Going Local Travel

Today is the 10th anniversary of 9/11. With all the commemorations, tie-ins and, in some cases, blatant profiteering (fancy some 9/11 memorial wine priced at $19.11? ), I don’t think many people have failed to pick up on this. As midnight approaches, most of us have reached overload. Nonetheless, the following email sent out by [...]

“Locals don’t always know best” is the headline of a fair post by blogger Candice Walsh. She talks about the downside of local knowledge, ie that hanging out with someone who lives in a place isn’t always a free pass into an all inter-circle of incredible secrets, you can get your fair share of dud [...]

Here it is proof that “going local” is fashionable. I spotted this “I love locals” t-shirt being worn by someone on the streets of a hip* part of Buenos Aires last week.

A few months back I was on the judging panel for two Leap Local competitions: best local guide and best travel writer. Not long after the winners were announced, an email landed in my inbox. “GOOOD NEEEWWWSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” read the subject line. It had been forward from a rather excited tour guide in Kyrgyzstan. His win [...]

Here’s an update stay with the locals schemes that I wrote for yesterday’s Guardian travel section.  The aim of the piece was to look at what was new in the field and how the site’s are developing. It ran alongside a piece about an interesting, new homestay project in India and an account by one [...]

This week marks the 2nd anniversary of Going Local Travel. Back in August 2008, I hesitated before I wrote my first post. Would I keep it up? Two years later, my dashboard here is showing 165 posts + 410 comments. I’m quite shocked it has lasted this long, and I can’t see myself packing it [...]

This week someone told me about a B&B in Buenos Aires called Abode that prides itself on its ‘full English’ breakfast. “Can they get ‘baked beans?” I asked instantly, trying not to salivate too obviously. I was told that if they can’t get baked beans, the owner has honed her own recipe. Perhaps I should [...]

I’m sure I’ve said this before, but I really can’t emphasis this point enough: Couchsurfing.com is fantastic for language learners. And not just for hosts/guests. It can be a godsend in your home town too and it needn’t involve a single couch. I have raved about Couchsurfing’s Buenos Aires forum before (see: Top three ways [...]

I just read an interesting post on the At Home in Tuscany blog. In it the author addressed a decision by Grantourismo couple (and local travel supporters) Lara Dunston and Terry Carter to stay in Puglia. I’m not qualified enough on Italy to comment on this but the author wrote: Of all the hidden gems for [...]

Is Couchsurfing bad for local travel? Well, this is a new conundrum. Sort of. Couchsurfing has, of course, always had it’s critics. And so it should. There is no ‘perfect’ way to travel. Everything has pros and cons. And I’ve always been keen to tackle those belonging to couchsurfing. A very interesting blog over at the new Local Travel Movement site caught my eye today. Writer Ethan Gelber has picked up on some comments suggesting that couchsurfing sites do not fit in with the ‘local travel’ idea.