I thought it won’t be too long until I won’t have the option of staying in a hostel or a backpacker’s anymore, but as it turns out it’s only in some specific hostels in specific parts of the world where there’s the age restriction of under-30s only. Thank goodness for that too, because to be quite honest, one of the only reasons I do indeed book a bed in a hostel when travelling is so that I can hopefully meet at least one local with whom I really click.
I never try to force anything, but it’s in your best interests to befriend a local wherever it is you’re travelling to and it gets even better if that local is a fellow traveller from elsewhere in the country, perhaps exploring their own country and you find yourself in the same hostel. It’s the perfect storm when you can effectively start exploring the new city you’re visiting together, with your local companion doing the talking if it’s a country in which you don’t speak the local language and basically it’s just like getting to explore the country as if you were a local yourself, coming from somewhere else in the country.
That said, the knowledge of the locals can prove to be really invaluable at times, with some specific pointers to take note of which come to mind.
Cheap places to eat
Locals have their entire lives worth of knowledge of the local economic environment to know exactly how much food should cost and I’ve personally been utterly shocked at how much more tourists essentially pay than the cost of food as bought where the locals eat. This is a very important aspect of backpacker’s trip, in particular.
Deals that would otherwise get lost in translation
Sometimes benefitting from a great deal, as procured through the knowledge of a local is not just about getting things cheaper. Visit South Africa for instance and the likelihood is that there is no tourism guide which will tell you about something like the so-called “swanking” event which takes place at an unofficial venue, making for a unique experience which many of the locals themselves don’t know much about, if anything at all. Sometimes it’s about being in on some experiences which can only really be uncovered by the knowledge of a local.
Useful information to help you when some trouble hits you
So let’s just say, heaven forbid, you found yourself in some legal trouble as a foreigner, in a country such as the United States and you needed to hire the services of a criminal defense attorney in Rochester. As with many other services and even products which you may be seeking to buy, normally you’d be resigned to accepting what is effectively the “tourist’s” price, but if you know a local then they can advise you accordingly. Not only can you get great prices, but you can also be sure to get the best price-to-service quality ratio. In the case of needing the services of a criminal defense lawyer, that’s perhaps the most important bit about such a very real possibility.
