Hacker News Reader

Comment by dalocals | Hacker News Reader

I think this author misunderstands the intent of the expression "do what the locals do". It does not mean "do what an arbitrary or random local does" or even "do what the median local does".

It implies seeking the experiences and places that are popular with the locals and not popular with the tourists. It means finding a killer teriyaki or pho place in Seattle and avoiding the space needle, even if an average Seattle resident goes to neither type of place every day.

It means avoiding Times Square and instead wandering the other streets of Manhattan.

The locals do know. Maybe each individual local only visits once a month, but the aggregate knowledge of the locals knows. Great hole in the wall places are known by locals.

View on HN

I think there’s still a lot of merit to the overarching idea to this article.

The “do what the locals do” tip is almost like a form social pressure to resist doing what you actually want to do with your time as a traveler.

Doing something “touristy” is considered tacky or low brow.

You’re doing this right now, if you think about it. Why are you telling us to avoid the space needle? What if my whole goal is to see it even if it sucks?

Following local tastes is also something that’s sometimes impractical or undesirable as far as the “infrastructure” of tourism goes.

Let’s say I do this in Japan, and I’m doing what the locals do. Well, now maybe I’ve ended up at restaurant where nobody speaks a word of English and everyone doesn’t want me there. I might not be allowed in at all.

Or, perhaps local customs and culture just isn’t something I’m comfortable with at all. For example, I’m not interested in ever being in a sauna despite it being a very common activity in Finland. I just don’t like it at all.

These are just a couple of random examples. Obviously, yes, it is a good idea to seek out good experiences that locals enjoy. But in the age of the Internet is anyone really having any difficulty doing that?

We've probably been to NYC ten times at this point. We stay out of Midtown except if we are going to a Broadway show. The subway can get you quite a ways. Head out to the Cloisters instead of the main Met museum. Be sure to walk around the rest of the park. It's a completely different version of New York. Not better, not worse, but completely new if you've only ever done Times Square and other popular spots. We took a subway and bus out to the Botanical Garden. Another gem that gets few out of town visitors but gives locals discounted access and they use it.

Heck, just walking around Harlem will give you an amazing day with 20% or less of the tourists.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com