Connecting with Locals
Good travel requires connecting with people. Get creative: bring a Frisbee, look up a bridge club, assume a fake last name and get out a phone book. Connecting with locals puts a shine into your travel memories. How do you make sure you connect with the locals in your travels?
Read the Distillation: Connecting with Locals, 2005
- Please don't post questions here. Use our Travelers Helpline.
Connecting in sauna's
Be careful when connecting in sauna's if you are approaching someone who is alone. Especially when you are a man and approaching a woman, and you are both naked, it could easily be perceived as a pick-up line. It's kinda a private place ;-) Also, there are often rules about being silent in the sauna booths. Unless picking someone up is what you want, you can better opt for a chat when you wear your bathrobes in between sauna visits (at the restaurant/lounge), or when you are in a tub/pool, when the naked body is less visible under the water..
Wisis
USA 06/09/2010
Attend a local classical concert in Salzburg
No, not the ones sold by the powder-wigged and costumed street peddlers that lurk at tourist attractions. Go to the ones performed by REAL musicians who live and work in this famed city of Mozart. For example, this Web page, aimed toward the locals or European tourists in the know, lists instrumental and vocal concerts in the upcoming week:
http://www.drehpunktkultur.at/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=79&Itemid=85
(OK, if you can't read German, you can always use Babel Fish translator ...)
The musicians are of a higher calibre and they're not going to play Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. Bottom line is, if you want to connect with the locals, you need to hang with the locals! It's sure a lot more fun than to stand out like a tourist.
Janice <email>
Rockville, MD USA 06/05/2010
Germany's News in English
Anyone traveling in Germany should be aware of the http://www.thelocal.de. It's Germany's news published in English. It's a great way to get a taste for what's going on in Deutschland, so if you find yourself in a conversation with locals, you can participate in the conversation. There is also a "What's Going On" section (like a City Pages) telling of the live entertainment, festivals, etc., for the weekend.
Ruth Carlon <email>
Germany 01/24/2010