How many travel to oft-visited destinations? Do these places represent the area’s culture well? And why is that important?
Zeno Elea Marquez
May 16, 2004
Why Culture Should Be at the Heart of Your Travels
Instead of visiting world-famous landmarks to photograph or places mostly for relaxation, cultural tourism is about exploring and understanding the local culture of places better, appreciating its unique characteristics, while respecting its customs, traditions, and practices—going beyond the surface and seeing the potential of what a place is truly about. Emphasizing culture in your trips has many benefits, and adds more substance to your travel experience.
1. Discover unique experiences
When immersing yourself in a different culture throughout your travels, there is the highlight that it would be very different from everyday life. Cultural immersion gives exposure to new discoveries: New sights, new experiences, and a different day-to-day life. These experiences may not even be present in a more touristy place nearby!
Authentic food, places, and all the little details in between add to a special moment unique to the local area. With all these new and intriguing flavors, you might pick up interests throughout your travels and can be a source of inspiration for anything in life, creating unforgettable memories that stand out from the rest.
2. Onsite educational learning
It’s not just experiences you’ll gain throughout your travels. Through museums, historical sites, and the area itself, immersing yourself in the local culture around you gives you a rich source of knowledge that never stops flowing. Instead of the pages of a book in a room, there is an opportunity to not only learn firsthand the history, traditions, and unique everyday life of the locals but to experience it fully out there, right there, as well. There’s no better way to truly learn about a place.
3. A smoother, easier travel experience
If you are traveling with culture in mind, you’ll often arrive in less-touristy areas, ones not solely for relaxation, or places without world-renowned landmarks to photograph. These destinations can be less pricey in contrast to more popular sites—with more demand, tourist hotspots drive the prices up in their area in many aspects. Away from the crowds, these places are an escape into a less-commercialized and more peaceful environment, giving an easier chance to appreciate the present surroundings and connect with the locals more purely.
4. Contribute to the local region
And it’s not just you who benefits from this type of travel, it can also support the local populace. Many places don’t receive the same attention as more popular sites, and are consequently more neglected, lacking development and further support for the preservation of their culture, history, and environment. Your travel can help contribute to the local region’s development, support local businesses, and spread interest in the destination’s unique characteristic beauty.
5. Encourages cultural understanding and personal growth
But perhaps the most important benefit of cultural travel is how it breaks barriers between different cultures and people. Through traveling and experiencing other cultures, you have the opportunity to personally grow. Exposure to another way of life increases understanding and empathy, replacing biases. Exploring and discovering unique cultural experiences previously unknown develops a more open mindset. And far away from home and the familiar, facing new situations, environments, and daily life helps build confidence in life.
6. A deeper outlook on the world
This increase in cultural awareness can help expand your view of the world. By exploring and experiencing different cultures, you’ll be able to understand the world better, seeing how many aspects of the world connect to each other, and being able to appreciate its aesthetic beauty in many ways, bringing such a very large world closer to a more relatable and personal level.
How can Culture be at the Heart of Your Travels?
It may seem hard to find a way to integrate culture into your travels, but again, any activity that helps connect with the local people, place, and heritage is a cultural experience.
Venture off a beaten path
Less touristy destinations typically give a more authentic feel—without as much attention and therefore expectations from the wider world, they often remain truer to themselves. Instead of only going for planned, set destinations, even a simple activity such as walking outside brings unexpected opportunities to immerse yourself in a place.
Explore the Local Art Scene
Check out local art museums or anything the local place offers.
Eat Local
Trying out local cuisine is also a good way to immerse yourself in the culture around you.
Check Out the Place’s Historical Sites
Visiting sites that are a part of history not only provides educational benefits; they can also help bring history and the place’s culture closer to you, giving a more personal experience.
Interact with Locals
Perhaps the most impactful way of connecting with a culture is through local interactions, forming insightful conversations, new perspectives, and new relationships, enriching your travel experience.
Travel is Culture
Cultural immersion opens the way for impactful, enriching experiences, bridges gaps between peoples, promotes personal growth, and contributes to a wider understanding of not only the place but the world. Ways to culturally immerse yourself in a place are not limited, and there are plenty of opportunities to do so.
Traveling to many destinations in the world means interacting with other cultures, and including culture as a part of your travels is integral to traveling itself.
For ideas and tips on immersive walking, you can check out our article here.