How to Infiltrate the Locals

Locals are a rare and special breed. They hold the secrets to all the best places in town but they’re rarely hanging out wherever you are, and if they do run into you, they often want to have nothing to do with you or the upside-down map in your hands. So, how do you snag yourself a local without resorting to the use of a physical force? Fortunately, I’m here to help so, you can just roll that lasso back up, cowboy.

You can reserve yourself a native even before leaving home, thanks to great advances in local-seeking technology. To find yourself a whole bunch of locals, sites like HomestayBooking.com let you find families willing to host (and feed!) travelers. Similarly, AirBnB.com let you rent a room, a bed, or an apartment directly from locals in the area that you’re visiting. Often, these people will also act as guides and concierges, giving you all the most excellent suggestions, because it’s in their best interest that you have a great time. For the bolder traveler (or the one who doesn’t have the movie “Taken” constantly playing in her mind), you can try CouchSurfing.org. There, you will find local hosts, often with lots of information about them along with peer reviews, who have an extra bed or couch to crash on. The “services” that they offer vary, as some can be very absent hosts, but many will take the time to show you around and take you to unique places and events.

For those who don’t want to give up the comforts of a locked door and peace of mind, you can use the CouchSurfing website to find locals willing to host you on a tour of the city or meet you for a cup of coffee. They also have forums for travelers to post requests (for a ride, for example) or to create events in the city they’re visiting. Similarly, you can join events on Meetup.com or, if you’re feeling really stealthy, you can just crash meet-ups where you know the locals will be. Vayable.com is another good resource if you’re interested in organized tours led by locals. The benefit of this site is that they offer many unique tour options that you won’t find anywhere else. Want to go on a street art tour or visit the trendiest new eateries? Chances are, someone on Vayable is offering it in your destination city.

Finally, it doesn’t get more authentic than a home-cooked meal. There are many organizations around the world like HomeFood.it, in Italy, that let you join dinner parties created by rigorously tested hosts or Cesarine. You could join an intimate dinner party for four in someone’s home in Bologna or a banquet for twenty-five in a palazzo in Rome.

So, think you’re ready to sneak your way into the company of locals? Check out these tips first.

DOs and DON’Ts for Successful Sneaking:

• Do look for areas with a high fanny-pack-to-person ratio, and then walk in the opposite direction.

• Do buy a real map—not one of the abbreviated kind that only show popular areas and major monuments.

• Do wander and explore. Pack your sense of adventure.

• Do wear a scarf abroad. Seriously, nothing says, “Hey guys, I’m one of you!” like a well-executed scarf.

• Don’t eat at restaurants with menus translated into eight different languages or at places advertising “deals.”

• Don’t fear the creeper (within). If your waiter, or the person you see at the grocery store, looks nice, don’t be shy. Strike up a conversation. You never know where a random encounter could lead.

• Don’t confine yourself to your habits and customs. If you typically eat dinner at six but you happen to be traveling in Spain, change your schedule and embrace the 9 o’clock dinnertime of the natives. Travel is nothing if you don’t try something new.

• Don’t waste your time and money on souvenir shops. The best souvenirs will be your new friends and memories.

Sometimes, no matter how hard you try to look Italian, or how much you keep your mouth shut to avoid giving yourself away as a foreigner, a cab driver in Rome will still manage to take you over the river three times to get to the other side, and then charge you twice the fare for that dubious pleasure. But don’t sweat it—for every one of him, there are dozens of generous locals happy to help a curious traveler.

Photo by Tatiana Sundeyeva.

Tatiana Sundeyeva has gotten into the terrible habit of thinking about everything. She enjoys travel, literature, puns, and anything that can be found in a bakery. And not necessarily in that order. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley where she got a degree in English with a minor in Italian.

Tatiana Sundeyeva