Below is a list of sorts that are generally not made in the travel guides because these things are considered “quite normal”. However, I would ask you, the next time you travel away from your home residence, to take stock of what’s around and appreciate these little things in life. The goal of the below suggestions isn’t to necessarily give you a picture perfect image of life overseas, but to give you a glimpse into the daily lives of the people that make up that nation, especially should their nation be in the news.
Take a good sniff of the place. There is a saying that you don’t fully understand a place until you’re smelled it. Walk around town, and take note of the different smells you encounter. No doubt you’ll come cross some good ones, but also some bad. I’d suggest also visiting a public toilet to get a better idea of what these people have to endure when they’re doing their business.
Take photos. Cameras are the new notebooks. Take photos of both ordinary and unusual things you see. Empty alleyway? Power lines? Trees? Bugs? Even food! We’re in the digital age and it’s cheaper than ever to take photos and store them for later memory recollection.
Visit a few cafes and try a sandwich. Unless the city or place you’re visiting is known precisely for some speciality, then ignore all the hype about ‘the Best whatever’ in town. Some places make it well, others don’t. Cafes come down to whether or not they’re using real beans, cleanliness and what food they have on offer, and there’s usually some type of sandwich. Oh, and make sure to take a picture and post it on social media with the appropriate #hashtag.
Take your time wandering through a museum and ask yourself, why have these things survived? Why is this museum preserving them? You don’t need to read all of the cards (since you’ll forget them anyway) and don’t worry about getting a great picture of whatever item is on display, there are Museum guides and professionals (and the internet) for that. After this, you can consider yourself culturally aware, maybe get a few ideas, and take a few pictures so you can remember what you did.
Listen to the local music, and I don’t mean the traditional music. Although globalization has put Western pop music into the phones and earbuds of many around the world, what is that country’s version of popular music? What are the parents or grandparents listening to? No doubt it’s different from the teenagers.
Walk through a mall. Malls are the modern markets. If you think malls are killing traditional markets, you’ve never had to take a shit that bad before. Or not had access to hot water for a few days. And if you want to gauge the local economy on your own, take note where people are assembled (usually the food court) and if there’s anybody in the shops buying anything.
Buy a local snack, not just on the street, but in the supermarkets. What do they sell on the street? What kind of chips (crisps) do they have in the supermarket? Ask the cashier for the popular type. You’ll see some weird flavours. Go to the place you see other people ordering from and try what everyone else is having. And it’ll also make you think twice about the downside of globalization. I would be wary of meat products sold on the street and wash any vegetables you get anywhere, preferably with bottled water.
Talk to the cleaners, even if only for a few minutes or mostly with hand gestures. Break the ice, learn something from them, share a bit of your life. They live very different lives. If you travel with others you’ll often hear one of your group say something like “Oh, don’t bother them” or “Ignore him, he’s just…” etc., as if your inquiries are intrusions. Instead, as long as you’re respectful and polite, consider your questions as curiosities and you’ll learn more from talking to the street cleaners and cashiers than you will from many of the books you read… or the people you travel with.
Don’t get a data plan right away. Try navigating yourself without relying on the internet and, instead, talk to people or try to deduce where you are based on what you see around you. While doing this, you can take public transport which will give you another glimpse into what the locals have to put up with on a daily basis. Where are they going? How far do they have to travel?
Then get a data plan. SIM cards and the like are getting easier to use and cheaper to buy and it’ll make your life just a little bit easier when trying to figure out how to say something or find some place. They do help ease the frustrations that come with travelling and can often lead to more in depth conversations with the aforementioned street cleaners, etc.
Visit a park or, even better, a graveyard. Graveyard visits are usually the preserve of Europeans who have cities and regions that have lengthy histories and cities that have grown up around cemeteries, much different from the current segregated areas in North America. Take a look around and wonder what type of tombstone you’ll have and if people will come and visit it.
Sit. You don’t have to be on the move all the time. It’s okay to just sit and think. You don’t have to watch anybody, you don’t have to talk to anybody, you just have to sit and admire the silence. If you choose to think, imagine what it would’ve been like to live or visit this place 100 years ago.
Is there anything you would add?
As always, any comments or suggestions, please get in touch with me at stevensirski [at] gmail [dot] com or on Twitter at @stevensirski.