Travel without a guidebook
Tips on how to enjoy a city without your Lonely Planet/ Rough Guide
Often the best way to explore a city is with as little information to hand as possible. Here are ten tips on how to ditch the guidebook and really see a town.
In the age of comprehensive guidebooks, a lot of the fun in travel has been taken out. Very few people do it the old fashioned way of turning up, not knowing what to expect and not having a detailed list of things to see and do. However, it’s worth trying this method out once in a while. Here are some tips on how to lose the guidebook and still have a great time.
1. You may have left the Lonely Planet behind, but you will still need a map, if only so you can get back to your hotel. The plainer the map, the better, but if necessary, get one of the tourist maps that effectively act as mini-guidebooks, and leave it in your pocket untouched until you feel the urge to give up and return to the room.
2. Avoid reading up on a place beforehand. The more alien it is, and the less you know what to expect, the better.
3. Only take this approach if you are staying more than one day in the city (preferably at least three days). Then use the wander and hope method on the first day, so that you can get your own impression of the place, rather than one that is handed down to you by an author who’s been before. After you’ve done that, the book can come out again, and you can cover all the attractions you’ve not found yourself in the traditional way.
4. Make sure you’re wearing comfortable clothes and shoes, and are carrying water. It’s inevitable that this will involve a lot of walking, unless you just do once round the block from your hotel.
5. Prepare to spend the whole day doing it. You need the balance of the joyous discoveries and the soulless shopping malls. If you do it for two hours then give up, you’re only likely to get the latter.
6. Look at road signs. If there a lot pointing to a particular place, they may be worth following, even if you don’t know what that place is.
7. If there’s a crowd gathering, it’s probably for a reason. OK, it may be a car accident or a mugging victim, but it’s worth sticking your nose in to see what the fuss is about.
8. Don’t think that because you’re supposed to be exploring, you can’t do things. Go into the museum if it takes your fancy, buy the tasty-looking delicacy from the street stall, investigate the building that looks like it’s open to the public but you don’t know why.
9. Unless you’re with someone very patient and in the same mindset, this method is a solitary pursuit. Don’t try and convince your travel partner to indulge your whim if they don’t think it’s a good idea themselves – it will only end in arguments. This particularly applies if they are under the age of 18 or a relative.
10. Make sure you’ve picked the right city. Grand old European towns, yes; South Central Los Angeles, no.
