I exchanged glances with Katie as we both slowly raised our spoons to our mouths, full of green slop. After swallowing, I managed a lackluster, “yummmm” through clenched teeth.

There we were, in the middle of the “bush” in South Africa. Katie was in the Peace Corps and I was visiting her for two weeks, experiencing the reality of life in her village. Walking through grassy paths to the local school (one of the only buildings in the village), fetching water from the pump, bathing in our system of buckets, and… in this instance … eating like a local. However, I’ll spare you the details of what I was actually consuming (ok, fine, it was cow stomach 😫).

Throughout my 6 month trip around the world, I lived with locals and experienced their lives. The good, the bad, and the ugly. And although there were far more glamorous moments in my travels, this memory sticks out to me as one that was so raw, real, and connective.

A group of teachers had invited us to their home so we could have their traditional food. They took a special shopping trip to get the right ingredients, they cooked for hours, we sat and talked and laughed (the hearty, belly kind of laughing), played with their neighbor kids, and they even walked us home since the sun went down and we didn’t have flashlights. It was genuine. They were our friends. They shared their lives with us. And us, with them.

This type of experience was one that became common during my extensive travel—ones that were real, connecting, and that went beyond simply seeing sights of a place. It was more than being “exposed” to somebody else's way of life. For a short time, I was able to be part of it. When I returned home, the first question I would get was, “How did you meet them?” Or, “How were you invited to their home?”

The truth was, there were so many different scenarios and not one of them was a straight path with a straightforward answer. I maintain that most of it had to do with mentality — being open to opportunities, being flexible, patient, outgoing, and curious.

Boogie-ing with a little girl in South Africa

Fast forward a few years and the relationships we have with local friends around the world have become the cornerstone of the value we bring to our travelers in our small group tours. We connect our travelers with our local friends, share experiences, share stories, share food, share laughs, and get an inside peek into the lives of the people who live in the places we visit.

I started this travel company back in 2014 when I realized people were looking for more meaningful travel experiences. They were looking to not just SEE a place, but to CONNECT with a place, its people, and its culture.

So how can you have more meaningful moments in your own travel? Here are a few of my top suggestions for a deeper, realer, travel adventure:

1. Interact with the Locals

What makes a place? Its people. It’s great to see the sights and learn about the history— but what about the culture in the here and now? I won’t lie, you may have to go outside your comfort zone for this one: you’ll have to meet people and make friends.

But how? Be friendly. Smile. When you catch someone’s eye, say hi (or hola, or ciao), be curious, ask questions like, where are you from? How long have you been here? Build from there.

Strike up conversations with those who you see can understand you—if you’re in a non-English speaking country, often those who speak English enjoy a chance to practice, or identify expats and start conversations with them (they may not exactly be “locals”, but they know the area better than you and I’ve met locals through expat friends I’ve made). If you speak the language of the country—even better!

On our small group tours, we always visit a local home for a meal; we experience first hand how they live, how they cook, we hear stories from their family history, and we leave with a richer, deeper cultural understanding than we would have gotten from eating at a restaurant.

Finishing the night at gloria’s with homemade dessert and, of course, wine

2. Use a Local Guide When You Can

When I backpacked on a budget, I never shelled out any extra cash for guides. Then, I took a guided tour from a local and I never went back to that no-guide life!

I can see a place, research online, or read a book, but a place still doesn’t come to life until I hear a story. Good guides can make a place come alive with stories, and any personal connections they have to that place.

On our Heart of Italy tour, Gaia, a Florentine art-history major, gives us an insider’s guide to Florence, showing us the back-alley artisan shops and hole-in-the-wall eateries, telling us what to eat where. She loves her city and the passion she speaks of it with while she relays the history and anecdotes and the way she greets the shop owners give us a completely different view of Florence than we would have had just exploring alone.

3. Participate in the Local Customs & Traditions

Research the customs, traditions, and maybe even the holidays of the countries and cities you are visiting to make your trip so much more memorable and meaningful.

Sometimes you may even want to schedule your trip around a special festival time to participate in the experience, like San Fermin and running with the bulls in Pamplona, or Holi festival in Jaipur.

But it doesn't have to be a special festival to get in on the customs and traditions of a place. You could attend a mass in the Vatican, eat dinner at 10pm like the real Spaniards do while in Spain, or even simply learning the basic etiquettes and greetings of the culture you’re in.

For example, when we tour to Japan—where etiquette is of the utmost importance—we are sure to follow the traditional customs of taking our shoes off in homes and we participate in a traditional tea ceremony.

Mrs. Konishi leading us in our traditional tea ceremony

4. Shop Local Whenever You Can

Giving back to the local economy is an important way to contribute to the community you’re visiting. Instead of spending your money with big corporations, spend it instead with the local families and small businesses. This is one reason why on our tours we make it a point to visit small artisans and boutiques to learn about their trade, craft, and way of life.

So, skip the big supermarkets and the Starbucks and hit up the small mom & pop grocers, bakeries, and boutique shops.

This can also be a good way to interact with locals, hear their stories, and see them at work. I thoroughly enjoy the opportunities we have to learn about the local traditions by browsing the traditional goods and speaking with the local artisans who make them.

Like the small textile shop we stop at as we make our way to some Peruvian ruins. The Andes can be cold, and the women there have woven their own warm clothes for generations. They show us how they cut the alpaca hair, wash it, spin it, and dye it with nature’s finest: berries, herbs, and other natural dyes.

I love watching the process, hearing the beautiful history behind it, and then of course, supporting the local makers and small businesses producing these beautiful things that will keep me warm all winter.

The stories and the connections behind the products I’m purchasing make them even more special and allow me to take a bit of my trip home with me.

5. Eat the Local Cuisine (Bonus Points if You Learn to Cook it!)

We all have to eat (thankfully! Totally not complaining here). And as something that we all do, it’s a beautiful way to experience somebody else’s life by eating the local food, or cooking with local people.

Search for cooking classes where you’re visiting, or for restaurants specializing in the traditional fares. Sometimes restaurants will have special days where they only make a certain traditional meal.

On our small group tours, we make sure to schedule in making limoncello in Sorrentine lemon groves, picking tea leaves on a tea farm (and then making our own matcha) in Japan, or watching and learning how chefs cook traditional pachamanca in the Sacred Valley of Peru (and of course, so much more), so that we can literally taste the flavor of a place.

Watching our food cook in the earth in the traditional Panchamanca way

Learning to make our own pizza in sorrento

6. Carefully Choose the Places You Stay

We are big supporters of staying in boutique hotels for so many reasons!

Not only do you typically get better, more personalized service, since they often have lower capacity than chain hotels, but they also provide a unique experience you can’t exactly replicate anywhere else—from the staff, to the architecture to the design, to the more intimate atmosphere.

Staying in boutique hotels is another great way to give back to the local community: usually they are owned by small businesses, hire local staff, and have a connection to the place where they are.

The lovely eco lodge we stay at in Malaysia —located two hours into the rainforest

Travel can hold some of the greatest experiences of your life, but sometimes you have to take a bit of an extra step to make the real meaningful moments happen. We hope this post has inspired you to take those steps on your next adventure, wherever it may be.

If you’re looking for these meaningful travel experiences, but don’t yet know where to begin or how to coordinate it all—we can help. We lead intimate, small group tours to bring you the unique, insider’s experience in each country we visit. Click the button below to get started.

Learn More About Our Tours

Pin this post to Pinterest so you can save it and come back to it!