Is there anything worse than waiting to travel? When you know you’ve got a trip coming up, but you’re still saving money. Or, even worse, if you want to travel, need to travel, but yet have no idea when you can spare the time or money to actually hit the road again.

It’s at times like these that being home can drive you nuts.

But there is relief in sight. Meeting friendly locals, learning a few words of another language, tasting something indescribable, stumbling on a breathtaking view when you thought you were just lost: almost any travel experience (including a bout of diarrhoea, if you’re really hardcore) can be replicated in your own hometown. It may not be quite as good as the real thing, but try a couple of the adventures below and you might find some slight relief for your itchy feet.

Have Camera, Will Travel: Take a Photo of Tourists in Your Hometown

Meet the Locals

If you’re like most people, you go out to the same few places every weekend. You consider yourself a certain type of person, so you go to a certain type of club, bar or pub.

It’s time for a change.

Where’s the drinking hole you’re least likely to visit? (If it’s incredibly dangerous, cross it off your list and choose the second-least likely.) This Saturday night, you’re going there. And on your visit, keep in mind the most important tenet of travel: respect the local customs and learn from them.

How do the locals dress? Dress similarly, so as not to offend them. Observe their customs and ways of behaving and try to fit in. Try to talk to the regulars – you never know what you might learn about horse racing, construction work, snagging a rich husband, beach volleyball or what that guy from Poison is up to these days.

Be open-minded and tolerant. Just because they do things differently, doesn’t mean they’re wrong. And enjoy your cultural experience.

Next Stop: Q8

Having a great time in Q8: Wish You Were Here

Back in 1991, everyone wanted a piece of this previously unheard of autocracy in the Arabian Peninsula. Now the rush is over, you can grab yourself a piece of Q8y action.

Get a street directory or map for your hometown and open it to a random page. Put your finger on the coordinates Q8. What’s there? Probably not much. And that is your destination for today.

Treat this like an expedition to a far-off land. Remember to pack all the things you’ll need – bottled water, camera, comfortable shoes – and put your money in a safe place. Take plenty of photos, pick up some souvenirs (some interesting leaves, a flier taped to a lamp pole), and remember to send your family an email telling them what a great time you had.

Have Camera, Will Travel

Think of somewhere in your hometown that tourists love to visit (if you live in a really tiny town, it may require a day trip to do this excursion). Go to that place, and take a camera with you. Your mission: to photograph the tourists.

How you do this depends on the kind of person you are. You could take candid shots of tourists taking their own photographs (very post-modern). Or you could politely ask them to pose for your camera in front of the attraction, and ask them who they are, where they’re from and what they came to see, then write a little bio to go with each photo.

Recipe for Disaster

Recipe for disaster? The smile suggests yes.

Some countries have a magic touch when it comes to distilling liquor; others just ferment whatever they find buried up the back of the shed under some burlap sacks. But whether glorious or vile, the thrill of tasting exotic booze is one of the highlights of travel. (The photo? In Cambodia with a vat of rice wine, drunkenness ensuing.)

And thanks to globalisation you can now gamble your liver and eyesight in the comfort of your very own home. Invite your closest friends to your place for a cocktail party. Everyone has to bring a bottle of something foreign that they’ve never tasted before: your local liquor store or supermarket is bound to harbor at least one dubious spirit, beer or wine of unidentifiable lineage. Then, mix and match at your discretion. And remember, you can’t have too much water. Seriously. Drink up.

Speak to Me

There are any number of frivolous ways to dabble in different cultures. See anything in this blog, for example. But just for a minute, be serious. Please.

So much of traveling is about finding out how other people live: visiting tribes in the hills of Thailand, dancing with the locals in a bar in Nicaragua, renting an apartment for a couple of weeks in Paris. Knowing that things can be done differently gives us a fresh look at the way we do things. And sure, if you’re staying home you can have dinner in a Vietnamese restaurant or see a French film and get a little bit of that insight. Or you could become a volunteer English tutor for a recent migrant.

Do what now? Don’t you have to go to university for that?

You don’t. All over the country, community-based organisations train people to be volunteer English tutors. All it requires is a commitment of your time (try calling your local university, technical college, migrant centre or local government for more information). Even if there’s no such organization in your area or you don’t feel comfortable formally tutoring someone to speak English, lots of migrants really just want someone they can practise English with. All you have to do is have a little chat with them once a week or so. You can discuss football, cooking, weddings, what’s on TV or the country they’re from: whatever the two of you feel like talking about.

Put up some notices around your local schools, shopping centres or cultural centres and see if anyone’s interested. Helping someone out with their English, seeing the way this improves their life, and at the same time finding out about a completely different way of living is one of the most rewarding experiences you can have.

–Jane Rawson

This entry was posted on Monday, February 11th, 2008 at 12:43 pm and is filed under The Art of Travel, Travel Inspiration. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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