What do you love doing when traveling?

Hey everyone!!

I'm curious to learn more about ppl travel habits and preferences, so I'm doing some research to better understand if you have some particular passion when traveling. Would be great if you could take 1 minute of your time to tell me what you love doing when abroad.

Me:

My main goal is to connect with people and have a local experience, so I always open Couchsurfing app to connect with other travelers and locals to meet.

Also, I'm passionate about architecture and history, so I spend a pretty good time walking around and reading about the place I'm visiting.

Food for me it's not that important, so it's the kind of experience I could skip.

And what about you? :)

Hi Maria,

There are many reasons why I travel! For me it's learning about the culture - taking part in cultural tours to understand more, taking cooking classes or going on food tours, history, meeting new people, and the list could go on!

For the last few years, I mainly travel to places specifically to do some extreme sport - kite surfing, wakeboarding, windsurf, surf, etc.

I love trying new sports so joining organised trips to do so is also on my radar. Other than that, I love combining these experiences with good food places.

I have little interest for anything within the main city, so I always look outwards for day trips in neighbouring small towns, wild nature, national parks, island getaway, all sorts. Even more so if they're not touristy but are hidden gems! I also try to find cool accommodations out there where I could really chill at after a day of moving.

I love meeting new people while travelling also love nature and therefore I will spend time hiking, walking on the beach or golfing if there is a golf course at my destination. I dont mind getting on the golf course with other travelers and connecting while playing golf. I also love culture and historical sites. I spend time with the locals to learn about their culture and history.

I would also agree with your main goal Maria, and particularly when I can combine it with enjoying local food and craft beer or wine.

Immersion is a big one for me. I like to really get to know the ins and outs of a new city, town or village.

This usually starts with a run around the destination (preferably along a coastline) on day 1 or 2 of the visit. Once I've got a feel of where things are, I like to attend local festivals, get an understanding of local culture, try their cuisine and then attempt making specific dishes from that region at home.

I'm also really big on checking out local grocery stores. I want to get a feel of produce, how shelf items compare to items in other countries, compare prices and get a meal plan going based on local dishes and staples.

For me (just got back from some travels) it's about meeting people, especially reconnecting with friends I have not seen for many years. I'm slowly getting back on track with that goal, but it takes a bit longer these days since I live so far away from everyone!

When I travel, I have a lot of interests, but nothing compares to discovering new locations and immersing myself in the local customs. It's a thrilling and enlightening experience every time.

I love to see new things, try new things, experience new things with my own eyes because photos and videos on a screen simply don't do enough justice for me! I like to get onto a vehicle or even use my two feet to take in every nook and cranny of a town, city, region, country - really absorbing the sights and culture around me. I tend to go for nature places too, more because I don't get enough of it from where I currently live. It's the only place to feel like I'm one with the beautiful Earth!

Hey Maria! great question.

I, too, like to connect with people - both old friends and make new ones. I would like to strongly recommend to everyone here to check out SERVAS, the original hospitality org for travelers and hosts - www.servas.org - as a great way to make new, lifelong friends while traveling.

other high impact things for me personally:
- People watching while sitting in sidewalk cafes

- experiencing historical places by being in them, touching things, being able to understand the way they lived and the things they touched. I often like 'living history' places and historical building tours (not museums)

- alternate/historical modes of transit while somewhere different. Biking, boating of all kinds, walking, camel/horse/donkey riding, trains, walking from village to village - these ways of moving through landscape that is not in a car.

Who's got a specific memory of having one of these perfect experiences?

Tys
founder
ideamountain.com

I love to eat and learn about regional dishes, and happily make travel decisions based on food. Last year that meant a month in Xalapa, Mexico just because I'd heard the coffee was good. (Highly recommend, by the way!)

Otherwise, my partner and I both love hiking, paddleboarding, and art. So we'll seek out any or all of those things wherever we go.

The most appealing part for me is meeting the locals and engaging in discussions to learn more about the places, as well as taking plenty of pictures :D

Spending time immersing myself in the local culture and community!

Eating. Food is life. I have a friend who gave me a philosophy for food travel that I have now adopted.

Everywhere you go, find:
- What people's grandmothers cook
- What people eat when they're drunk

Definitely eating for me :) Also I will walk around to take pictures. Finding good trails in nature also is a priority for me when I'm in a new place

Hey guys!
Independently if I'm traveling for business or pleasure... I enjoy meeting "local" people, going to mom and pop stores and trying new tastes!!!

Eating :)

the first most exciting thing is when you make your abstract knowledge a real thing, like when you've read about the iconic Petronas towers and then you see them with your own eyes, or like you know that Miyazaki based his 'Spirited Away' on the Matsuyama baths and then you walk in there

the second most exciting thing is when you meet some unexpected experience, like when you discover that Matsuyama is actually a tangerine city and someone just gives you a tangerine so that you feel the city, or when you go to Hong Kong jungles and find out they're inhabited by monkeys

We generally try to do a little bit of everything. So we like trying the new foods, seeing the big tourist sites and going off to find hidden gems. We usually plan a couple of hikes and like to do the more adventure type of things (like rafting, snorkeling with whale sharks, etc). We aren't the best at sitting in one place, so we usually end up doing a lot of exploring.

Eating all the local foods and of course learning the culture

What a fun question! I think I have a bit of a pattern there:
- If there are a lot of sites to see I'll go on a self-guided walking tour at a replaced pace
- Have some restaurants and cocktail bars presaved but also will look for ideas while walking and ask locals for reccoemdantions
- Will always find local breweries, distilleries and wineries
- If it is a big foodie location will try to find a good food tour

The rest really depends on the destination :)

For me traveling means: enjoying each and every place and monument or site, observing the locals in their daily lives, trying to understand culture and ways of life, learning, get amazed, listening to conversations in languages I do not know trying to understand, opening my mind to the new. I love all this!