Travel appeals to people for many reasons: exciting new sights, spending time with loved ones, and escaping one’s daily routine. Many travelers desire authentic experiences that help them connect to their destination and cherish its gifts.
However, with the growth of the tourism industry, some new challenges have emerged for travelers. During trip planning, you will face several decisions and choices, from the destination to the stay and the experiences you want to pay for. Selecting inauthentic options can hamper the genuine joys of travel and leave you feeling dissatisfied.
Here are a few tips for enjoying fulfilling travels that widen your horizons and help you soak in the charms of new lands.
Table of Contents
1. Beware of the Paris Syndrome
Are you familiar with the Paris Syndrome? It is that abject feeling of disappointment some tourists feel after visiting the French capital. Their experience does not match their idealized, romanticized version of the city. Travelers can feel these emotions anywhere – not just in Paris – if they don’t conduct adequate research before their trip.
Media representations of various destinations may often be misleading. Moreover, places like Dubai may focus on “artificial” or human-made attractions that don’t appeal to everyone’s sensibilities. The result may be a feeling of generic travel or missing out on the unique offerings of the land.
Here are two ways to avoid this situation:
- Ring up friends or relatives who may have visited the places you have in mind. Better still if you know people who live locally. An itinerary based on local advice is likely to be practical and manageable. Experienced people can tell you which sightseeing spots are best avoided on weekends and which museum stocks the most stellar collection.
- Get on peer-reviewed websites like TripAdvisor and social media platforms like Reddit. They can give you an honest picture of “popular” travel destinations. For example, many Redditors find famous places like Times Square in New York disappointing. Is it glitzy and glamorous or dirty and overcrowded?
2. Stay in Places That Integrate Cultural Elements
Your accommodation plays a key part in shaping your travels. Some chain hotels may offer similar experiences across locations, providing little by way of unique cultural elements beyond the staple reception artwork.
On the other hand, some companies prioritize unique hospitality experiences that justify the location. These elements can span interior decor, cuisine, or language.
For example, many prominent Maldivian resorts integrate corals and pristine blues and whites into their aesthetic. Some hotels in Jerusalem encompass the city’s historical ambiance and let guests live close to ancient wonders like the Tower of David.
As travelers, we should set our priorities when selecting accommodation. Doing so can help avoid dissonance upon reaching.
Desiring an authentic cultural experience shouldn’t mean compromising on service quality or modern amenities. Isrotel observes that travelers should consider staying close to vibrant city attractions for convenient sightseeing. At the same time, hospitality staples like courteous service and pools should be available for a relaxing vacation.
3. Limit Nuggets and Fries to the Kids Only
Some couples who love traveling lament that they end up ordering fries and chicken nuggets everywhere they go! Many kids are picky, but following this approach can limit a key ingredient of authentic travel: food.
Think of any legendary travel destination, and its cuisine possibly comes to your mind. The falafels of the Middle East, the lasagne in Rome, and the pho in Vietnam – how can your holiday be complete if you miss trying these dishes?
Moreover, sampling the local fare can be good for your health. There is a greater likelihood that it uses fresh, seasonal ingredients that suit the weather. Since the locals also consume these foods, they are probably fast-moving and don’t sit on the shelves for weeks.
This travel approach also has mental health benefits. A recent Journal of Food Science study found that food connects to nostalgia, helping us eat better as we get older.
The aroma of that seafood risotto you had in Italy may be heartwarming enough to encourage you to consume similar foods again, getting nutrition as a result. You’ll miss these benefits if you stick to burgers or sandwiches wherever you go.
4. Be Extra Skeptical of Potential Traps
As more people embrace travel and tourism to lead fuller lives, many destinations become overcrowded. In this realm, it is common to see such places labeled as tourist traps – crowded, difficult to navigate, or perceived as too expensive for the experience. There is an intrinsic problem in this logic.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to experience what a city is known for. Some media roundups call the Roman Colosseum or the Eiffel Tower a tourist trap – that should convey the depth of confusion. The problem arises when you fall for inauthentic experiences around these places, like steeply priced souvenirs or exorbitant parking rates.
Last year, some YouTubers exposed the scam behind Paris’s famous cup-and-ball games. Tourists may get tempted to guess the correct cup (the one with the ball) but end up scammed even if their guesses are correct. Such experiences hardly contribute to a satisfying holiday and are best avoided.
Sometimes, we only want to go on a trip for a change of scenery or catch up on sleep. Many exhausted parents book weekends at nearby resorts to escape from the cleaning and laundry for once. For such trips, generic choices for stay, food, and sightseeing can work. Going to the mall for retail therapy is incomparable at times.
However, travels that involve more expense and significantly more emotional investment demand wholesome, authentic choices.