10 Ways to Make Travel More Meaningful and Memorable

The most memorable experiences we’ve had exploring 80+ countries weren’t always the most expensive, carefully planned, or even the most relaxing. They were the moments when we made an effort to go a little deeper by hiring a private guide who knew the back streets, taking a cooking class with a chef who became a friend, or sharing an unplanned evening with locals. This guide covers 10 ways to make travel more meaningful and memorable by creating a deeper connection to the places you visit.

1. Hire a Private Guide Who Also Takes Photos

Hiring a private photographer sounds indulgent. Combine it with a private walking tour at sunrise, before the crowds hit, and it becomes something meaningful. We’ve done this at Machu Picchu, the Azores, and Istanbul, along with a handful of other places. Istanbul’s Sultanahmet at dawn before the tour buses arrive is a different place than at 10 am. The Azores guides took us to the perfect angles of the volcanic lakes and coastal cliffs we wouldn’t have found on our own.

Pro Tip: Look for guides who combine sightseeing with photography rather than offering a standalone photo shoot. The best experiences are ones where the photos are a byproduct of a local experience.

2. Book a Food Tour With a Local Guide

Group food tours can be great, but a private food tour through a platform like WithLocals is a different experience. You’re eating with a local who is choosing the spots, translating the menu, and explaining what you’re tasting. The group dynamic disappears and the whole thing becomes conversational and personal.

Our first WithLocals tour was in Lisbon. We saw most of the city on foot, tried more local dishes than we could count, and ended the evening with a bottle of Portuguese wine at a small venue with live music. We didn’t feel like tourists being shuttled between stops. We felt like guests being shown around a city by a friend.

In Buenos Aires, an evening food tour added depth to an overnight layover. We had only one night and decided to use our short time with a guide to get a taste of the city. Our guide took us to spots we’d never find on our own, and as a local she provided a meaningful experience on what could have just been a hotel stopover.

Pro Tip: Don’t skip private tours on short trips. A single night in a city with a good guide is better than eating at the hotel restaurant.

3. Take a Cooking Class That Starts at the Market

We’re not equally enthusiastic cooks. Theo does the heavy lifting in the kitchen, whereas I’m more comfortable with a microwave. Even so, cooking classes have become some of our most vivid travel memories, and I can participate at whatever level I’m comfortable with while Theo and the host do the ambitious work.

The format we look for is a morning or afternoon at a local market with the chef picking out ingredients, followed by a class at their home or restaurant. Cooking classes in Havana, Oaxaca, Quito, and Bangkok have all exceeded our expectations.

Our Bangkok experience ran six to seven hours. We explored neighborhood markets outside the city, tasted food at stalls we’d never have stopped at alone, and cooked at our chef’s restaurant. It was a whole culinary journey in a single day.

Our class in Havana was one of the most memorable. Our host and translator felt like kindred spirits. While the food was fantastic, it was secondary to the conversation, the laughter, and the sense that we’d been welcomed into a family.

Pro Tip: Prioritize classes that include a market visit. The hour spent selecting ingredients sometimes tells you more about local food culture than the cooking itself.

4. Visit a Local Cooperative

Cooperatives don’t get much coverage in travel guides, which is part of why visiting one can feel so different from other excursions. You’re engaging with a community, learning about the issues they face, and, if you buy something, contributing directly to the people who made it.

We visited pottery cooperatives in both Morocco and Laos. In Laos, the rural community we visited produced ceramic vases for hotels throughout the region. That was how the community sustained itself. Seeing the craft, understanding the supply chain, and buying directly from the makers gave us a context for the rest of the trip that a museum couldn’t have.

Pro Tip: Research before you book. Not every cooperative experience is equal, and some are set up primarily for tourism rather than genuine community benefit. Look for ones recommended by local guides or reputable travel operators.

5. See Live Music at a Small Venue

A venue that holds a few hundred people connects you to a local music scene in a way that a stadium never can. You’re standing close to the stage, the crowd is local, and you leave knowing something about the city’s culture that you can’t read in a guidebook. We’ve found these shows by asking hotel staff, checking local listings, and just walking past a bar with live music.

That said, we’ve also had a great experience at the other extreme. We saw Harry Styles in Bogota at a massive venue packed with thousands of Colombian teenagers in feather boas who were so overcome with excitement they were passing out in the stands. It was wild in the best way, pure Beatlemania energy in a city we’d just arrived in. The lesson: it’s not always about the size of the venue. It’s about the crowd and the energy, and sometimes a massive local event or festival also tells you something about a place that a small bar can’t.

Pro Tip: Ask your hotel or Airbnb host what’s on locally that week. They’ll know about things that don’t make it onto the tourism listings.

6. Splurge on the View

Our thinking on accommodation has shifted over the years. We used to book the cheapest option, then progressed to the most affordable option in a good location, and now we look for a place that’s enjoyable on its own while still connecting us to the destination. A room with a skyline view, a rooftop bar, or a property surrounded by something worth looking at can add to your connection with a destination.

Our recent southwest road trip is the best example. Choosing properties in walking distance to Bryce Canyon, the Grand Canyon, and especially Monument Valley with unobstructed views of the mittens, shifted the whole experience. Waking up to that landscape was worth every dollar.

You can sometimes even find a budget gem. Our NYC Times Square stay at the Hampton Inn included a basic room and modest price, but the quiet rooftop bar had amazing views of midtown Manhattan that cost nothing extra (well except for the espresso martini). The view doesn’t always require the premium room. Sometimes it just requires knowing what to look for when booking.

Pro Tip: When you’re comparing two properties at similar price points, weight the views and outdoor space, not just the room size and features.

7. Build in Time to Wander

We plan carefully. We also leave gaps, and those are often what we remember most. In Paris, we ducked into a neighborhood cafe for a glass of wine before bed and ended up staying for hours. A local artist was there with a group of regulars. By the end of the night he’d given us a book of his work. We weren’t looking for anything. We were just in the right place at the right time because we hadn’t filled every hour with activities.

Pro Tip: Resist the urge to fill every gap with a backup activity. A slow morning or an empty afternoon or evening is often when the best travel stories happen.

8. Follow the Locals

In Vilnius, we planned to walk from our hotel to the old town. The route took us directly through a Saturday street market that stretched for blocks with stalls selling local art, handmade goods, specialty foods, and local beer and wine. The street fair ended in a main square with a live band playing. We hadn’t planned any of it but it was the most fun.

Crowds of locals moving in the same direction are almost always heading somewhere worth going. The same applies to following the sound of music, the smell of food, or the sight of a line forming outside a place with no sign. Some of the most enjoyable hours of our travels have started with noticing something happening and deciding to go see what it is.

Pro Tip: Pick a direction where you see locals walking purposefully and follow. You may find a market, a neighborhood event, or at minimum a great cafe you wouldn’t have otherwise known about.

9. Learn a Few Words Before You Go

You don’t need to be fluent in the local language. You just need to try. People will appreciate the effort. In Paris, people notice and appreciate when you start in French, even if you switch to English after the first sentence. In Thailand and Laos, even knowing a handful of words is met with surprise, warmth, and a willingness to engage that leads to genuine interactions. In Santiago, where English is less common than in many capitals and most tourists are Spanish-speaking, knowing the language is very useful.

Pro Tip: Prioritize greetings, thank you, please, and the local word for the dish you’re about to order. That’s enough to signal respect and start a real exchange.

10. End the Trip With Some Relaxation

Adventure trips are great. They’re also tiring. Flying home directly from a packed itinerary means you land exhausted and spend the first week back catching up on sleep and dreaming of the beach. So why not build a beach or spa day into the end of your trip?

We’ve started building these in deliberately, whether it’s two nights at an all-inclusive in Panama before our flight home, a few days at a resort in Phuket after two weeks moving through Southeast Asia, or even just massages or an upscale dinner on our last night in a city. We don’t typically seek out all-inclusive vacations, but two quiet nights at the end of an ambitious trip are sometimes exactly what we need before making the journey home. It doesn’t have to be expensive. The point is to choose the transition intentionally rather than letting the trip end with a rushed checkout and a taxi to the airport.

Pro Tip: Book the decompression before you leave home. Having it already reserved makes it something to look forward to at the end of the trip.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you make travel more meaningful?

The biggest shift is moving from passive tourism to active participation. Private guides, cooking classes, local cooperatives, and food tours all put you in contact with people and places in ways that a standard itinerary doesn’t. Building in unplanned time matters just as much as the structured experiences.

What are the best ways to make your trip more memorable?

Experiences that involve your senses, require your participation, or connect you with local people tend to work best. Our favorites are cooking classes, live music, learning a language, and spontaneous evenings. Passive sightseeing fades; things you did, tasted, or laughed about stay.

How do you travel like a local?

Rent an apartment with a kitchen and walk to the grocery store. Wander into a cafe without reviewing it first. Follow a crowd of locals on a Saturday morning. Book a private food tour instead of a group trip. None of it requires special access. It requires slowing down enough to notice what’s happening around you.

How do you get the most from international travel?

Learn a few words of the local language, leave some afternoons unscheduled, and prioritize one or two deeper experiences over a full checklist of sights. A slow afternoon absorbing your surroundings can be more meaningful than seeing five landmarks in a day.

Is a private guide worth it?

For us, yes, especially in places where navigating solo is more difficult or we want to learn about the local environment, history, or culture as we go. A private guide at Machu Picchu or through the medinas of Morocco gives you a completely different experience than navigating on your own or joining a group. The cost is higher, but the experience is way more meaningful. We like to plan a few splurges where they’ll count most and save in other ways.

Have you tried any of these? What’s your favorite? Let us know in the comments.

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