Want to learn all about travelling locally? I hope this guide helps!
What’s the first thing you think about when someone says “travel”?
For me, it’s long airport layovers and tropical beaches; freedom, language barriers, new cultures, new foods, and exotic destinations.
In other words, travelling locally never hits my radar!
For some strange reason, I’ve never felt pulled to explore my own backyard (the UK). Far from it! I’ve deliberately travelled as far from home as possible.
Yet if COVID’s taught me anything, it’s that local travel can be just as amazing as exploring distant lands! Indeed, with international borders closed for the last 12+ months, the humble “staycation” has been the only available option.
And, much to my surprise, it’s been awesome.
Are you interested in travelling locally too?
Do you want to learn more about the benefits involved? And would you like to find out how to have the best local trip possible in the process?
Well, you’re in the right place!
I’ve put together a comprehensive “travel local guide” that addresses all of the above. I hope it helps!
Before we get into the benefits of local travel, let’s take a quick look at what it actually is…
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What Does It Mean to “Travel Local”?
For me, travelling locally is the process of seeing, exploring and having adventures in your own backyard instead of overseas.
You forgo the flights and decide to visit somewhere in your home country instead!
This might be somewhere in your very own neighbourhood, or the suburbs, or another part of the city, or a neighbouring county/state.
It could be down the road or on the other side of the country; somewhere you’ve never been or a place you’ve visited once or twice before.
Whatever the case and wherever you choose go, it’s still home.
And you’re still travelling around, seeing the sights, embracing the attractions, and getting to know the people, food, customs, and culture there.
There are all sorts of incentives to travel like a local. Here are the main ones…
7 Key Benefits of Local Travel
With so many mind-blowing places to visit around the globe, why should someone choose to travel locally instead? What sets local travel apart?
Keep reading to find out!
1. It’s Better for the Environment
Travellers looking to live a greener, cleaner, and generally eco-friendlier existence would do well to travel locally.
After all, flights, cruises, and even long-distance road trips aren’t exactly ideal from an environmental standpoint!
You’re burning fossil fuels at every turn and, in so doing, contributing to levels of CO2 that, for the benefit of the planet, desperately need to drop.
By comparison, exploring your own backyard tends to have a much smaller impact.
You aren’t going so far afield, right?
That means less chance of flying and a greater likelihood of using public transport.
Heck, if you’re travelling somewhere really local, you might even be walking or cycling from one place to another- two of the greenest (and healthiest) forms of getting from A to B available!
2. It’s Often Cheaper than Typical Travel
One of the biggest disadvantages of travelling overseas is how expensive it can be.
Sure, there are definitely ways to travel on a budget.
Yet there’s no denying that the cost of flights, accommodation, in-country transport, food, tourist attractions, and so on adds up!
This changes for the better when you choose to travel locally though.
Again, there are usually no expensive flights, ferries, or fuel costs to think about.
You might just be a few bus stops, a quick metro ride, or a short drive away from the place you want to explore! As a result, you can take a packed lunch to eat, go home to sleep (or stay at a friend’s place), and stick to the free things to see and do.
All told, local travel doesn’t have to cost a dime.
The accessibility of local trips is one of the main incentives to travel locally.
3. It’s More Accessible
Big overseas adventures can seem off the cards when you’re short on time and money.
For example, maybe you:
- Can’t get the time off work.
- Have to be around for your family.
- Have to attend your best friend’s wedding.
- Have a college assignment to finish.
…And so on! Whatever the constraint, the thought of travelling overseas might sound amazing but be unfeasible in practice.
Likewise, if you can find the time and scrape together the pennies, for someone in full-time employment, the trip is a) unlikely to last much longer than a couple of weeks and b) be restricted to a certain time of year.
This is yet another incentive to start travelling locally!
Look closer to home for your adventures and you can basically enjoy year-round travel. Heck, every other weekend could involve a new local trip.
After all, you’re not going too far or doing anything too extravagant.
You could be camping in a nearby National Park, exploring museums in the local town centre, riding the train to its last stop, and so on.
Because it’s cheaper and closer, it’s easier and more accessible.
4. Trips Are Straight-Forward to Organize
Big trips tend to involve lots of saving and planning.
You have to decide where to go, then book flights, book time off work, organize visas, get vaccinations, acquire the endless items you’ll want with you on the road, pack those items into a backpack/suitcase, and search for itinerary ideas, etcetera.
All told, it takes a serious amount of organization for things to run smoothly!
And that’s both time-consuming and stressful.
By contrast, taking a short local trip is a walk in the park (…sometimes literally).
There’s much less to think about. There’s much less to arrange.
And there’s much less that can go wrong.
When it comes to travelling like a local, someone can message you on a Thursday to see if you fancy a weekend getaway and it’s no big deal! You simply say yes, decide how to get there, pop some toiletries and some spare undies in a backpack and away you go.
5. It’s Easier to Convince Friends and Family to Come!
Travelling the world alone is great.
But so is travelling with other people!
Whether you go with close friends or family, hitting the road with your nearest and dearest is always special. You get to share the experience, make lasting memories together, and lean on each other for support in tricky moments.
The hard part?
Convincing them to come along in the first place!
Not everyone has the time or inclination to leave their life behind and accompany you on a big trip. They have a job (or plan on getting one), have a family to look after (or plan on making one), and want to save their money (or earn some).
However, this often changes when you only want to travel locally.
After all, you’re not asking for such a serious commitment.
Your loved ones might jump on the chance to explore somewhere new and closer to home with you- especially of you don’t want to go away for too long.
The main benefit of travelling locally is arguably that you discover the beautiful places in your own backyard!
6. You Discover Your Local Area
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve met someone from another country who knows the UK better than I do!
And it’s always vaguely embarrassing.
I mean, not only have they visited more places here than I have, but they also know more about it overall. They end up telling me where different towns/cities are located, as well as the names of places I’ve never even heard of!
Thankfully, travelling locally turns this situation around.
Depending on where you choose to go, you discover more about your neighbourhood, or the wider city, or other parts of the country.
You find out about the best places to go and the best things to see; educating yourself on its layout, history, and culture along the way.
7. You Develop Newfound National Pride
I’ve never really felt a deep connection to the UK.
It’s where I’m from, but not necessarily home. In fact, ever since I was a child, I’ve envisioned myself moving overseas.
Maybe that’s why I’ve always chosen to explore foreign shores versus those on my doorstep? Either way, it creates a vicious circle.
The more I travel to far-flung destinations, the less connected I feel to “home”!
Thankfully, though, travelling locally has started to turn this around!
You realize what awesome attractions and beautiful places there are to see nearby.
You start to appreciate why foreign tourists pay their hard-earned money to visit, while you’ve been spending all yours to leave.
Over time, you develop a new sense of pride in where you’re from.
Here are 3 foundational tips on travelling locally…
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3 Top Tips on Travelling Locally
Now we know why local travel’s well worth considering, let’s take a look at how to do it. Here are 3 travel local tips to ensure you have the best possible local trip!
1. See With New Eyes
I reckon local travel’s as much about attitude as it is about actions.
It’s about taking a fresh look at places you might have seen a thousand times before.
It’s about a willingness to challenge your stereotypes on certain parts of town, or particular parts of the country.
It’s about having the guts to do something totally different, close to home.
You’re trying to adopt the same curious and intrepid mindset that you’d have overseas, while exploring locally instead.
2. Get Off at Random Stops
Imagine hopping on a train, coach or bus that’s going to some unknown final destination.
Why not ride it all the way to the last stop?
Or how about getting off a random, unplanned stop along the way?
You could follow your progress on Google Maps, for instance, and see what each location you’re soon to pass through has to offer.
If anything piques your interest, get off and give it a look!
3. Research Your Own Country
Most people who have a long-distance trip to look forward to will do some research for it, right?
They might get a travel guide to the destination, for example, and/or read a load of blog posts on it.
Perhaps they’ll look on Google Maps to get to grips with the geography, scroll through Instagram feeds to see what beautiful places are there, or browse Pinterest for cool itinerary ideas.
Whatever they do, they end up learning all about the hotspots, best bits and travel tips to get the most from their time.
I fully recommend doing the same when you’re travelling like a local!
Spend an hour researching where tourists go and what there is to see nearby. Learn more about the history of the area, the stories of local legends, and how the place has changed over time.
You’ll end up with a better idea of a) where to explore and b) what to do (and what not to do), alongside a newfound appreciation of where you live.
You don’t have to meditate under a waterfall to pick a local travel destination!
How to Choose a Local Travel Destination
Wondering how to pick somewhere to travel locally?
Here’s a simple idea:
Start by thinking of the sort of place you’d choose to go overseas.
Then, find somewhere that shares similar attributes closer to home!
For example, New Zealand’s one of my favourite places in the entire world. The natural beauty there is sublime, it’s super laid-back, and I love how easy it is to get outside to hike, swim, and surf.
With its borders closed due to COVID, though, I won’t be going there any time soon!
Thankfully it turns out that Northern Ireland, another part of the UK, offers almost all of the same attributes. So I’ve holed up here for a few months instead.
Why not try something similar?
Or, for an even simpler approach, simply look at your local area on a map and pick somewhere on it that you’ve never explored in the past, or haven’t been to for ages.
Time to Travel Like a Local!
The further away, the better.
That, in a nutshell, has been my philosophy around choosing somewhere to travel over the last few years!
I’ve been desperate for the exotic over the familiar, and assumed I had to fly half way around the world to find it.
As a result, travelling locally rarely crossed my mind.
…Until, that is, a global pandemic took international travel off the menu!
Suddenly I had no choice but to look closer to home for adventures. Horizons narrowed and my own backyard, the UK, became the only viable place to explore.
And I’ve loved it!
The experience of local travel has satisfied my itchy feet over the last 12 months and, more importantly, shown me just how beautiful my own backyard can be.
With any luck, the travel local benefits and ideas in this post will have convinced you to try it for yourself.
Got any questions or thoughts on this topic? Drop a comment below!