Stop being a visitor and start living. Discover 15 proven ways to deepen your journeys through slow travel, local workshops, and cultural immersion.

Stop visiting, start living: A guide to experience-first travel

For decades, the standard approach to a holiday was simple: book a hotel, hop on a tour bus, and tick off as many famous landmarks as possible. We measured the success of a trip by the number of photos we took in front of monuments and the weight of the souvenirs in our suitcases. However, a growing problem has emerged in the global travel scene: “Overtourism” and the “bucket list fatigue”.

Many travellers now find themselves flying halfway across the world only to stand in a two-hour queue for a thirty-second photo opportunity. We are visiting places, but we aren’t actually experiencing them. This “check-box” style of travel often leaves us feeling more exhausted than inspired. We return home with a digital camera full of pictures of strangers’ heads and a nagging sense that we didn’t actually learn anything about the culture we just left.

The problem is that we have become passive observers of the world rather than active participants. When we treat a city like a museum gallery, we miss the heartbeat of the community. We eat at “tourist traps” with English menus and inflated prices, and we stay in cookie-cutter hotels that look the same in London as they do in Tokyo. To truly find joy in exploration again, we must shift our mindset. We need to stop being mere visitors and start living, even if just for a week, in the rhythm of a new place.

15 Ways to embrace experience-first travel and deepen your journey

To solve the problem of shallow sightseeing, we must intentionally change how we plan and behave during our trips. Here are 15 practical solutions to help you prioritise immersive, local experiences over traditional tourism.

1. Swap the hotel for a residential neighbourhood

One of the easiest ways to stop feeling like a tourist is to stay where the locals actually live. Instead of booking a high-rise hotel in the city centre or the “tourist zone”, look for a guesthouse or an apartment in a residential suburb. This forces you to engage with the local infrastructure, such as the corner grocery shop or the neighbourhood park.

When you stay in a residential area, your morning begins with the sound of the city waking up, not the sound of a hotel breakfast buffet. You will find yourself saying hello to the same barista every morning and learning which bakery has the best bread. This small shift in location immediately changes your perspective from an outsider looking in to a temporary member of the community.

2. Learn the language of connection

You do not need to be fluent to make a massive impact on your travel experience. Learning just twenty or thirty key phrases in the local tongue, such as “How is your day?” or “What do you recommend?” opens doors that remain shut to English-only speakers. It shows a level of respect for the culture that locals deeply appreciate.

When you make the effort to speak the language, the “wall” between you and the local community begins to crumble. You are no longer just a source of revenue; you are a person showing interest. Often, a simple greeting in the local dialect leads to an invitation to a back-street cafe or a tip about a local festival that isn’t mentioned on any travel website.

3. Use public transport instead of private taxis

While a private car might be more comfortable, it insulates you from the reality of the destination. Taking the bus, the tram, or the underground is a masterclass in local life. You see how people dress for work, what music they listen to, and how they interact with one another. It turns a simple commute into a sensory experience.

Navigating a foreign transport system also builds your confidence and forces you to solve problems. You might get lost, but those “wrong turns” often lead to the most authentic discoveries. You might stumble upon a beautiful mural, a tiny flower market, or a bustling square that you would have sped past in the back of a taxi.

4. Take a locally led skill-based workshop

Sightseeing is a visual activity, but true immersion involves all the senses. Instead of looking at a piece of pottery in a museum, find a local artisan who will teach you how to make it. Whether it is a pasta-making class in Italy, a perfume workshop in France, or a traditional weaving lesson in Peru, learning a skill connects you to the history of the place.

These workshops provide a structured way to interact with locals for several hours. You aren’t just a customer; you are a student. This dynamic allows for deeper conversation and a genuine understanding of the craftsmanship and patience that define the local culture. Plus, the item you create is a far more meaningful souvenir than anything bought in a shop.

5. Follow the “three-block rule” for food

Tourist-heavy areas almost always have subpar food at high prices. To find where the locals eat, apply the “three-block rule”: walk at least three blocks away from any major landmark or “must-see” monument before you look for a restaurant. Look for places that don’t have menus with pictures or “greeters” standing outside trying to pull you in.

If a restaurant is full of people speaking the local language, you have found a winner. Don’t be afraid if the menu isn’t in English; use a translation app or simply look at what the person at the next table is eating and point. Eating the authentic flavours of a region is one of the most intimate ways to understand its geography and heritage.

6. Volunteer for a day with a local project

If you want to understand the challenges and triumphs of a community, give some of your time to it. This could be helping at a community garden, participating in a beach clean-up, or helping at an animal shelter. It shifts the focus of your trip from “what can this place give me?” to “how can I contribute to this place?”

Volunteering introduces you to people you would never meet on a standard tour. You will work alongside locals who are passionate about their home. This shared sense of purpose creates an immediate bond and provides a raw, honest look at the social fabric of the destination that most travellers never see.

7. Travel without a rigid itinerary

The biggest enemy of experience-first travel is a packed schedule. If every hour of your day is planned, there is no room for the unexpected. Leave at least two days of your week completely blank. Wake up and ask a local person, “What should I do today?” and actually follow their advice.

A flexible schedule allows you to say “yes” to spontaneous invitations. If a shopkeeper invites you to have tea or a new friend mentions a local football match happening that afternoon, you have the freedom to go. These unplanned moments are almost always the highlights of the trip, far surpassing any scheduled museum visit.

8. Attend a local religious or cultural ceremony

You don’t have to be religious to appreciate the spiritual and communal heart of a culture. Whether it is a Sunday service in a gospel church, a morning prayer at a temple, or a village festival, these events are where the community’s values are on full display.

Always ensure you are acting with the utmost respect, dressing appropriately, and asking permission if you wish to take photos (though often it is better to leave the camera in your bag). Observing or participating in these rituals provides a profound sense of the history and continuity of the people who live there.

9. Explore the local markets at dawn

While most tourists are sleeping or waiting for the hotel breakfast to open, the real life of a city is happening at the markets. From fish markets to flower stalls, the early morning hours are when the city’s “engine” is running. It is a world of vibrant colours, loud haggling, and fresh smells.

Visiting a market allows you to see the local produce and understand the regional diet. It is also a great place to strike up conversations with vendors. Buying a simple piece of fruit or a local pastry and sitting on a bench to watch the world go by is a far more immersive experience than any organised city tour.

10. Hire a private local guide, not a corporate tour

If you want a tour, skip the big bus companies and find an individual local guide. Many platforms now allow you to connect with residents who offer “niche” tours based on their own passions, such as street art, political history, or even a tour of the best hidden bars.

A private guide can answer your specific questions and tailor the walk to your interests. Because it is just you (and perhaps your companions), the conversation becomes much more personal. They can tell you about their life, their family, and their views on the changes happening in their city, giving you a nuanced perspective that a rehearsed script never could.

11. Practise “slow travel” by staying longer

Instead of trying to see three countries in two weeks, try staying in one city for the entire duration. When you stay longer, the pressure to “see it all” disappears. You stop rushing from one landmark to the next and start noticing the small details—the way the light hits a certain building or the specific smell of the evening air.

Slow travel allows you to develop a routine. You find “your” coffee shop, “your” park bench, and “your” favourite evening stroll. By the end of a week or two in one place, you start to feel a sense of belonging. You are no longer a visitor; you have become a temporary resident, which is the ultimate goal of experience-first travel.

Get United’s best fares today on flights to Trinidad and Tobago

Traveling Trinidad and Tobago? Don’t miss United Airlines best fares Trinidad and Tobago. Book your flight Trinidad and Tobago today and fly for less.

12. Document your trip through journals, not just photos

We often use our phones as a shield. When we see something beautiful, we immediately put a screen between ourselves and the view. To experience a place more deeply, try keeping a written journal. At the end of each day, sit in a cafe and write down what you smelled, heard, and felt.

Writing requires you to process your experiences rather than just record them. It forces you to think about the “why” behind what you saw. When you look back at a journal years later, the words will evoke the emotions and atmosphere of the trip far more effectively than a thousand identical digital photos ever could.

13. Use “human-powered” transportation

Whenever possible, walk or cycle. Moving through a city or a countryside at a human pace allows you to notice things that you would miss from a car window. You can stop instantly to look at an interesting doorway, smell the jasmine hanging over a wall, or listen to a street musician.

Cycling, in particular, allows you to cover more ground than walking while still remaining “in” the environment. Many cities now have excellent bike-sharing schemes. Pedalling through the streets puts you at eye level with the locals and gives you a physical connection to the geography of the land.

14. Seek out independent media and events

Before you arrive, look for local independent magazines, community radio stations, or Facebook groups for the area. See what events are being advertised for the residents, such as small gallery openings, live music in a pub, or a local book launch.

Attending these events puts you in a room with people who share your interests but live a completely different life. It is an instant way to find common ground. You are no longer “the tourist”; you are the person who likes jazz, or the person who enjoys modern art, which makes it much easier to start genuine conversations.

15. Embrace discomfort and the unknown

True experience-first travel requires a willingness to be a little bit uncomfortable. It might mean eating something you can’t identify, getting a little lost, or having a confusing conversation through hand gestures. Discomfort is often the signal that you are actually learning something new.

If everything about your trip is easy and familiar, you probably haven’t left your “bubble”. By stepping outside of your comfort zone, you allow the destination to change you. You return home not just with souvenirs, but with a slightly different way of looking at the world, which is the greatest gift travel can offer.

Conclusion

The shift from “visiting” to “living” is not about how much money you spend or how many miles you travel. It is a fundamental shift in your intention. By choosing to slow down, engage with the local community, and prioritise active participation over passive sightseeing, you solve the problem of the “empty” holiday.

Experience-first travel turns every journey into a story of personal growth and genuine connection. It allows us to see the world not as a series of backdrops for our photos, but as a vibrant, complex, and beautiful tapestry of human life that we are privileged to join, even if only for a short time. Next time you pack your bags, leave room for the unexpected, and remember: the best sights aren’t always the ones on the map, they are the ones you find when you finally decide to put the map away.

_____________________________