Tips for making this summer holiday special
By Amanda Kendle on Friday, June 27th, 2008

I’ve been wondering lately about how to spice up a trip to someplace you’ve already visited. Summer holidays are often a return to a favourite beach spot or Mediterranean town, and there’s nothing wrong with doing this, but personally I don’t like holidays that are just carbon copies of a previous one.

Tips for making this summer holiday special

If you’re returning to a favourite summer destination soon, here are a few tips to make it feel like a completely different holiday. Visit one entirely new place each day. This might be a new restaurant for lunch, a new museum for a spot of sightseeing, or to take a bus to a beach you’ve never tried before.

Life with the locals

Get more involved with the life of the locals. Get some tips from locals working in hotels or restaurants, or ask at a tourist office, to find out about local events that aren’t specifically targeted at tourists. This could be a local community centre concert or a play by the town’s theatre group.

Even if you don’t speak the language, it’s great to see something different.

Find a good book set in your holiday destination

Find books to read that are set in your destination, and visit some of the specific places they mention. Personally I really love to read novels that are set in the places I’m about to travel to, even though what they describe might not be factual or may not be there any more, it’s still great to imagine the characters actually living in that place.

Learn the local language

But finding some non-fiction travel narrative books that are set there is equally satisfying. Learn some more of the language. If there’s a great spot on coastal Spain that you travel to regularly from summer to summer, seek out someone who’ll help you brush up your Spanish.

It’s usually easy to find someone (a university student home for the summer, for example) who’d be keen to do some language exchange - speak Spanish for half an hour, then English for half an hour, over a coffee or a beer.

Be Creative

Get creative and find a way to express it while on holidays - for example, try drawing your favourite cathedral or take a series of photographs to show what daily life is like. Do you have any suggestions or ideas to help other travellers make their summer holiday special?


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6 responses to “Tips for making this summer holiday special”

Nomadic Matt | 28 June, 2008 at 4:05 pm

Learning the language is very important. Even if you can’t speak it, locals really like it when you try. English has become the lingua franca for some much of the world that people just assume english is spoken. When you make an effort, even if you butcher the language, locals take notice and are more likely to help you out.

Yusuf | 29 June, 2008 at 8:09 am

thank’s for your good idea

Cathy | 29 June, 2008 at 1:29 pm

I love reading on holiday but I am not the type to lay on the beach all day. I usually read at night to relax.

Stephanie | 7 July, 2008 at 9:05 pm

Depending on where you travel, I would recommend looking for some of the more obscure attractions or restaurants. People always focus on the entertainment that everyone knows about that seems like a “safe bet” and they miss out on some great authentic entertainment. If you’re not sure about trying some of the smaller restaurants or lesser known attractions, just ask your desk clerk or research the area online. You can get some good ideas of what to do that way.

Carol Bryant | 7 July, 2008 at 9:41 pm

I think you should “treat” yourself to something that you would not normally do at home and that makes you feel good. Like a massage or a facial. Even my husband loves to have a massage or facial as a special treat when we travel.

Darren Cronian | 7 July, 2008 at 11:30 pm

@ Stephanie

Good point about getting out and about and seeing lesser known destinations, attractions and restraunts.

@ Carol

Well I don’t treat myself to a massage or facial, haha but I do like to treat myself when on my holidays. I might eat an expensive restaurant or buy a more expensive bottle of wine, it’s good to do something different.

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