you interact and connect one-on-one with people you won’t really experience any of the places you visit.  Just remember, your local is not you and checking out their recommendations can sometimes be risky.  It’s a big world out their to explore. Be adventurous, but take caution while searching for your local.

Email us about how you have benefited from meeting a local. We would love to consider your story as a ‘guest’ post.

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