It’s sad but true: it’s surprisingly easy to spend an entire week or longer in a foreign country and never really speak to someone who actually lives there. If you’re traveling independently, it’s a lot easier to find yourself in situations where you can chat with a local, but the same rules about making an effort apply. Try to start up a conversation on a simple, safe subject – a comment on the weather or a question about when the bus leaves. If you find someone who’s happy to chat with you, you can find out all kinds of things about everyday life in a different country. Surprisingly, many locals are even happy to talk about what you might think are somewhat controversial topics – in the Baltic countries, for example, I kept coming across Latvians or Estonians who wanted to tell me all about the differences between life under communist rule and in post-Soviet Russia. But of course, be culturally sensitive, and watch for body language or other signals which suggest a change of topic is advisable.

Travel Independently

Some people prefer the safety and simplicity of an organized tour, but do consider the alternative of independent travel carefully, or even a combination of the two. You’ll usually get a lot more out of a trip where you mix with the locals on a bus or train than if you sit on a comfortable air-conditioned bus with only fellow tourists for company. Sometimes such an option takes more time, but on the other hand, it is almost always cheaper. Nowadays the Internet makes it possible to find train timetables or book a hotel in almost every far-flung corner of the globe, and you can also find information and advice from people just like you who’ve already visited your desired destination.