How to Live Like a Hometown Tourist

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Six years ago, when John and I really started to define what this journey of adventure would look like for us, we said that we wanted to move from place to place, and live like a local. At the same time, we wanted to experience all we could experience, and discover as many things as we could – like a tourist. As most things in life, there has been a learning curve. We learned a few things right away, and we are continually learning more with every passing day. Is this lifestyle just for people like us who uproot and begin a modern nomadic life? No. Way! That’s why I thought I’d share what we’ve learned about how to live like a hometown tourist on the blog today. Let’s chat…

Make yourself familiar…

The very first thing I would advise you to do is to make yourself familiar with your area.

I grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, but I was well into my 40’s before I ever attended any of the Kentucky Derby events. Most of them are free with the purchase of a Pegasus Pin (usually under $10 at local grocers.). I also meet people all the time who had never visited or hiked Bernheim Forest. Like these folks, I grew up approximately five miles from one of the states forested areas. I simply didn’t know it was there! So I never visited.

One way I’ve learned to make myself familiar with a new area is to ask locals what their favorite areas are. Not only is it a great conversation starter, but it gives you a wealth of information to choose from. Since moving to our smaller town, we’ve found so many things to do. We’ve talked with neighbors and event met members of local bands who always seem to have the inside information on upcoming events. And, we’ve learned to do a little research.

Research like a tourist…

Recently, John and I took a few days and drove to Pensacola Beach, Florida. While prepping for that trip, we did our online research. The first search result that populated was PensacolaBeach.com. We learned about great attractions like the U.S. Navy Blue Angels, Fort Pickens, and found amazing local restaurants and local coffee shops.

But what if you’re wanting to be a hometown tourist? Well, first look for local tourist websites for your area. Ours looks like this: VisitBG.com. The one for Pensacola looks like this: VisitPensacola.com. The one for Denver looks like this: VisitDenver.com

The point is, research your area as if you’d never been there, as if you didn’t grow up there, as if you only had a couple of days to see all you could see, and do all you could do.

Make a wish list…

If you truly want to be a hometown tourist, the next suggestion is to make a wish list – a bucket list if you will. For six months prior to our move, John and I created a shared list on our phones that contained all the things we wanted to visit, all the restaurants we wanted to explore, and all of the events we wanted to attend. We keep this list as updated as we can. It looks something like this:

Rethink the obvious…

If you want to be a hometown tourist, you need to rethink the obvious. One of the things we’ve done recently was to visit one of the National Parks in our state. We had both been there many, many times as both children and adults. We had taken our own children there… but we had never explored the hiking trails around the park.

So, one random Wednesday we packed a picnic lunch, loaded up the cooler, and picked a trail. While visiting the attractions at the National Park are paid attractions, hiking the trails are FREE! What we found was there are hundreds of miles of free hiking trails to be visited…and plenty of picnic areas.

We had a very similar experience when our children were young. We went to a local area to explore a couple of hikes, and simply happened up a derelict, abandoned amusement park from the 1920s and 30s called Rose Island. Rose Island is an abandoned 1920s amusement park located in Charlestown State Park in Southern Indiana, now a popular hiking destination featuring eerie, historic ruins. Situated on a peninsula between the Ohio River and Fourteen Mile Creek, the site was destroyed by the 1937 flood.

The park has recently been restored, but the day we found it, we felt as if we had stepped back in time and found an absolute treasure trove!

Never stop exploring…

Whether you’ve packed your belongings and are heading out on a new adventure or you’re staying close to home, never stop exploring!

You will find so many events to attend (many of them free), you’ll rediscover new aspects of the local attractions you’ve visited a dozen times, and you will find that when you set out to discover more, you will find adventure waiting around every single turn!