Making the Most of Visiting a Friend in a New City

Traveling with others is the most frequent way of traveling. Often, we travel with friends and family to explore new places. A smaller subset within traveling with friends and family is visiting friends or family in a new city. Our host has been able to call that city home for a certain amount of time and that offers a unique insight to what life in that city is truly like.

If you were to visit me in Mumbai, the places I take you will probably not be found in any travel guide or book. Many of us also feel the need to see the tourist traps but, locals likely do not frequent them. As such, finding a balance between local finds and tourist must-dos are essential to make the most of any trip!

This weekend I will be flying to Seattle to visit a friend. Joining me on the trip is a common friend of ours who, like is also a senior at the University of Illinois. Last spring break I visited a friend in NYC for around 3 days. It was my first time visiting someone in a new city and exploring a city with a local. That trip taught me a lot about the nuances of traveling with a local and what I liked/disliked or would have liked to have done differently.

Benefits of Traveling with a Local:

The benefits of traveling with a local seem obvious and that is because they kind of are:

Hidden Gems – Only a local can introduce them to you. Having lived there for a while, they have likely found activities that are unique to the city. It is also a great way to explore less touristy areas and shows us what life in that city can truly be like!
The Pace – The city is well versed for you, and less time is lost navigating its working and transportations modes. This allows for either maximum capitalization in terms of volume or a slower, more relaxed pace. This provides an opportunity to soak up the city for what it is at different times throughout the course of a day.
Potential Spontaneity – With the time you make up or even without a rushed pace you create more time for on-the-fly experiences. Additionally, since you are traveling with a local, they generally would not have a hardcode checklist and would be more flexible to accommodate for changes in plans.
Everything Local – From food to spots to the people – traveling with a local will expose you to all these and much more! You can experience hole in the wall restaurants, quaint tucked-away spots, and meet your unofficial guides’ friends.

All of this will only deepen your understanding of what life in that city can look like and whether it could be for you. While that might not be the primary motive to travel to a place, it isn’t for me – but it does offer an insight on how you can, even alone look at cities as if you were a local.

Finding the Right Balance:

One of the pitfalls of traveling with a local is the urge to lean on everything they recommend or show you. While I cannot underplay the importance of their recommendations, after all that is the purpose of traveling with a local and seeing the city from their eyes, it can also be a tad blinding. One of my reasons to travel is the privilege of observing a destination by myself with an ideally unbiased and free-spirited mind. In order to do so, you need some time to yourself to wander and soak in everything you are seeing and hearing.

Balancing a trip of this kind is central to 3 key areas:

Using Recommendations – This can be from anyone. People you know, things you may have read, and videos you may have seen. The amount of information we can acquire is limitless. Of course, utilizing a local’s tips will always be helpful, even more so when they show you around! For my upcoming Seattle trip, I intend to use a list my roommate created when he visited Seattle this past summer.
Trusting my Host/Local – You have someone who knows the city inside and out - capitalize on it! Ultimately, this is the biggest perk of traveling with a host. Even if you are skeptical about the suggested activity, you should try to take it with a grain of salt and maintain an open mind. The locals know what is exciting and can convey it in a way that is better than any blog or book.
Making Time for Myself – Explore the city alone. See what it is for yourself and do the little things you enjoy. The little things can be anything. For me, it will be walking by the water with a coffee. It is imperative (especially on longer, drawn-out trips) to get a little time alone and immerse yourself in the city. That is how you become a better traveler but also look at things objectively and draw independent conclusions.