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Hey there fellow travelers. Mark here with Balders World and today we're here in London and today we're going to talk about is how you can live like a local when you travel. Because a lot of times we go around the world, we don't just want to be the tourists with the Mickey Mouse going around. We want to really feel what it's like to be a local and what it's like to really enjoy a city as someone that's really from there. And so I have a few tips to kind of help you kind of integrate in better or at least feel like you're living more like the locals do than a tourist visiting a destination. And a lot of it actually comes down to the food. And I want to tell you, it's not just where you eat,
which I'll talk about later, and what you eat, but also when you eat. If you want to really fit in with the locals, you need to eat when they eat. So when you're in Spain, you're having dinner at 9 and 10:00 at night. If you're traveling in the US, you're having dinner at 5 or 6 at night because that's one of the things that really shows up that, oh, that's a tourist. When you see tourists in Portugal at 6:00 in the afternoon having dinner, you know that's tourist. They're not really they're not getting the local spirit of going out to eat cuz I tell you when you go out in Portugal and it's 9 10:00 at night. That's when the Portuguese are out and everyone's sharing their food and they're talking to their friends and
it really comes alive. But you want to eat when they're eating. And sometimes that means, oh, our big meal isn't at night. It's at lunch. When I lived in Finland, lunchtime was like our big meal. Like the families I live with and all kinds of things, we would have a nice big lunch and then dinner was we'd have some yogurt. I always have some bread and cheese slices, right? And so knowing when to eat is going to help you integrate better in because it shows that oh I understand how people eat or like when people eat. And of course it's not just when you eat. It's also where you eat and what you eat. Cuz look, you go to Germany. Yes, people do eat hawks or those big like you pork shoulder kind
of things that look like they're going to give you 100% health on Castlevania or some video game. But no, Germans for the most part are like vegetarian or pasta or Mexican. Like they have all kinds of different stuff. And if you start eating like what the locals are eating on a normal basis, that's going to help you fit in better and live more like a local. Though, I know as a tourist, you're like, "No, but I want to eat the local traditional food." You can find local traditional restaurants as well. And one thing I recommend is make sure you listen when you're going around, you're doing your tourist stuff, you're seeing things around. If you hear locals in the restaurant, if you're in
Italy and you hear all Italians inside, the food is going to be good. If you're going by and you see a menu with nine different languages on it, probably not going to be for the locals, right? So, that's one thing you want to kind of think about, you know? So, think about what they eat, also where they're eating. And I think the where they're eating. Another tip I have for you for living like a local is always like three, four, five blocks away from those main sites. Cuz if you're going to be buying main site, if you can see the site, believe me, there's somebody that's going to get tourists to sit there and pay a higher price and a less tasty option. So you walk two, three, four blocks away from that main like
tourist strip or the tourist area, you start to be where the locals live, where the locals actually go to eat. And that's going to give you a better chance to eat like the locals eat because you're going to be where they are. Now, another way to help you kind of live like a local is go to the grocery store. If you want to understand a culture, you go to their grocery store. When you go to Spain and you see the big hams on the wall, you're like, "Wow, they really do like their hams." Or you're in Italy and you literally see the aisle of pasta. Like you don't understand. You've seen a lot of pasta in your life. Oh, no you haven't. Go to an Italian grocery store and you just see the boxes after boxes
after bags of the Italian of the pasta there and you're like, "Oh my gosh, it is next level pasta time." There really is a different pasta for every single situation. Yes. And so when you go to the grocery store, you see that, but also you see how the people shop, how the people live. I mean, when we taught in China, it was amazing going to the grocery store and seeing how people would literally fight over the best dragon fruit and things like that. or how people would go out and would they'd shop every day to get things. I mean, it was just such a great experience and it really helped us understand the culture better. So, that's why grocery store, even if you're not buying anything, just
going in would be an educational experience and help you really understand the locals better. Now, one of Joslyn's biggest recommendations for living like a local and really fitting in is have a local shopping bag. So, if you're here in the UK, you got to buy a bag every single time you go to the store, you know, if you're going to do that. So, why don't you get one of those reusable bags from a local store so you look like you live there, right? Because then you're walking around and you have a bag that can hold the wine and the cheese and the baguettes and all the stuff and your beers to go back to your, you know, your apartment or your hotel or for your picnic and you look like a
local that way versus carrying the plastic bag kind of things, right? So, that's one of those things, little things you can do to really fit in better. Now, another thing that's going to help you live like a local is realize that you need to live like a local. And that means when you're walking around, you're walking with purpose. You're not walking with your phone in your face going, "Oh, where do I go next?" with my Google Maps. Cuz that's one giveaway all the time. It's a good idea to familiarize yourself with the place you're going to stay, the area you're going to be at. So when you walk around, you know that, oh, if I want to go to Sainsbury, I got to go down here
two blocks and take a left. And so you can walk like a normal kind of way. Whereas if you walk like the tourists, you're like looking around and all kinds of stuff. You're kind of lost. They have that vibe. it kind of takes you out of living in the situation because you're forced on that Google maps to make sure you're taking all the right turns. So that's why maybe hop on Google Earth to see the neighborhood you're going to be staying in so you can have a better idea where things are and you feel more comfortable about it. Also, if you really want to fit in like a local and live like a local, remember this rule.
You don't walk four or five a breast on a sidewalk. Look, in your hometown, you usually walk by yourself or maybe the two of you are walking next to each other. That's it. It's not four across taking up the entire sidewalk, right? So remember those kind of things. That's going to help you live like a local and fit in better, too. And speaking of fitting in better, I think dressing better actually also helps you live like a local. Because think about it, if you go on vacation, wear vacation clothes, you look like a tourist and you act like a tourist. If you dress a little bit nicer than usual, I'm not saying a suit and tie. I'm just saying have yourself dressed up a bit more. It's like, oh,
that person lives here. Cuz a tourist would never dress that nice or that they wouldn't dress up. They're wearing their touristy outfits with their touristy shoes. And when you dress a little bit nicer, people treat you a little bit better, too. So, I think that's an important thing to note. But also, you're showing respect for where you're at and you're showing respect for yourself. And so, it's going to help you kind of live in the moment more. So, make sure you're avoiding that leisure wear, the big brand name things on there, right? And just be practical and put together. I mean, that's you don't think dress fancy. Think dress put together with purpose. And that's going to help you fit in better and help you
kind of live more like the local cuz you're wearing normal stuff. Now, another thing that's going to help you live like a local is use public transportation with purpose. That means when you're going to be taking public transportation, it's not a tourist experience. You're not like, "Oo, I'm taking the metro in Paris. Oo, I'm on the tube. Mind the gap." No, you're following the rules of public transportation. Like here in London, when you're taking the tube, you stand on the right of the escalator so people in a hurry can go past you. Also, you do not make eye contact on the tube. Total faux paw right there. So, these kind of things. But honestly, if you're thinking about really living like a local, you're getting that weekly pass, okay? You're
not getting every single time you take a ride, you're getting a ticket. You have that weekly pass, then you're using the trams and the metros, and the subways. You're using them as like usual transportation versus, oh, it's a tourist experience for me to hop on the tube to go two stops to the Tower of London. And you'll notice when you go around, little kids are taking public transportation going around, so you can too. And that really helps you fit in better, right? And I think another thing that's really important to help you fit in like a local, I'm not saying you have to be fluent in language, but just know the basics. Know the please, thank you, yes, no. Probably the most important one
to know is like good day. So when you go into a store, you can say bonjour in France or bruscot if you're in Austria or good day. You know, when you go into the US kind of stuff, those kind of things are like what the locals do. So, you know that and knowing those few basic like local words will go a long way to ingratiate yourself with the locals you do meet when you're trying to live like a local because going into those markets, going to those shops and saying bonjour when you go into France really does make a difference and does help you fit in more. And the thing is when you get to know the people more, whether it's the language, the culture, all kinds of things, when you try to fit
in better and kind of follow the local rules and kind of norms, that's another way to help you kind of fit in. So, like I said, in the UK, when you're on the tube here in London, you're not listening to your phone on loudspeaker. You're not talking on speaker phone. You're not looking at people and staring at people on there. Yeah. You don't do those things. If you're in a community and you're staying out in the apartments, you observe the quiet hours. You do the right recycling when you're in Germany. These kind of things really help you fit in better with the locals. And for me, one of the things that I do to really help me fit in and kind of live more like a local is I ask locals
normal questions. I don't ask them where should I eat because if I'm a tourist asking where I should eat, they're going to think where should a tourist eat. What I ask is, hey, what would you eat? Where would you go on a date with your girlfriend? Where would you take your kids? Because then it's from their perspective as a local, oh, like for example in Chicago, if you ask somebody from Chicago, hey, what should I eat when I go there? They're going to say, oh, I get Chicago deep dish pizza. Now, the thing is people in Chicago don't eat the Chicago deep dish pizza that much.
They eat tavern style pizza instead. flat crispy little square pizza kind of stuff like slices. That's what they usually eat. But you wouldn't know that unless you actually ask them what they actually eat, not what you think they should tell you, what you think you should maybe have when you're there. That makes a big difference because you get real answers from real people talking about real things. Now, another thing people don't think about is also paying like a local. So, if you're here in the UK, there's a lot of tapand go cards that you're tapping that way. You're not paying with cash. cash in Scandinavia. Literally, you don't even have to get money out in Sweden because
literally you pay with card everywhere. But if you're in Germany, you make sure you have that cash cuz you're going to be getting from a kiosk. They might be cash only, especially in the Christmas markets. And also with the paying thing, it also goes with tipping. So whether your culture tips or not, your tipping needs to be based on the tipping in the country you're going to. So in the UK, we do tip here. In the US, you do tip. In Germany, you tip a very little bit. So, it's one of those things you got to think about and make sure you're doing it the right way because that's going to help you live more like a local. Another thing that's going to help you really live like a local is go and stay in the
neighborhoods. And that could be an apartment rental. It could be a hotel that's away from the center. But if you're going to be staying someplace for a while, maybe you want to get to know that neighborhood and their local shops, their local boutiques, their local markets, and then you really start to see what it's like to live there. That's going to help you integrate better into that community, even just for a little while. And the thing is, I know I'm talking about how you can live like a local as a tourist. But also, I want to tell you this. Remember that it's okay to be a tourist. You don't have to do any of these things. You can just go and enjoy your time in a destination, have a
wonderful time traveling. But I just want to help to give you some tips to kind of help you live a little bit more like a local, so you can really feel a bit more of the culture when you do see the world, cuz I think that's one of the ways we can make the world a better place if we understand each other's cultures better. Anyway, I wish y'all the best. I'll say bye from here in London. And I want to say a special thank you to all our members on YouTube and our patrons on Patreon. Your support really does make a difference to help us keep making these honest travel videos all around the world. Anyway, bye from here in London.
