Going Local Experiences and Encounters on the Road

Going Local

Experiences and Encounters on the Road

By Nicholas Kontis

Praise for Nick Kontis

"Nick Kontis fully showcases a better way to travel by fully immersing into local society" Richard Bangs – Author, television personality, and regarded as the father of modern adventure travel

"Nick Kontis writes about the way we should be traveling. It’s not about package tours and brief stops, but deep immersion into getting to know locals and finding out about why they – and now you – love the places they call home." Michael Luongo – Award winning New York based novelist, freelance writer and photographer

"Nick Kontis is committed to the kind of travel that brings peace, communication and joy." Judith Fein – Award winning travel writer, speaker and videographer

"Nick Kontis is championing a travel concept that I have held for decades, Immersion in local culture. I believe this is the path to international understanding and I applaud him for his work." James Michael Dorsey – Explorer; award winning author, photographer and lecturer

With more and more people traveling into remote corners of our increasingly accessible and complicated world, it is incredibly valuable to have voices like Nick Kontis to guide us towards a more memorable and enlightening travel experience. David Noyes – Award-winning travel writer and photojournalist

With more Nick Kontises on the road, we'd have a much more peaceful world. Support his kind of ‘going local’. John Lamkin – Award-winning journalist and photographer

"The single biggest impact on my children's education is the experiences they share, with locals, around the world. Nick Kontis opens up a world many don't realize is accessible to them." Jim Pickell – President of HomeExchange.com

If Jules Verne were alive today he would use Nick to go Around the World in 80 days" Arthur Frommer – Founder of the Frommer’s series of travel guides and Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel magazine

"Many people – Mark Twain included - have noted how travel is a certain cure for bigotry and narrow-mindedness. I hope Nick’s book may help persuade people to take the treatment." Tony Wheeler – Co-founder of Lonely Planet Guidebooks

Copyright ©2016 by Nicholas Kontis

Art Direction and Cover Design: Dejan Popov

Pop Design – Croatia

Edited by Maureen Santucci – Cusco, Peru

Photo Credits – Miscellaneous photos by David Noyes, Abercrombie & Kent, Bookalocal

Formatted by Deepak Gupta (fiverr.com/weformat)

Georgia Library of Congress Cataloging-in Publication Data

Kontis, Nicholas C. Going Local – Experiences and Encounters on the Road

By Nicholas Kontis First Edition Printed in the United States of America

For Mom and Dad, who took a chance on America and thankfully chose San Francisco to raise me.

To my loving wife Gabriela and mother-in-law Maria Teresa for believing in my ability to become an author.

To the great explorers who paved the way for me and other curious modern day wanderers to get lost and see the world.

To all my friends out there who allowed me to crash on their couches and spare rooms while I wrote this book.

To NATJA—the North American Travel Journalist Association—and its iconic writers for advice and inspiration to become an author.

And to all the pilgrims who enriched and enlightened my continuing life journey.

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents

Introduction into Going Local

The Rise of Peer to Peer Travel

Testing the Sharing Economy — Travel Sites and Apps

Food — The Next Frontier for Immersing into Local Society

Meal Sharing — Eat with People from Around the World

Discovering a Culture Through Cooking Classes and Food Tours

Responsible Travel — Keeping a Natural Balance in Local Communities

Responsible Tourism Organizations — Leaving a Positive Impact on the Lands We Visit

Volunteering Abroad and Seeing the World

Taking Time Off to Travel the World

Living Overseas – A Better Life for Half the Price

Travel Industry Icons Share Experiences and Encounters on the Road

Parting Thoughts on the True Meaning of Travel

About The Author

Author Nick Kontis

Introduction into Going Local

If a picture is worth 1,000 words, what is an experience worth? Like the long-lasting memories that come from them, the experiences of any voyage are what make travel unique and priceless. Travel opens us up to so much of our world, connecting us with people, culture, and nature.

Some of my fondest childhood memories are of the summer vacations I spent in Greece. At a young age, I learned how to live with locals, experiencing them through familiarity, and learning to travel into the great outdoors. I did not grow up rich, but I was taught to appreciate the fact that I was able to travel, as well as to respect nature and people. I slept on couches, ate home cooked meals with relatives or even individuals who were complete strangers to me. I thumbed rides to the beach, took road trips with cousins, and sought out new hangouts. I learned that where my parents went, I was meant to tag along. Which meant always meeting new local people.

Over the past few years, there has been a shift in travel values. Now, more than ever, travelers have greater options to blend in with local society. Through apps, web sites, and travel affiliation groups, travelers are seeking out original experiences that will allow them to become immersed in culture by living as the local inhabitants do. Traveling to a new destination is exhilarating, but staying with someone who knows the landscape (physical and cultural) opens many more doors. Taking the road less travelled, living off the beaten path, visiting more than just the typical tourist sites of your new turf should be everyone’s goal on any trip.

We should all make an effort to go local, learning about the culture of our new destination from the people who actually live in the region, and to be chameleon-like as we blend into our new surroundings. Nowadays, modern day explorers seek exclusive encounters, and unique and authentic experiences.

Experiential travel, immersion travel, and peer-to-peer travel are the new buzz words heard throughout the travel industry. But is this style of travel really new? It’s as old as civilization itself. Ever since the poster child of the going local movement, Airbnb, allowed guests to bunk in one’s abode, a new genre of travel was put on the map and travelers took notice. Today, there are apps and web sites revolved around staying with residents, sharing a meal prepared by a home chef, hitching a ride, and being guided by the experts who best know the lay of the land: local inhabitants.

As P2P (peer to peer) travel continues to lay its mark on traditional touring, visitors may choose from a wide variety of places to rest. Accommodations can vary from the aforementioned stay in a home or apartment, on a sofa or in a spare room, to more exotic locales such as lighthouses, universities, wineries, monasteries, boats, treehouses, or above an English pub. One might live with indigenous people, sleep in a castle, a converted airplane, or even on a small island.

Food now plays a predominant role in choosing one’s destination. Fifteen years ago, few travelers might have called themselves self-proclaimed foodies. The cuisine of a nation is now a fundamental reason at the forefront of most journeys. Globetrotters seek a greater understanding of their new digs through cooking classes, visits to food markets, and comingling with locals through the meal sharing revolution.

‘Paths of Greece’ Founder, Fivos Tsaravopoulos, and sustainable tour operator from 360 Explore, Niels Leenders, on Amorgos Island, Greece

A rewarding way to see the world is by volunteering—traveling the world while helping others. You can work in a village in Africa, teach English in Myanmar, grow organic food in Guatemala, pick tea leaves in Sri Lanka, help to build houses in a Peruvian village, build schools in Bangladesh, or take a marine conservation holiday in Thailand. Whether you’re helping people or assisting with the environment or the protection of animals, nothing beats volunteering.

Wanderers must also be responsible travelers by protecting ecosystems and becoming environmentally and culturally responsible. Tour operators are crafting programs and individual trips to tread lightly, leaving a positive footprint on the places where they guide people.

Go Local and you’re sure to return home with a better understanding of the world, and with a greater tolerance and knowledge that can only be learned from interaction while merging into a local society.

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page." – St. Augustine

The Rise of Peer to Peer Travel

As the incredible number of travelers delving into a sharing economy continues to transform the travel landscape, giving travelers new ways to sleep, eat, play, meet, ride, and blend into a new society, it has never before been easier to go local. The peer-to-peer sharing economy is now close to a four billion dollar a year industry.

Although, not likely to completely disrupt the traditional travel industry, peer-to-peer sites have grown at an incredible speed. Larger brands are taking notice that people are seeking out those rare and local experiences and encounters. No matter how one uses peer-to-peer travel, this phenomenon cannot be overlooked. The rise in travel immersion sites are here to stay as travelers seek new ways to save money and merge experiences into creating an authentic holiday.

The hotel industry is also taking notice that staying with a local is a viable option for some travelers versus traditional hotel stays. Peer-to-peer travel, while yet to pose a real threat to the conventional travel industry, is still a means of booking travel. With traditional methods losing bookings to immersion travel sites such as Airbnb, HomeExchange, CouchSurfing, and HomeAway, these vanguards are implementing a new way to jump-start engagement into an original geographical environment.

Travel industry research authority, PhoCusWright, who measures how suppliers and intermediaries connect, says 14% of U.S. travelers book a private home, room, or apartment through peer-to-peer sites, up 10% from 2010. More than one million Britons have booked accommodations via the service and 35,000 unique UK properties are listed. The World Travel Market 2014 Industry Report revealed almost 1 in 10 (9%) of UK holidaymakers have booked a holiday through a peer-to-peer site.

Furthermore, a massive 86% of US and UK holidaymakers that have used peer-to-peer sites say they would likely do so again (47% very likely and 39% quite likely), which further illustrates its popularity. This growth of peer-to-peer travel is posing a threat to the traditional travel industry, with companies losing bookings to these sites. Ask travelers if sharing is a good thing and you're most likely to get a resounding Yes!, and they have the positive encounters to prove it.

The story you read in the media—and often echoed by travel industry incumbents—is that it's a Generation Y thing for price-sensitive travelers, says Rachel Botsman, co-author of What's Mine Is Yours, a book about the sharing economy. It's a sweeping generalization. If you look at the data, it's simply not true."

People of all ages, crossing all travel styles and price ranges, are considering peer-to-peer travel as a way to enhance their journey.

The advent of peer-to-peer travel accommodations is a new frontier in the world of travel that has been developed largely over just the last decade. This new form of travel experience is clearly not for everyone.

Those who enjoy more conventional travel experiences will stick to major hotel brands and may prefer to be around the center of a city or near popular tourist attractions. For those seeking a more original travel experience including eating, meeting, living with, or being guided by friendly local residents while staying in an apartment or home farther from traditional accommodation centers, the fast growing economy of sharing may be right for you.

Airbnb

2007 was the pivotal year of the Airbnb revolution. It was during a large design convention in San Francisco, which left the city’s hotel rooms nearly sold out, that Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia formed Airbnb. Living in one of the most expensive cities on the planet and barely scraping by each month to pay their rent, the two forward thinkers asked themselves, Why not rent out our extra room and advertise it on the conference website? The struggling flat mates rented out three airbeds on the floor, making a quick and easy buck. From the simple idea of charging convention attendees for room and board, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia would change the world of peer-to-peer travel forever.

Shortly thereafter the two whiz-kids brought in another friend, computer tech guru Nathan Blecharczyk, as their third partner and the empire began.

Airbedandbreakfast.com was born, later shortened to Airbnb. Founder Chesky still jokes, Airbnb is the worst idea that ever worked.

Airbnb is one of the predominant driving forces in the emerging peer-to-peer travel culture. The Airbnb system model has made some revolutionary advances since its inception, such as its Instant Book feature, allowing people to quickly plan their vacations around the P2P experiences.

If you find yourself searching for a true authentic experience, Airbnb is definitely the way to go. Matching you up with locals who rent you their spare room, shared room, whole apartment, or house is not only a fantastic way to save money on costly hotels, but by rooming with a local inhabitant, you are able to open a whole new world of experiences which cannot be rivaled by traditional travel methods.

Airbnb is the poster child for delving into your new surroundings in a non-traditional method of accommodation. The company allows users to rent unique places to stay from local hosts in 190+ countries. Savvy world travelers are abandoning high-priced hotels for cozy, private digs. Airbnb – which is valued at close to 25 billion, at of the end of the third quarter after securing $450m in funding – offers properties in 34,000 towns and cities in 190 countries. Iran, North Korea, and Syria are three of the few countries not represented on Airbnb. The company was expected to book more than 80 million room nights in 2015.

Instead of staying in a hotel in an area like San Francisco’s Union Square or New York’s Time Square, adventurous travelers choose nondescript areas with local flavor and ambiance. Today’s immersion traveler seeks out Airbnb experiences and stays in alternative neighborhoods where you can have a cup of java, that actually tastes like coffee, and in a local shop, not in a chain. You have the opportunity to discover an off-the-beaten-path section of a city or live on the outskirts of town.

As a peer-to-peer world traveler and Airbnb aficionado, Marie-France Roy said, I counted them: I’ve stayed in 18 Airbnb properties over the last 3 years! Many of them were apartments, though, where I didn’t really interact with the host. Of the others, my best experience was probably the room I rented in Perth in March of 2014. The room itself was very basic, with a single bed and a closet. But what made the experience special were the hosts, Emanuel and his wife, Mirasol. They gave me free run of their small house including the shared bathroom, a kitchen where I cooked for myself (and where breakfast food was also provided), a sunny patio, even a washing machine. They invited me to watch movies with them in the living room at night. Even though I was a stranger, they treated me like a friend from the moment I stepped through their front door. I’d say they were the friendliest and gentlest hosts I’ve had on Airbnb so far. The atmosphere in the house was so calm and relaxing (which is not always the case when you rent a room in a house). Just a good vibe all around.

Dave Richards from Houston shares his maiden voyage into the world of P2P travel. I was skeptical about the whole idea of staying in someone’s home. For my first try jumping into the unknown world of home sharing, I chose New York City. As anyone who has travelled to New York knows, the city can be extremely expensive. But, besides saving money, I also wanted to experience a more local lifestyle.

I wanted to wake up in a neighborhood as if I were a resident of the city. On the Airbnb website, I saw possible options from island villas to castles and boats. But being in New York City, I opted for a nice apartment in Chelsea. My host, Ken, was a breath of fresh air. Ken even showed me his local coffee shop, some of his favorite restaurants, and later took me on a walking tour. I know that this probably does not always turn out this way, but the experience was everything I wanted. I woke up in an actual home, versus a hotel. I slept in my own room with the owner down the hall. It was like living with family.

Richards continues, Discovering Airbnb has changed my thoughts on travel. I would recommend it for anyone. I truly believe that most hosts, more often than not, probably want to show off their native knowledge of their city, which enhances your experience.

Or as Airbnb user Steve Smith from Sydney stated, I now have used Airbnb in over 15 countries on a multi-stop, around the world trip. In almost every case, my hosts have been an amazing group of people. My hosts have shown me places of their city that I would have never known existed. That alone is worth using Airbnb. My experiences have only been positive and I have saved a ton of money along the way.

www.airbnb.com

Home Exchange

With Home Exchange, you don’t just exchange homes, you exchange experiences. Started by Home Exchange pioneer Ed Kushins in 1992 as a printed and mailed book, Home Exchange has grown into a social network and one of the first businesses to adopt collaborative consumption.

Home Exchange epitomizes the travel-sharing experience, in which two people, or families go on vacation in one another’s home in two different locations at the same time. This is yet another P2P vacation enterprise which holds good and open communication among its top assets. Users of Home Exchange are expected to first hammer out a myriad of details with one another before jumping onto a plane and flying across the world.

How much food does your family plan on consuming? Where are the local grocery stores? Will there be anyone else at home during our stay? Are there any pets we should know about? Will anyone be dropping by during our stay? What are the best local attractions? These are all questions which should be resolved prior to travel. Not unlike the TV show House Swap, in which two very different households exchange dwellings for a set period of time, Home Exchange offers an authentic travel experience on a real, local level. In many cases, Home Exchangers even meet the neighbors of their new digs.

Home Exchange has close to 65,000 members including over 30,000 homes in Europe; close to 25,000 in North America; more than 1,000 in Asia; 4,000 in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific; 1,000 homes in South America; and almost 500 in Africa.

Sue Rossiter, a spokeswoman for Home Exchange, says: More people are getting into home exchange. This year our 65,000 members will make more than 130,000 home swaps embracing 150 countries.

Valerie Erde and her family first tried house swapping over a decade ago. Basically, the lodging is free. It’s a great way to save money for anyone who wants to travel. I prefer HomeExchange.com because there are more than 65,000 active users on the site, she says.

Was Erde nervous about swapping with people she’d never met? Not particularly. "Having a ‘stranger’ in my home has never bothered me. I wasn’t really nervous because I’m not that type of