Sorry it's been a while between updates, but I've been super busy with a new full time job and continuing to study full time- I'll write more during the upcoming summer holidays.
Just wanted to point out a new emerging tourism site with a very similar principle to Couch Surfing, which I wrote about not long ago. iGotta Guide is a new US-based website which provides a formal structure (and a great platform for shy people who don't usually meet randoms, or travellers passionate about their home town who don't have a clue about business) to amateur tour guides who want to show people the hidden side of their city, and take them on adventures they wouldn't have with a mainstream tour experience. Their about and how-to guide (I love the design of all these pages, by the way, the simplicity and general shininess us great) explains their mission thusly:
"iGottaGuide connects you with locals who want to guide you around their city, giving you the authentic experience. Truly travel, don't be a tourist.
We mean it, take off the fanny pack, lose the Hawaiian shirt*, and unglue your eye from your camcorders' viewfinder. It's time to give back the cheap plastic headsets with their prerecorded audio tours. It's time to stop following men in bright shirts telling stale jokes. It's time to get shown around by the people who know a city best—the very people who live there.
Nobody knows your city better than you do. You've got the ins and outs of your neighborhood memorized. You know the best stores to shop, the best bars to crawl and who serves up the best slices of pizza. When you travel, that is what you want, and if you're a local with a passion, iGottaGuide wants you to share it.
*(if it’s Friday you can keep the Hawaiian shirt)"
They seem to make their money by charging a small fee for facilitation of the listing and payment process by the tour guide, which actually seems fair given the benefit they provide. The available tours are all currently in New York City, but there are plans to expand to Washington D.C, Boston, and Philadelphia soon. I think there would be a great market for this kind of facilitation in Canada, in European countries, and in Australia, where the culture is already somewhat geared towards socialising with new out of town people, being proud of your home town, and exploring beyond officially designated tourist areas. I know if I was showing someone around my new home of Melbourne, I wouldn't take them on a classic tourist expedition to the gallery, zoo and market, or even on a chic 'hidden shopping and gourmet gems' laneway fiddly tour; I'd take them to places that make me happy to be close to the city, like arthouse cinemas and dodgy Brunswick bars and Daiso in Little Vietnam (Richmond) and the farmer's market.
Where would you take someone on a tour of your town, or more to the point, what would you be good at showing people? Do you have a lot of random knowledge on local historical architecture, or the variety of bars and the range of liquor they sell? Comments are most welcome here.
Next post will be a DTE review of travel insurance: whether we as budget travellers really need it, and if so, the best type (not company/brand) of policy to buy.
I'm from Melbourne too, this week I answered an advert on Gumtree for a language exchange and I offered my services as I don't want to forget my Spanish after spending so much time learning it.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, we started at the Vic Market, ate those awesome bratwursts which are sold there (I thought she might miss the chorizos from Chile), then did the arcade walk from Flinders St to Latrobe, back along Swanston, through Southbank then around the botanical gardens, Alexandria gardens and the shrine. Great day out and everything was free! She was really pleased with it all.