I don’t find being a “tourist” is fun. It’s superficial experiences that aren’t the actual culture of a place and often are designed to take money from you as quickly as possible (Tourist Traps).
It’s also long lines, crowds, influencers taking selfies and vlogs, and, one of the worst things I’ve found: experiences designed to make it feel like you’re a “baller” having a special night out. These will be 3 star quality experiences that are charged at 5 star prices. How much you paid is almost supposed to be a bragging right.
But the problem is, getting “off the beaten path” only works for so many people before the beaten path changes. Same with “the best kept secret” or “local hangouts”. These can only take so many people before they are no longer a secret or the scales tip to no longer be for locals. And blogs about unique experiences at a place work, but then fall apart if too many people do them.
Don’t get me wrong - tourism has its place, and I appreciate doing the classic “tourist” stuff at certain locations. But my best meal in Paris? A restaurant counter off the beaten path. The worst? A top 20 Yelp restaurant where they routed us to the tourist dining room filled with other Americans looking for a quintessential Parisian experience.
But finding a few locals to make solid recommendations would be quite useful before going to a new city. Google maps is good for that, but we still miss certain things.
Lastly, it’s extremely beneficial to know what to avoid and what to seek out in a given location. Like some people may not know that there are certain months to get crabs in Maryland. Or that crawfish season is in the spring. Or that, like an idiot, you shouldn’t order a lager off the menu at a restaurant in London without knowing that you’re about to be handed a £5 can of Brooklyn Lager from their imports (we could not find a local pub, and I could not find local beer…).