Beyond basic politeness, I just don't care to try to get to know the local people when I travel. They're just going about their day-to-day lives, and I don't want to bother them. When I'm at home, I'd find it obnoxious if some random stranger came up to me chatting and wanting to get to know me. I've read a lot on here and other travel-related forums that a big part of traveling is interacting with local people, and I guess I just don't get it. Some guy working in a restaurant or some guy out in public who had just gotten off of work probably doesn't really want to waste time talking to a tourist but may play along to be polite. It strikes me as self-centered behavior as if the "locals" are exotic zoo animals that should be studied.
>>2659346Who's going around stopping random locals for conversation?If there's a situation when we naturally start talking then yeah I'm going to engage in the conversation with interest. Just be normal.
>>2659346No no no no.. You need to sleep with the locals, use their toothbrush, wade in their sewage.. otherwise travel is too safe. It's too ordinary. Bring a snorkel and dive directly into their septic system. Make love to their high society and their lowest rungs.Don't wear a seatbelt. Don't wear a condom.Breath in their exhale. Smother yourself in travel. Live.
>>2659346You dont belong there anyway, tourist scumWe should tax triple on non-business travels until all these cunts fuck off to disneyland
>>2659346Well, I don't think when people say "interacting with local people" that they mean walking up and harrassing some locals just trying to go about their business. Or trying to strike up a conversation with someone on their way to work. I never took it to mean that, who would do that? It would be rude and presumptive. Interacting doesn't mean just strolling up to a random stranger.When people say traveling is about "interacting with local people, " I believe that to mean that you're patronizing local owned businesses and shops, restaurants, etc (over just staying in a foreign-owned resort and eating at the resort restaurants.) It means walking through the town's market to get a feel for the community and culture. Or signing up for a cooking class run locally. Or going to see a local music performance. Browsing the local shops. This often comes with brief interactions with the locals running these businesses. It's all part of interacting. Basically getting out into the town and among the people, instead of just staying in a sterile resort or hotel setting.
>>2659346I think it sounds a bit antisocial, but it’s honestly not that weird—I think very few travelers really get to know much at all about locals apart from the ones that are interacting with them in various transactions.I (and many others, obviously) have gone just a bit deeper from time to time; I am a musician, and go out of my way to see a lot of local live music, so I’ve met and hung out temporarily with a lot of musicians (and fans). I’ve also stayed with locals in a handful of places, when I had friends introduce me to their friends on the ground. But I honestly don’t actually like doing that very much—I can enjoy taking a random local out for a meal, or having someone show me around for a few hours, or accompanying me to an event, but I far prefer having my own space to return to. I actually just turned down an invitation to Sweden for Midsommar because I didn’t want to be stuck in the cottage and with the family of a woman I barely know (a former co-worker of my wife’s) on a small island, even though she made Midsommar sound sort of fun. Oh, and I also hung out with a lot of locals when I was living somewhere long-term and could speak the local language comfortably, but that’s different.But on most of my trips I’m mostly interacting with my family, and just observing locals at a distance. I am OK with that.
>>2659357thanks bourdain
>>2659346When I visited the US so many people would strike up conversations with me
The problem is that locals in third world countries are often retards who can barely write their own name. What am I supposed to talk about with them? World affairs?
