Oh, City. Been there, done that. Got the T-shirt.
Great! Now it’s time to see how the locals live.
As a travel writer, I watch a lot of travel videos. At first, YouTubers logging more countries visited than their years on the planet impressed me. But then I started thinking: how much can compulsive passport-stampers glean from 2 nights in Kazakhstan?
Changing your mindset about travelling can change your life! These days I refuse to feel travel-shame because I revisit the hits. Non-linear travel deepens cultural insight, strengthens language, and who knows? You may end up moving there. That’s how I ended up in Berlin.
It’s not cheating to take a second look at a first-class city
The beauty of revisiting a place is that you’ve already done a lot of the tourist stuff. Sure, there are always new museums and monuments to take in, but that nagging obligation to Do Something Important loosens its grip the second time around. This leaves oodles of room for guilt-free exploring on your own terms. Plus a few extra ducks in the budget, as you’ve already fulfilled your fridge magnet obligations for the armchair travellers back at the ranch.
The last time I was in Krakow I skipped the map and went on a quest for great street art and public sculpture. A couple of street artists noticed me admiring their work and invited me to an exhibition. Later: found myself on a ride-along with the crew for a late night of spray-creating!
Stomping around without a map in wintry Berlin just a few blocks from my hotel in Friedrichschain, I discovered brilliant graffiti, a great cheap lunch place, and at my own peril, (they remember faces and clearly bright orange headwear) a spot to observe swooping hooded crows. Dodging the angry beasts, I found myself in a huge, overgrown cemetery. Still green, despite the nip in the air.
Tip: Cities are full of nature! Take a beat to observe the local floral and fauna. Just don’t wear an orange hat.
Take the tram, bus, ferry, or walk
A hectic itinerary and/or a language barrier may prevent you from facing a stern bus driver the first time, but with a second visit to a city you’ll have more confidence and breathing room, time-wise. Missed stops can take you to something amazing. Walking the ‘wrong’ way around the block from your hotel may reveal a hidden treasure.
City transit provides an opportunity to observe (and record) the sights, smells, and sounds of your journey. Trams and buses provide a booster seat for views not possible in a taxi and at a fraction of the cost of a tourist bus, in a fraction of the time. Whenever possible, skip the tourist boat and go for the public water option.
The Sliema-Valletta ferry takes about 6 minutes to cross the harbour, with some of the best views of Malta’s capital city, for just €1.50 a pop or €2.80 for a return ticket. It’s a wonderful trip, any time of year, but the ferry doesn’t run in stormy weather.
Tip: Review your public transport options online first. A cab isn’t always quicker and almost never cheaper. Boats are more fun than buses!
Use your limited language skills
You may have memorised a few phrases before the first trip, but did you use them? Before coming back to a beloved city, try to learn a few more. Locals of all stripes appreciate an attempt at pleasantries in the native lingo and how people use it.
Brushing up doesn’t have to be fancy. A few phrases and a smidge of cultural knowledge does the trick. I noticed that – shocker – shopkeepers and servers in Paris were muchmuchmuch nicer when I greeted them in the language of the country’s “Bonjour” when entering an establishment rather than my go-to “Ciao.”
I fell in love with Ukraine years ago, but my language confidence failed when headed into the wrong toilet in a crowded restaurant. My server grasped the back of my jumper just as I strode into the wrong room. I literally had no words to thank him.
Given the advances of the internet, during my second round of visiting the wonderful cities (and newly-memorised Cyrillic gendered toilet signs) of Lviv and Kyiv, servers smiled at my attempts at thanking them in my terrible Ukrainian accent.
Common courtesy, right? But sometimes we forget when strangled by language.
Tip: Make greeting shopkeepers, servers and cashiers in their local ‘hello’ your default. And especially if the person greets you first.
Transitioning from tourist to visitor
I visited Berlin so many times that I sucked it up and moved here. Thanks to umlauts, I’ll never sound like a local, but I can act like one.
Second, third, and more visits to cities can make hapless tourists transform from photo-snapping checklisters into citizen travellers who support local businesses, spend time learning about culture and move around cities in responsible and sustainable ways. This ethos doesn’t have to end at the train station.
Sure, first-time tourists want to hit the hotspots. That’s what I plan to do for my upcoming 3-day trip to Milan. (My first time, don’t judge) But I also want to tuck some minutes away from the museum and monunment marathon to check in with how local people, weather, cafes and wildlife are doing this time of year.
