OT, but I didn't know that .com allowed domains with a double-dash.
The locals don't know
101–110 of 182 posts
Re: The locals don't know
#102The corollary of this is that if you are a local you should do some more touristy things. I don't mean to go to a tourist trap and get scammed, but just enjoy your city a little more and do some things that usually only tourists do. For example, despite living most of my life in London, I've never been to the Tower of London. Why would I? It's for tourists. Except it's probably quite fascinating, especially for a loc…
This comment resonnate with me and in the last few months that is why I have been working on a side project to "be a tourist" in your own town. https://www.izeria.com/en Where you can discover places near you and connect to their history, I have also added some check-in mechanics and quiz to gaming the experience and for to actually go see the place in person. Think Pokemon go but for Wikipedia places.
it looks like you are violating Wikipedia's copyright by using text from their articles without attribution.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Copyrights#Reusers'_...
Re: The locals don't know
#103Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's what I did on my last vacation, and it was lovely. Except that I was in a cabin, on an island, in a foreign country. And the reason I was absolutely undistracted from my book, is that I'd turned my phone off before crossing the border. And I left it off, all week. The isolation and quiet surroundings made the "week off" truly off . Nobody could reach me if they tried. Whatever calamity befell my boss, he'd jus…
Right, it's a weird thing to travel for though.
My favorite vacations have been the ones where we've planned or been forced into a day of downtime amidst multiple days of go-go see the sights. I hope to never again be a seven countries in six days type of traveler.
We just spent 14 days in Mexico City. We'd been before, so got to visit some 2nd and 3rd tier sights and also just spent a few days vibing in the neighborhood. Meals for two were anywhere from $5 to $600 and almost all of them were excellent.
Re: The locals don't know
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is part of the wider conversation. At least one reason is because other peoples' home is not your Disneyland.
I would quite like for more of the cafes and restaurants near my home to be other peoples' Disneyland, to some extent, since this would provide a lot of jobs in the area and help the owners.
It can be a double edged sword. A restaurant near me got written up in the NYTimes and a few other "foodie" publications. What used to be a plan a head a few weeks reservation turned into the place selling out the month in less than 10 minutes.
The owner, recognizing that eventually the hype would die down and locals are his lifeblood, had to come up with all kinds of creative ways to make sure at least half his seats went to locals.
It's been about five years now and it's still not an easy reservation but I no longer have to logon at 12:01am on the 3rd of the month to score a seat two months from now or go attend a street concert on a random Tuesday afternoon in order to get early access to the reservations list.
Re: The locals don't know
#105I remember traveling 1000km for work. On the radio I heard of trips to where I lived. They were all prizes for some competition. I realized that my home was someone else's destination and my current place was where people from home's had chosen as a destination.
The grass is sometimes truly greener.
When I returned I looked at my home with the eyes of a tourist and went everywhere I could.
I have since traveled elsewhere. Some places are much better not to return to or even remain in.
Re: The locals don't know
#106I live in Sydney, does anyone have any recommendations on things I should do?
Things I'd like to try -
* Visiting the tank stream (I believe there are tours)
* The Greater Sydney Bike Trail
* Walking from Manly to Bondi (80km along the harbour)
Things I've done but recommend if you visit -
* Walking the bridge (free)
* Catching a ferry to Manly or Taronga
* Climbing the bridge (expensive!)
* Centrepoint tower (since renamed to Sydney Eye Tower)
* The botanic gardens
* Any beach (I prefer the harbour beaches, there's dozens to choose from)
Edit: Sorry I cannot get the formatting correct
Re: The locals don't know
#107I was once on the bus (in my own home town) with someone from Dublin (which I was visiting in a week back then), he recommended I not go to Temple Bar: "It's just for tourists". So where should I go? "There are some nice bars in ${some District}".
Well I passed though said district and saw some pretty drab houses and some bars with TVs (not my thing). Went to Temple Bar: It was vivid, with live music and many cheerful people on the street.
So in short: I concur with the author.
Re: The locals don't know
#108My best travel advice (for urban areas) is simple: get lost. If you don't know exactly where you are or what's around the corner, you've got to take it as it comes, and that makes it all the more interesting. No FOMO or opportunity cost struggles, just what's in front of you right now. This is both easier and harder with smartphones and GPS. Harder because, well, you know exactly where you are and have to actively ig…
I did that once about twenty years ago. I was in Seoul for a few days for work, and I had the last day free before my plane out in the evening. Without checking a map or guidebook, I got on the subway, rode a few stops, went up to street level, and wandered around; I repeated this four or five times. Other than one nondescript office district, every area I emerged in was interesting: a wholesale textile market, an upscale residential neighborhood, a lively commercial district. Though I don’t know the names of the places I visited, I still remember them all these years later.
Re: The locals don't know
#109The corollary of this is that if you are a local you should do some more touristy things. I don't mean to go to a tourist trap and get scammed, but just enjoy your city a little more and do some things that usually only tourists do. For example, despite living most of my life in London, I've never been to the Tower of London. Why would I? It's for tourists. Except it's probably quite fascinating, especially for a loc…
Tower of London is not a touristy thing its a culture thing.
I know quite a lot of all the cities i lived in. I have been a good tourguide to friends and family because you just learn stuff about your city.
I will not go to that one ferris wheel because some company build it, i saw them building it, its in a location which is weird, and why would i go on a ferris wheel in my city?
But everything else? The main castle, yes! The residence, english garden, white rose, german museum, Shirker's Alley, old michael, etc. yes! Have been plenty of times.
Re: The locals don't know
#110The locals are living their lives on an organic cadence. They're not maximizing entertainment value or whatever. They will certainly know entertaining things to do, but it's literally not their job to entertain tourists. Maybe seeking out a Disneyland like experience in someone else's home is the problem? Bourdain, Rick Steves, et al. are fun to watch, but I can't help but feel they've actually made the world a worse…
While the folks like Bourdain did romanticize tourism, and TV shows are known to regularly kill businesses that don't know how to manage the increase in customers, they did at least project the proper attitude of embracing the differences in other cultures when they traveled to places. The current issues with tourism are significantly more to do with "influencers" and social media. Many places are overrun by people t…
> Last year I was in Kuala Lumpur for a few days and took the person I was with to a bunch of the places I had visited when I was there a decade ago.
Usually explained by a different time of week/year/month. If you stay in a place for a while you get a sense of patterns. Often there's waves of tourists depending on neighboring country holidays and if you're a local you learn to avoid popular landmarks during those times.
> TV shows are known to regularly kill businesses that don't know how to manage the increase in customers
You make it sound like that's the problem and not increasing rent. If one day your place looks much more profitable everyone involved will try to get a piece.