Make contact on vacation

Making contact while on holiday is more difficult than fun for some. Traveling can be compared to a practical study of sociology. When you travel you leave home and hearth and temporarily distance yourself from social groups to which you belong. While traveling you will make new contacts and you may even be part of new social groups. Contacts with other travelers are often easy, but how do you make contact with the local population? They are all around you, but making real contact remains difficult. We lend you a hand !

The key to contact lies in finding the right places.
In coffee houses, pubs, bars, eateries, street stalls, sports competitions and other social meeting places you will find fun, time and interest in mutual contact. After all, what is it all about? Exchanging who we are, what we do and especially what we think of the world around us. Success assured if you apply the following 5 steps!

• Step 1: Adjust to the local rhythm. If you eat at 10 p.m., that’s your dinner. If it is too hot in the afternoon and one is asleep, take it as an example and go for a nap. The trick is to go for quantity and finish your planned sights, even if it doesn’t fit the country’s rhythm. As soon as you get into their rhythm of the day, you radiate that and people notice it.

• Step 2: You Have a Goal . Step into the coffee house, find a seat and settle in quietly. Take the local snacks and drinks from the menu. Don’t order the familiar Coca Cola and a sandwich if you don’t understand the map very well. Meanwhile, without you often noticing, the locals have noticed you and wonder who the newcomer is. Don’t be in a rush as your visit is not functional so move slowly and take your time.

• Step 3: Take an open stance . Show that you enjoy what you are presented with and have an eye for the people around you. A common mistake is being too much with yourself while waiting for your meal. You are busy with a telephone, the map of the city, writing a diary. As soon as you notice the activity around you (people walking in, waiters, mutual humor) in the coffee house, you are noticed that you are open to the social culture of the local community.

• Step 4: Your first contact is non-verbal . Bingo! Your laugh at a certain situation, that of someone next to you, the contact with the waiter, your question about a certain board game, it can be anything. There is a first contact. If you already know the country, you know which non-verbal communication (greetings, distances, gestures) are appropriate. We often keep a Western distance when the culture actually asks for close contact.

• Step 5: Basically, keep the conversation local . Ask a lot, but don’t immediately throw your entire travel plan on the table to get travel advice. While it is inevitable to talk about your home country and where you are traveling to, try to talk about things that you noticed during your trip. That special ceremony, the beautiful clothing. Have a round of coffee, ask about the family and above all what they do most in their spare time.

Before you know it, you won’t sleep in your hostel that same night, but you will have dinner with a local family, attend a ceremony and the next day you will be in the backgammon competition in the rice field. We hope this blog has been of some use to you, now you too can get in touch while on holiday!

Good luck and above all have fun!

Looking for a meeting trip or DIY holiday or do you want to add an active workshop to your trip? Here you will find our Meet tours . Prefer to compose your own trip? We will prepare a tailor-made travel proposal without obligation and free of charge! Let us know your wishes here.