6 Ways To Discover Hidden Gems Like An Old-School Travel Journalist

We all want to get the most out of our holidays, which is why we so often turn to online “top things to see” lists, or TikTok recommendations of a destination’s best sights and eateries.

But as useful as these strategies can be, using the internet to plan every detail of your travel omits the essence of discovery – the very thing that made pre-internet travel journalism so thrilling to read.

These six tips explain how you can explore a new place like an old-school travel journalist or an explorer from a bygone era. They’ll enable you to look up from your phone, and discover your destination with intuition and curiosity.

1. Discard the itinerary and trust your gut

Before smartphones, travel journalists such as Freya Stark and Bruce Chatwin depended on serendipity. They didn’t have TripAdvisor or Google Maps to guide them. Rather, they listened to their instincts and locals’ advice about how to shape their journey.

A famous example is Chatwin walking through Patagonia after conversations with locals advised him of his next stop.

Try this on your next adventure: walk without a plan. Follow your instincts towards any of the local cafes, quiet parks, or bustling markets. And if all else fails and you are not quite sure where to start, just stop and ask someone near you what it is that they love about the area. Many times, people’s stories will take you to places you would never have found online.

2. Use analogue maps and guides

Before GPS, maps weren’t just functional – they were part of the adventure. Travel writers like Jan Morris and Paul Theroux (father of documentary presenter, Louis) wrote about how their unfolding maps forced them to interact with the landscape in a tactile way.

Pick up a local map in a bookshop or visitor centre and unfold it in a cafe. Mark where you have been and circle the areas you are curious about.

In their early editions, guidebooks like The Rough Guide and Lonely Planet didn’t give a thorough list, but instead pushed cultural immersion travel, which is concerned with authentic activities. Think local traditions, history, language and customs of the place you’re visiting. Cultural immersion travel involves mingling with the residents to get an in-depth feel of how they live.

Although carrying a printed guidebook seems vintage, this act plunges you back to the time when the discovery of hidden corners of a city was about turning pages, not scrolling.

3. Speak to local people

Pre-smartphone travellers had one irreplaceable resource at their disposal – people. On his long walks across Europe, for example, travel writer Patrick Leigh Fermor relied on the people he met for insight into local customs, history and hidden gems.

Do exactly the same thing. Go to a typical bar, a bazaar, a local event, or attend a course on the language or the cooking of the place. Engage a bartender, shop owner, or street vendor in a chat. These tips will steer you off the beaten path of algorithms.

4. Immerse yourself in slow travel

Travel journalists of the past were in no hurry. Rather than zipping from one attraction to the next, they stayed put for long enough to pull back the layers of a place. Writer Rebecca West’s trek through the Balkans (which she described in her 1941 book, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon) took months. Her long stays in villages allowed her to really get to know the place and its complexities.

You should slow down on your next trip, too. Stay on in a small town or neighbourhood a little longer than you planned to. Stroll its streets and soak in the rhythms of daily life.

5. Read travel literature

The writers of travel history books, be it Robert Byron’s travels among the architecture and culture of Persia, or Isabella Bird entering unknown 19th-century Japan, articulate how their predecessors perceived the lands they visited.

Read books written by local authors to get deeper into the cultural context of the place you’re visiting. You’ll find their reflections on their hometown or region often give you a more insightful, nuanced perspective than any modern day “top ten” list could.

6. Research the history of every place you visit

Writers like Colin Thubron included historical and cultural details to make their travel stories richer and more meaningful.

Whether you find yourself at a local museum, reading up on the past of a place, or simply walking its streets with an eye for historical markers, learning the background of where you are can infuse your visit with added meaning.

This article by Masood Khodadadi, Reader (Associate Professor) in Tourism, Culture and Society, University of the West of Scotland, was first published in The Conversation.