traveling living like a local

My typical vacation usually involves one of 2 travel scenarios. An expensive weekend in Vegas or going away for a week, staying in a all inclusive resort. Minimum spend is 2 grand and this doesn’t include time away from the resort on excursions and nights out on the town. For this trip though I will be traveling living like a local.

My world journey in 2022 is going to be very different especially since I will be on the road for at least a year. When you go away for a week you spend crazy amounts of money sticking to tourist areas. It usually means eating crazy amounts of food, overdrinking and taking in a good 8000 calories per day. It’s a lifestyle that is not sustainable over a long period of time.

I will be living like a local

For this journey I will be traveling living like a local at least during the week. I’ll save the weekends for being “a tourist”. This means mixing with locals, experiencing local culture, sightseeing and having the time of my life. This will include shopping at local markets, stay in local hostels and budget hotels, hit up free walking tours, the local watering holes and learn as much as I can about wherever I am.

Off the beaten path

This is a trip I will be doing on the cheap meaning off the beaten path. I’m going to splurge from time to time but overall I plan on traveling living like a local. My luggage does consist of just a backpack after all.

Local transportation

To really experience the countries I’m visiting I will be booking lengthy train and bus rides to see the countryside. I will eliminate short flights I usually take on shorter vacations as I have a year and will not be in a hurry.

Street food, Dining, Local Dinner Parties, Cooking Classes

There will be times where I will be often eating out (Mainly street food for me). I will be visiting many countries where it’s cheaper to eat out then cook your own meals. Countries in regions such as Central/South America and South East Asia street food is the way to go. I do plan on eating and drinking with locals and there are resources to help me with this in case my networking skills fall short.

The websites listed below specialize in hosting local dinner parties in different ways:

Seriously is there a better way to learn about a country and meet locals then these options?