From transient traveller, to living like a local

by Natalie Meyer (Australia)

Making a local connection El Salvador

There is a reason why the sharing economy has been so successful in tourism. I believe that it’s because we all have an innate desire to feel more like a local than a tourist when visiting a foreign country. Waking up to the smell of fresh papusas and frijoles in a house perched on the edge of Coatepeque Caldera, a large volcanic crater lake, I felt like I wasn’t just fleetingly passing through El Salvador. I was experiencing something far rarer than that. I was living like a local because I’d made a local connection. Where did it all begin? As two foreign students, removed from our own countries and seeking “home” in new friendships, Andres and I met in Taipei. He was a kind, internationally-minded local from El Salvador, studying an MBA at National Taiwan University. I, a recent graduate from the University of Western Australia, was strengthening my Mandarin language capability through further study at National Taiwan Normal University. Seeking adventure and a taste of a Latin lifestyle, at the end of my university semester I packed up my belongings, flew to South America and started working for the Australian Chamber of Commerce in Chile. It was in December of 2015 that I found myself as a solo traveller in Belize, running out of steam and craving a way to spend Christmas in a familiar setting. Yet how would I find this feeling of familiarity so far from what I call home? Should I rent a room through AirBnb? Should I register myself on Couchsurfing and look for a friendly face to host me? In some regions of the world, it is arguably less safe for solo female travellers to take part in the sharing economy experiences which transform your way of life into those of a local. Andres helped me to experience El Salvador as though I were living there. He invited me to join his family for the festive season at their beach house in El Flor. The week that followed was one of the best of my life. I was warmly engulfed by his large family and included as though I were one of their own. We played beach volleyball on black sand, kayaked towards the setting sun on the last day of the year, danced the night away on New Year’s Eve and spent time getting to know one another like lifelong friends. Staying in hostels, visiting landmarks and taking selfies are experiences which frequently leave us feeling that the whole experience was purely transient. For me, transformative experiences involve making local connections, like the one that I have with Andres.